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Wisdom of buying high priced digital gear (given new advancements underway)

Wanted to ask for thoughts from others on the forum who have been playing with digital front ends longer than I... I only recently dove into streamed hi res music given the Covid shut-in...(although I am climbing the learning curve pretty fast)

I have been an avid trader/tester of good used hifi gear for many years now, a cost effective way of auditioning and understanding high end pieces in my own system, my own home.  Not for publication or posted reviews, just for my enjoyment and improving my own rig.  Buy smart on the front end, can usually get all or most of your money back when you sell, so it is a fairly low cost trial and ownership experience.

As I am fairly new to the world of stand-alone streamers and DACs, as well as combo units like a Hegel amp with onboard DAC, my question is whether it is wise to buy some of the more expensive high end streamers and DACs, say in the 3-4-5 grand (and up) range.

For instance, a Bluesound Node 2i is a capable digital bit-source (weak internal DAC noted) at only $500, so I question the benefit of buying a $2-3-4k unit from Innuos, Brooklyn, Auralic etc etc?  But if I do, just to try them, I am concerned there will be newer units out in the future, and these used units may take significant value hits.

Same thought for high end DACs... there are so many DACs out there, from high-value units like Chord, Schitt, RME for around a grand (or even less) -- what is the downside risk of climbing the curve of diminishing returns to get, say, for example, a Denafrips Terminator or PS Audio DS or Chord Dave for $4-5-6 grand used?  

I guess what I am really asking is what is the relative stability of the technology, product development, and the trickle down effect in the streamer and DAC markets, and does this materially affect the loss of value for the higher priced units more so than with old school analog gear.  This is something I feel I pretty well understand for speakers, preamps, turntables, the like...but not so much for the digital stuff, especially as streaming is really developing fast on the high end scene in recent years...

Thoughts welcome.  Thanks in advance.
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Showing 1 response by big_greg

big_greg
6,563 posts
 
What is "high priced"?  In the context of a $500 Node 2i, then perhaps my $2K TEAC NT-505 is "high priced".  In the context of my vinyl playback system and most of the other components in my system, it's a bargain.

The NT-505 was a noticeable improvement over my Node 2 / Auralic Vega DAC combination.  So spending more can get you more.  Would a $10K DAC sound that much better than my $2K DAC?  I would expect there to be a little more resolution and detail, but how much more? 

The difference between $500 and $2000 is not that much to me, but the difference between $2000 and $10000 is.

The NT-505 is pretty much a closed system - streamer and DAC, no upgrades other than adding an external master clock and whatever firmware upgrades come out for it.  There's no digital out, so if some must have feature comes out, I have no way to connect it with an external DAC that has that magic feature.

I don't feel stuck at all, I'm not sure what new feature is going to come out that is going to make me feel like I have to replace what I have.  I trade components out of my system on a somewhat frequent basis, but I can see this piece staying for a long time.  

I had a friend over last night and until recently he owned a $13K Lumin X1 and overall has a much more expensive system (one of the best I've ever heard).  After listening for a bit, he asked me to write down the name of the NT-505 so he could do some research on it.  I don't think he thought the NT-505 was better, but it was clear that after living with a top of the line DAC like the X1 he was impressed by the sound quality of my much less expensive DAC.  

My favorite DAC, the MHDT Labs Orchid, doesn't do MQA, DSD, or Roon, and only outputs at 16 bits.  All of which mean nothing to me, because I enjoy listening to it, which is what matters the most.  To me.
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