Yes, he is very much so. Tim wants it both ways - he ridicules me when I say I get competent sound from very cheap hardware - your $1 DAC - and then says people shouldn't pay silly money for boxes that have "audiophile" bling encrusting them - now, there's a confused ladTim, I think even you are influenced by audiophile mythology. I am confident that a DAC indistinguishable from audiophile products can be built for a few dollars, not grand. The key to this is of course that because it is all on one chip, with inherently matched sub-elements all close together and at a common temperature, an integrated circuit can achieve performance levels way in excess of any 'discrete' contraption and can be mass produced for a few cents.
Audiophile DACs take the approach of either gilding a DAC chip bought for $1 - $20 with a uselessly excessive power supply and exotic box, or they create a monster comprising several DAC chips linked together or a 'discrete' circuit, both of which suffer from nonlinearity that gets worse as the temperature varies, telling us that "at this level of sonic performance, measurements do not tell the whole story" or some such.
Good SQ can be achieved by "babying" equipment, especially cheap stuff - this is what I do - but it won't be robust - put it in an environment which is not electrically friendly, and the performance will degrade - badly. One solution is the "excessive power supply and exotic box" - CH Precision do this, and charge a pretty penny for the beast - I've heard what it delivers, and I'm impressed; it didn't display the usual, consumer grade failings.
Very few people are able to, or willing to, engineer a complete system that shows overall competence - the Kii Threes are very close to achieving this, so the day of getting an off the shelf solution that always 'works' is getting nearer ...