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Will Quantum computing change the DAC game (in our lifetimes)?

As top-end DAC technology has crossed the $100,000 line (MSB Select II fully loaded), we owe it to ourselves to ask where the technology is going before making a very substantial investment in our never-ending quest for sonic perfection.  Is there a likelihood Quantum computing (going beyond “0” and “1”) will impact the streaming of music anytime soon?  Do we know if anyone is working on this?  Some DACs claim to be future-proofed, but I question whether any binary (0/1) digital processor would be able to accommodate quantum?  How do we quantify the risk current DAC technology becomes obsolete?  Or, is the answer simply something along the lines of that old adage “if you have to ask ...” you should have stuck to vinyl?
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Showing 1 response by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,870 posts
 
Quantum computing, as far as I know, affects the processing of data, not the encoding of it.

More likely quantum and AI will be used to better understand how we hear and design various different encoding mechanisms, but I don't see this as coming to a DAC near me directly.

We're in a remarkably great place in terms of digital music. The price of storage is very cheap, network speed inside and to our homes is amazing. I remember when having a home network switch at 10 Mbits/s was fast.  Now we have 10 GigE, a factor of 100 faster inside our homes!!  Not to mention how many CD's' we can store for pennies.

I think the frontier in DAC computation, encoding and transmission has been pushed far enough, now it's all in the analog stages.
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