(...) The fact that PCM and DSD have these inherent characteristics (incisiveness / flow - my add) , or at least, listeners are describing it in these terms, it seems to me that those are colorations inherent in the format, and that is less than ideal. (...)
I am not as sure as you, Peter. IMHO most of the opinions that I have read here are strongly correlated with the implementation of the DAC and it also seems to me we do not have statistic enough to support these claims. Just anecdotal, but I have found that Aliavox - the Jodi Savall label - SACDs have more incisiveness than the CD layer on the Vivaldi.
BTW, I have downloaded the Handel "Water Music: Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin" (Harmonia Mundi) hi rez PCM file. Great music, a different and faster version of this work that seems recorded from a natural perspective - no row A, happily - and brass keeps all its natural freshness. Perhaps some people would say inadvertently : Oh, great DSD sounding!