The Emperor Has No Clothes!!

So…first off…I was the one who made that comment. It was in a discussion involving Benchmark DAC, preamp and amp. Having owned Benchmark DACs in the past, including the same exact model that OP uses in his system, and being familiar with a Benchmark sound, I made the following comment based on my experience with both that DAC model and the streamer the OP was interested in…

 

 

audphile1

3,731 posts

02-19-2024 at 07:35pm

One more thing to add…I think the very resolving, dynamic but sweet/tube like sounding N200 with the right digital cable and power cord will greatly complement the DAC3. That’s why I stated it will be a good match.

 

I’ve owned enough tube gear to know the sound characteristics. I’ve also owned enough streaners to know they sound different. The introduction of the Aurender streamer into my system introduced a very natural and sweet tone that reminds of good tube gear.

What analogy would be more to your liking? May be stating that the streamer has analog like sound? But it doesn’t…it lacks pops, ticks and farts. So that was my choice of words.

You seem to have some sort of a grudge here with both the fact that streamers can sound different and that I can hear it and call it out.

Now that we got that out of the way, @mdalton, the only parody here is that you have picked this as a subject of a dedicated thread. I am truly honored to live in your head rent free - I enjoy the spaciousness although it echoes there terribly and there’s a bad draft of wind.

@audphile1 

gosh, a lot of anger there.  I actually didn’t remember who said it; didn’t really matter, as it’s just a metaphor for what I see as a broader problem with the hobby. are you saying you want to invest in my company?

Anger? No. Not at all. I actually got a good laugh out of it.
But…I took the time to clarify my statement and add some context to it.

Your comments about opening a company…man I don’t know looks kind of low grade and not very original …was hoping you can do better than that…

One should also consider…as @mahgister hints at the the actual character of clothes are unaltered by our words to describe them… warm, analog and tube like will not keep ya from freezing to death in the Karakoram…..

Can they apply to a DAC….. absolutely….. Hint there is ALWAYS an A….. in DAC

But we do our best….

But seriously, it’s stuff like this that make all of us the deserving objects of ridicule from our non- audiophile friends.  I’m convinced that confirmation bias is the dirty little secret in all our lives that we need to acknowledge before we can move on.

Anybody who thinks they’re immune is in denial.  On another thread recently, I posted the following:

“one more point: confirmation bias is alive and well in car performance, just like audio.  Case in point: I have had numerous instances where, right after getting my car washed, I experience this compelling sense that my car handles better - swear to god!  Why?  Well I’ve just spent an insane amount of money - $36 most recently, before tip! - and now my pride and joy looks beautiful.  I’m feeling good, and I’m focused on this amazing machine’s performance in a way I hadn’t during the dog days of January and early February when I kept putting off cleaning the car.  So I have an enhanced appreciation of my car’s performance, even though that performance has not changed one iota.  It happens every time, even though I know it can’t be real!  That’s confirmation bias, and that’s why I’d be a fool not to consider measurements!

last point (maybe?) thank god the car wash hasn’t started a marketing campaign that their special mix of soap and wax improves the performance of my S4 and Golf.  My god, I might be willing to pay them thousands!!!!!”

Let’s actually discuss this. Has nobody else ever experienced this, or something like it?