Interesting anecdote about the DC-1, which I believe says more about
my ears than the unit itself. I had a DC-1 around three years ago. I was initially wowed by it, being the "best" (or at least, most expensive) DAC I'd used at the time. However, with continued use, I increasingly found myself turning the volume
down when using this DAC for prolonged periods (and I generally prefer pretty modest levels to start with). I came to realize the DAC was giving me
listening fatigue.
Here's the thread I started on the Emotiva Forums. The DC-1 seemed to enjoy a fair amount of a popularity, and I never saw anyone else complain about listening fatigue with the unit. I initially wanted to do a "listening tour" with it, to see if anyone else had the same effect. But someone contacted me with an offer to buy, and I sold it to him. (He was fully aware of my issue with it, and in fact responded to my listening tour announcement. I let him try it before asking for payment. He didn't report any fatigue, said he loved it.)
Also, before I sold it, I did ship it to Emotiva, and they ran it through their AP machine, and gave me a copy of the report. No anomalies or abnormalities. So as I suggested above, I suspect the "issue" is with my ears. I've been through countless DACs since, and never experienced this. (And FWIW, I find I actually have a preference for old non-oversampling (NOS) DACs, such as the tda1387, which have pretty mediocre measurements by today's standards.)
Just interested if, based on amirm's measurements, anyone has any theories about the DC-1 and/or my hearing which would be more likely to cause listening fatigue?