Are DAC's overpriced?


External DAC's are pretty expensive imho... BUT I don't know that much on how to choose one. I want mostly cd's in my small two channel system... I am rebuilding after selling my Logans and Mac amp to go back to "drivers"! The Logans wore me out with Maintenance.  Should I buy a new cd player or get a new DAC for my old player?  
128x128captbeaver
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.
People will always prefer what is superior in sound and emotion

Only in a double-blind, level-matched, quick-switching scenario.  
  
I can bet you I can put a $300 power amp in a nice case and say it costs $100,000 (such idiotic prices do exist) and tell people what they should hear as an improvement, and some people will say it sounds better than any $30,000 power amp you wish to put it against.

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.


I dont know much about dac, because all those I own were not truly great, except the last one that is low price and that is truly great … Starting Point Systems nos dac tda 1543...I cannot hear any fault with it....Even the defects that some reviewers speak about, unbeknown to them, comes from their own audio system more than this dac...I know that because before my room treatment, vibrations controls, and cleaning of the electrical grid, this dac was good with some limitations that the reviewers described...But now with all my tweaks no defect for me with this dac of minimalistic design, that is the best kept secret in audio...

 The more difficult purchase to make in audio is a dac, because of the high price of the very good one,this one is the exception...


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