And a follow up on this, slightly tangential.
There's been some debate around Schiit Yggdrasil that for some it produces overly
"bright and hyper-detailed sound", and while some will argue that this is how live, unamplified performances can
sound like, and that this is "natural and realistic", others still
disagree.
Do you have an opinion on this?
Yes, this
is a little off-topic. All active threads get off track from time to time, but I think we should all make an effort to keep information more organized. This issue is better discussed elsewhere, but since you quoted me here, I'll reply here and try to put it in the context of STAX as well.
There are multiple factors at play in this.
Acoustic (and digital) instruments, recording and mastering techniques, headphone sound signatures, and so on can range from bright and thin to dark and thick. Sometimes people talk about how one thing sounds but are unknowingly describing how an entirely different thing sounds. This is why it is important to isolate as many variables as you can before attempting serious comparisons between audio components. When you read impressions of audio gear, something to keep in mind is that sometimes you are actually reading impressions of different music, different headphones, etc. instead of the one thing you want to know about. And often, you are also reading about how someone
wants a recording to sound, not necessarily how it truly sounds. Sometimes I've thought something was bright or dark...but then after listening to more music with it, I realized otherwise.
As far as the measured frequency response of the device goes, it is perfectly neutral (with deviations of 0.1 dB, which should not be audible, or at least not significant) across the human sensory spectrum...but that is not the only thing that accounts for how something sounds, obviously.
Here is an excellent post about how other technical aspects of DACs can change the sound. There's also the fact that, unlike most electronics, the sound of the Yggdrasil changes after it has been on for awhile due to the type of electronics in it. Even the official manual will tell you that, and they recommend simply leaving it on. So that's another thing that can result in disparate experiences.
Now I'll get into STAX for a moment. You know that bloated, muddy, distorted, slow type of bass that many low quality headphones and speakers have? Well...people are kinda used to that. So when they encounter much more accurate bass that is not exaggerated and has low distortion and fast transients coupled with an overall balanced frequency response, it can be perceived as inferior when it is in fact superior in objective terms.
Another intriguing thing I noticed with electrostats is that, although it's usually not rolled off, the treble is less harsh than dynamic headphones, even when you boost it to levels that you would expect to sound harsher than what actually happens. This ties into the aforementioned technical aspects.
Everything I've said here is only scratching the surface. You'll have to do
a lot of research to gain a deep understanding.
