Some thoughts on ASR and the reviews

For instance, almost all the reviews of the Topping gear say it is very detailed but lacking in soul, ambience, subtly, macro dynamics, imaging, decay, etc.  They all came to this on their own.  They agree.  AND THEY LISTENED.

Quick look at traditional press reviews on Topping easily invalidates your claim.  Check out KR's review of Topping DM-7 multichannel DAC in Stereophile magazine.

"On first hearing with the DM7, I was almost certain my streamer had swerved and served up something from a different album when, after a half-dozen instrumental tracks, Ms. Perbost simply appeared in my room just left of center. "

[...]

"I also tried the DM7 with older favorites, and it didn't disappoint. It fully revealed the spacious, warm acoustic and the fully present trio on The Elder (Polarity, Hoff Ensemble, rip from 2L 2L-145-SACD). Particularly notable here, and also on Justice, is the delineation and weight of the bass and drums. Willie Nelson's Night and Day, which is recorded with the band fully surrounding the listener, shows that the DM7 can create a convincing immersive experience. I hear instruments, discretely and realistically rendered, all around me, including in the wide spaces between the front and rear speakers in my 5.3 system."

"I came back to René Jacobs's rethinking of Der Freischütz (Harmonia Mundi HMM90270001, 2 CDs), which so impressed me when I reviewed the KEF Blade Metas. Heard now with the resident Revels and the Topping DM7 (in place of the exaSound s88), it was no less impressive. The clear and varied voices are well-defined within a soundstage that's wide and deep, and the effects are convincing. In the Wolf's Glen scene, the space and chorus expand in size, including height, and the orchestra is convincingly spooky and dramatic. From just two channels, the DM7 conveys the full sense of the theatrical events with a perfect integration of pit and stage."

JA had this to say about its objective performance:

"The Topping DM7's measured performance is superb, even without taking its affordable price into account.—John Atkinson"

Here is Absolute Sound Review by Steve Stone of Topping D90SE, directly contradicting your claim:

"Sound

This is the section where I’m sure a number of readers are hoping that I discover that the D90SE, despite its wonderous specifications, sounds just OK. Sorry, but that was not the case. What I heard was reference-level digital reproduction without any sonic bromides. If the absence of coloration, individualistic character, or “house sound” was the goal, the D90SE has clearly achieved it. During my listening time with the D90SE I was never able to identify anything I would characterize as deviations from tonal neutrality. To my ears, the D90SE is very much in the “straight no chaser” school of DACs, like Benchmark or Bryston. If you need a more euphonic sonic output, the D90SE will not help you get to that place.

Since I have quite a number of recordings that I made of live performances of classical orchestras, chamber groups, Bluegrass ensembles, and solo recitals, I have a complete set of listening tools that I know well. Also, I know what the recording chain was, and what the various sonic “tells” are on different recordings. Throughout my listening sessions using my own material, I was continually encouraged to hear that the D90SE neither added nor subtracted from the spatial, textural, or rhythmic character of the performances. One of the unique recordings I have is one that I made at the Rockygrass Academy several years ago of Chris Thile playing and commenting on my then recently acquired 1930 Gibson F-5 mandolin. The D90SE did a superlative job of retaining all the harmonic characteristics of both Chris’ voice and my mandolin. [Steven is a noted expert on guitars and mandolins, and is a long-time contributor to Vintage Guitar magazine. —RH] 

As usual when I listen, I’m primarily listening for faults rather than for whether a particular recording sounds more real on one piece of gear than another. But one performance arena where the D90SE ranks as “jaw-dropping” is its silence. In a properly configured system with no additive noise such as low-level hums or buzzes, listening through the D90SE will deliver the “blackest blacks” (if you wish to define signal-to-noise in terms of colors) you will hear from any DAC. In a system where I can place my ear within an inch of my loudspeaker’s drivers, I heard nothing, not even a hiss; when I switched from the D90SE as an input source to a shorted input source, there was absolutely no difference in base noise levels. On many commercial recordings the difference between the absolute silence of the D90SE and the base-level “silence” of the recording was noticeable, always in favor of the D90SE. If your sonic goal is to cobble together the quietest, most noise-free system possible, the D90SE ranks as a first-call player."

He goes to do an AB test against another DAC and reports:

"After multiple listening sessions I was forced to conclude that I could not tell any sonic difference between the sound of the Topping D90SE and the Gustard X-16. Both offer a clear view of the musical event without any house-sound or euphonic colorations. Both produced the same imaging characteristics in terms of depth, width, image focus, and dynamic acuity. Hard as I tried, I could not discern any sonic differences I could regularly identify."

And this in conclusion:

"I will admit that when considering the Topping D90SE it’s hard not to scream: “ENDGAME DAC!” And begin jumping around a la Tom Cruise in Risky Business. But since I am, first and foremost a fully grown old gent, I won’t give in to this vile temptation. But I will go on the record that if a neutral, high-resolution, modern, well-configured DAC that sounds as true to source material as any I’ve ever heard is something you are seeking, the D90SE could easily qualify as your new reference DAC."

Stereophile and Absolute Sound are the top two magazines when it comes to high--end audio.  Both massively contradict your claim. Both rave about qualities you claim Topping doesn't have.

I will quote one more from Secrets of High Fidelity.

"A nice selection of music to listen to via headphones and draw by. Routing the D90SE’s analog out to my STAX headphone amp and earspeakers, I was treated to a stone quiet background from which John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, and the New York Philharmonic worked. The details in Yo-Yo Ma’s playing throughout “The Concerto for Cello and Orchestra” were frankly astonishing. There was no hint of etch or harshness in the sound of any of the strings, horns, or background percussion. The Topping provided everything my electrostatic headphones and amp needed for them to do their effortless magic with this music. Ma’s and the Philharmonic’s rendition of “the theme from Schindler’s List” simply gave me chills. Sublime stuff this.

I need to thank fellow reviewer Gene Hopstetter for turning me on to this album. A beautiful recording of a piano sensitively played. Again the Topping D90SE did nothing to enhance, detract, or editorialize the glorious spacious piano notes that came forth from this performance. The dynamics from the piano seemed completely natural and unencumbered. “Etude n.6” was just a powerhouse tour de force that sounded huge, whether I used the D90SE with my STAX headphones or in my main system with speakers. Transparent in the extreme."

He concludes thusly:

"I’m finding it very difficult to find fault with the Topping D90SE DAC. It is well made, has superb measured performance, sounds as transparent and devoid of coloration as any other DAC that I have come across, and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg."

[...]

"The Topping D90SE is a DAC for listeners who want nothing to get in between them and their music. It reveals all without adding anything that shouldn’t be there. It is very much the ultimate textbook DAC that almost anyone can afford. Highly Recommended."

@amir_asr you have uncanny "ability" to misconstrue the arguments presented to you throughout this lengthy thread. It is either due to lack of comprehension or a need of "proving" your ideas to be true. Most likely the latter, since you project yourself as the only one in the know and everybody who disagrees does not have a clue. How about to agree that we disagree. Those who follow their senses to enjoy reproduction of music by audio equipment are not harming anybody, but you do disservice to people who limit themselves in pursue of such an enjoyment following your ideas of "only measurements matter". 

you have uncanny "ability" to misconstrue the arguments presented to you throughout this lengthy thread. It is either due to lack of comprehension or a need of "proving" your ideas to be true. Most likely the latter, since you project yourself as the only one in the know and everybody who disagrees does not have a clue. How about to agree that we disagree. Those who follow their senses to enjoy reproduction of music by audio equipment are not harming anybody, but you do disservice to people who limit themselves in pursue of such an enjoyment following your ideas of "only measurements matter". 

I am doing that?  How many times have I talked about proper listening tests?  I have posted videos how to do that properly. I have posted my own listening tests.  I have repeatedly explained how we rely on more than measurements to including engineering knowledge and science to determine fidelity.  Yet you go and repeat that made up talking point that "only measurements matter?"

If you can't even phrase what is different about us by making things up like this, why do you think we can "agree to disagree?"  The first step in that is understanding the other person's position.  I know you all's position.  I have lived it for almost a decade in the last forum I co-founded. You all need to make a modicum of effort to correctly state what we are about.

So once more: listening is great.  I do it in almost every other review. Until you learn how to do this right, you are going to arrive at wrong conclusions about audio.  Measuring is an alternative to listening that can bring significant insight into design and execution of an audio device.  When science and engineering is applied to it, it provides a powerful conclusion as to validity of company claims to fidelity. 

As to "harming anything," you all created this thread and started to post misinformation about ASR and I.  What do you call this if it is not harming?

It is so funny that you quote the midfi reviewers.......Steven Stone, Kalman....secrets of home theater.....etc.  These guys only listen to 1% of what is out there...........Try looking around at reviews done by people who are not paid to rave about midfi stuff and have access to other more expensive gear.  You will find out what these many hear.....not what some "got to sell some copy and ads magazine says".......Go on.....do a search....everything I said is what they all say.....the mid fi guys will sell you anything.....Just like you do.  You should join Stereophile as the midfi king (with Kalman and Steven you guys could be the three musketeers of midfi....saving the world.  What a joke......keep up the lies.....it is entertaining.  However, why don't you actually listen to all the super measuring DACs one after another sighted and tell us what you hear.......I am sure you will tell us they are all the same...and the same as the $150K DAC that Robert Harley uses.....However, all the serious listeners in the world will say they all sound different from each other.  But you will not listen.....and again, if you did....you would have your hands over your ears to make sure you cannot hear anything...

Here is a true story about you (worth repeating for it is so true)......it stars someone else but you are the same as him.  Audiophile A was invited over to Audiophile B house for a listening session.  He brought along a newby (audiophile D) that he was trying to indoctronate about his belief that all wires sounded the same.  There was also Audiophile C there that brought a cable that he wanted to A/B with Audiophile Bs cable.  When they went to do the A/B........Audiophile A went into the kitchen (God forbid he be in the same room where they are doing listening tests with wire!).  He heard all their comments from the kitchen (all three were in agreement.....about the sound differences and those differences were quite dramatic).  When Audiophile A came back from his cave no one said anything to him.....after all....what is there to say?.....except...."I guess you don't want to know whether your long held belief is true or not".  This is you......head in the sand.....hands over your ears....screeming that you are right, right right......However, not only are you wrong, but you are seiously limiting your love, joy and bliss by promoting a lowering of the possibilities of things.  You are acting like a downer......you have very little to give (all your reviews are the same).....You only serve those who already believe the way you do.......they buy their mid fi stuff and feel that it is the best.....because they all have their heads in the sand, as well.  Very sad.  You like doing your own thing......but truth needs to be served.  You have very little. 

Go on, show us some more graphs and quotes that "you think" prove you are right and prove that 250,000 audiophiles are really just fools.  Amir says "No frickin way can people hear differences.....you cannot trust your ears.....you must, must, must do double blind testing over and over and over and over again to know anything.  We are just human failure machines.....we cannot perceive truth directly....we have to trust a machine (a measurement machine).....we are just another brick in the wall.  Only trust me." 

I trust me.....the me that listens.....I trust you....the you who listens.....most people do not lie about what they hear.  I do not trust someone that does not listen and who preaches what is obviously (to those of us that listen) lies.

@ricevs is this the Agon version of Road Rage?