Low vs mid vs high priced DACs?

I currently own what would be considered an entry-level DAC made by a local company. I compared it with the similarly priced Arcam rDAC and the former won by a small margin, I'd say that it was a matter of preference which one was better - better focus but narrower sound stage and a bit more presence. otherwise I'd say they were identical.
while I had the luck to listed to few high-end systems in the past, what I always missed were actual comparisons ("let's try this amp now and see what it does to the sound").
I know what even a $150 DAC can do to the sound compared to lesser sources (enough to quality as a "WOW" kind of difference) and since I believe that sound can be textually described to a point, I was wondering what kind of differences the higher priced DACs bring.
real, first-hand experience and examples would be much appreciated, thanks.

is that based on first-hand experience? if so, what DACs have you compared and were the accompanying components good enough to reveal the differences?
my experience tells me the absolute opposite. actually, instantly switching back and forth from one DAC to another (both feeding from the same input) by using the remote while sitting on the sofa helped me understand how big the differences (sometimes) are. maybe without the opportunity of remote instant switching the differences are not that obvious but I'm sure that they have an impact with prolonged listening.

the outputs were matched, I know about Fletcher-Munson, thank you. all the comparisons I do are level matched. the switching was done by the friend who owned the system, he never told me which is which and then he handed me the remote so I can switch myself.

I find it absolutely incredible that someone who wasn't there is telling me what I was hearing. since the switching was instantaneous and required no pausing of the song or moving from the listening position, I was simply shocked to hear that switching from one DAC to the other caused the instruments to move inside the room. for instance, the piano on one song became clearly placed about meter to the left of the left speaker, while with the other DAC all instruments seemed to emanate sound from about everywhere between the speakers, the positioning was simply vague. also, on loud passages the sound resembled noise more than music.

looks like you found your soul mate.

you remind me of the many cases when a person feeling ill went to the doctor who said "you're totally ok", only to find few doctors later that he/she had a terminal illness. I guess they call those "dogmatic patients".

I'd tell them that most likely the test conditions were inadequate to say the least. I myself have stated in a previous post that if the switching required pausing the song and moving from the listening position the differences would have seemed less than obvious. if only you tried to understand the importance of this phrase.

also, I'm not new to the fact that the so called objectivists choose to simply ignore that blind tests have their problems. problems that have been pointed many times.

but it's ok, people are like that. accepting reality is a completely personal process and it can't be enforced. and it's generally slow and painful.

it amazes me that you consider all subjectivists to be extremists but you in fact are just as them. you're just like the guy who believes in 20k cables, only that you don't realize it.

I see no point in continuing this.
last thing I'll tell you. it is my personal experience that most objectivists are people who simply can't afford a good system. it is a cold fact of life: them being so vocal about their objectivism is something coming from deep frustration.
I'm outta here, I wish you many occasions to troll other people's threads so you can up your post count.

I'm not sure "funny" does justice to the feeling that describes watching a bunch of people trying to convince themselves that their blatantly false creeds are the absolute truth.
I really think you should all meet and make out.

look, I really want to thank you and I'm not joking. you made me understand where you're coming from and what sections to avoid. thanks a bunch, really.

keep enjoying your small universe and don't refrain from posting, I may eventually have a bad day and need a comic relief.
Edited by gn77b - 11/12/12 at 1:28pm