[viggen]

DACs don't "break in".

i think you're showing why people don't like asr

 

[silent-circuit]

So you equate ASR and Zeos? What planet are you on?

No. They are opposite sides of the idiot coin.

Vastly different, neither worthy of consideration on their own merits.

 

[milkdudd]

I see there is a Benchmark HPA-4 for sale here on the forum. It's in Europe and I'm not quite ready yet to spend that kind of money anyway but it is on my radar as a someday purchase. Just wondering if anyone has tried one of these or the equivalent Benchmark preamp (minus the headphone amp) with the D90 and is it a good match? My priority would be the quality as a preamp being fed by the D90. Thanks in advance

 

[Interceptor69]

To clarify, Schiit didn't exactly "change" their designs. Notably with the Magni, their entry level headphone amp, they introduced two different versions. The current Magni 3+ continues the Schiit tradition of an entirely discrete design. The Magni Heresy, which has the same power rating, uses an op-amp design and measures much better on ASR's tests. Indeed, it appears pretty clear that the Heresy was designed primarily--if not solely--to placate ASR and its cultists, and I believe it was fairly successful in doing so. (There is now a newer third version, the slightly more expensive IEMagni. I'm really not familiar with it.)

i think you're showing why people don't like asr

I think you're showing a lack of knowledge of electronics and their properties. Science-try it, you might like it.

 

[Interceptor69]

No. They are opposite sides of the idiot coin.

Vastly different, neither worthy of consideration on their own merits.

How can you claim a website whose reviews are based on the actual measurements many companies also perform when designing and testing equipment as "idiot" and not worthy of consideration? Perhaps you should email Topping and tell them to stop testing their DACs and other equipment with the APX555, telling them it's unimportant.

 

[kingoftown1]

Statements like this are what give objectivists a bad name. Do you think that the measurements conducted in ASR's equipment tests give a comprehensive picture of a component's sonic performance? Do they explain every sonic attribute you can think of -- frequency response, distortion, soundstage size & proportions, image size & specificity, speed, and so on?

 

[Marlowe]

i think you're showing why people don't like asr

In an earlier post I noted that "many adherents of the site ... act like angry militant cultists on other audio forums like this one." There you go.

 

[Marlowe]

I think you're showing a lack of knowledge of electronics and their properties. Science-try it, you might like it.

You know, you do nothing to endear yourself to people, or advance your cause, by shooting out multiple nasty and personally insulting posts.

 

[Quinto]

Anyone uses the Pre90 with the D90?

 

[JHern]

Check your math or your facts; this is way off. The D90 (without MQA) was originally $700, so the $900 SE is roughly 28% more expensive. A better comparison might be to the original price of the D90 MQA ($800); the SE is 12.5% more expensive. (Though you can certainly argue that the the $100 bump for the original MQA version was overpriced; I got it on sale.)

Where I live (Japan) the original was 60,000 Japanese yen, the MQA was 70,000 Japanese yen, and the new version (also has MQA) is 90,000 Japanese yen. 90,000/60,000 = 1.5 ... or 50% higher price than the original...my arithmetic checks out just fine. Sorry you were paying much more for the original. The AK4499 versions are no longer available here, I'm glad I got one when I could, as it is a much better value.

What I am expecting from Topping to complete the stack is a Network player/streamer hopefully w/ DDC function. Or if not, as two separate devices.

They have a lot of really smart people at Topping, I think that when combined with the rich electronics and commerce ecosystem in that region, and the support they get from the government, we can expect some really cool offerings in the next year...the world is their oyster.

ASR can provide some useful information. The problem many people (including myself) have with the site is that is that it doesn't merely make test results the most important factor in choosing audio gear but pretty much the only factor...

I don't think this is an entirely fair characterization. Yes there are some people at ASR who do take things too far, and come off with a technocratic air, but that isn't the main point of that forum (in my view). There is little doubt that the audio world is beset by sales pitches for gimmicks that are at best "snake oil." Like "buy this $10k cable and your system will sound amazing." People are prone to these pitches, and without any objective testing/data the reptiles are free to operate in this realm and rip people off. Yes, I do recognize that this mostly involves ripping off rich people, which isn't necessarily a bad thing...but for those who have a budget, who actually work for a living, and pay for their audio gear with wages earned from their own labor (rather than milking their own wealth), this is not acceptable. I think this is the primary motivation for Amir, and to that extent, he is doing a good job. I'm a supporter of this kind of effort, even if I oppose the extrapolation of empiricism to the be-all end-all of the audioverse. I've read too much philosophy (such as David Hume) to buy into that point of view.

 

[Chik0240]

Where I live (Japan) the original was 60,000 Japanese yen, the MQA was 70,000 Japanese yen, and the new version (also has MQA) is 90,000 Japanese yen. 90,000/60,000 = 1.5 ... or 50% higher price than the original...my arithmetic checks out just fine. Sorry you were paying much more for the original. The AK4499 versions are no longer available here, I'm glad I got one when I could, as it is a much better value.



They have a lot of really smart people at Topping, I think that when combined with the rich electronics and commerce ecosystem in that region, and the support they get from the government, we can expect some really cool offerings in the next year...the world is their oyster.



I don't think this is an entirely fair characterization. Yes there are some people at ASR who do take things too far, and come off with a technocratic air, but that isn't the main point of that forum (in my view). There is little doubt that the audio world is beset by sales pitches for gimmicks that are at best "snake oil." Like "buy this $10k cable and your system will sound amazing." People are prone to these pitches, and without any objective testing/data the reptiles are free to operate in this realm and rip people off. Yes, I do recognize that this mostly involves ripping off rich people, which isn't necessarily a bad thing...but for those who have a budget, who actually work for a living, and pay for their audio gear with wages earned from their own labor (rather than milking their own wealth), this is not acceptable. I think this is the primary motivation for Amir, and to that extent, he is doing a good job. I'm a supporter of this kind of effort, even if I oppose the extrapolation of empiricism to the be-all end-all of the audioverse. I've read too much philosophy (such as David Hume) to buy into that point of view.

One tthing I quite like the ASR philosophy is that quite some renowned Hifi floor-stander manufacturers did goes into that measuring flat in anechoic chamber idea, at least their published measurements do try to do it at best as they can (KEF, Vivid, Focal, just to name a few). And that even Audio-Gd did publish in their website with measurements showing very low distortion (well, a lot different to what ASR measured that is...) I am open to the view of some distortion actually makes the sound better fit to one's taste and can be desired, but if so, why don't Audio-gd did say as is and publish the bad measurements?

 

[sajunky]

I am open to the view of some distortion actually makes the sound better fit to one's taste and can be desired, but if so, why don't Audio-gd did say as is and publish the bad measurements?

I think they don't care about, anymore. ASR measurements can not be trusted, they are made by an amateur. Take look at the TotalDAC Six measurements (read my comments in this thread), they are rigged with both 50Hz and 60Hz traces and only one kind can be attributed to a leak coming from a TotalDAC. As the same traces are present when testing Audio GD DAC, it gives an indication that all leaks are coming from the measuring equipment. A ground loops disturbance was so strong during tests that R2R-11 was triggering ladder recalibration every 20 seconds, it is noticed by a reviewer. How he decided to continue in such situation, I don't understand. It is a single ended DAC, less protected from external noise.

Common for all these botchered tests are power supply traces of both 60Hz and 50Hz, a sign that Amir was using power generator converting 60Hz/110V to the 50Hz/220V, these devices required 220V power.

 

[Interceptor69]

Statements like this are what give objectivists a bad name. Do you think that the measurements conducted in ASR's equipment tests give a comprehensive picture of a component's sonic performance? Do they explain every sonic attribute you can think of -- frequency response, distortion, soundstage size & proportions, image size & specificity, speed, and so on?

yes I do.

 

[Interceptor69]

You know, you do nothing to endear yourself to people, or advance your cause, by shooting out multiple nasty and personally insulting posts.

I have no desire to "endear" myself to you or anyone else. I don't have a cause. Pretty sure my posts are no more "nasty and personally insulting" than yours or those bashing with evidence Amir, ASR and Topping.

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Pls. back to topic guyz...or make an ASR thread yourselves.