DAC Question: Delta-Sigma vs R2R

I’m just a caveman lawyer, but…technological obsolescence keeps me very cautious on anything digital that is expensive…My thesis is that a simple $300 DAC released last month is probably better than a five-year old $3,000 DAC. So, I buy simple, well-reviewed DACs at modest prices, and change them up every few years, and really don’t worry about it much.  Now using the iFi Zen Signature v2, and it’s enjoyable day-to-day (I have music on 12 hours a day, low volume, but always there).  I appreciate that I am missing out on the quality I could obtain with say a Benchmark DAC3 (and I will buy one used if I can catch it for the right price).  DEQX was apparently transformational to listeners when released (I’ve not heard it), and cost $5,000, but I can’t imagine they survive unless they just sell a $500 downloadable software package at this point

I have a nice vinyl setup on my rig.  I use it to listen to a selection of maybe 90 albums that make sense to me to own on vinyl (love the music, sound quality, understanding the origin of the pressing, and the music is of a scale that it could have been played in my living room. Neil Young at the Cellar Door vs. Zeppelin). I use a DAC and Roon for 90% of my listening

I’m looking forward to the abusive replies, but maybe this point of view is a useful way to think about where to spend money on a system when maybe 10% of our time is really listening, and most of the rest is day-to-day pleasure

Fun topic!

I have tinnitus and some things just dont sound good-John Prine unfortunately can sound bad on vinyl for example.

I bought an MHDT Stockholm DAC  tube, RtR, NOS and the sound was much more euphoniic and pleasing compared to the sound out of my Emotiva CDP, doesnt sound fatiguing  or set off my tinnitus.

ymmv

@jonwatches1 - No abuse here! 😁 But just wondering why you would think a new cheap $300 DAC would be better than a Chord Hugo, for example, which is 5 years old or so? Enjoy yer tunes! 

@larsman - really good question.  so, I probably overstated things for effect.  I am sure the 2017 Chord Hugo would still sound better than the 2022 $300 dac.  It’s an interesting question how the 2017 Chord will compare to a $300 dac in 2025, probably when I buy a new one (I have no idea what relative sound would be like - probably still the Chord for a person with the right ears and right system)

In my case, part of the answer had to do with biggest impact.  At the time, I thought moving from a $250 cartridge to a $1,000 cartridge on the turntable would have a good and lasting impact (thankfully, seems to be correct).  I was less sure about marginal impact on the DAC

If I were pure digital, I’d buy the Chord or Benchmark; For the conversation, I thought if would be fun to contribute the idea of “hey, how much does it really matter” depending on individual listening habits - there aren’t many hours of intense listening for me, and those hours are on vinyl, so I keep thing simple, and lightly invested, on the digital side

(btw, the vinyl is as much nostalgia as anything else - I am staying far, far away from that discussion, which in any event off topic for this thread)

@larsman why you would think a new cheap $300 DAC would be better than a Chord Hugo, for example, which is 5 years old or so? 

I'll bite.  I would challenge anyone to listen to a $440 SMSL M500 MkII DAC (also a headphone amp) and swear that the Chord Hugo not only sounds better but is the better DAC. 

It may be a close call, of course, because the Chord Hugo was a tremendous bit of kit in its time at what, $3,000?