Good measuring DACs vs.

@koestner 1+

Some manufacturers intentionally add harmonic distortion to amplifiers because many audiophiles like it. Not to mention that most audiophiles are trying to judge equipment through speaker/rooms that have insane amounts of distortion. It is like trying to evaluate a photograph through a foggy window. Even with the very best systems one has to be careful.  Then there are the effects of price and appearance on audiophile psychology, expectation bias and so forth.  Put in a properly blinded situation I doubt any of us could reliably identify any of these DACs. What any piece of audio electronics sounds like, with the exception of amplifiers, is more a matter of psychology than anything else. 

If measurements are meaningless, an audiophile's opinion in regards to sound quality is worthless...except mine.

Because it's all subjective. I'm sure that as many people that love the Mola Mola & Benchmark there are equal amount of people (or more) that don't care for it. Doesn't make either person right or wrong. 

You could almost drop it into 2 different classes of people. It would be oversimplifying it but we have those that like the utmost transparency and others that prefer the sound of a little distortion. Not noise generated by power supplies or internals but distortion in the form of harmonics..which a little bit of certain order harmonics don't sound like distortion in the way many might think. Still distortion though. 

I do feel that this is where measurements can be useful. Actually I'm of the belief that all data and measurements are useful.. it also keeps manufacturers honest or helps us know which one's make BS claims. Trust your ears as they say, but also don't discredit measurements and data..they can tell you a lot about a product. You don't have to be of the mindset that perfect measurements mean perfect sound. Well to some people it does but it's all subjective at that point, so whatever. 

Personally I like a dac with upwards of 20bits of dynamic range or "state-of-the-art measured performance". Clean and transparent. I can add some flavor or distortion somewhere else down the signal line. 

Do you buy a painting based on the purity of the oils used??

I sent back a few of the aforementioned great measuring DACs and kept the ones that measured worse. Another lesson in learning that listening matters, a lot.

@carlsbad2 Ford truck can definitely pull heavier cargo than Ferrari. You can’t compare toy to a tool. Same thing in audio. Ferrari is fast toy for a couple of people for entertainment purposes only, while Ford truck is a tool designed for work with various pulling or hauling tasks depending on model besides taking you from point A to point B. According to traffic rules and regulations, Ferrari will make it from Miami to Houston approximately as fast as Ford F150. Tools usually have more genuine and descriptive measurement results posted on data sheet while audio toys for baby boomers rich and foolish children usually post "advertised version" of measurements.