What is the average life expectancy of a DAC?

jasonbourne52

Nobody can tell a $100 DAC from a $1000 DAC if they listen blindfolded

That’s an interesting claim. Please tell us about your listening tests that have led you to this conclusion.

Yes DACs should last many many years but technology moves ahead quickly especially like others have stated connectivity. Look for companies that constantly update products. My dac originally didn't have an Ethernet connection (wasn't even a thing many yrs ago) then streaming came out and had my dac updated to accept Ethernet.

Working, for ever, sounding good, for ever, feature wise much shorter. But i suspect they would  devaluate quicker than anything else. Of course there are exceptions for some keeping a good value and having only the very basic features.

G

@jjss49 I just read the stereophile review of the magic brick and they argue it works. I’m sure the tongue implanted in the cheek of the marketer who named this product is still lodged there! I’m not being snarky -- I do believe vibration control is a real thing -- but I have to laugh at your question. Now, combining your question with the one about Dacs, how long will a DAC last if you drop a magic brick on it? 

Oh, and the people named after movie superheroes (JB, e.g.) need to get their hands on a good DAC. I have zero trouble hearing my $1100 R2R Dac’s betterness (a word, right?) over both a $500 Peachtree and the NODE 2i Dac. I mean, come on JB, go snuff some bad guys, ok?

I have two new DACs on order, one is a new 2021 model and the other is over 25 years old (and being upgraded by the original manufacturer).....go figure.

Things continue to change moderately to rapidly in the digital arena so the question of life expectancy goes to how necessary it is for you to have the "latest and greatest" technology. At this point, I suspect many of the changes/improvements fall under "different but not overwhelmingly better" - at least with respect to SQ. Below are a few areas where I have seen continued DAC changes/improvements:

• File format - DSD, MQA, high bit rate, etc. The ability of a DAC to interpret and process different file formats is more important to some listeners than to others. My understanding is that something less than 5 percent of recorded music is available in a high resolution format
• Connectivity - USB, AES/EBU, and S/PDIF are most popular but I2S is being used by some while direct Ethernet may become the next thing
• All-in-One Units - On-board volume controls are improving and DACs offering on-board streaming are becoming more popular
• Analog Processing - Tubes are still popular with some manufacturers and others are improving SQ by paying more attention to higher quality power supplies and regulation, with some even using more advanced SMPS