this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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Nope. I used to be a hardcore objectivist. What happened to change my mind was going from a decent budget DAC (Topping D50) to a really nice DAC (Gungnir multibit) and being able to try them both at my leisure in my home. The D50 was rated as audibly transparent and state of the art, only DAC you'll ever need by Audio Science Review* but after a few minutes of listening it sounded harsh and colored in comparison with Gungnir.
Another thing that changed my mind was going to shows and hearing the super high end DACs from dCS, Chord, Bricasti, etc.
I do think there are audible differences we don't know how to meaure yet. I also think expectation bias is real and people fool themselves all the time by thinking the expensive DAC is better.
*I like the meaurement oriented approach of ASR but the site's continued existence contradicts its own philosophy. If the Topping D50 is audibly transparent and impossible to improve upon why bother to continue testing newer DACs that, according to ASR's philosophy, cannot possibly sound better than it? Isn't the D90 a waste of money if D50 is already perfect?