Cognitive bias regarding names/marketing of dac chips

[KeithPhantom]

More common thing I see: Delta Sigma Chips = emotionless, flat, unengaging ; R2R = Analog, Engaging, Full Bodied, Holographic, more flowery audiophoolery terms

This is why after discovering ASR, I can't read other forums, they seem so fooled by their own conviction that it's hopeless to even comment on them.

 

[Racheski]

Ok, I admit my impression of audio brands/equipment has been colored by the name. I admit my mistakes and repent.

My biases...
Benchmark - Top of the Class, standards for others to follow
PS Audio - Always a footnote in Audio history, never the main body
Schiit - The Haagen Daaz of audio. Scandinavian exterior hiding heartland recipe
Okto - Teutonic, clean, sterile, inflexible
March Audio - Progressive, resolute, getting ahead
Magnepan - Good non-stick coating, will last forever
Revel - For the enjoyment of revealing equipment
Hypex - Overhyped amp boards for the nerdy DIYer, comes with LCD lighting for the gamer
Purifi - Cleans your audio sources of all impurities for the cleanest sound
Sound United - SuperPAC with dark money behind glitzy marketing brands
Topping - The sprinkling you need on the top of your audio stack for that extra kick
Parasound - Winner of para-audio competition for customers with special needs
Behringer - What happens when pistol manufacturers get into audio - loud, hot, one heck of a punch
AudioQuest - Always seeking the top in audio, never finding
Tannoy - the equipment you buy to annoy your neighbors
Cambridge Audio - Pretentious equipment for the don flats
Anthem - Equipment for the audio evangelists
NAD - I get nothing from this equipment, no soul, nada
Arcam - Why webcam makers should never get into Audio
...
SMSL - smh

I like that explanation for Topping. I always figured some meaning was lost in translation from the original Chinese word.

 

[maverickronin]

Topping - The sprinkling you need on the top of your audio stack for that extra kick

I like that explanation for Topping. I always figured some meaning was lost in translation from the original Chinese word.

I'm kind of surprised there aren't more sex jokes about "Topping".

 

[Racheski]

I'm kind of surprised there aren't more sex jokes about "Topping".

Probably because their product names are so dry so it is illogical to make the association. If they had names like "liquid" or "cougar" - or maybe Kama Sutra positions then it would be a free-for-fall.

 

[restorer-john]

I like that explanation for Topping. I always figured some meaning was lost in translation from the original Chinese word.

Topping is one of the better ChiFi brands out there, at least it kinda makes sense.

But think about the Japanese brands we know and love. They are just as bad when you think about it, we've just got used to them.

Sony.
Panasonic
Denon
Luxman
Accuphase
Technics
Akai (red?)
Sanyo
Kenwood
Toshiba
Hitachi

Then you've got the brands named after their founders:
Matsushita
etc

 

[maverickronin]

Probably because their product names are so dry so it is illogical to make the association. If they had names like "liquid" or "cougar" - or maybe Kama Sutra positions then it would be a free-for-fall.

Maybe they'll give up on the bland European luxury car names eventually and give us something better to work with.

Then you've got the brands named after their founders:
Matsushita

At least on this forum that doesn't get automatically converted to Mastu****a.

 

[theglobalelite]

Oh, i remember a case of a guy reviewing audioquest cables named after monuments and such. The cable named after the London Tower Bridge sounded had a sound signature "typical of audio gear from british companies". Such a coincidence

6:20

Oh man that is a hilarious video. All it took was a picture on a box to give a cable "British sound". Textbook cognitive-bias.

 

[SECA_alan]

SMSL is always exciting, especially in black. Sound to dominate you.

 

[Blumlein 88]

In speakers I've always wondered about the Leak Sandwich line.

 

[majingotan]

This is why after discovering ASR, I can't read other forums, they seem so fooled by their own conviction that it's hopeless to even comment on them.

They're influenced by subjective reviews from Stereophile. Just look at Holo Audio May discrete R2R review https://www.stereophile.com/content...oloaudio-may-da-processor-intona-usb-isolator

Any review regarding R2R DACs will always start with cheap DS DACs are "noisy, blunt, processed" and all of them sound like that

My experience suggests that many budget DACs do sound the same: slightly blunt, unsupple, noisy, processed. A lot of DACs, no matter the type or price, make music sound processed, as if all the spinach in my cream-of-spinach soup had been chopped by a machine into pieces of exactly the same size and shape. Once I noticed this blenderization effect, I declared it a coloration.

Then of course the review proceeds to the May sounding "undigital" in NOS mode (which of course rolls off the high frequencies) and sprinkle all the other flowery audiophoolic descriptions you can get out of audiophool glossary.

We do know the May measures incredibly well for R2R, but it's a huge premium to pay for those discrete ladders that barely exceeds that of a $200 DAC like the Modius or E30

 

[restorer-john]

In speakers I've always wondered about the Leak Sandwich line.

I had a smallish pair of leak sandwich speakers in the very early 80s. I ended up stripping them and throwing out the cabinets. The driver cone was like polystyrene foam with tin-foil on each side. It was a horrible driver and they ended up in the bin too.

Not sure how it evolved after that, but I never re-visited Leak speakers again.

 

[mansr]

I had a smallish pair of leak sandwich speakers in the very early 80s. I ended up stripping them and throwing out the cabinets. The driver cone was like polystyrene foam with tin-foil on each side. It was a horrible driver and they ended up in the bin too.

The "sandwich" name might have been clue to that construction.

 

[Russell484]

I have listened to Cirrus chip dacs and they do sound lite and feathery like the clouds while the Wolfson based dacs seem to howl especially when listening at night. My ESS Sabre dac sounds a bit too sharp, the Burr Brown based dacs I've heard sound a bit fuzzy and prickly to me and remind me some of Schiit dacs, while my AKM dac soounds less like a wolf or sabre toothed tiger and more like an Alaskan Kennel bred Malamute. I have not tried the London Bridge cables that Human Bass mentioned, but I once saw a quote regarding some ridiculously expensive cables that said, "The difference in sound is absolutely staggering." I just went with the cheap cables and some cheap Puerto Rican rum to get the staggering effect.