DAC Measurements vs Actual Experience

Yes, of course, perception and measurement can, and in many situation, actually WILL,
 disagree. WHY?

In my experience it is something to take as a ’given’, something to accept - not easy actually.
Something even more hard to learn is, the level of ’SQ limitation’ of one’s front-end feeding one’s speakers - THIS includes your cable/system synergies, big time!

Something I had to learn quite recently after over 25 years of looking - in the wrong places too.

In my case, I had taken for granted that my Transparent Ultra, pre to amp, was ’beyond reproach’.
Turns out that was not quite so!

A more like accidental change, of this item (Transparent), for a Madrigal HPC XLR (25 years old!) affected my digital (and analogue) performance most profoundly!

Former harsh like digital sounds, trying to mellow down (make mor 'musical') by e.g. CDP interconnects, using another DAC, with very pricy Transparent Reference digital interconnect, and on - all was of rather marginal outcome.

The ’right’ pre to amp interconnect, all of the sudden, ’changed’ digital harshness into... previously unheard DETAIL, AIR, TONALITY, CLARITY etc.! 

So, the looking for more ’warmth’ in digital reproduction, in this case turned out to be just a band-aid for low cable/system synergy.
This is just an example for what can happen if one ’looks’ in the wrong place - based on some long held assumptions.

I hope this makes some sense, as its not a very easy thing to get accross.
Michélle 🇿🇦

Thank you all for your insightful responses! 

The synergy between components to one another and the interconnects between them, as mentioned in Michélle's response, is something for which I have great respect. Sadly, it's often blind luck that ends up fixing the problem for me. At least in this case I have an apple to compare to another apple, and I *know* the specific component in the system that's responsible for the change in sound. My collection of audiophile quality cables is small (limited to the Nordost Blue Heavens that I'm currently using, a few offering from Tributaries that have never really sounded good to me, and a few sets of Mogami Gold that mostly see use in the music studio). I feel that, while adding cables to the comparison might not be useful at this point, I might swap them out later in this process and see what the results are. 

The sound of the PS Audio is not what I'd call vinyl-like. And I hesitate to describe it as warm. It definitely has the flavor of a solid state device, but manages not to be "out front" nearly as much as the Benchmark. Again, the level of noise isn't perceptibly different than that of the Benchmark in my current system, which is to say that I cannot detect any noise whatsoever in either DAC. 

And with that in mind, I've decided to swap out the Magnepans for Klipsch LaScalas and see if an extremely efficient horn speaker can shed any light on the noise and dynamic range issues. Or, at the very least, see if any differences are revealed between the two DACs in those specific categories while using the other speakers. Who knows? Maybe that will bridge the gap between the measurements and my perception, even if I may actually be getting to the point (albeit slowly) where I no longer put a premium on measurements in choosing audio components. 

I have owned the DAC3 HGC + AHB2 and now the HPA4 preamp + DAC3B. The HPA4 is incredible and makes the DAC3B sound great. It sounds better than the DAC3 HGC. This preamp is so good that I am buying another LA4 (no headphone) for my downstairs system to be paired with some unknown amp.

My upstairs system will be HPA4 + DAC3B + CODA #16.At one time I I was thinking of spending more on a DAC, but now that ship has sailed. I am very happy with this combo.

Get a 30 day trial of the LA4 or HPA4 and be blown away. I took a chance and bought the HPA4 even though I hated headphones. I bought the Meze Empyprean headphones to pair with the HPA4 and DAC3B. It has become a problem every night for me in that I keep saying let’s play one more album, even at 1AM. Just an amazing headphone system I lucked into.

I should add that the HPA4 + Meze have become a gateway headphone drug for me. I just bought a Bryston BHA-1 headphone amp + preamp for a second bedroom. I would have bought another HPA4 for this system but I got the BHA-1 for 1/3 the price. I have not heard it yet, being delivered next week.

BTW - I got the DAC3B for $1560 from a dealer. No 30 day trial for me, since I had prior experience with the DAC3 HGC.

BTW2- If anyone is interested in the Meze. The stock cable is awful compared to the $400 WyWire Platinum XLR I got for it.

Again, the level of noise isn't perceptibly different than that of the Benchmark in my current system

If that were the case they would sound the same since the Benchmark is considered transparent. The "noise" would not be perceived as noise like hiss or hum  but a certain sound like relaxed, reserved, laid back, limited dynamic range. 

I’ve owned the Benchmark it’s brutally honest if the source is lousy, harsh, bright then that’s what you get . If the source is great then it gives you great. There’s no middle ground with Benchmark that’s the way it’s designed and marketed. That’s what I loved about it and it’s what I still get since the DAC in my integrated is transparent. PS Audio is on the other end of the spectrum as you've pointed out.