Single Ended DAC vs Dual Differential XLR DAC

Member Teajay did a review of the balanced Pagoda for Stereo Times that would provide some valuable insights for you.  Best of luck. 

This hobby would suck if I didn’t trust my ears enough and to the point where I had to rely on measurements to tell me what’s good or not.  Sad.  Truly sad.  I look at measurements too, but Jeez. 

What's fascinates me about Amir and ASR in general is the lack of actual listening to the product he's measuring. 

BINGO!!!  In his world, measurements trump listening.  He can’t trust his own ears and let’s measurements dictate what must sound good.  Measurements are important, but they’re not everything.  

Measurements, done correctly, do not lie.

Nor do they the whole story.

I believe that most audio purchases are made with relatively little prior listening, and are based on reading reviews. Many of those reviews are highly suspect and involve little in the way of critical listening or critical comparison.

Agree with this big time and is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. TAS is a main offender of not doing any relevant comparisons or even disclosing what equipment is in the review system and I’d never rely on one of their “reviews” to form an opinion on a product. However, there are some good, rigorous reviewers out there who I find very helpful, so it’s important to find the more reputable reviewers out there and just ignore the trash.