There are price points in every hobby, I'm glad there are $50 DAC's all the way up to $150,000 DAC's. Just because there are expensive audio equipment doesn't mean you have to buy it.
Amir and Blind Testing
Let me start by saying I like watching Amir from ASR, so please let’s not get harsh or the thread will be deleted. Many times, Amir has noted that when we’re inserting a new component in our system, our brains go into (to paraphrase) “analytical mode” and we start hearing imaginary improvements. He has reiterated this many times, saying that when he switched to an expensive cable he heard improvements, but when he switched back to the cheap one, he also heard improvements because the brain switches from “music enjoyment mode” to “analytical mode.” Following this logic, which I agree with, wouldn’t blind testing, or any A/B testing be compromised because our brains are always in analytical mode and therefore feeding us inaccurate data? Seems to me you need to relax for a few hours at least and listen to a variety of music before your brain can accurately assess whether something is an actual improvement. Perhaps A/B testing is a strawman argument, because the human brain is not a spectrum analyzer. We are too affected by our biases to come up with any valid data. Maybe.
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According to this thread, Amir has some shady practices. If you scroll down to post 10 or 11 Skem Yuno talks about a DAC that AMIR used for 21 years until he finally measure it and then decided to dump it. That is very weird if you ask me. So, just because it measures badly all the sudden it’s a bad DAC? That’s pretty laughable. So, all he doing is taking measurements and according to him, if something measure bad that means the product is bad and if it measure good that means a product is good. It’s like the guy has not common sense.
He also misleads people in the way that he never seems to share what gear he’s using during his listening tests, so you have no way of knowing he’s matching products properly. He apparently used a pair of Infinity R253’s to evaluate a Dynaco VTA ST-70. Is this guy serious? |
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An audiophile switch, in my case the Etheregen, transformed my digital playback to the point where it became easy to listen to with almost every recording, in an analog way that I like to refer to as creamy. While I believe one could measure the jitter reduction of the unit, if I were to measure the audio output of my DAC, I don’t believe the change would show up on an audio spectrum or waveform, or be measurable at all! I look at measurements as an afterthought and a guide to support what I might be hearing sonically, if I’m interested in a product. I’ve posted previously Bascome King saying the best measuring amp he ever tested didn’t sound good. The Etheregen was designed by John Swenson one of the top guys in the commercial switch industry, and took over two years to design and has advanced engineering and galvanic isolation. I don’t get get - people who consider themselves audiophiles, but who seem to have their ears closed. If a product or tweak doesn’t benefit your system, that fine. It’s worthwhile reading people’s findings. But how can you claim that it isn’t benefitting my system and my listening experience?
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