Quote:
Originally Posted by Antonmb
At the risk of opening up the whole “subjective vs objective” can of worms, I don’t dispute the measurements in this “review,” but if the reviewer never listened to it, it’s hardly objective. There’s an inherent bias already present in the fact that he’s dismissed the idea of listening to it, and his assumption that the particular measurements he performed are predictive of the sound. A balanced and objective review should include both listening and measuring, preferably done separately so that the listener is not influenced by the measurements and vice versa. Otherwise it’s like reviewing a car based on a certain set of performance specs and never driving it.
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I definitely appreciate the scientific measurements on ASR, I've ended up there a few times over the last several months from Google searches. So I'm not debating that his measurements are accurate. The funny thing is if you search on some of the more popular "cheaper" DACs, you will find reviews all over the place on the net. Some people will call DAC X too bright, others will say it is too warm. I've even seen posts on ASR where people admit that despite the measured differences, they can hear no audible differences between units. Are measurements for devices important? Sure, but do they tell the whole story? Not for me.
We all have different ears, we all have different rooms, different systems, different preferences in music, even different preferences for how we listen to our music. I'm sure there is much cheaper gear from China that would give measurements better than my C2300, but I love the sound of it, the features, the build quality, the support, supporting American jobs, etc. There is more than just sound in a purchase to me, although that is obviously a key factor. Again, I'm not knocking his reviews or his methodology and there are MANY areas upon which I agree with him, I just happen to listen w/my ears when it comes to my gear.