I noticed Paul McGowan was kind enough to remark on my review in their forum. Here is his first post:
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Addressing the second highlight first, there is nothing respectable about these measurements Paul. We are not talking 1960s tube amplifiers. In this day and age, you simply cannot defend these measurements as being good, much less in an expensive product.
As to the first comment, let's cut through this:
I will come to your place at my expense. Bring one of those low distortion DACs you say sound like "dog poo." If you can determine that against this product in a blind test, I will give $10,000 to your charity of choice.
Should be easy Paul. You come out a hero and give money to a needed charity to boot.
Let's agree you won't sign up for this. There is a mountain of science and precedence that says you have no prayer of telling such products apart let alone identify one as sounding like "poo."
You have a belief in audio, reinforced by improper listening tests that has led you to this place and time. Decades of audio science says you are absolutely wrong. You have not created any magic here. After all, you can't show a single objective measurement that demonstrates it. If you can't do that, how do you know the magic is there in manufacturing? You just spit out the boxes using an Audio Precision analyzer test anyway, right?
And I have measured other gear from you. Some did OK, others like your E300 amp are actually good. That one, you didn't manage to break using your mistaken ideas about audio and design. Lucky break for your customers there. Unlucky for anyone who buys this one.
When I reviewed your DS DAC, I received feedback from a number of people saying it sounded bad to them. Here is one:
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I owned the DS for one year and it had the latest edition of Snowmass. In a showdown between multiple other dacs (including the Matric X Sabre and Element X), the DS in a word, was totally obliterated. Primarily because the DS had flaws in the bass and lacked loads of detail."
Who is right? You or him? Can't tell, right? That is why we measure. Measurements are not subject to debate. They are reliable data. You need to pay attention to them because there is no reason for an audio device to have the problems yours has. None of those problems are eutrophic in nature:
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Tell me why modulating the output of the pre-amp across full spectrum of music/our hearing bandwidth is a good thing and not "poo."
Tell me why that sine wave is broadened at the bottom if it is not random noise in your gain block modulating it. Tell me why I should be happy with spray of harmonics created with every tone in music.
I suggest instead of being dismissive, take advantage of this data, go back to your design and find the sources of these problems and fix them. I am confident after you are done, you can convince yourself it sounds even better!
Your competitor, Schiit, was here before. They denied, badmouthed the measurements, etc. But then quietly realized there were problems to be fixed. Bought an Audio Precision analyzer, integrated it into their design and manufacturing cycle and new products are much better. I don't see them losing customers or their sound turning into "poo."
I will promise you I will not disappear. I am determined to provide objective data to audiophiles to make decisions based on. If you keep building poorly engineered products, I will be here to point it out. Alternatively, you can build great stuff and I will praise it as well. Choice is yours.
Thanks again for responding.