Schiit Bifrost vs. the original Peachtree Dac-it

mzkmxcv:  I agree with you.  But my "Mimby" has been oodles of fun, and I still highly recommend it for someone who wants to try out a different flavor of DAC without breaking the bank.

@kahlenz

Yeah, that’s why I tried to stress that I’m talking about accurate playback. I want all my gear transparent, and add DSP to taste, rather than not add any DSP and try and mix and match gear that colors the sound on its own. Simply different philosophies.

mzkmxcv:  that accuracy agenda is out the window as soon as the recording engineer hooks up a mic.  Accurate to what?  The natural tone and timber of the acoustic event?  The engineer's concept of how it should sound?  The artist's vision of how he/she wants his/her music to come across?

When you add playback systems and varying room acoustics, the idea of "accuracy" becomes absurd.  Everything that comes in contact with the original signal is going to color the sound.  There is no such thing as accurate.

At best, playback systems should be designed for the pleasure of the listener.  That includes colorations of all sorts.  It really boils down to what you want to listen to, and what, for you, best conveys the feelings and emotions of the music.

kahlenz

... There is no such thing as accurate. At best, playback systems should be designed for the pleasure of the listener.

That's a fine preference, but of course it has nothing to do with high fidelity.

Fidelity to what?  What the mastering engineer hears?  Then hook up a pair of Auratone 5c speakers and listen in an anechoic chamber.

With notable exceptions, most engineers master for the average consumer.  No matter how it is mastered, all recordings are destined to be played back in a bewildering variety of systems, usually assembled to the taste of the owner.  Those of us with more revealing systems like to call them "HiFi"s.  It's a matter of semantics.