edwardthern wrote: > The vast majority of people share the same subjective opinion. Anyone > can read reviews from various products, in this case I will stick with > the Audiogd Dacs. General consensus among most everyone that I have read > are the same relating to the sound signature of the Sabre, PCM1704 and > Wolfson Dacs. All three share the same topology and output > stages....meaning that the only discernible difference is the Dac chip. > > This whole topic points to a larger more worrisome issue. This is the > hardness and rigidity of human nature and how they respond to others > with vastly different perspectives. > > Subjective opinions being valid ONLY for the individual perceiving the > difference may be true, however, the worrying part is others being > unwilling to verify this perception [out of spite, hate or other > reasons]...this is to say, yes YOU or anyone could listen to the same > Dacs in question and report back their perceptions...if they are brave > enough and honest enough.
If you think that "the vast majority of people share the same subjective opinion" then you are not reading the same magazines, articles and forums that I see. Yes, a lot of people are convinced they hear differences among DACs, but here's the rub -- there is very little consistency in terms of what they hear and which unit they prefer. The preference that any one listener has for this unit over that one is a complete roll of the dice. As stated previously, absent coaching and suggestions, the subjective preferences of one person simply do not tell us what another person will prefer. As to the "hardness and rigidity of human nature", you are close to putting yourself in protected snowflake territory. In looking back at this thread, no one, and least of all me, has said that you're not hearing what you hear, and that you shouldn't buy what you like. The point I've tried to make is that your perception may have nothing to do with the particular parts used in your DAC and may be more due to other subjective factors. Once again, a subjectivist refuses to believe that it is possible for non-audio subjective factors to affect his perception. I consider it not at all surprising that when blind testing is done, the vast differences between different units reported during sighted testing magically fade. However, subjectivists always get their magnifying glass out, looking for any excuse possible to discount their reduced ability to tell things apart when they can't also see them or know at the moment which brand they are listening to. In my case, it doesn't bother me that my other senses influence my hearing perception. And your put-down -- that perhaps I and others are not "brave enough" to actually listen to various DACs and report what we perceive -- is a simply rude. I've got a Bel Canto C5i with a built-in DAC and am perfectly happy with it. I've had others including Lavry and PS Audio units in the past as well as using the built-in decoders in various CD players and streamers. Among the quality units, I just find they don't much affect my enjoyment of music. Right now I can spot differences in microphone types and positions used on recordings along with how they were mixed and processed. Good recordings sound wonderfully natural and bad recordings sound bad, but I clearly hear what's on the recording and I enjoy the experience if I like the music. And I never look for my equipment to fix a bad recording. Now, since I'm enjoying the music I play on my system, tell me again why I should be dissatisfied and start a new DAC search based on your subjective opinion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ mlsstl's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=9598 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=106575 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
