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A DAC that crushes price vs. performance ratio

I felt strongly that I wanted to inform the Gon members about a new DAC that ranks with the very best on the market regarding performance, but costs around $2,000.00.  The Lab12 DAC1 SE was compared to three reference level DACS that retail for over $12.000.00 in my review for hometheaterreview.com and was at least on the same level sonicly, if not better.  This DAC from Greece is not just "good for the money" but competes with virtually anything on the market regardless of price!

For all the details about the Lab12 DAC1 SE performance and what other DACS it was compared to take a look at the review.  If you are shopping/looking for a new digital front end to drive your system, you owe it to yourself to check this DAC out, unless you like to spend tons of more $ without getting better performance.
teajay
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cleeds
5,694 posts
 
mzkmxcv

That’s odd, as every designer Inknow aims for measured excellence.
Me too. But of the few that I've spoken with, none believed the specs tell the whole story. You disagree, which is fine.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 
Was it Ayre or some other company that had two settings on some of their products, for "Measure" and "Play"?
lordcloud
154 posts
 
This is like saying two cars from different manufacturers, will deliver the exact same driving experience, as long as they have the same specs, and that we can surmise exactly how a car will drive, based on those specs.

I don’t care what anyone says, measurements and specs will not tell you how a piece of audio equipment sounds. They can tell you what to expect, and then expectation bias creeps in. However, I do not believe, and have seen no evidence to suggest, that measurements dictate sound.
mzkmxcv
777 posts
 
@lordcloud

However, I do not believe, and have seen no evidence to suggest, that measurements dictate sound

Uhh, how about most every single double blind study that has been conducted in regards to psychoacoustics? Show me one double-blind study where the listeners did not pick the best measuring device as the most preferred. 
 
I’ll ask again, give just 1 reason why the measurements don’t tell the whole story. What could possibly be related to the sound output of a DAC that cant be measured or deviates from what psycho-acousticians believe is ideal.
lordcloud
154 posts
 
Preferring a better measuring device, is in no way the same as saying that you know what a device will sound like based on the measurements. Preferring a device doesn't mean it is transparent. Most people prefer more colored audio components, in my experience.
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