Musetec (LKS) MH-DA005 DAC

I would agree that misleading or exaggerated marketing by companies is not desirable. I suspect that given a choice, most reasoned audiophiles/music lovers place far more priority on how a given audio product actually sounds since this is ostensibly why it was purchased in the first place. Sonic performance > marketing hype.

Charles

If you want to enjoy music, the key is to audition in your home, in your listening environment and with your set of gears and ears. There is no substitute, no matter what.

I agree that listening is important. For example, Revel Speakers uses extensive measurements in their product development but only release products when they come out on top of double blind listening tests against the competition. Personally, I want gear that sounds good *and* is well engineered. Call me a perfectionist if you will. This is the purpose of having equipment measured. I’d like to know whether I’m being sold a bill of goods or buying state of the art.

Frankly, I don’t understand the animosity towards @toddk31. The way I see it, he did the community a favor by purchasing a retail unit and sending it in for measurements. What might a publication receive? A special ’review sample’ that may not be indicative of the true performance you’re getting. The same goes for ASR / Amir. He measures gear that is often overlooked by the big publications and he makes all of this data available free of charge. Sure, the members of his forum can be downright nasty, but no more so than how someone here would react to an ’objectivist’ stance.

Now, I think the bigger question should be: after reading about how great this DAC sounds, the measurements show significant amounts of jitter on the digital interfaces (AES / USB). I bet none of those reviews ever mentioned anything about the effects of said jitter on the DAC's performance. Why is it that the knee-jerk reaction to less than stellar measurements is to simply throw out this tenet of audiophile wisdom?

Thank you Yage. By the way I have Revel Ultima salon 2’s as my main speakers powered by a Bryston 14bsst amp thru a Coda 07x pre.  Decent gear for any good dac.

The issue with not listening is it appears as if one has an agenda, especially since this dac has received a fair amount of positive reviews. Since all these positive reviews based on subjective listening, not listening fails to even acknowledge what we find so compelling.

I'd also think it should be of interest for measurement crowd to understand how measurements correlate to sound qualities. Do they correlate in every single component that's ever been under review? Or does measurement crowd not want to admit they may not always correlate. For any one of them to admit 005 produced quality sound would be admitting measurements don't always correlate.

I agree that listening is important. For example, Revel Speakers uses extensive measurements in their product development but only release products when they come out on top of double blind listening tests against the competition. Personally, I want gear that sounds good *and* is well engineered. Call me a perfectionist if you will. This is the purpose of having equipment measured. I’d like to know whether I’m being sold a bill of goods or buying state of the art.

For many, listening is the most effective way to find out if it sounds good or not, for some, measurements are the sole criteria, while some lie in the category of doing a bit of both. Nothing wrong with any of the approaches as long as you enjoy the hobby. Horses for courses....