I keep reading that we won't want to use our X year old equipment any more as it's obsolete, and there's better out there. However, my old Nokia mobile phone worked for over 10 years and would probably still be working if I hadn't lost it. My current laptop is around 12 years old, and still working fine, no need to replace it. Most of my HiFi is over 30 years old, some of it well over 40 years old, even the newest stuff is just short of 12 years old.yeah, generally I agree. It's a bit of a strawman really the whole longevity thing. It's like a last refuge for people who can no longer base their views on the sound quality (since really it's the SQ that matters most by far for the majority of us). "Damn, this cheap stuff sounds better than my boutique gear! I gotta find some way to validate spending all that cash!" But in a digital device like a dac, I don't think a decades-long life span is even a realistic desire. Technology changes faster than that. In 20 years, we probably aren't even going to be using dacs.
Ditto with cars, cameras, watches and domestic appliances.
It makes no sense to me to buy anything that will just see out the warranty on the basis that buyers would want to update anyway, so why bother making things last. There lies much of the problems in the modern world, and I just won't play that game.
S.