This DAC from China has completely blown me away!

[podknocker]

View attachment 8091
As shown in the picture, this is a DAC decoder board from China’s Taobao, priced under 70 USD. Below are my questions:
How are they able to keep the price so low?
Who is buying such a large volume of this product?
Does the audio quality of this product truly meet the standards?

I know I should have spotted it ages ago, but this board doesn't come with a TDA1541 fitted to it. That's another £60 https://www.littlediode.com/components/TDA1541.html

The fact this DAC is still being used after 40 years is testament to its spectacular performance and reliability. Being as expensive as modern DACs is a puzzle. I suppose going back to using old fabrication methods costs more than making new silicon on new lines, or there is something not quite right about this DAC still being for sale.

 

[ToppingSMSL]

As I mentioned earlier, anything that can spin and read a disc, should be able to transfer all the data sitting on a CD. You can get a CD/DVD drive for your PC and this could do it for £30? There is no reason a HIFI CD transport should cost much more. All it needs to do is send data at 1411kbps to an external DAC. It's sending digital data and nothing else. CD transports don't and can't have a sound quality. It's a DAC and its supporting circuitry tailoring the sound quality. Again, some HIFI brands want to make you think their spinning machine does something else, but it's the same infra red laser, optics, error correction and output.

If you want it to be in a nice casae you need to spend a bit more. Some people like copper buttons and pay £1000s.

 

[davidf]

There shouldn't be any difference between transports, but I always remember having a Pioneer DV717 DVD player I was using as a transport at the time, and then comparing it to a Teac VRDS10 - I really didn't expect to hear the difference I heard. Always try something for yourself, regardless of what anyone else suggest or states.