hello all,
i was hoping to wind down my sunday evening with some emails and audiocircle (nothing like looking at nice systems to motivate one to work on monday
), and i came across this farce of a review.
http://www.dagogo.com/AudioVanAlstineUltraDAC.htmli don't own any van alstine products. frankly (couldn't resist), i don't know much about them...and i can't say i'm currently in the market for one. what i do know, from two engineering degrees and plenty of personal interaction with megalomaniacs, is that this attempt to review equipment is an absolute joke.
to show some sympathies for mr. schroeder, i will freely admit i prefer detachable IEC cables, and yes i have owned some obscenely expensive wadia players in my lifetime. and normally i keep my nose clean, but this guy has me so ticked off that i'm somehow personally offended even though i have no reason to be
.
anyway, back to being on topic of this mostly off-topic review. the reviewer, mr.schroeder, went out of his way to spend as much time as possible affirming his belief system (and let's be honest, it is a belief system), and repeatedly emphasizing his ideas of what make a great dac. in my opinion, the way this reviewer came across is probably somebody who has every copy of tas and stereophile chronicled on library shelves in the basement; and he will yell from the clock tower to the entire town square that he is not only an audiophile, but a reiviewer.
i copied the text from this article into ms word, and highlighted all sound-related issues in yellow, and information relating to iec cables, sound qualities of transports, and bullshit technobabble about bits the reviewer believes is correct in blue.
4.2 out of the 5 pages in word were in blue.mr. van alstine, if you'd like a copy of the above taken as a screenshot, i'd be happy to send it over. i wanted to verify your 'manufacturer's response', and in fact my own results mirrored yours.
while i believe it's important everyone should have their own belief system, punishing a component for not conforming to *what one believes is correct* is absurd.
some (IEC) quotes from the review:
The Ultra Dac is a component which will force the audiophile to make a decision either for or against generally accepted audiophile manufacturing practices, such as the almost universal use of the IEC connector along with aftermarket power cords, or the widely accepted use of upsampling in digital players and DACs.
I was disenchanted initially during a phone call placed to Frank in the early stages of this review as we discussed the absence of an IEC on the Ultra Dac.
(more IEC talk)
As for blind testing, I assert the mind is incapable of highly consistent, hyper-critical, auditory recall and fails to identify accurately these same nuances in double bind tests.
Until someone can demonstrate the sound of an electron, the subject remains unsettled and my explanation in principle is plausible.
If measurements are critical, then any number of reliable means to obtain them can be used, i.e. standard power cord or IEC; low cost or audiophile quality transport. If, on the other hand, the subjective assessment of sound following measurement is the goal, then a large number of perfectly good objective means are ruled out in search of the few or one which will satisfy.
However, if the elements considered by many, including myself, to be indispensable to ultimate sound (such as the IEC or upsampling) are critical, then the reader needs to realize that options are intentionally limited with AVA gear.
For those with higher end players, it will likely be irrelevant whether the Ultra Dac would extend performance. This is especially so since the Ultra Dac is hamstrung by the elimination of an IEC...even at the limited 16-bit level, the Ultra Dac could improve significantly if an IEC were used.
The frustrating conclusion (frustration from what I perceive is holding it back) I draw in regards to the Ultra Dac is that it does perform at a very respectable level. In fact, it sounds amazingly good for a DAC with a toaster power cord and 16-bit processing.
In correspondence with Frank, as I returned the unit I suggested a daring proposal: Would he be willing to additionally retrofit the Ultra DAC with an IEC style power receptacle to accept after-market power cords?
The daring (and potentially beneficial) aspect of the proposal to him was that if the unit showed no substantial improvement following the IEC installation, I would publicly acknowledge that he had designed his DAC so as to be at the ultimate performance apart from that “cable nonsense” I kept pushing on him. However, if the unit was improved by the IEC, he would have to acknowledge it, but would also gain a viable upgrade for customers in the process.
Had Frank accepted the proposition and refitted his design with an IEC, things might have been different, as I am fairly certain the distinction in sound would have had a much better chance of passing the Law of Efficacy.
and, on that last quote, the man has invented his own 'Law of Efficacy'. wow.
ok, well i could go on and on, but then i'd basically be copying the entire review here. does anyone else besides me find this review having well-crossed the line from professional to obsessive-compulsive neurotic?
i have no comments on the analysis of sound quality, other than i don't believe the reviewer is qualified to talk about 16bit versus 22bit if he doesn't understand how much more important it is to ensure sound fundamentals like star grounding or power regulation. one should teach mr. schroeder the basics or walking before running when it comes to electrically judging the merits of components. i'd also like to point out that zanden, amr, 47 labs, and countless others are widely reviewed and owned throughout the audiophile reviewing community...all of these designs highlight 16bit dacs. i would be curious what this particular reviewer would say about a review of these designs, or maybe the reviews would be glowing because the aforementioned do have removable IEC.
by no means do i believe there is any kind of conspiracy for audiophile publications to favor manufacturers with large advertising budgets. if, however, i did decide to start believing such nonsense, this review would be a great jump start for championing that message.
ok, well it's off my chest. i apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors...it's late and i'm lazy to go back and reread my words. g'night.
