Tablix
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2011
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you get more bang for your buck with an audio interface than you do with a "audiophile" dac as software companies such as protools or ableton actually subsidize the margins by bundling their "free" versions of recording software with them. For example ableton want to sell you ableton live (recording software) so they bundle a "lite" version to package with the focusrite range in the hope they sell the full version later. Because both hardware and software manufacturer are selling to the same customers they lock in brand loyalty so it makes sense for them both to cut margins as fine as possible to compete in the pro-audio world. An audiophile DAC is selling to a niche market where people pay for "features" that make almost zero difference to the average consumer, yet people will pay a premium.
A metaphore, audio VW and skoda all make pretty run of the mill cars from the same chasis' and are bought by most people, consider this the home hi-fi.
Then you get the audiophile comparison would be those buying the ferrari's or the porches, the pro audio market in this analogy would be a caterham super 7. Its not the fastest or the most expensive but for the same money as a large family car you get performance 10% less than the Ferrari.
The question is where your budget fits, and what your desires are
A metaphore, audio VW and skoda all make pretty run of the mill cars from the same chasis' and are bought by most people, consider this the home hi-fi.
Then you get the audiophile comparison would be those buying the ferrari's or the porches, the pro audio market in this analogy would be a caterham super 7. Its not the fastest or the most expensive but for the same money as a large family car you get performance 10% less than the Ferrari.
The question is where your budget fits, and what your desires are