Is there such a thing as a FOREVER DAC/streamer?


I know I might be talking about rehab in a back alley, but here it goes.

I've been looking to upgrade my Hegel H390's internal DAC. But I would only do it to knock it out of the park; as the Hegel's internal DAC does an admirable job. So the question is, is there such a thing as an end game-forever DAC. At the end of the day, DAC is a digital product. Digital technology evolve quicker than analog technology. 

Will that Lumin X1, Bartok, Dave, etc be obsolete in 3 years? Thus making this a moot conversation...

gpixels

In my opinion, getting a quality setup now on the digital side is a worthwhile investment even if it might be surpassed in five years or whatever quoted timeline. Because one thing that is irrelevant is of time is having a setup you can enjoy. A component with good isolation, clean power supply, usability, etc will still be providing that same quality five years from now.

 

If a setup today makes you content for years to come, that’s what counts in my view in terms of making an investment.

No such thing really. 
however, some have firmware updates. 
Take the Lumin (I have a D2)… since I purchased, there have been several updates. 
it’s part of their DNA to continue the updates. For my non-vinyl purposes, this is possible my last streamer purchase. 
 

the PS Audio airLens looks quite interesting, however. 

My DAC is my most expensive component, a PS Audio Directstream w/ streamer card. And I’m glad because streaming is more and more of my listening. It’s software-based, and they’ve issued a number of updates that are easy to make with just an SD card. But still … now they’re introducing a new version and will stop upgrades to the Directstream. So I suppose there’s no such thing as forever in digital. But I do think this source is so important that I’d still spend what it takes to get a great one.

@ghdprentice 

At some stage, you're right that components may end being the last upgrade.

I'm working towards that myself. Have speakers, DDC, Dac, streamer, RCAs, power cables, digital cable, speaker cables sorted.

If no chance to upgrade LPS, external clock and amp, I'm fine with what I've got, and fine with the sound. Having been in this game for 46 years, I know I want to upgrade those as well.