Are DAC's overpriced?

The people who develope dacs and digital sources don't agree with you. For me counts the same. It is very easy for us to outperform dac/streamer combo's with our modified Lumin network players and modified power supplies.

We outperform them in a superior level in diversity in sound. In dynamics and also in resolution. Audio is all about the shootout between products.

We create sound by its properties. This makes it very easy to show people what a dac misses. No one will ever be interested in a product what lacks information or is inferior in emotion. We outperform most of all in emotion.

Emotion is the only key to success in audio. 

The people who create dacs and digital sources for manufacturers would often have made different decisions. You all forget that people who design dacs are often paid by manufacturers. They make the decisions at the end. These are often not the best in sound quality. They are only focused on making as much money as possible.

In 2012 I started to listen to many dacs and network layers. I was surprised that they all had the same limitation. They all had almost no diversity (layering) in sound. When I had contact with a designer he told me that USB is not a choice of designers. But made by those who make decisions at a high level. He said that USB should have never be chosen for audio. 

The facts prove that most dacs are only able to create a very low level in layering in sound. Even the most expensive dacs show the same limitation regarding diversity in sound. That is why so many still use cd-players and turntables.

Based on the fact that many dacs do not convince people in the sound they are looking for. When you would understand how human emotion works regarding music, it becomes very easy to understand why so many dacs lacks emotion.

No cable of clock link will solve this problem. When people who create audio products would better focus on how music sounds and which aspects it owns, the level in realism in sound could become a lot better. But money is the real reason why consumers are limited in the quality they get at the end.

Audio is all about the shootout of products. They loose layering in sound. Most of all in the middle frequencies. In each shootout we outperform dacs. Based on the fact that we can prove that with modified Lumin players and our modified power supplies together it is so much more analog sounding.

Audio is all about what you can hear and perceive. Diversity in sound is the most important aspect/property of sound. Due to the fact that it has the biggest influence on our emotion. That is why we use this property to the max.

We are a company who have done thousands of tests in audio in over 20 years of time. We spend these days still a lot of time on research and testing. We are extreme perfectionists. In our world, there is one golden rule. Only the best product in each single price range is the only one who counts.

This makes it so much more easy to compete. By doing modifications we create new levels and standards who have no competition at all. For me, audio is outperforming and being superior to all other companies.

We have tested many dacs and digital sources in the last 6 years. Most prove to own a very limited level in layering in sound. You need all the different harmonics in sound to be connected to the music. Unfortunately, many digital dacs and sources are not that good in this part.

We are not talking about personal preferences, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT 100% FACTS. It is very easy to teach people how big the differences are in layering in sound. Each human being will always choose the most intense and emotional sound.

A friend on my does Esoteric in different countries. But he owns a Lumin soon with our modifications. Because in a shootout it overruled the Esoteric on all 8 aspects/properties of sound. Emotion is the key to success in audio.

I started to read about the human emotion regarding sound and music since 2015 a lot. Many modifications we use and create are founded on the parts which influence the human emotion during listening to music.

Magazines and website in audio are using paid reviews most of the time. You cannot measure everything. I listened to many amps and sources who had the best measurements. But they all owned a limited level in diversity in sound.

We create sound by Tru-Fi. A 3-dimensional stage is one of the aspects of Tru-Fi. This cannot be measured, but it is very easy to hear it yourself.
Many dacs cannot reveal all the aspects/properties of sound. So we ask clients to bring in their dacs and digital sources.

Then we explain to them which parts are missing when we connected their dacs and sources. And we use the same music (often their own music) again but now with the modified Lumin. It becomes so easy for them to understand directly what they miss.

Most dacs create a 2-dimensional stage. When we compare only this aspect to the huge homographic 3D stage of our modified Lumin players. People often hear for the first time in their life what a 3D stage does with their music. 

The smiles on their faces tells it all. Their euphoric reaction proofs how big the influence is of a 3D stage. Human beings can perceive sound in a 3D stage. But most audio products are still 2D. Many people who contact me miss the emotion in music. So we ask them to bring in their dacs and sources.

When a source can reveal all the aspects/properties of sound it makes clear how limited their incomplete DACS and sources are. It is a lot more easy to create a higher end result when the DAC is inside a source. This is why so many people still use a CD-player. 

People don't understand why their sources lack emotion. But it is very easy to explain, due to the low level in layering in sound. 



 

The coherent sound is essential in audio. This is why I will use conservatorium students during my presentations. I want to show and prove that we create the sound as it sounds in real.

The biggest problem in audio is that most products cannot reveal all the aspects of sound. Due to the fact that these products do not own these aspects/properties. And what is missing never can be heard.

When you do audio by trial and error, it is almost impossible to create an ultimate sound what owns all the aspects of sound. Because you never can look back to understand why the sound and stage is what you can hear. You need to be able to extract the full DNA of each individual part in your system.

When you do not understand sound and music it will never be possible to understand audio at all. When I ask people what the aspects are of sound. They have no idea. When I ask them how our emotion works during listening to music again they have no idea. Even when I ask them on which aspects they judge and choose their system they have no idea.

You can never understand and guide audio when you cannot think and work by the properties of sound. People also have no idea how big the influence is of the acoustics in a room. The same counts for the influence of electro-smog, high-frequency noise, and magnetism. Even the last parts limit the level in the layering of dacs and digital sources.

We are a Lumin dealer. We will never sell Lumin players without a dac inside. Based on the fact that we can create a superior end result with Lumin players with an inbuild dac. What we do is modifying the network players with an inbuild dac.

When all the tests would have shown that the dacs would be better, we would have sold these. People will always prefer what is superior in sound and emotion. This is what I love most in audio.

For me audio is like a competition. I love to outperform and win from all competitors. 2nd best and less will always be for the born losers in this world. We want our clients to get the best result for the money they spend. It would be even silly to sell inferior levels in quality.

The question of the thread is a very good one. You can even ask this question regarding most audio products. When a market is decreasing manufacturers do everything still to make a profit. When you take a look at the facts they proof that manufacturers are using cheaper parts these days.

To answer your question I hear and audition that most dacs are overpriced. But this counts for many different audio products. We see it in all price ranges. It has become more common than in the past.

They blame the youth is not that interested in audio anymore. I think and believe that the limited quality is the main reason why people are less interested in audio.

I think that you cannot blame the youth not to be interested in audio products who lack emotion. When we visit clients of us first we see that their children are not interested in what we install. But.......when they hear both in stereo and surround a stunning 3D stage with all the layers in sound they become very excited as well.

People love emotion and music. For children counts the same. But when audio lacks emotion and intensity children don’t care about it anymore. By using cheaper parts the youth will become even less interested in audio. I think and believe that this is a normal and even predictable reaction.

There is only one solution; a superior level in emotion and realism in sound in each price range. All other options than this are 100% useless.

We always ask people to bring in their own music and also digital sources and dacs. Shoutout will always tell the truth of a result. We work by Tru-Fi, so we create and build sound on all the aspects/properties of sound. 

All people react the same way due to the fact that our emotion works the same way. We have our own preferences in artists and types of music. But voices and instruments sound as they sound. An audio system needs to be able to reveal all the details and aspects of the music/recording.

You need all the aspects of sound of each recording to experience the emotion the music possesses. But when a dac does not own it or is limited in the level in layering in sound. You will never use it for a long time. People have often no idea why their systems lack emotion.