Thoughts on Audio Equipment Reviews
While researching information about each of the DACs I compared, I came to appreciate the reviewers who authored the reviews that I linked with my write-ups. No different from my comments in this thread, none of them are a “final authority” on audio subjects or the particular objects of their reviews, and readers should be careful not to mistake a review for fact. Reviews are more like editorials, which are basically opinions, and inherently slanted toward the proclivity, or bias, of the reviewer.
One commonality to most reviews seems to be a reluctance by the reviewer to overstate weaknesses in the gear under review. IMO, this is not a failing of the review, but something that requires the reader to be more sensitive to the words written and sometimes “read between the lines” to identify both negative as well as positive aspects of the equipment being reviewed. It is almost impossible for someone, such as a reviewer, to pick winners and losers for somebody else, any more than I can tell you what type of coffee you like. In other words, just because a reviewer says something sounds “great” doesn’t necessarily mean you will agree when you hear it in your system. On the other side of that coin, just because the reviewer finds some aspect of the subject equipment to sound off, not to their liking, or deficient in some way, doesn’t mean everyone will view it the same.
I believe most reviewers are sensitive to the potential impact their words have on consumer purchases and the resulting tangible financial impact that can have on manufacturers. Therefore, most are at least careful not to overplay possible negatives that may be reflective of their personal preferences as to how something should sound.
In short, take any review with a grain of salt, whether professionally published or simply posted in a forum. There are so many things that can affect a reviewer’s impression of a specific product, such as partnering equipment, the room, the music they listen to, and the bias of the reviewer to a certain type of sound. Therefore, read reviews for informational purposes but whenever possible listen to the gear (preferably in your own system) and decide for yourself what you like or don’t like.