Hi End ADA Converters And Even In Their Price ... 8 (

[r2d2]

A bit hard to understand why the prices may also exceed 25000 bucks,
sounding really out of any reasonable acceptability... ,

trying to quantify their cost of production
- Case with connectors and front panel with control parts (display. switches, encoders) : 200/500 ?
- Psu : It very looks like to be much smaller than 1 for assembled PC computers whose cost to final client is around 30/70 ,
- Mainboard Pcb with connectors for daughters i-o cards/boards, and CPU for manage the channels routings : 80/300 ?
- I-O cards/boards : No expensive audio transformers, no tubes, no DOA, and similars... , only ICs on analog line in-out sections, the rest all digital "chips".

So what makes them so expensive ?

Thanks in advance for any "fee" about.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Exotic high end products must be priced very expensive or the customers will not believe that they are very good.

JR

 

[pucho812]

There are many factors to the price of an item.
I heard from a little birdie that a famous 3 letter company get's their output transformers at 7 dollars each. is that reflected in the cost of a mic pre or eq? Hardly.
The bottom line is that people will pay what they charge because they feel they are getting value.
R&D takes time and is a big cost. With the ever world of computers changing, R&D is continuous and that costs.

 

[living sounds]

A bit hard to understand why the prices may also exceed 25000 bucks,
sounding really out of any reasonable acceptability... ,

trying to quantify their cost of production
- Case with connectors and front panel with control parts (display. switches, encoders) : 200/500 ?
- Psu : It very looks like to be much smaller than 1 for assembled PC computers whose cost to final client is around 30/70 ,
- Mainboard Pcb with connectors for daughters i-o cards/boards, and CPU for manage the channels routings : 80/300 ?
- I-O cards/boards : No expensive audio transformers, no tubes, no DOA, and similars... , only ICs on analog line in-out sections, the rest all digital "chips".

So what makes them so expensive ?

Thanks in advance for any "fee" about.

Which specific item are you talking about?

 

[r2d2]

There are many factors to the price of an item.
I heard from a little birdie that a famous 3 letter company get's their output transformers at 7 dollars each. is that reflected in the cost of a mic pre or eq? Hardly.
The bottom line is that people will pay what they charge because they feel they are getting value.
R&D takes time and is a big cost. With the ever world of computers changing, R&D is continuous and that costs.

R&D ?
Really ?
What "heavy" R&D ?

Isn't everything now a copy and paste one with the other with some custom modifications,
(.. obviously with different front controls panel shape..)
more or less based all on the same AD-DA chips
like this one available for very few bucks : https://www.ti.com/product/TLV320ADC3140
correlated with documentation and technical support for proper use and operation ?

Or are we perhaps still in the early 80s
when the first "big case" full of cards digital recorders on tape were starting to appear ?
(derived from early computer storage cabinets on tape reel)
Like the Sony Pcm 3324 (24 tracks) followed by the 3348HR (48 tracks), Mitsubishi X800 , X850 , X880....
from which all others tape reel based, video cassette, DAT tape, up to hard drives, were then derived,
(samplers included)
all thanks to "those" AD-DA chips,

used also on most Hi-Fi "boxes" get paid like gold,
(...whose cost of the "elegant" boxes is much higher than the technological content ? )
where inside, however, there is very very little , as the channels are only 2,
with very very simple routings,

wouldn't it be very interesting to see what is soldered on "those" boards ?

 

[r2d2]

Exotic high end products must be priced very expensive or the customers will not believe that they are very good.

JR

Understood as meaning that those who buy them are not very mentally "healthy" ?

 

[JohnRoberts]

Understood as meaning that those who buy them are not very mentally "healthy" ?

I did not say that.

I am just making an observation about some customer's behavior.

JR

 

[r2d2]

I did not say that.

I am just making an observation about some customer's behavior.

JR

For those who need taxes to discharge ,
Investing in equipment renewal has a certain "advantage",
(big broadcasting networks, pa services, cinematic corporations, etc...)

so looking at what's inside the "boxes" may be of marginal interest,

not the same for those who do not have the same financial conditions,
since the discography no longer pays as it did in the vinyl era.

those on the other hand affected by "mirage" ,
condition and perspective are not quite the same .
(..probably..)

 

[SIXTYNINER]

So what makes them so expensive ?

Good question,

especially when manufacturers like Yamaha
offer digital consoles with dozens of ADA inputs, outputs,
moving faders, large chassis, large controls panel with touch display.
switches and encoders, etc..
then lot of hardware too,

for less then 3K bucks.

 

[Gold]

MSB Technologies makes very very expensive converters. DCS does as well. Both of these companies make discrete R to R ladder converters. Not from off the shelf chips.

I’ve heard an MSB D/A converter next to a Prism DA2. I use the Prism so am very familiar with it. I was very much less than impressed with the MSB. It made everything sound “washy”. Like two steps closer to a Mercury “Living Presence” recording. Not a fan at all.

The Prism isn’t cheap either but I think that is more due to the fact when it was designed over 30 years ago it took a tremendous amount of R&D. They designed the Dscope so they could test the converters.