I was extremely disappointed in the review, personally. No effort at all was taken to compare the IDA to Nuforce's older DDA (which TAS themselves reviewed in the past), or any of the popular amp/dac combos like Wadia, Peachtree, Naim, or newer Musical Fidelity or Marantz.
No slight to the IDA-16, I just thought the review wasn't very useful for someone considering buying one. Basically it says "it's good, a good value for the price, but not as good as much more expensive combos". Which, at MSRP of $2500, we can assume it's pretty good right...
I just didn't find it informative at all.
How many audiophile magazine reviews have you seen that do comparison? Long time magazine readers know how to read between the lines
Because magazines, unlike blog or forums, rely on advertising income. Lets be realistic here, the subscription don't even cover the printing cost.
If the reviews keep on putting down other products, sooner or later all brands will hate the magazine and it will cease to survive.
Sites like CNET do comparison because they are the super sites, no brands can afford to ignore them.
So how does one make decision ? Well, the good old word of mouth and customers feedback.
The magazine review gives you a basis of how the product will perform. But you then rely on customers recommendations to judge how good it is compared to others.
Furthermore, the reputation of the company and people behind the brand. And if you are seriously considering buying one, you can always convince a dealer or the company (i.e. me) to guarantee a full refund. By the way, you must pay first. I once trusted a guy named Marc Fogel (and he even posted question about IDA-16 here) and he stole the IDA-16 from us. His personal check bounced and after he repeatedly promising to pay, I then never hear from him again.
