"dloubt there would be anything new for the next 5 to 10 years"
Oh, boy; I think you'll be shown wrong on that one. ;) The pace of change is accelerating, not decelerating. I would venture we may have more than one technology/application for audio not even conceived of yet. Ten years is a long time for technology now.
I'll take the contrarian position in that one of the most stunning rigs I have ever put up, either as a private listener or reviewer, currently utilizes DAC with preamp function run directly into - who would guess? - a pair of class D amps! It's a wild audio world, and changing all the time. You simply cannot make a system which will be largely impervious to the performance erosion due to technology advancing. However, to your point in the OP, you can build very satisfying systems either way, with pre and DAC or DAC with pre function. Of course, the result depends on the quality of the gear. With good selection of gear and system building one method can trump the other. There is so much variance in performance in systems that it is not possible to ensure that one method over the other is superior.
Rockadany, "minimum signal disruption"? I would suggest that adding an unnecessary component and set of cables could be considered unnecessary signal disruption, which is why integrated DACs are becoming more popular! ;)
Oh, boy; I think you'll be shown wrong on that one. ;) The pace of change is accelerating, not decelerating. I would venture we may have more than one technology/application for audio not even conceived of yet. Ten years is a long time for technology now.
I'll take the contrarian position in that one of the most stunning rigs I have ever put up, either as a private listener or reviewer, currently utilizes DAC with preamp function run directly into - who would guess? - a pair of class D amps! It's a wild audio world, and changing all the time. You simply cannot make a system which will be largely impervious to the performance erosion due to technology advancing. However, to your point in the OP, you can build very satisfying systems either way, with pre and DAC or DAC with pre function. Of course, the result depends on the quality of the gear. With good selection of gear and system building one method can trump the other. There is so much variance in performance in systems that it is not possible to ensure that one method over the other is superior.
Rockadany, "minimum signal disruption"? I would suggest that adding an unnecessary component and set of cables could be considered unnecessary signal disruption, which is why integrated DACs are becoming more popular! ;)