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The Audio Science Review (ASR) approach to reviewing wines.

Imagine doing a wine review as follows - samples of wines are assessed by a reviewer who measures multiple variables including light transmission, specific gravity, residual sugar, salinity, boiling point etc.  These tests are repeated while playing test tones through the samples at different frequencies.

The results are compiled and the winner selected based on those measurements and the reviewer concludes that the other wines can't possibly be as good based on their measured results.  

At no point does the reviewer assess the bouquet of the wine nor taste it.  He relies on the science of measured results and not the decidedly unscientific subjective experience of smell and taste.

That is the ASR approach to audio - drinking Kool Aid, not wine.

toronto416

Showing 1 response by toro3

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toro3
369 posts
 

I also think there’s a little bit of Kool-Aid at play within ASR. There was a poll conducted in Reddit’s r/audiophile which asked the following:

You just purchased a MHDT Pagoda DAC that Amir from ASR said: “It goes without saying that I can’t recommend the MHDT Labs Pagoda stereo DAC whatsoever.”

It however sounds lovely in your system and more to your listening preferences. You’re truly smitten by this poor performing DAC.

What do you do?

1. Sell the DAC

2. Keep the DAC

62 subscribers to this subreddit would have kept this DAC while 20 would have sold the DAC.

Imagine selling a DAC that sounds great in your system simply because a guy, who if I remember correctly, measured this DAC, never listened in his review, and subsequently couldn’t recommend on his forum.

 

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