DAC Comparisons using AI

I too have productively used AI - ChatGPT specifically - to assist me in thinking through upgrades and moves between systems. And, yes, of course, it’s important to check sources and ultimately use your own ears.  It’s also very helpful to allow your AI “agent” to know you very well. Mine knows every component and interconnect in my main system in two houses as well as two secondary systems. It also knows my room dimensions and features. Over time, my commentary on what I like or don’t like is further incorporated and used as reference to new queries. 
 

Without getting into the details, recently AI kept me from spending a lot of money on an upgrade that’s been tickling my brain. It really just reminded me of what I have in front of me and told me to sit back and enjoy the music for a while. Pretty startling turn to the conversation. I bought it a beer. 

I was researching the best input level for my new M3 DAC to my BHK pre. I thought it was just a sensitivity / compatibility question, but for my pre (and perhaps others), it uses both a potentiometer & resistor ladder. Both AI’s recommended reducing the DAC output to achieve a higher resistor ladder.
PS Audio confirmed the ladders, said I would probably see better performance from the higher ladders, but said their ‘official’ position was DAC at standard output, ignoring the ladders. 
The higher ladders sound fuller & more dynamic at the same volume. This is not documented anywhere I can find, & only through AI did I discover it. Good stuff!

 

@yesiam_a_pirate 

Just for fun imagine you wanted to gather comparative data on a relatively unknown product and one that is that is heavily sponsored in mainline audio magazines, you tube videos, social media, etc. via a big budget.  Paid reviews. Guess which one AI is going to highlight? 

Agreed. Big tech are not investing billions in AI just to help us, they see this as an investment with huge potential profits, and that is in the form of more ads and steering the consumer in particular directions. And the gullible will think the results are "unbiased because it is not a human". 

I have used AI when it comes to my system in two mains ways and that’s evolving. 1. I used it to compare upgrade paths from my current speaker and had it lay out the differences.

and 2. I correct my room with the use of REW measurements that I upload to ChatGPT and together I get my dual subs dialed in rather nicely, phase, placement, gain and crossover. In that regard it’s been really good at interpreting the graphs and letting me know that everything is in balance and at least set up correctly and then I listen to confirm. 

OK SO ai can be helpful sometimes, but here is why it cannot help with audio quality as written my a chat bot:

 

What is AI?

 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is computer software designed to recognize patterns in large amounts of data and generate responses that sound intelligent. It doesn’t think, feel, or understand the world the way people do. Instead, it predicts what words, images, or outputs are most likely to make sense based on everything it has been trained on.

 

In simple terms:

AI is very advanced pattern-matching software.

 

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Why AI Can’t Judge Listening Quality

 

When it comes to topics like sound quality, music reproduction, or how something “sounds,” AI has an important limitation:

 

AI cannot hear.

 

It does not have ears.

It does not experience sound waves.

It does not perceive tone, depth, warmth, imaging, or dynamics.

 

What AI can do is:

 

• Explain audio concepts (e.g., frequency response, distortion, soundstage).

• Summarize expert opinions.

• Compare specifications.

• Describe common listener impressions reported by humans.

 

 

What it cannot do is:

 

• Personally evaluate your system.

• Hear differences between two amplifiers.

• Judge whether your speakers sound “better” after an upgrade.

 

 

Any opinion it provides about listening quality is based on reported data and common human descriptions — not direct sensory experience.