Let's keep things in perspective. For thirty years Stereophile has measured and analyzed the measurements of tube amps by the same standards as SS amps and found them wanting-often in contrast to the listening impressions. For twenty years Stereophile has done the same with DAC's. But with DAC's the listening impressions are often over-the-top favorable irrespective of whether they measure poorly or well. What it tells me-but may not tell you-is that the reviewers who rave about the DAC's that measure "superbly" have not lived with them long enough to hear how boring/sterile/lifeless they are.
Has the ASR review/hatchet job on the Musetec MH-DA005 Changed Anyone's Mind?
A little over a year ago, after seeing so many glowing reviews of the 005 on this and other fora, I bought the DAC and thought it made a great improvement over my Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ (which I now use on my #2 system). Recently, I came across the ASR review, which concludes that the 005 is a piece of crap. I know that ASR has a dubious (at best) reputation in this forum, but I wonder if its review has caused anyone to have second thoughts about the Musetec. I confess I was initially concerned by questions like, why hasn't Musetec responded to the horrible ASR review, if it is inaccurate? But, then, every time I listen to my system with the 005 DAC in it, it sounds glorious. Obviously, the guidance, "trust what your hear" is important, but I'm not sure I'd be as trustful of my ears if the negative technical review came from, say, John Atkinson, who has far more professional legitimacy in measuring equipment. I confess I have one more than one occasion refrained from buying a certain item because of his test results. (Where I live, it is not feasible to listen to amps in stores before buying, and one quickly grows weary of buying and returning expensive equipment on line, especially equipment that does not have stellar subjective and objective accolades).