Speaking of the HRT Music Streamer HD Vladimir, did you see the current Stereophile review of that device?
Atkinson indicates "superb (20-bit) resolution and low noise" as well as "excellent" J-Test data, then goes on to discuss a "peculiar behavior with high-level 19 and 20kHz tones to contend with," which manifests as 3rd order harmonics in the 19.1kHz tone at -66dB. He sort of implies this behavior should not be audible by saying "distortion is low at all frequencies," and that "It is very unlikely for music to contain high-level tones at the top of the audioband," and he then blames it "perhaps" on the digital filter.
Dudley (the reviewer) goes on to list song after song where he portrays the high frequencies to sound every sort of nasty just short of sizzling bacon and, in the end, says he prefers his Halide DAC HD, which measured good last August but was beat by the HRT unit in pretty much every measurement category (although JA called the Halide measurements "superb" and characterized the HRT HD measurements as "significantly better than the Music Streamer Pro" - a subtle slam?). At the end of the HRT review, JA sort of explains Dudley's comparison by mentioning the Halide has the "slow-rolloff reconstruction filter" that "listeners seem to like."
In my opinion, this is why folks need to be very careful with reviews. Heck, I probably cannot even hear anywhere near 20kHz, much less a distortion artifact buried at -66dB! Dudley's issue with high frequencies, stated as it was, could result in significant lost sales for HRT.
I am not disputing what Dudley heard but, if it were me, and if I saw JA's generally great measurements, as well as the glowing reviews of the unit by Alan Sircom at HiFi+, Tom Gibbs at Positive Feedback, and Neil Gader at TAS, at a minimum I would want to let someone else listen to the unit in a different system to rule out system issues and to confirm what I was hearing. The review did not indicate that JA actually listened to the device in his system but, if I were editor and saw that conclusion, I would want a confirmation before publishing.
I work in an industry where our "product" is our professional recommendation (intellectual property). We have a second review of every project and if there is not consensus, we pull in more folks to make sure we have it right. I can certainly understand why manufacturers are afraid of reviews where a published opinion, significantly affecting potential sales, is based solely on the listening of one individual through a single audio system.
I will be doing my own listening to the HRT HD soon so I appreciate that Alan Sircom introduced us to the benefits of using a USB power device, since I will be trying the HD with the new ifi unit which also offers galvanic isolation. I can also relate to Tom Gibb's comment that, "Music Streamer HD - through it, everything just sounds more like music," since I have always found that to be true of Kevin Halverson's digital offerings.
