What makes a DAC so expensive?
Mahgister, Always been a big Groucho fan. You’re quotes reminded me to do some binging on old "You Bet Your Life" episodes available on Tubi. Still waiting for some of those deep philosophical quotes, but the quick wit is on full display, especially when any attractive young lady from 1955 shows up as a contestant. :^) You wouldn’t be able to say some of those things on network TV these days. Where do I go to buy a beautiful 1955 Desoto with push button drive these days? The other day we saw a live chicken in front of a local fried chicken joint. Why she crossed the road I’ll never know........ #:^/ |
If you can listen and distinguish clearly these 5 brass instruments intermingled with one another in a totally gleaming space, encompassing your room and exceeding the speakers in all direction even the extreme left and extreme right... Your system is good... Empire brass ensemble "Gabrieli" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olIrf-uioD8 If you can listen to this piano music of Chopin, Nocturnes by Ivan Moravec, and if the piano is in front of you low chord at your right, higher chords at your left, and completey out of the speakers.... Your system is good... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BaLVjoLUAQ The last one is difficult to have it right... This is my favorite therapeutic music... Very powerful...Goldman "Holy Harmony" But you must listen very subtle chimes on top of very precise pulsating tuning forks frequencies encompassing the room and in front of you a Mantra by superposed female and male voices... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJRpoUk-mpU&t=344s Try to buy the cd if you like them on youtube.... |
Mahgister,Not one of my attributed citation comes from Groucho.... He is more swift and humorous than i ever will be and i borrow his reputation to navigate with my own philosophical rambling flaws.... :) |
The complexity of the build ,the power supplies, are essential in the S/N and purity of signal, many aftermarket linear power supplies are over $1500 alone ,brand name , how fancy the case If a R2R multi ladder dac each resistor has be matched to possibly hundreds of resistors ,clock ovens all kinds of add o to empty your wallet DCS dacs with all maxed out power supplies ,and super clocks $90k combo, the best sounding digital on the planet that can rival the best of Anything out there, but Slightly out of my budget !! |
Those that don’t want to spend the money justify having not done so. Those that have spent the money justify having done so. And so the wheel turns, and turns, and turns. To me it comes down to what camp your ears tell you your in. I went from a Bluesound Node 2i to a separate Audio Mirror DAC followed by replacing the Node completely with the addition of a LUMIN Streamer. Both phases of the transition were substantial but heavily weighted towards adding the separate DAC. No comparison. |
@mvrooman1256 curious if you went from node 2i to lumin while you had your audio mirror dac already... if so: - any perceivable sq improvement in going bs --> lumin? - what connection used? - what speakers and amps in system? presuming you used node 2i bnc digital out... not its poor onboard dac many thanks |
@jjss49 I started out with Schitt Vidar monoblocks and a Schitt Freya+ preamps with a Node 2I functioning as my DAC and streamer. Speakers are Magnepan 1.7i’s. I added the Audio Mirror DAC and continued to use the Node 2i with an coax cable as a streamer only. The difference was substantial and obvious. Way less harsh, bigger sound stage and things just seemed to open up. A lot more space to the music. I then added the LUMIN streamer and completely removed the Node from the chain. A difference but not as big as switching to an outboard DAC. |
There are so many issues here. 1) measurement of x variables defines quality 2) exponentially increasing cost for marginally increasing perceived quality (the $200 version gives you 80% of the quality of the $2000 version" argument) 3) parts count and quality should represent some "fair" proportion of the final price of the product. I think issue #2 might explain a lot, as it's a basic feature of economics and of life. If you think like a measuring device for a moment, just about any cheap DAC will represent the sound in a "transparent" way. We all recognize what comes out of it as music that conforms to the basic amplitude and frequency response we might expect from the original recording, i.e., the 80%, the 95% even. Along several narrow axes, it might be 100%, perfect sound forever. And on many recordings of music, you might not hear any difference. On many styles of music, you might not notice the difference. Even on a particular recording of a particular style of music, you might not notice the difference _most_ of the time. The thing is, at this stage in my journey, what matters to me is the quality of sound I can get from the musical moments that matter. As it happens, those musical moments are a big part of what draws me to music, of what sounds and feels most like the sound of an acoustic instrument in a room, or the sound of the echo of voices in a church. I don't know what the variables are that help to reproduce those sounds. I know for sure that a $30 or even $300 can't get me there. In other words, that last marginal bit of quality, measured in moments of music, not S/N ratios or other measurements that are in some cases just hangovers from the testing of tape recorders and crappy amps from the 60s, are what matter to a lot of audiophiles. I hope that helps to resolve the first issue, although it's easy enough to challenge me to define a metric that will measure the quality of the DAC, if not distortion measurements. That's easy to concede; I don't have one. I know what a guitar and a voice sound like in a room. I know what they sound like in a studio. I know how much an engineer can and does manipulate the recording to sound a certain way. I still think, to get to the music that matters most to me, I need a better DAC. And I know that it will cost more and more to get that diminishing marginal improvement. On issue 3 I don't have much to say. Of course there are markups, marketing, labor, and distribution expenses that are many multiples the parts cost. That's just everyday business. Of course there is luxury branding for the ultra-high-end. As a consumer, do your homework, proceed incrementally and carefully, keep your ears on the music, and you'll be fine. In my particular case, there is an added sense of urgency. I know that hereditary hearing loss will claim a big chunk of my hearing within the next ten years. The willingness-to-pay variable has shot up for me, as I try to burn in memories of musical ecstasy before the lights go out, so to speak. So there we have it. Music is a meaning-making endeavour, from actually making it, to recording it, to hearing it back on your system alone and weeping, or cuddling with your significant other, or rabbit, or whatever. A device might measure clean for next to nothing, but does it help you to make meaning with music? If it does, then God bless. |
To me, in order to get guitars that sound like guitars then the DAC does not add or change anything when it reconstructs the waveform. DACs that are capable of doing this can be bought for a few hundred dollars. Some like DACs that deviate from this by playing with filters or adding and changing things that do not adhere to the sampling theorem and that's fine but don't claim they are transparent DACs or better because they can create a "sound". |
To me, in order to get guitars that sound like guitars then the DAC does not add or change anything when it reconstructs the waveform. DACs that are capable of doing this can be bought for a few hundred dollars. Some like DACs that deviate from this by playing with filters or adding and changing things that do not adhere to the sampling theorem and that's fine but don't claim they are transparent DACs or better because they can create a "sound. All dacs use filters of some sort, so your $200 dac has a filter. What your $200 dac doesn't have is a good power supply or a very good output stage. Most cheap dacs use an opamp output stage, which in my opinion compresses the sound. |
If the $200 DACs filter doesn't alter reconstruction of the waveform or cause a deviation from the sampling theorem so that the measurements on the analog outputs are so low in distortion and noise it's not audible to humans then the DAC is doing its job properly and it's not relevant how the output stage is constructed since it's not doing anything humans could hear. |
There are basically two types of DACs those that adhere to the sampling theorem and properly reconstruct the waveform. Which means the waveform going out of the DAC has been reconstructed to match the waveform that went into the ADC. The other type of DAC doesn't adhere to this basic principle and goes off creating a sound either through filters that maneuver the waveform or just out right changing it on purpose. Now one may prefer a DAC that has a sound signature but it is not a transparent DAC that is reproducing the file accurately. |
I see some good points on this thread. People actually understanding manufacturing costs, engineering, etc, and seem to relaize the last extra costs exponentially more. Then I see djones as usual poo pooing anything that costs because he can’t afford it. I can’t afford a dcs stack at new cost, and also keep everything else I have. I could, it that stack wouldn’t be much use without amps, speakers, etc etc, lol. Dosnt mean I wouldn’t like to have one if I could. |
I have no desire for a dCS stack as it wouldn't provide anything audible that I don't already have. Take a little Topping E30 DAC it has a SINAD of -113 and the THD +N is about .0024% which is about -95dB. The Linn Akurate DSM has a SINAD of -110 and a THD+N around .001% or about -100dB. Both of these DACs reconstruction filters roll off the high level frequency above 22Khz as required by digital audio theory. Perhaps some people could tell one from the other in a blind test I doubt I could. One DAC is $139 the other $10,500 in a sighted test which one will win consistently? Power supply noise and OP amp compression isn't that important as long as the output measurements are extremely good as long as the DAC can cope, if it can't then you don't have a well engineered DAC. Which of the 2 aforementioned DACs have power supply issues and reconstruction filter problems? |
One DAC is $139 the other $10,500 in a sighted test which one will win consistently?I think i am with djones about that, not because some technicalities about measures numbers prove that improved technological advances are inaudible.... I am not sure ears are so well understood in their astonishing capacity to retrieve information from sound .... But i sense no limitations in upgrading my sonic s.q. for the last 2 years to another level completely and my modestly price dac was never a limitation and never reveal any of his own limitations to me if there is some...(I am sure my dac has limitations for sure but whose dac has none ?) I think really that, except if my dac was a miracle at low cost, and i think it is one anyway, perhaps also limitations seeming to come from dacs are coming sometimes from a too much sophisticated technology in relation to the rest of the gear or rather reveal limitations in relation to the 3 embeddings of the audio system more than from the dac itself, or comes from really too digital sound harsh bad dac....All the dacs i owned before the last one were bad, even the best one, in spite of glowing reviews.... They all were low cost one for sure.... My best purchase in Audio was this dac.....Starting Point Systems NOS dac....There exist no negative reviews of this dac and some talk about his limitations being a lack of details....I was thinking the same the first month i listen to it, perhaps a bit lackimg in details.... But with my upgrading embeddings many controls improvement that put my system on another level totally, i realized that the seeming lack of details was coming rather from a wrongly or defective mechanical, electrical, and acoustical embeddings of my audio system, not from the dac at all... Then what is the value of reviews by reviewers that listen to compare many dacs in a not so well embedded audio system and room? Zero.... Because the best dac in the world, if there is one, must theoretically have no sound of his own, it is a translator, the defects are then coming from the audio system embeddings....For bad dac, all people know what is their sound: harsh,digital, cold, analytical etc....Or too warm, lacking details etc A good dac does not exist, it is his best quality.... My dac do not exist indeed.... :) |
A: My friend just died of a stroke B: But his body temp was exactly 98.6 - he was healthy A: He smoked like a chimney and ate bacon every meal B: But his blood pressure was exactly at the mid point of normal range for his age and weight A: Are you an idiot - he is dead B: I believe based on my measurements he is still alive A: Dumb ass |
Power supply noise will show when THD+N is measured. There could be a lousy power supply which would be audible. All DACs will have noise from a power supply but do they effectively deal with it. If a DAC is audibly transparent , distortion and noise is below the threshold of human hearing, I'm not sure I understand the point. |
I just bought the RME adi-2 FS DAC and it is awesome. For me it checked all the boxes, great sound.... unbelievable feature set, made in Germany, full function remote, and most importantly at the price where I felt it made sense because let's face it, digital technology moves fast. It easily bests my NAD M51 which is no slouch and was twice as much 7 years ago. So for me this was the best bang for the buck. |
I'm learning a great deal here. I also find some of the stated/implied money-values interesting and thought provocative. These phrases, particularly: Those that don’t want to spend the money justify having not done so. @jl35 I'm actually not able to purchase the cited DCS stack - looks like it's $80K - unless I sold everything, but the house. Is it worth it? Why? Why not? And by the way, I'm totally open to discussing the worth of wealth, it's associated values, and the way people treat each other as though a few hundred-thousand (or millions...) dollars worth of money in the bank is somehow one of the most important features of one's character, or actual value. We do live in a world where plenty of people rank the value of others based entirely on their perceived income station, and this happens from all positions on the scale of perceived wealth. Nevertheless, having HUGE money is not inherently bad, and we can perhaps benefit from some of the things made for big bucks $$$! For instance, I'm very interested in what would happen if one of the people owning a $50K+ system placed a $100 DAC into that system. The Modi 3, for $100 sounds damn good in much of my listening, so I'd love to see what happens when we punch through the biases we can punch through, because I am of the opinion that people with $100's of extra K's have to make that money mean something, so money has a way of magnifying biases, potentially, or am I missing something??? IMO, you just can't make your millions mean much if you never use them, never 'manipulate them, and so we see the birth and rebirth of luxury, to make all the stowed money mean something. What I want to know is how these things DACs truly compare, with awareness of the need so many people have to make their HUGE money meaningful... This is to say, can you set your biases aside long enough to take a low cost DAC seriously, if your gaze tends to rest on DACs that cost $4000, $8000, $40,000? I am sure that people with abundant cash have been able to explore more of the high end stuff, but do they keep the low end stuff available, as a valued part of the equation? What can we learn from such people and are they willing to come forward, to disclose some of the findings I've indicated...? Measurements on the new Schiit Modius, which costs $199, are compelling, but more importantly, for this low-coster, those reviewing the Modius claim it's better than the Modi 3 and one person, quite interestingly, claimed it was better than his RME adi-2. Let me be clear, it was not a side-by-side comparison, but claims were made based on previous experience with the DAC. So, I'm still pondering this issues of OP amp and power supply. How do these show up in the measurements? Is compression reflected in THD+N. I'm attempting to discern how useful the available measurements have become... I hear critique or power supply and OP amp in these low cost DACs, and I want to know if there is any other way to discern the impact of these pieces before plugging it into my system? Heard a little commentary and I did enjoy the pictured argument between a dead man and his measurements. It's an apt metaphor. I thought it could be refined by taking measurements of a piece of meat one might buy from the butcher. It might come in at just the right weight, to meet one's needs, might even be the right temperature, might even be the right cut, etc.... none of this is proof of flavor! Finally, the Modius, low cost beauty? Does this statistical test (below) reveal anything useful about the power supply, OP amps, or ANYTHING else? Please offer a carefully reasoned assessment. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/schiit-modius-balanced-dac-review.13769/ |
Does this statistical test (below) reveal anything useful about the power supply, OP amps, or ANYTHING else?I assume you looked at the measurements. Is there something you didn’t understand because they reveal everything useful. Basically all these tests are doing is showing does the power supply leak audible noise into the signal path. Does the reconstruction filters get rid of high frequency distortion? You take those top 20 DACs from the $199 Modius to the $ 11,000 Mola Mola and noone except perhaps a few young people with extraordinary hearing could tell one from the other. It’s only in audiophile forums and high fi sales floors anyone thinks DACs are a problem anymore if they are well engineered as these are. Engineers are just chasing specs and trying new things DACs are no longer a mystery they haven’t been for years. |
@djones51 How does the issue of compression figure in? Wouldn't a compressed signal result in distortion? Maybe I need to go over to the technical forum, to dig in a little deeper... Someone brought up OP amps and compression, and power supply, so I'm wondering if measurements can offer any information on those items, or perhaps it's only when you are listening that such things become relevant... I guess what I want to know is what is covered by the SINAD, as I understand - just read up on this - that it is a calculation that reflects the pure signal against various other possible channels/inputs of distortion. @audioman58 mentioned "maxed" power supplies, but what is the real world result of a maxed power supply and is this where, as noted by djones51, only those who are fifteen with perfect ears stand a chance of truly appreciating the difference? |
This has devolved into a fuse or power cable discussion. Obviously @djones51 is not going to change his mind no matter any one else's experience and there's no way he's changing the minds of people like me with the experience that different dacs matter and objective measurements do not predict subjective experience. In the end we all have different ears and systems and everyone can be right. At least discussions like these do help readers learn who's impressions they might trust. It's great when you find someone who hears like you and you know you'll like anything they recommend. |
We need to stop paying any attention to dj51. Folks like him have ruined this site for good. Very sad Agon reality. Really hard to learn from the community’s combined owner experiences with various products and tweaks because we spend so much time dealing with the nonsense that derails real learning and community. This forum is all but gone for me and so many others. Start looking around and and see how most of the wise and experienced Agoners are becoming more and more silent. Many have moved on. |
Power supply filtering has a lot to due with lowering distortion with digital jitter,noise artifacts do matter. Even usb cables matter a lot if you have quality cables And equipment to justify the added costs for example I bought a excellent usb cable from a Final touch audio Callisto usb , that truly Improves the perspective which brings it closer to what people call a analog sonic signature. I may not hear as well as a youngster but differences in dynamics,and dynamic shadings I can Clearly here the differences in quality digital ,we have done blind testing many times .i view my views on my many years of experience and testing . |
How does the issue of compression figure in? Wouldn't a compressed signal result in distortion?If it results in distortion then it is measurable. If it is above a certain level it will be audible. If it is audible then it's a lousy DAC sell it to an audiophile and move on. DACs that are well engineered DO NOT have sound signatures they are considered audibly transparent. |
I’m fairly new around here, and I think just about everyone comes with a mixed bag, myself included. In the current thread, djones has maintained an argument with a respectable degree of focus. If counter-arguments are worthy of consideration, simply present them and argue them with clarity and useful, as Shroeder put it, "data." I don’t doubt that there are equal, perhaps even better ways of explaining things...? Again, I’m somewhat new, only a little over one-hundred posts. I’m here because I love music. I’m interested in serious scrutiny of the issues at stake. I (I think) have had only one person respond to my questions about how power supply, compression and OP amps might be reflected in measurement data. I’ve heard a number of claims and critiques on the basis of power supply, OP amps and compression, so who has the background to make authoritative claims on these matters. Yes, one person did offer a few quite friendly comments, from what I could detect, but I would love to learn more, if you have a moment... Only one has (apparently) taken up the work of looking over the "data" for the new Modius DAC, which posts a THD+N of as low as .0002 per channel. What does that data contain? One person claims the THD+N would also include power supply noise. @audioman58 claims: ...digital jitter,noise artifacts do matterWith genuine interest, I’d like to ask those of you with considerable experience with these somewhat technical matters, and even those with less than considerable experience, and I include myself in the fairly low of the less end of the latter, to take a look at the "jitter" statistics for the Modius - I’m posting the "measurements" data/process after this paragraph.... It sort of embarrasses me that I might look like I’m trying to sell the Modius. I haven’t even heard it, frankly, but it has received many good reviews, a few exceptional reviews, and a little bit of mixed reviews. I ordered one and it should arrive in a few days. I’m prepared to spend more, but I don’t see a reason to do so if I don’t have some sense of improvement on the basis of my research... https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/schiit-modius-balanced-dac-review.13769/ What I read is a claim that the jitter, for the Modius, is VERY low, amongst DACs. I know a guy - must be VERY technically adept - on here was pedaling his $8000.00 reclocker, and I know it addressed jitter, so it seems "jitter" is viewed as extremely important around here. Does 8000K for a reclocker look like a sign of importance, to you? So, does the posted review point to a new level of jitter reduction skill available to the low-cost DAC, at least in this instance? I know so little about the tech that I’m at the mercy of all of you when it comes to the role of a reclocker. I was told it impacted jitter, but it really could impact gamma rays, for all I know... are gamma rays part of the sound experience? @mahgister probably knows. Transparency does seem to be a valuable issue, or standard, in this discussion, and how is this equated with a low THD+N? At what point does it become a concern, if it is abandoned? I do think @douglas_schroeder call for evidence is justifiable, AND certainly we can also ask him for evidence on the capacity to hear significant desirable differences across the top 20 measured DACs on the mentioned site. Data for a similar spread of DACs reviewed in like fashion would also work well, I think...? If the differences extend beyond the basic measurements, what are they really pointing to? Are we claiming that a "maxed out power supply" brings bass of greater weight? Is that weight measurable? Is that weight distortion? Maybe the word distortion has become "bad" and we need to ask out distortion might be helping things out. Nelson Pass seems to have a positive relationship with Distortion. He also says, "Don’t push the river," when it comes to design... Incidentally, I’ve just realized how much more bass weight come through my Dennis Had Fire-Bottle, compared to my Schiit Aegir. I hope I’m not downvoting a Schiit product here, but I’m being deadly honest. With 11watts per channel, the Fire-Bottle easily reveals potent bass. The Aegir, which might be more detailed in some respects, falls down in bass richness, some of the time. On the other hand, that detail can come through the Aegir with a liquidity that I have not heard in the Fire-Bottle. So, would any of these differences in bass come out in measurement? YES - I like the bass of the Fire-Bottle better than the bass of the Aegir, but it would be helpful to learn about what I’m getting, and when it comes to a DAC... would love to hear what you all know...! I will readily admit that there is the CENTRAL ISSUE of what sounds good. I am hearing a large number of people point to "analog" as the sound signature of preference, and it is interesting that some people buying DAC’s are doing so with the aim of achieving digital sources that can be made to sound analog. This probably points to a split in how DACs are designed. I understand - and I’m stretching beyond what I can say I know for certain - but, I understand the Nelson Pass is purposefully using distortion in relation to the second harmonic, which people very much enjoy. Tube amps are also designed with resulting distortion and that distortion (in some designs) imparts a feeling for greater soundstage and the illusion of more authentic substance in the expression of the notes of the various instruments. I mentioned bass, above. I am struck that DACs can be very simple and then they can include a fairly large complement of tubes, and people often pair one tube component with another solid state component. Generally and in my small experience, this has been seen in the amp/pre-amp domain, but some people may be seeking to moisten their systems with an expensive full-tube-complement DAC. So, these DACs may be intended to achieve very different things. Perhaps this is where I ask @djones51 if he may be overstating the value of a totally transparent DAC when some people have systems that lean dry, or very dry...? Perhaps the DAC is where the search for accuracy must be redeemed by some moisture, or some pixie-dust? |
@grannyring Sad but true. When I'm building I also spend time on diyaudio and the difference is so stark. People genuinely trying to help each other vs. the cock fights that always break out here. That said, if there's a better place to find out about new gear, I don't know it. I wish we could just fix the culture here. Thanks for all your contributions. I've just about finished replacing all the signal wire and rca connectors throughout my system and thought about you when I gave it a new title: "Nothing is Sacred." Thanks for all your posts and for encouraging people to treat our equipment like the platform it is and not a piece of jewelry. And let me know if you ever find an alternative community... |
Those are some pretty awesome statements, @cal3713 and @douglas_schroeder and @grannyring Your tactic definitely pinches the sarcasm nerve, in me. So, maybe we can be clear here: there is no space here for conversations that get at the heart of value questions relative to your bottom line? I didn't realize there would be police of this kind, in here, but there certainly is... Let's at least talk, for a moment, as "men," as they once said. I suppose you could have simply tossed me out, so why are you playing with me? Why the group escort? Am I not permitted herein to inquire as to the actual significance of claims related to power supply, OP amps, and compression in the output impression of low cost DACs? This would appear to me to be an excellent place to truly get at these issues, to learn about them, etc... |
There is some things way ver priced but fantastic DCS is a premiere digital company you can spend $90k on their top effort Dac, power supply, and super clock with temp controlled ovens the most realistic in sound quality quite possible but at a extreme cost. If you are that wealthy a $300 k system will put most to shame ,the point is state of the art costs $$$. |
If you are newer to audio class leading quality per dollar $$ spent Are Denafrips, tons of awards, Schiit audio, Mytek ,and Bench mark, p.s Audio each one will have a different sonic character ,the most analog per $$ spent a Denafrips R2R dacs . the Denafrips Ares2 , the best dac under $1k on the market and best many at $2k , their Pontus at under $1800 IMO class leading In the next upper class like the .Schiit Yggsdrasil,Has also very good value but less forgiving of older,less refined recordings , and depending on what you are loooing for your system as a whole and it’s sonic foot print matter. Read as many reviews on the possible choices to get an idea. I bought several just on one reviewers opinion and it may have sucked in my system . Your budget too will have a lot to do with ultimate refinement . A lot of possibilities, p.s when a company gives you 2 weeks audition it is worthless imo digital takes a solid 300 hours + to truly settle in being so low a voltage say compared to a Power amplifier to be at its best I have had dacs that took 150 hours just to start settling in and being less bright ,several factors there as to why and digital cables too effect the sound ,and take time to runin over 40 years at this ,I hate running in new gear for that is when you have to go through hearing it at its worst ,unless you have a backup system to just put it in .besing an Audiophile can be great but sucks when trying to voice your system to your specific sonic goal,or expectation. Having owned a Audiostore in the past and overspending many times. ,and more then a nice home on Audio .as I get older I look for best value , for when you get to a certain point you may have to spend 2xthe cost or more just for a 5% increase in Fidelity ,there are No guarantees ,cables one area where there are many way over priced out there ,and all sound different . Budget your purchases myself Loudspeakers spend the most you can afford , and digital second IMO for it is the sourse you can’t make up a lost musical signal downstream . Then both amp,preamp,or integrated ,cables never go cheap ,or weak link In the chain. Just my observation ,nothing more. |
Is my discussion a tactic? At least for me, it's not a "tactic". I was a Chintziphile many years ago. I'm simply discussing the ulterior motive that often accompanies the effort to claim that the differences in performance are not that great. The only thing that changed my perspective was the blessing of being asked to review, and consequently handling equipment in a different class than I ever would have considered buying. Apart from that, I likely would still be arguing along the lines of the objectivists in order to defend the wallet - and frustrated with the sound/experience. :) It's simply not worth arguing about it. Either open your wallet or not, and get the results you are working (or not working) for. If you don't want to spend money, feed your skepticism. If you want to build a superior audio system, get ready - you have to open your wallet. :) |
