Point of diminishing return for a DAC

12-31-2019 12:41pm"Percentages require a fixed point for a calculation. None of you, and none of us, have that reference point."

Maybe yes, maybe no. Like you say, nobody knows....maybe.

Then again, my take is that those who kinda know where that point may lie are super happy with their $1,00-$2,000 DACs while those who dont  are are already $8,000 deep into a DAC and wondering why they detect a touch of timbral harshness in the upper highs at the 75hz crossover point...

Maybe if you spend $1,500 more on a better power cord,  you will be happy...;-)

I'm just kidding, of course, but you get my point.
Cheers.

Thanks for all the help.  I purchased a Schitt Yggdrasil last night.  Looking forward to its’ arrival.  

Get the Mac out of the audio chain. I use a PC to control a 2TB Buffalo Box NAS drive that has all of my DSD, MP3 and FLAC files connected to a router via Ethernet. The PC is on the same network, so it controls the downloads from sites like HD Tracks and Pro Studio Masters for my downloads that go right to the NAS. I can stream right to a Sony UBP-X800M2 Blu-Ray player that handles the streaming to a Sim Audio Moon 100D DAC. Output from the DAC goes to a Yamaha A-S801 integrated amplifier which drives a pair of KEF Q500 towers. Needless to say, the sound is pristine. I just listened to Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” as 192k/24-bit FLAC and I can’t even begin to tell you how deep the soundstage and how warm the playback sounded. In essence, it’s the Moon 100D and the coax cables that make the difference. There’s nothing mechanical in the audio path so the audio chain is unhampered by the physics of moving mass.

Congrats on the new DAC! Recommendation: Try all permutations of gear and cables available to you. Do not be overly discouraged if some of the permutations with the old DAC as good as the new. That is the nature of mixing gear in systems. One simply has to try all permutations to know. 

You have now heard from several people who are telling you that the Mac is an issue, an impediment. Perhaps that should be the next move. 

Usatran yup your right about the Mac however there exists a group in this hobby that will continue to believe others speculation including their own without actually trying out said components or what have you not to mention their poor choice of highly compressed music some seem to prefer while making sound quality judgement calls of components.
Is it any wonder many of them believe any specific components over their set price is a complete waist of money only for fools ?

Well in many cases this is so true however with certainty this isn’t always true something I’ve known for a couple decades.

For the past few years I belong to a small local group of other enthusiasts whom on occasion we share components ect from our own system including dealer borrowed and purchased with return policies just for the curiosity of it and fun and we certainly don’t all agree all the time , tastes ,biases and including system budgets play a big roll and the guy with the deepest pockets in the group I agree with him wholeheartedly that you do not always get what you pay for.

Anyway getting back to the OP question regarding diminishing returns , start with the Mac , the amount of noise is ridiculous masking any attempts at hearing improving sound quality. Hopefully with a better choice you will realize there’s a lot more to your favourite music , the best part of this hobby....