Superlinear

I'm running a proprietary calibration profile. I can either run the VST plugin, or try to recreate a complex calibration curve by hand. Currently there are DSP and VST tools such as Voxengo SPAN and Sonarworks that I would like use with HQPlayer, and I can't. I don't write software, so if implementing VST support is a waste of time, then forgive me.

How hard is it to implement VST support? If I can run a VST calibration EQ I would be done with Jriver forever.

Yes, we'll just agree to differ. I have the right to compare what I build with commercial implementations in both performance and value. Only I can put a price on what my own time is worth. If you don't have the time or inclination to build things, there are always off the shelf products available. When I build something, I don't have to worry about the margins the manufacturer has to keep, or the cuts they have made to the design and materials in order to meet a price point. To mav52: As a fellow hunter, I am in complete agreement with what you have said. As for cars, the only work I have done is basic maintenance and the audio system.

I'll respect differences in opinion here. For me, this hobby is a labor of love. I can go out on a night with my mates and get drunk, a pint here is around half the minimum wage. No one pays me a minimum wage to get drunk. However, my amps and my DACs will last with me long after my hangover has subsided. Every time I look upon my desk, I can reflect with pride on the objects that I have created with my own hands. Why would a hobbyist spend hours to conceptualize, paint, and build his own models when he could buy ready made ones? Why would a hunter spend hours stalking his prey to fill his freezer when he could just buy shrink wrapped meat at the supermarket? Why would anyone spend the time to CREATE anything instead of just BUYING things in this consumerist society? For me the answer is simple. My hobby is my enjoyment. Work is work, family is family, and hobby is hobby. I don't constantly think of what wage I should be paid to enjoy my hobby, because I don't do this for anybody else, I do this for myself.

Personally I don't understand this kind of talk. Asking "Are DACs even necessary for good sound" already betrays a complete lack of understanding of the signal chain. This is not a pedantic observation, I'm tired of people thinking that a DAC is just a neat little box sitting on your desk. Yes, that little Realtek chip on most motherboards is in fact, a DAC. No DAC, no analog out from your digital transport. Secondly, regarding people doing their primary listening through speakers. Have people even considered the high mechanical distortion of large speaker drivers compared to headphones and IEMs? How about room modes and standing waves? Wall and floor resonance? Noise isolation? If you haven't sorted these things out, I wouldn't even talk about DACs, as it would be a waste of money in your case. But then I wouldn't have wasted $200 on a soundcard either, I would've just been honest with myself and bought a $20 Fiio DAC at a tenth of the cost, or better yet, a HifiMeDiy ESS9023 Sabre DAC for $40. The latter of which, would have been far superior in DAC performance, and would be isolated from high stray EMI/RFI within the PC. Thirdly, we all must realize that the best things in life are often the cheapest. I can build myself a good DAC for less than $100 in components. Or I can build a top of the line Buffalo DAC for less than a grand that would rival even the best commercial implementations. A good DAC is necessary for good sound, period. I've been on both sides of the fence and have built both cheap DACs and expensive DACs, but the common thread in all these DACs is that they are all well designed and well implemented. I can easily distinguish these DACs in a blind test, and I do it all the time to keep myself honest. Using strawman arguments by citing $12,000 snake oil CD players does absolutely nobody a service. This hobby does not need to be ridiculous, it is only as ridiculous as you want to make it out to be. If you seek facts instead of fiction, then you will get what you pay for, and more. I will keep my $1000, and continue to enjoy listening to my music.