Battle of the Older DAC

@decooney 

I bought one of the best measuring DACs on the market and it was based on reports over at ASR, and their opinions about the best measurements resulting in good sound. Well that turned out to be one of the least engaging components I’ve had in any of my systems to date. DAC got returned, tested fine. Refunded, thankfully.  

Some of the best DACs I’ve had were based on other people’s experiences and opinions and recommendations which turned out to be really good. Go figure.

It's funny, isn't it? Imagine buying audio gear based solely on measurements, and convincing yourself that is sounds great because someone else hooked it up, took just several data points from the many millions of pieces of data that affect how the unit actually sounds, and explained it measured great! So they blindly come to the conclusion there is no point listening to anything else, taking anyone else's advice or experiences, or actually arriving at your their own conclusions and deciding for themselves because the "numbers" don't lie! They are using their sense of sight to hear.

Talk about a doctrine. 

@mclinnguy "...and deciding for themselves because the "numbers" don’t lie!".

And the other question as to whether those measurements include all of the right things in the right way in the same manner humans are actually hearing and interpreting things. I tend to believe there a gaps in the technology, tools, and processes used with a lot more to be learned before calling it realistic or absolutely accurate.