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A DAC that crushes price vs. performance ratio

I felt strongly that I wanted to inform the Gon members about a new DAC that ranks with the very best on the market regarding performance, but costs around $2,000.00.  The Lab12 DAC1 SE was compared to three reference level DACS that retail for over $12.000.00 in my review for hometheaterreview.com and was at least on the same level sonicly, if not better.  This DAC from Greece is not just "good for the money" but competes with virtually anything on the market regardless of price!

For all the details about the Lab12 DAC1 SE performance and what other DACS it was compared to take a look at the review.  If you are shopping/looking for a new digital front end to drive your system, you owe it to yourself to check this DAC out, unless you like to spend tons of more $ without getting better performance.
teajay
Post removed 
toddrhodes
49 posts
 
Is it wrong though, to suggest that a sensory "answer" can differ from reality? Cilantro tastes like soap to some, not to others. It's how we're wired to experience that specific stimuli. So you're basically the guy telling someone with that gene - "No, it doesn't taste like that; finite element analysis says it tastes like this, so you're wrong." 

That you don't have the open mind to accept that, and let other people be and do as they please, is at least somewhat upsetting. Unless those other people are using your money to buy the things they want, regardless what the specs say. If that's the case, then by all means carry on.
janehamble
123 posts
 

@mzkmxcv  That's great to hear.  So what exactly are the variables that actually matter in order to achieve better sonic performance? 

Loudspeakers? Presumably they matter

The rest?  Not really

So rather than "everything matters" you would be proponent of "nothing matters"?  (except your choice of speakers)

Ag insider logo xs@2x
cleeds
5,980 posts
 
mzkmxcv
 ... if we measure all variables, we can accurately describe what it will (or won’t) sound like.
That's an extraordinary claim, and contradicts what many experienced designers of audio components think.  Do you have a list of "all variables" that you would require to "accurately describe" what a component would sound like?
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,903 posts
 
I don't know anyone who listens to the test tones that reviewers use to determine how good, or bad, a piece of equipment performs. Those test tones are not representative of any piece of music that I know of. They're a metric that has been agreed upon as a standard to go by and are not, by any means, the last word. The final arbiter are our ears. 

That's why most competent manufacturers do their final tuning by ear, using the tests as a starting point. One can reverse engineer a posit that a certain piece of gear will sound good based on a test tone but it is never conclusive. 

Just look at all the caveats reviewers cite after learning that a lot of gear measured and tested doesn't correlate to how it sounds (or should). We've all read such reviews. 

All the best,
Nonoise
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