Indeed, I think DACs were commoditised years ago. When an Apple dongle offers excellent quality and audible transparency for the price of a sandwich and digital speakers and amplifiers have on board DACs that pass without comment because they just work then I really don't know why there is such interest in DACs. I think it is harder to buy a bad DAC than a competent one. The DAC achieved technological maturity a long time ago and in some ways the efforts of parts of the high end segment to try and sell the virtues of expensive boutique DACs aren't that far removed from expensive cable and power chord sellers.
I agree with you 99.97%.
Here are my 0.03%:
Editing a bit
:
DAC achieved technological maturity a long time ago
and in some ways the efforts of parts of the high end segment to try and sell the virtues of expensive boutique DACs are
n't that far removed similar to expensive cable and power chord sellers.
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I find myself oddly attracted to great engineering and technical prowesses even if I won't hear their contributions... A remnant perhaps of the audiophile mentality. The Benchmark, Matrix, Neurochrome, Toppings, Okto Research , etc ... are on my want list ...
Need list would be much cheaper but less satisfying... JDS Atom, Khardas Tone, etc