It's always unfortunate when these types of situations take place. They tend to detract from what is an otherwise wonderful hobby.
This particular situation regarding a reviewer of the dCS Bartock dac , Cameron, is not unique. High End audio companies that have the financial resources to pay for ads in the audio magazines that review their products have always maintained an advantage over those companies that do not have such resources.
Case in point. Several years ago (before the advent of the Internet and Internet commerce) I had a conversation with the owner of a small audio company that manufactured dac's. At the time I had asked him why it took so long for him to get a review of his product in a well known Hi-Fi magazine like The Absolute Sound.
His reply was simple. He said that it was nearly impossible for him to get an audio product reviewed unless he paid to advertise in an audio magazine. And that given that his company had a very limited advertising budget, he found it difficult to compete with larger and better known audio companies like Mark Levinson and Krell; whose advertising budgets greatly exceeded his own.
The Headphone Company's stance in regard to the dCS situation is a refreshing change. Especially since The Headphone Company has been selling dCS products, and has now decided to part ways with them over this particular situation with the audio reviewer, Cameron.
In a day and age where almost every audio review is positive, it is nice to see reviewers like Cameron, who give a truthful appraisal of a component, describing both its positive and negative attributes. And it is equally encouraging to see a Hi-End Audio dealer like The Headphone Company coming to the defense of an audio reviewer, who is just trying to do his job.
