Ahh memories... Before I found this site, my first DAC and amp was a Schiit Modi 2 with a Vali. Kept hearing about that tube magic... In comparison to my mobo soundcard, yeah I think it was certainly better, especially with nicer headphones that the soundcard couldn't drive to acceptable levels. That said, I quickly wanted to upgrade because it just didn't sound that good still.
I ended up getting a CTH to replace the Vali, and while it was a slight improvement, it felt more like a side-grade... I saw the reviews, and read all the "mods" that you must do to the CTH to make it sound amazing: tube rolling, Lab Grade Linear PSU, "balanced" cable etc. and shocker, nothing worked. Then I figured the DAC was the problem, so after doing a lot searching, the general consensus seemed to be to get a Bifrost Multibit... The exact second I plugged it in and started listening, I knew there was something just completely broken with the DAC... It sounded awful!
That's when I stumbled upon Amir's review of the original Topping D50. I saw the measurements, didn't really know what they meant at the time, but at least I had some tangible data to go off of... I had never seen anything like this before, and honestly wasn't sure if I trusted it, because I'd been burned on audio multiple times now, but I sold the used Bifrost I got off eBay, and got a brand new D50 for $150 less. Funny enough, the main reason I got this DAC was because, at the time, there weren't very many affordable DACs that people considered an "upgrade" from the modi 2 that came in black... I wanted to match my CTH, and I hated having the silver bifrost, or silver modi 2 with it, but I needed at least some confirmation from some site that this DAC had merit, and seeing Amir's review gave me that lol. Once I got it, it was the complete opposite experience as the Bifrost, because the second I plugged it in (still with the CTH mind you), I heard things I never knew existed in many of the songs I loved. It quite literally brought me to tears.
I didn't even realize until much later that this site was dedicated to reviewing all sorts of audio gear. I just thought the D50 review was a one off post by some random guy on the internet (sorry Amir xD). When I saw the reviews for the Bifrost Multibit, the CTH, and the Modi 2, I was completely blown away, because the devices' performance in objective measurements shown here lined up perfectly with my completely subjective experience I had with each of these DACs/Amps before I even knew what any of this was. This amp reminds me of why I love this site, and why I am thankful that I was rescued from subjective audio reviews