A DAC that crushes price vs. performance ratio

Hi Teajay,
I also have long ago grown tired of the measurements versus listening debates. Interestingly I heard a system that used a Benchmark DAC. My listening impression matches your description. You had the added advantage of hearing it in your own system. In my case I can’t pinpoint how much I heard that could be attributed to the Benchmark DAC. Nonetheless what I heard was clinical, sterile and lifeless. If some consider this type of presentation accurate and transparent okay, that’s their call and I just leave it at that. I acknowledge we all have our specific preferences.

I want to hear the full bodied tone,rich color/harmonics/overtones and vividness that’s so obviously present when listening to live musicians and vocalists. I want the life, excitement, engagement and emotion, not flat, colorless and analytical despite the stated excellent measurements. In essence I'm seeking a 'natural ' presentation/sound quality.   It is certainly true, "to each their own".
Charles

Timbre is an inherent quality of real musical instruments, and a more correct analogy is that it’s what makes one piano sounds different than another piano. Timbre is not distortion; a piano is supposed to sound like a piano, not a pure tone from a frequency generator

 
 
So, harmonics? Do you know what THD stands for?

mzkmxcv

So, harmonics? Do you know what THD stands for?

Do you actually believe that all harmonics are distortion?

@lordcloud  
 
Amir of ASR and John Atkinson of Stereophile all publish their test gear, and measurements of the same products get very similar/identical results.  
  
And yes, if we measure all variables, we can accurately describe what it will (or won’t) sound like.

Measurements cannot accurately tell you what a piece of equipment will sound like. Good lord.