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Hi, I'm the person who sent the DAVE in for review. Just wanted to update what happened since then. 1. Even after the review, it sounded fine to me. I liked it. Not saying there's anything special about it, it worked fine. I couldn't hear the channel balance distortion Amir picked up in...

I can answer this. My wife is an art major (ended up going to med school, go figure). She tells me the DAVE just looks off, and agrees with you. It seems to be trying to copy the sleek look of Apple products with the aluminum look, but the angles aren't smooth enough and it's too bulky...

Art's a much bigger market though. It will impress many people. That's why Carlos Slim shows off his collection with in the Museo Soumaya. Art has the cache of sophistication and culture; audio gear reeks of nerd-dom (just kidding). People take art appreciation classes, no one takes DAC...

Yes, spot on. People spend money on DACs because they think they improve the sound, plain and simple. Some of my friends have commented on my speakers when visiting. Occasionally someone finds the tube amps exotic because they're not that common these days. No one has ever said anything or...

Thanks. I think I will sell the DAVE since there's demand for it and it is a good DAC. Not sure about the M Scaler, because I don't think it does anything useful. I thought about donating it, but that doesn't make any sense either if it doesn't do anything. Separate question for those...

Hey, it's fine, I didn't realize all of this was going on in the background. Sorry to hear about all that. I, too, am not trying to virtue signal by sending the DAVE, etc. in. I got something out of this process, too, with the measurements. It's never fun to realize you were ripped off, even...

I'm not sore at you, but man you are doing some serious psychoanalysis. My point was about how all kinds of psychological effects affect our perception of sound, including worrying about if they get damaged. How the mind plays tricks on you, which is the post I was replying to. I already...

Agreed, the mind does play tricks. Still, it's good enough for me. A couple of funny things. I'm more relaxed with the Topping DE90 than the DAVE. Because I'm not worried about damaging an uber expensive DAC. Unconsciously I was always a little tense with the DAVE, even when switching...

No, it won't. And with good reason. That article isn't like the Shannon-Nyquist theorem, which is an irrefutable mathematical proof. The article shows the results of a subjective blind test with DACs and headphones available at that time. I'm not saying that it's wrong. But you can't fault...

Actually, I think this review will have more impact than you think. I tried clearing my Google settings and searching for DAVE reviews and the ASR review pops up pretty high. Many more people silently read these forums rather than participate in the discussion. The market for quality audio is...

Sorry, I had no idea! Shows you what I know about cars. Got it, yes, the car/gas analogy was a bad one. But I think you got what I was trying to say. What you are describing is the problem with consumerism.

Just to be clear, this isn't something Rob Watts has said. I meant what I've heard from audio dealers. I was dubious for a non-audio reason: it sounded too convenient an explanation, especially since no one was saying this 10 years ago that I'm aware of. At this point, I've seen enough to...

I believe most buyers of expensive DACs do think they are getting better sound performance, but out of ignorance. Most audio buyers, even the ones who buy expensive stuff, don't really know how the components work nor do they really care to try because it's not easy to figure out how a DAC...

I think the audio dealers are starting to realize this. Because what I hear from the buy side is that, while they concede computing power is no longer an issue, having a CPU run multiple tasks along with audio processing adds "micro-noise" to the audio signal, so you really need a dedicated DAC...

I haven't actually, I'm travelling. I also am letting Amir keep the unit for longer in case he wants to do more testing (I remember all those follow up questions on the M Scaler), since I won't be doing much listening for the next couple of weeks. The other thing is I really don't remember any...

For someone who's calling people dumb, this is a dumb comparison. Paying way too much money for gear that still works, last for years, sounds good and sells well is a *lot* better than losing money to a phishing scam with nothing to show for it. The DAVE has actually appreciated in value...

You know, I was looking at my receipt when I was trying to determine when I bought the unit (in answer to an earlier question). Even in late 2019 when I ordered it the list price was around $10,558 without stand. The price increase happened sometime recently I believe (2021 or 2022). I have...

Thanks. The blind test point makes a lot of sense, and I agree on that. That's really the only surefire way to see if there are subjective differences. And you're right, blind tests are sorely lacking in this industry, perhaps because they would be too revealing. (Personally, I believe many...

Hmm...I get the band is narrower than what most people think, but is this statement right? By commodity point I understand you to mean they are essentially interchangeable. You feel there's no difference in sound quality between the highest rated DAC on Amir's list and the lowest?

I see, thanks. Well, I'm not a sound engineer so I am probably way ahead of my skis in trying to understand this. I can tell you this, though, most dealers have no idea what it does. It's also paradoxical. From what you say, the higher the resolution of the source file, the better an...