The reviewer choose the current generation of the DAC that he already owns as his winner - Berkeley Ref. 2. The presentation he's used to and have already chosen for his personal system basically. Along the way throughout the review, you learn that the speakers used were Magico Q5's partnered with darTZeel electronics (pre- and power).
On this level - it's all about synergy and personal opinion. These are all top contenders with their own individual virtuos.
/ Marcus
Hi Marcus,
Yes completely agree with your point that "On this level - it's all about synergy and personal opinion. These are all top contenders with their own individual virtuos [sic]".
And yes if your system is "tuned" to your equipment, it is "biased" toward equipment that is similar to what you already have.
But every review and reviewer typically has the same bias toward their current "reference".
Moreover, there are a number of unique considerations associated with this review that made it a refreshing read for me.
First, the reviewer doesn't pull any punches in part because HIFI Critic doesn't accept advertising. He was clear about how each contender scored based on his preferences.
Second, while yes, every reviewer has his own personal biases and predilections, the reviewer considered a number of top DAC contenders at the same time from the perspective of an audiophile buyer looking to buy a top DAC for his system.
Third, although you can disagree with his preferences, he laid out a very thoughtful, albeit personal, set of criteria based on musical engagement/enjoyment.
This is useful because if you own or are interested in any of these DACs, you can decide if his criteria and preferences agree with your own.
But even more importantly, you can use his criteria to inform your own set of preferences. And as it's been said before, if we're not careful, we might just learn something.
And in this case, as evidenced by the "second opinion" section of the review, it appears the reviewer has painstakingly spent a great deal of time and thoughtful effort optimizing his system by eliminating noise in all its forms - a necessary through albeit not so common instance. And HIFi Critic is a respected publication. So his opinions have some credibility.
Overall, the review gives you something to think about, especially if you own or are looking at any of the contender DACs. It's just like having a knowledgeable audiophile friend evaluate your system with a "Cart Blanche" permission to tell it like it is, rather than give you a polite response: You don't have to give credence to the opinion, but it's food for thought.
And just to emphasize and clarify your point for others, his reference going into the review was the older Berkeley Alpha 2. In the end his preferred choice was the newest version of his previous reference: the Berkeley Alpha Reference 2.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
