The author of this short piece (see link below), from the experience I've had is certainly right about how DACs are particularly subject to obsolescence. I once owned the latest and pricey Theta DAC when that company was considered something of a leader in digital audio. Years later I bought a Bryston preamp, with a DAC in it, and it sounded great to me, but just for fun I called Theta to ask how they thought it might stack up against my Theta DAC. The answer was immediate: With a newer DAC chip it would blow the Theta away. Same thing happened when I bought a BDA-1: It blew the Bryston preamp with its DAC away.
This author gives this advice: "to avoid spending big bucks on the components that have the fastest innovation curve. So, while I see no reason to limit expenditures on speakers, analog preamps and power amps, turntables, cartridges, cables, and accessories, I do feel that DACs, digital interfaces and AV/Pre-pros, should be purchased as if they are short-term expendable product, because in the grand scheme of the technological advancement curve, they are."
I have learned that higher prices don't always mean better performance, but it seems to me that avoiding new products flies in the face of what audiophiles do.
After all, how many audiophiles have stay been able to resist the temptation of the new? Don't we buy new speakers, amps, etc. even though our old ones are serviceable? And if a new product with some built-in obsolescence is affordable to a particular audiophile, then he or she should go for it. How many have exactly the same compoments they had when they started this hobby?
http://audiophilereview.com/cd-dac-digital/future-proof.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AudiophileReview+%28Audiophile+Review%29Dave
