Thought I’d share: Nicely done and practical DAC review

I like Darko a lot.

One problem with all reviews, for me, is that the products keep coming and they must say something about them. But while audio evolves, it doesn’t evolve that fast. Many products that don’t change much and are just echoes of other products.

Yet newness and excitement drive viewership.

Therefore, even the best reviewers are in a bind; they’re loved for their honesty and yet the constant influx of new products means that it is very hard to be truly honest. If they don’t skirt the truth, they have to come up with convincing patter, which can sound disingenuous at best.

This is one way in which a forum can be superior to a reviewer. People here are under fewer professional compunctions to praise things. They can say "meh" with impunity.

Count me as a fan as well. Sad that he’s going to slow way down soon for health reasons.

I find myself watching Darko reviews of products I’m not even remotely in the market for, like turntables. 

@fuzztone 

Good write up. He missed at least one major difference - remote control of functions like inputs. For example Denafrips has none. After having this feature, I couldn’t live without it.

I have the Pontus ll and I thought about it not having a remote, but once I set it up, I rarely change anything. I have a Hegel H390 and it offers a DAC Loop option, where everything runs through the DAC, so the Hegel’s remote does the changes from streamer to CD transport and back.

I have the Pontus ll and I thought about it not having a remote... I have a Hegel.

Good for you. So not everyone NEEDS remote info. You don't need to know about setting Benchmark jumpers either

I like being able to choose among 5 streamers, a non network player and a CD spinner without having to get up.