Whether those differences would be heard in a blinded test however....
I've run hundreds of blind tests. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. The method and the participants make a difference. Any old blind test is not a panacea. If you're flipping tracks every 30 seconds and playing typically well-recorded and not rhythmically complex audiophile fare, good luck hearing
any difference unless you're comparing pieces of gear that are vastly different in capability. Some of the recent posts on Innerfidelity illustrate this well, as do Mike Moffat's comments about it. When it gets really serious, short-term blind tests break down, You need to live with the equipment for a while. Having said that, some very experienced listeners can still pick differences in seconds even at the high-end. Most people cannot.
On the subject of my previous post, those guys have high-end systems and typically take weeks to decide if there's an improvement or degradation. And even then they often flip between results before reaching a conclusion. And sometimes still get it wrong, e.g. sell Hugo for 2Qute and then re-purchase Hugo. Or vice versa, as there are no absolutes. I'd defy anyone to be able to concentrate well enough to sustain a typical ABX blind test over more than two hours (and I'm being generous suggesting two hours, just in case there are any super-humans around here). Even if you can, two hours is barely long enough when trying to pick subtle differences.
It's dead easy if comparing e.g. an iPhone 5s vs. a Mojo, given that the iPhone sucks in several fundamental ways (glaring digital treble, sloppy bass, and lack of rhythmic integrity on complex music). I own both and I'm quite certain I could tell them apart with a gap of several weeks, months, or years. Mojo vs Hugo I suspect would be a different matter. As would different transports.
I suspect that if Duncan thinks he's hearing a difference, he probably is. Extreme objectivists rarely hear any difference even when everyone else finds it easy; in my experience.
EDIT: This is the Innerfidelity post
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/big-sound-2015-wrap-what-i-learned#mRpu8jlcDqxVoXuE.97
and the link to Mike Moffat's comments
http://www.head-fi.org/t/701900/schiit-happened-the-story-of-the-worlds-most-improbable-start-up/7725#post_11921090
If you know better, please suggest which of your commercially available DACs outperform Mike's. I only learned about this stuff 30 years ago so I'm a decade behind him.
All further comments about blind tests should please be posted to Sound Science, where they're easily ignored.
I'm sure maxedfx would be very much interested...
