The Great Wall of Better Audio

[Rt66indierock]

31 minutes ago, Samuel T Cogley said:

Always on the hunt for DACs that punch above their price, the Topping D50 did not disappoint!  It's the centerpiece of my desktop system with a Lake People G109-A headphone amp and a pair of HD600s (circa 2006).

 

The 50s is even better. A better way to look at it is beat the Topping 50s then ask is the price worth it? 

[Samuel T Cogley]

24 minutes ago, Rt66indierock said:

 

The 50s is even better. A better way to look at it is beat the Topping 50s then ask is the price worth it? 

 

Thanks.  Didn't know there was a D50s

[fas42]

13 hours ago, Summit said:

 

It is great that good sounding audio gear can be bought cheap today, but that a budget gear would sound as good as good high end gear is not my experience.  

 

 

If won't, because corners have been cut in the hardware side of things - electronics is cheap, hardware is expensive. Which means that the biggest advantage that pricey gear may have is that it has been built solidly - and that can make all the difference. If one has the right DIY knowledge then the lacking in the cheap gear which is critical can be corrected, and you come out a winner, .

 

13 hours ago, Summit said:

In other word with a bigger wallet you can get better sounding gear. You will need to choose well and get electrical and sonically matching gear. The outcome of upgrading to better gear is kind of cumulative and bottlenecks in the audio chain can prevent you from perceiving the difference.   

 

Cheap gear is normally mated to cheap gear, and that is what is cumulative. If one has an expensive chain, and replace just one part with something cheap, then the SQ can plummet - the ol' weak link in the chain rears its ugly ...

 

What most refuse to accept is that the weak links can be quite invisible; it doesn't have to be that a whole box in the chain is not good enough. Knowing this, one can carefully investigate the setup, determine where problems are, and resolve them - this is the 'magic' that allows budget solutions to rise well above the standard of expensive kit which has been thrown together, without extra thought.

[firedog]

There's also a new "higher end" one call (I think) the 70, that has balanced and unbalanced outs.

[Rt66indierock]

13 hours ago, firedog said:

There's also a new "higher end" one call (I think) the 70, that has balanced and unbalanced outs.

 

An interesting point but how much better is it than D50s for twice the money.