This thread seems to be getting rather.... contentious.
As such, I can't resist throwing in my two cents.
First off, any website, blog, or thread run by a single individual is bound to come off sounding at least slightly "cult-ish"...
And it goes without saying that "objectivists" and "subjectivists" view each other as cult members - with different colored cloaks, and hoodies, of course - and with good reason.
Personally I don't believe that either viewpoint is wrong - how something sounds IS the most important thing - but, if you know how to read them, the specifications can provide important information, both before and after the fact.
(
Note that we will be including packets of special Blue Kool-Aid with our products from now on; please mix it according to the instructions, and drink it all promptly BEFORE connecting your new gear.... Only Kidding!
)
I drop in on that forum from time to time... and I've got to say that his measurements generally look reasonable to me.
He also provides far more detailed explanations of what he's measuring and what the measurements actually mean than most people.
(
www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/understanding-audio-measurements.2351/ )
I should also note that he basically runs a "private commercial review forum".... so I don't think it's reasonable to hold him to the standard of detail and documentation I would expect from an AES reviewed paper.
I generally find his reviews informative.
And, yes, I take
EVERYONE's opinions about how equipment sounds, including my own, with a grain of salt... and you should too.
(But, yes, if you directly challenge him, I assume he would fight back... and, yes, people who run a big project on their own do tend to get defensive when you challenge them directly.)
I should also point out that, from any number of reviews I've read, the actual measured performance of a lot of Schiit's multi-bit gear is
NOT especially good (compared to high-end Delta-Sigma gear, including their own).
(You're also going to find that the performance specs on their tube gear aren't as good as the specs on their solid state gear.)
Now, arguably, as the saying goes "that's not what you're paying for"... so it's not a big deal.
However, to be as blunt as possible, it also isn't any big surprise either.
(If you're determined to own a DAC with more than 22 bits of resolution, then don't buy a Yggdrasil... but remember that CDs are only 16 bits.)
If I was interested in digging into the whole "measurements question"... I would be asking something that everyone else seems to be ignoring.
"If certain DACs, like Yggdrasil,
REALLY do sound different after being on for several days, then there must be a reason; and, if there is a reason, then you
CAN measure it... once you figure out what to measure."
As I've said a few times before.... I absolutely believe that
there is absolutely nothing you can hear which cannot be measured.
Therefore, if you hear a difference, then it
CAN be measured; and, if the measurements don't show it, then either you're imagining it,
OR YOU AREN'T TAKING THE RIGHT MEASUREMENTS.
So, if I was going to obsess over those measurements, the first thing I would want to do would be to
OBJECTIVELY determine if the "warm-up changes" people report are real.
The way to do that is easy.... get two of the same model DAC, let one warm up for a week, turn the other one on cold, and see if people can really tell them apart in a double-blind test.
I find it odd that, with all the discussion on the issue, nobody has actually done that yet.
(And, no, your memory of what it sounded like last week, or what the DAC you owned last month sounded like, is
NOT good enough in this context.)
Now, assuming there really is a difference, start taking measurements until you find the measurements that show you what's causing that difference you're hearing.
It may be very difficult to figure out what's making that difference... but, hey, nobody said science had to be easy.
)
