In Reply to: There is NO MAGIC here posted by Feanor on February 16, 2024 at 05:02:26:
How is something completely neutral and "only what is on the recordings" when subjective reviews of something like the Topping D90se indicate that it truncates soundstage depth and has brightness in the highs and that this is consistent (especially the soundstage lack of depth) across pretty much all recordings?
The soundstage depth should vary radically from recording to recording, as should the tonality. If not, then there is something systematic that the DAC is doing that is not being picked up by the objective measurements.
I think you need to rethink your position that you are hearing (only what is on the recordings" because clearly, based on observations like those above, this is not the case.
Do some other DACs create an artificially wide/deep soundstage? Perhaps and the way to know is if nearly all recordings suddenly get very deep/wide soundstageing then it is possibly being artificially manipulated. Same with tonality. If all recordings start to sound tonally similar then that is a clear indication of some kind of coloration. That might still be ok, if mild (probably all have some kind of signature) and as long as it is not interfering with low level resolution and...soundstage/imaging.
Topping D90se, for all it's seemingly amazing transparency, appears to trunctate soundstage depth and width and has been observed to be somewhat "hot" in the highs. As that seems to be consistent across recordings...and reviews, it is logical to conclude that it is not "completely neutral" nor is it "only what is on the recording".
I pick on this DAC in particular because it sits at the top, or nearly the top, of the DAC SINAD heap...and by ASR and your standards then a "blameless" DAC.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- RE: There is NO MAGIC here - morricab 02:46:09 02/21/24 (52)
- Soundstage is one of the most subjective of attributes - Feanor 04:15:16 02/21/24 (51)
- SO ... HOW do we measure soundstage??? - Feanor 05:41:07 02/22/24 (9)
- RE: SO ... HOW do we measure soundstage??? - morricab 07:08:11 02/22/24 (6)
- OK, but how do we know the D90se is "brighter" than it should be? - Feanor 09:56:52 02/22/24 (5)
- RE: OK, but how do we know the D90se is "brighter" than it should be? - morricab 02:52:34 02/23/24 (4)
- Who says the D90SE is bright? - kjg 11:23:28 02/23/24 (3)
- RE: Who says the D90SE is bright? - morricab 07:20:01 02/29/24 (2)
- Say what !?! You haven't actually heard the D90SE?? - Feanor 04:51:38 03/04/24 (1)
- RE: Say what !?! You haven't actually heard the D90SE?? - morricab 05:52:42 03/04/24 (0)
- RE: SO ... HOW do we measure soundstage??? - Tre' 06:57:25 02/22/24 (1)
- RE: SO ... HOW do we measure soundstage??? - morricab 07:16:00 02/22/24 (0)
- RE: Soundstage is one of the most subjective of attributes - morricab 01:04:42 02/22/24 (5)
- I'm saying the 'sometimes' a perceived phenomenon is an *artifact* - Feanor 05:17:13 02/22/24 (4)
- RE: I'm saying the 'sometimes' a perceived phenomenon is an *artifact* - morricab 06:52:37 02/22/24 (3)
- Yes, the whole point of stereo - Feanor 10:06:03 02/22/24 (2)
- RE: Yes, the whole point of stereo - Dawnrazor 22:05:01 02/22/24 (1)
- My Apt Holman preamp of years ago had an interesting circuit - Feanor 12:56:24 02/23/24 (0)
- RE: Soundstage is one of the most subjective of attributes - morricab 00:54:15 02/22/24 (3)
- It *IS* psychoacoustic and is real (IMO) - Feanor 04:34:31 02/22/24 (2)
- RE: It *IS* psychoacoustic and is real (IMO) - morricab 07:11:26 02/22/24 (1)
- What is "magic"? It's a phenomenon which is beyond explanation - Feanor 10:10:19 02/24/24 (0)
- "There is certainly no objective measure for it." - mlsstl 06:57:27 02/21/24 (30)
- Like I said, research into what affect soundstage perception would be useful - Feanor 04:23:22 02/22/24 (0)
- "The problem with measurements". Some thoughts .... - 13th Duke of Wymbourne 11:21:44 02/21/24 (15)
- RE: "The problem with measurements". Some thoughts .... - morricab 00:58:54 02/22/24 (14)
- RE: "The problem with measurements". Some thoughts .... - 13th Duke of Wymbourne 10:22:48 02/22/24 (5)
- RE: "The problem with measurements". Some thoughts .... - morricab 07:55:21 02/29/24 (0)
- An 'artifact' in case of single-component soundstage - Feanor 04:36:38 02/26/24 (3)
- RE: An 'artifact' in case of single-component soundstage - morricab 08:01:28 02/29/24 (2)
- So what "magic" accounts for the phenomenon? - Feanor 04:49:31 03/04/24 (1)
- RE: So what "magic" accounts for the phenomenon? - morricab 06:05:38 03/04/24 (0)
- Depends of the DAC (??) - Feanor 05:11:37 02/22/24 (7)
- RE: Depends of the DAC (??) - morricab 07:23:34 02/22/24 (6)
- How do FETs measure differently from bipolars? - Feanor 10:19:33 02/24/24 (5)
- RE: How do FETs measure differently from bipolars? - 13th Duke of Wymbourne 19:34:16 02/25/24 (1)
- RE: How do FETs measure differently from bipolars? - morricab 07:22:59 02/29/24 (0)
- RE: How do FETs measure differently from bipolars? - mlsstl 12:49:37 02/24/24 (1)
- Thanks for that, which I have seen before. Also ... - Feanor 04:24:12 02/26/24 (0)
- RE: How do FETs measure differently from bipolars? - morricab 11:28:45 02/24/24 (0)
- Amen! - E-Stat 10:07:51 02/21/24 (3)
- Yhoo, E-Stat: no strawmen, please - Feanor 04:27:54 02/22/24 (2)
- I suppose it's difficult to imagine - E-Stat 12:23:54 02/22/24 (1)
- Congradulations, E-Stat, you have the last word ~n - Feanor 08:45:21 02/26/24 (0)
- RE: "There is certainly no objective measure for it." - Dawnrazor 07:48:54 02/21/24 (8)
- RE: "There is certainly no objective measure for it." - morricab 01:06:20 02/22/24 (7)
- Exactly - Feanor 08:43:43 02/26/24 (1)
- RE: Exactly - morricab 07:35:16 02/29/24 (0)
- RE: "There is certainly no objective measure for it." - Dawnrazor 08:59:08 02/22/24 (4)
- You'rd confused as to which sort of "soundstage" is being discussed here - Feanor 08:38:17 02/26/24 (2)
- RE: You'rd confused as to which sort of "soundstage" is being discussed here - Dawnrazor 10:18:35 02/26/24 (1)
- RE: You'rd confused as to which sort of "soundstage" is being discussed here - morricab 07:39:28 02/29/24 (0)
- RE: "There is certainly no objective measure for it." - morricab 09:54:07 02/22/24 (0)