Top DAC reviews: What do they even mean?

[Legolas]

You know, and this applies to any reviews on any audio gear - reviewers seem to avoid direct comparisons to competing products. Yes there are some instances, but most reviews end up being a flowery language opinion of the product being reviewed. Maybe they need to rethink the method, and see reviews like an athletics meet? i.e. get 4 or 5 key products ganged up, and directly compare them in the SAME system, and with the SAME music files, to then get a performance score. And throw in some blind tests with friends at a meet. This would give fact hungry audiophiles data points to actually use effectively in them advancing to a demo our even a future purchase decision.

Without such a review, we are left with a romantic novel of 'music floating in the air', and how it inspired the reviewer to gush about it.

Also we RARELY see a bad review... wonder why?

Anyway, we have this forum, where we can get real data points by asking owners of said product, or those who demo'ed a product v other products in the same setting and at the same time. This IMO is really useful information to help us.

Sum up IMO, read magazine reviews as a start of the story, as entertaining. Then get down to the serious stage after, by using other methods.

 

[Argonaut]

Without such a review, we are left with a romantic novel of 'music floating in the air', and how it inspired the reviewer to gush about it.

Also we RARELY see a bad review... wonder why?

I suspect that most of us know why … Manufacturers and distributors are not going to pay good monies ,and other accommodations, for a damned with faint praise review , let alone a poor one , plus reviewers know which side of their bread is the buttered one !

At lest with a review sporting a set of measurement's from the likes of John Atkinson we are able to evaluate and to some extent compare for ourselves , some of the products under review .

 

[microstrip]

You know, and this applies to any reviews on any audio gear - reviewers seem to avoid direct comparisons to competing products. Yes there are some instances, but most reviews end up being a flowery language opinion of the product being reviewed. Maybe they need to rethink the method, and see reviews like an athletics meet? i.e. get 4 or 5 key products ganged up, and directly compare them in the SAME system, and with the SAME music files, to then get a performance score. And throw in some blind tests with friends at a meet. This would give fact hungry audiophiles data points to actually use effectively in them advancing to a demo our even a future purchase decision.

Well, IMO a perfect recipe to kill the high-end.

Without such a review, we are left with a romantic novel of 'music floating in the air', and how it inspired the reviewer to gush about it.

Fortunately we still have good reviewers and good readers. Probably we need more.

Also we RARELY see a bad review... wonder why?

Easy question, often addressed. It is associated to being a complex subjective hobby of preference.

Anyway, we have this forum, where we can get real data points by asking owners of said product, or those who demo'ed a product v other products in the same setting and at the same time. This IMO is really useful information to help us.

Surely, audiophiles love saying good things about what they own. But the forum is just a limited view of the high-end, you loose the other 90%.

Sum up IMO, read magazine reviews as a start of the story, as entertaining. Then get down to the serious stage after, by using other methods.

The only other method is listening. Or just taking decisions and sticking with them, remembering that is hobby we are always learning - in the broad sense of the word "learning".