The Placebo Effect - isn't it weird?

[Themis]

DimitriSo I should have kept the DACMagic then? I suspect not, and I do think there's more detail with the Caiman, though sometimes I think it's not as sweet as I'd like.

The sweetness is the up-sampling feature.
You can do like me : have an upsampling and a non-upsampling dac (or a dac with defeatable upsampling), like this, I switch depending on my mood. V-Dac is a cheap upsampling dac (if I'm not mistaken).

[Ali Tait]

Frankly, tracking subtle differences is very (*very*) hard... Sometimes the more you try to identify them, the more the seem to disappear. I have come to the conclusion that some differences can only be noticed on the long term.

Nevertheless, most of the time, the initial impression still proves right.

Agreed.I can form an impression within seconds that often holds after days.Not always,but often!

[jandl100]

Frankly, tracking subtle differences is very (*very*) hard... Sometimes the more you try to identify them, the more the seem to disappear. I have come to the conclusion that some differences can only be noticed on the long term.

Nevertheless, most of the time, the initial impression still proves right.

I think that rapid ABABAB comparisons can be misleading and can substantially underplay differences.

I was comparing the DAC section of my Arcam DV29 player with my Theta DAC last night - each plugged into a different input on my amp so a single press of a remote control button swapped between the two.

Rapid A/B comparisons usually resulted in a "it sounds the same" result .... but leaving each one playing for just a minute or so and then swapping back and the superiority of the Theta DAC became pretty damn obvious! (Darn - I was hoping to be able to sell the Theta! ).

[Primalsea]

It definitely a case of sum over averages when comparing hifi. I find that I have to listen to something for days to get a good idea of how it compares. During this time I have to swap for long periods. There has only been a few times when a change has been obvious and oddly mostly never on my own system!

[Themis]

I think that rapid ABABAB comparisons can be misleading and can substantially underplay differences.

I was comparing the DAC section of my Arcam DV29 player with my Theta DAC last night - each plugged into a different input on my amp so a single press of a remote control button swapped between the two.

Rapid A/B comparisons usually resulted in a "it sounds the same" result .... but leaving each one playing for just a minute or so and then swapping back and the superiority of the Theta DAC became pretty damn obvious! (Darn - I was hoping to be able to sell the Theta! ).

Yes, that's what I mean !

[Vincent Kars]

One day I run into a post made by a guy working for Fraunhofer.
If he compares codecs for transparency, he uses samples of 2-3 sec max.
Otherwise you auditory memory will fail you!

Perception