Is there such a thing as a FOREVER DAC/streamer?


I know I might be talking about rehab in a back alley, but here it goes.

I've been looking to upgrade my Hegel H390's internal DAC. But I would only do it to knock it out of the park; as the Hegel's internal DAC does an admirable job. So the question is, is there such a thing as an end game-forever DAC. At the end of the day, DAC is a digital product. Digital technology evolve quicker than analog technology. 

Will that Lumin X1, Bartok, Dave, etc be obsolete in 3 years? Thus making this a moot conversation...

gpixels

I think good powered speakers are going make all components start to look like relics from the past.  I’ve compared my Sonos internal dac to my mcintosh dac in the integrated to the Bryston bda 1 and it’s really hard for me to tell much of a difference.  I second whoever mentioned isolation, power supply, and output stage as being very important.  The work of converting digital to analog is about as start of art as it’s going to get IMO.  There’s a great system out there for any budget.

iPhone 7 streamer + Audioquest Cobalt DAC. Spectacular.

(Luxman LX-38 Ultimate Tube Integrated, Altec Model 18 speakers)

A dac that makes beautiful music today will make beautiful music 10 years from now as long as it is built with quality parts. The simple truth is that many people who have invested in a better dac mostly switch for the sake of trying something new or a slightly different flavor. 
 

Buy the best dac you can afford, pay special attention to build quality, and enjoy the music. 

*One casket says to the other casket, is that you coffin? 

Some might consider after all their past efforts there may come a time when you realize, sure that might be another incremental improvement - you sit back listen and think, meh...

All the best and a long life. 

 

*D. Martin to F. Sinatra