A DAC that crushes price vs. performance ratio

mzkmxcv

... timbre is just about distortion, it’s why a guitar and a piano playing the same frequency key sounds different.

Timbre is an inherent quality of real musical instruments, and a more correct analogy is that it’s what makes one piano sounds different than another piano. Timbre is not distortion; a piano is supposed to sound like a piano, not a pure tone from a frequency generator.

I do agree that, in general, most people are looking for the types of colorations they like most. Which is fine. It's why I don't really want a DAC that's described as being warm or lush, but don't necessarily run from DACs that are described as being sterile. My amps (Benchmark AHB2) have been described as such, and I couldn't disagree more.

However, I also don't want a DAC that makes everything sound or threadbare.

Tubes be damned, I do believe the Pagoda is relatively neutral. Not completely, but it isn't warm and it isn't sterile, and I do believe that I can get more information out of a DAC that's built to extract as much information as possible.

I really don't understand why anyone would say inputs don't matter, as though they're all equal. Outputs are definitely not equal, and if you're looking for transparency, you'd want the most transparent output to begin with. Which is going to be the i2s, in general. 

Tubes be damned, I do believe the Pagoda is relatively neutral. Not completely, but it isn't warm and it isn't sterile, and I do believe that I can get more information out of a DAC that's built to extract as much information as possible.

I have the standard Pagoda and I find it the same. I would say it sounds pretty balanced .. neither "tubey' nor, as you say, "sterile". 

Hi Teajay,
I also have long ago grown tired of the measurements versus listening debates. Interestingly I heard a system that used a Benchmark DAC. My listening impression matches your description. You had the added advantage of hearing it in your own system. In my case I can’t pinpoint how much I heard that could be attributed to the Benchmark DAC. Nonetheless what I heard was clinical, sterile and lifeless. If some consider this type of presentation accurate and transparent okay, that’s their call and I just leave it at that. I acknowledge we all have our specific preferences.

I want to hear the full bodied tone,rich color/harmonics/overtones and vividness that’s so obviously present when listening to live musicians and vocalists. I want the life, excitement, engagement and emotion, not flat, colorless and analytical despite the stated excellent measurements. In essence I'm seeking a 'natural ' presentation/sound quality.   It is certainly true, "to each their own".
Charles

Timbre is an inherent quality of real musical instruments, and a more correct analogy is that it’s what makes one piano sounds different than another piano. Timbre is not distortion; a piano is supposed to sound like a piano, not a pure tone from a frequency generator

 
 
So, harmonics? Do you know what THD stands for?