what I don't get is why people get upset at the people who measured equipment that was subpar instead of at the manufacturers.
I own a Schiit Modi 2 U. I read the review of that unit here and now it's on sale**. I;m grateful at Amir for testing it and a bit upset at the whole audio community (read Head Fi) for recommending it under dubious circumstances, as well as at Schiit for producing subpar stuff and in certain cases not putting attention to safety.
** I now have a D10 BTW and I believe there's a large difference. The thing is, I wasn't using Modi 2 U through SPDIF where the differences might not be perceptible against a D10, but I was using it through USB, the worst possible input to use the Modi with.
I have been trying to figure out where to put the following, it could go in its review thread, but this post echoes my thoughts/experience too.
I have a Woo Audio WA7, Fireflies. I've like how it looks, and I've liked how it sounded, until Amir reviewed it.
I have a few different sets of USB DACs and headphone amps that I cycle through at work, and now, I can't seem to want to listen to this one again.
No, I've never really pushed it, but now I know it doesn't measure that well, but it also doesn't have the even order harmonic tube magic really that I bought it for. (I do have a 1st gen model, but I actually never used its internal DAC.)
So sure, someone could say, well how can its sound change when all that changed is that I know how it measures? And you'd be right. It doesn't make a lot of sense. But I can also say, ignorance can be bliss too. So now I joke with myself that I just got a Valhalla 2, because I liked how the 1st one I have sounds, and how the newer rev at least theoretically improves on it. So while I hope that someday it gets reviewed here, maybe I'm also hoping it doesn't.
If I may be so bold, I think that Amir wouldn't kind finding that "tube magic" too, but he doesn't seem to have yet. It is still possible that there's a poorly measuring tube amp out there somewhere, with predominantly even order harmonics as its main distortion component, that possibly does help to color the sound in an appealing way to some people. (Note how I carefully constructed that sentence!
)
[ I also have a Soekris 1321 DAC, and there's no magic there either. Actually, I just got a Massdrop Grace SDAC, and I'm liking the SDAC a lot more simply because it loses signal lock a tenth as much as the Soekris does!]