SBAF DAC Talk II

That was always how torq reviewed for the most part. Big wall of text that said nothing meaningful about what piece of audio jewelry he was reviewing, he alway chose the most colored minimum phase filter if a dac had selectable filters, used an awful woo amp or that mediocre ifi Brit fi, and then judged everything by how it sounded compared to Schiit Yggdrasil and Chord Dave, both of which are more “special” than normal. Then he would shit on gear that sounded more normal or was special in a different way no matter the technicalities so if you would prefer that kind of special, you wouldn’t know. Then Torq would sum it up with typical bullshit audio review adjectives like “musical” or “sonorous” and give everything a colored ascii symbol like it’s dwarf fortress.

Hookers on yachts are more Instagram fare anyway.

 

I get it if you dont agree with his views and I can respect that. But remember, there is always subjectivity in audio. Nothing is clear black and white. And people do have preferences.

 

This is true and why you should always listen to things yourself. Don’t buy blind; you will get burned eventually.

 

Psalm does come with a big red warning label on the box.

 

Duly noted.

 

I didn't assume or accuse anyone of shilling. I've read some new reviews and expressed my opinion of them. There's a more guarded style of writing than when he wrote here.

 

Fair point.

 

Reviews on commercial review websites are typically more “reserved” IMO for a few reasons:

1. Many reviewers don’t want to waste their time reviewing crap (people generally don’t read them as much as positive reviews anyhow, impacting revenue)
2. Even if they do, most won’t write scathing or inflammatory reviews because they (or their management/editors) are, rightly or wrongly, concerned with being sued. Therefore negative reviews can be pretty tame and watered down.
3. The differences between some of this stuff (esp DACs) IS actually quite small, and describing whether the differences are “good” or “bad” is, in many cases, highly subjective.

The best reviews IMO try to compare and triangulate the various aspects of sound as precisely as possible without a ton of judgement whether the DAC is overall betterer or worser, especially when a lot of that answer comes down to tradeoffs.* Comparing to a common point (or points) of reference is also really useful.

Torq’s DAC reviews here and on HF were specifically comparing DACs to Yggdrasil as his reference/preference (it was even in the damn thread titles), so providing ratings in this case based on HIS preferences makes sense. If you don’t like Yggdrasil, move along. If you do but can’t afford it, maybe you can get some hints on some of the lower priced stuff he reviewed that you may want to try.

At least Torq actually acquired the DACs he reviewed for a time and didn’t just listen for 5 minutes at a meet or a show, or read others opinions and spew them as his own. Neither did he stick to a dogmatic belief that anything intended for a specific market, or based on a certain DAC chip, was better than everything else.

He also didn’t flip flop on his opinions of gear constantly, and actually recommended or praised some specific gear that is fairly accessible to many.

Do I think Torqs reviews are God’s gift to DAC evaluations? Nope. But at least they give you a pretty consistent reference point to understand some of what’s out there, which you can then compare to other people’s subjective opinions, and without any commercial bias (before his most recent gig at least).

*Except in the case of Sabre DACs. They just plain suck hahaha!

 

Until you have some actual experience with the DirectStream DAC with recent FPGA code, you should shut your pie hole because you have no f'ing idea what you are talking about. All you have is what you have heard from someone else from a long time ago.

 

Christgau and Mark Prindle were fun reads

 

But does it? Winders & Torq were the only ones to own one here. Winders the only one here with the latest firmware upgrade, as well as msommers with the DS Jr.

They seem to be saying it was better than the Yggdrasil enough that they paid a premium over it & that was before the latest firmware drop.

The only words describing it from every blog, reviewer & forum have been even more resolving, meaty & vinyl like sounding than any of the previous versions of the DAC.

 

Most of us value money, consistency, and sound quality too much to consider buying one.

Why should a DAC try to emulate vinyl? Vinyl and tape have their own particular limitations and colorations.

 

I bought my DirectStream with Bridge II card used for $3300. It was two months old and the warranty was transferrable. The guy I bought it from worked at an audio dealer and lost his job. So I got a nearly brand new DirectStream DAC with full warranty for 50% off. I would never have paid $6600 for what I got. Why? The Yggdrasil I had was great. The only reason I bought the DirectStream was the price was right and I wanted to try some stuff with DSD and MQA. I would still be happy to have an Yggdrasil instead of the DirectStream. Yes, I think the DirectStream sounds better in my system than Yggdrasil. But the difference is not by any means huge. Certainly not $4000 huge!

 

The only valid point you have is the cost factor. You have no idea what you are talking about on consistency or sound quality.

 

The sound drastically changes, you can tweak it endlessly as it’s never right, it sounded awful when I heard it, and it costs over 20 times some stuff that sounds better than it and just works.

 

I compared them more in depth elsewhere. For me it was features, and sound of different rather than superior that swayed my decision. I'd like to compare to A2 but no longer have funds around for funsy things like that.

 

One's definition of vinyl & tape could mean ones definition of not sounding digital, which I associate with thinness, glare, stridency & harshness.

 

OK, that's a funny little gem there... LMAO. But nope Psal, @Torq does awesome comparisons, miss him around here.

That's exactly what I knew @winders meant!