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Benchmark dac - why such diverging opinions?

I'm puzzled.
Audiophile sites and magazines continue to rave about the benchmark dac (HDR, USB, pre,...). Perfect rendition, studio quality, unbeatable value,...

Yet criticism stacks up high on many blogs. Too harsh, not musical enough,...

Why such divergence? Does its popularity make it the one one loves to hate? Are magazines just biased in their reviews? Are audiophile bloggers not good judges of quality. Are those considering buying a dac at that price having sub-par components whose imperfections the benchmark dac amplifies, while those going higher end don't consider the dac adequate vs a berkeley or weiss? Where is the catch?

I ended up buying a w4s dac. I considered the benchmark yet never had the chance to audition it.
mizuno

Showing 1 response by tom6897

tom6897's avatar
tom6897
1,484 posts
 
The reviews which are done by 'professionals' very rarely if ever criticize or give a negative review of anything they review. That is why many of us do not put much if any stock in the reviews or the resulting listening comparisons. The most glowing reviews also seem to consistently come from the publications that accept advertising and receive their income from said advertisements. Can you put two and two together? It is a symbiotic relationship. Has been and will continue to be.

The same, unfortunately, can be said for many hobbies that have trade publications that do reviews of products.(autos, computers, home improvement tools, photography, etc). Everything gets 4 or 5 stars and we all know that is a bunch of crap!

Marketing and sales keeps everyone employed...its part of the business model IMO.
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