I own 4 DACs- a mid-90’s California Audio Labs Alpha (tube amplification), a circa 2010 Halide Designs, an Audioquest Red Dragonfly, and a Schiit Yggdrasil GS. The Cal Alpha was renowned in its day for being analog like, and it’s sound remains pleasant. The Yggdrasil totally smokes it in all regards, it is profoundly more transparent with better dynamics and imaging, while remaining musical. I would be astounded if the average person off the street wouldn’t immediately notice the vast improvement of the Yggdrasil.
This thread is reminiscent of a certain Julian Hirsch, possibly the worst and most deluded audio reviewer of all time. His ears seemed to be filled with lead. His “Hirsch-Houck Labs) in his basement lacked equipment to measure dynamic features of amplifier performance, so he likened the measurements of slew-induced distortion and TIM distortion, both major advances in addressing how amplifiers actually perform, as “belief in the Easter Bunny.”
I guess that I am really tired of the willfully ignorant who claim no differences in gear when any modicum of listening or testing will show that they exist.
This thread is reminiscent of a certain Julian Hirsch, possibly the worst and most deluded audio reviewer of all time. His ears seemed to be filled with lead. His “Hirsch-Houck Labs) in his basement lacked equipment to measure dynamic features of amplifier performance, so he likened the measurements of slew-induced distortion and TIM distortion, both major advances in addressing how amplifiers actually perform, as “belief in the Easter Bunny.”
I guess that I am really tired of the willfully ignorant who claim no differences in gear when any modicum of listening or testing will show that they exist.