Best practices when conducting a DAC comparison

How can somebody say that there will only be tiny differences between dacs? Maybe this guy hasn’t heard a lot of dacs. There can be big differences between dacs. Also, I don’t agree that you have to use the same cable or input to compare different dacs. If you are only using usb, then sure you have no choice, but if you have an option of using i2s, toslink, or spdif, then I would use the cable that the dac prefers because you want the best sounding dac that you can afford. I would never go back to usb, and I would tend to use i2s if possible.
Also, ignore all the measurement specs that some reviewers post, IMO they are worthless. Who cares if 1 dac has .0001% distortion and the other has .0005%, you think you are going to hear that? That’s like asking the Porsche dealer to give you a readout of the compression of each cylinder before you buy a new Porsche. You have the best instruments to do your evaluation and that your ears.

What I haven’t seen is your requirements for the dac and this is where you can get huge differences. Do you want the dac to support MQA? DSD and which resolution? I have some MQA tracks that surpass vinyl by not a small margin.
I would make sure that your volume levels are set the same and then test each dac with your favorite music using various inputs unless you are stuck with only 1 interface.

Consumer benefits of MQA? Have you actually listened to MQA and compared this to other mediums or are you listening to other posters remarks? Again, I don’t listen to what other people say about new technologies because there are many times they are slanted. Some people are still pissed off from the sacd/dvd-audio debacle and won’t consider any new medium, or people way over the top about every new technology. The best thing to do is hear it for yourself using your own equipment in your own room. My buddy had 5 different dacs on loan to him so he could evaluate them with his own equipment, in his room, and using his music. This is the best way to evaluate a piece of equipment.

So if a recent blind test indicated that piece ‘A’ is the best, would you go out and buy this without hearing it 1st? I don’t give a s$&# if a group or a reviewer indicates this it that, I would have to listen to it 1st before spending a dime on it.
if my ears hear a difference between pcm versions, or DSD, flac/aiff, or MQA, then I will pursue that format.

Why would anybody buy a dac without MQA support? Just a few years ago, you probably had the same naysayers about DSD as you do about MQA. A good DSD cut is far superior than the same 16/44 cut. If you purchase an expensive dac today without MQA support nor the opportunity for a future upgrade, your dac will be a paperweight in just a short period of time. So not only will you be wasting your $, you will be missing out on hearing some great music!