I exaggerate because this hobby tends to extremes and exaggerations and that is, obviously, not always the case, as many of the best DACs (or preamps, speakers, turntables, etc.) are not excessively dear. Several designs have made them themselves felt through their affordability that turned the industry on its head giving an entrée of audiophile sound for the price of an hors d'oeuvres.
But, it is no stretch to say that as you climb the ladder of quality for digital hardware, the audible returns can exponentially increase, most often this happens on the separates side. Audiophiles as a whole tend to lust the most after those manufacturers whose wares creep into the four or five-digit price range. Why? Because it’s the same way people tend to lust after a Jaguar E-Type instead of Ford Escort. They’re both cars… buuuut.
Does that make this lust wrong, or is this perfectionist audio pursuit flawed because of ever more expensive gear? That’s your call. In my experience the market bears what it can and I’d doubt the watch or camera collectors out there would raise an eyebrow at dropping $10k for an objet d’art or just something they plain really wanted. YMMV.
It is also my experience that sonic differences between DACs – even in the same price range – for high-fidelity playback can easily be as drastic as the results of swapping phono cartridges on a turntable. Which is why it can be just as difficult to settle on a digital front end as it is an analog one. So, if you thought you had your ultimate DAC choice narrowed down to two or three options, I’m going to give you five more to ponder.
