This reviewer is doing something revolutionary: He’s using his ears 
As should everyone who listens to music.
But that doesn’t mean he’s right, or that someone who prefers the Topping is wrong.
For example, some people like steak well done, some people like it blue. It’s still steak - though one is very different from the other. There’s no right or wrong about it - it’s personal taste.
And some people try and kid themselves that their minute-steak is an Aberdeen Angus! 
Are we in ‘The Matrix’ Neo?
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So the following isn’t biased then:
Quote: Topping has offered that I also purchase a retail DAC to compare to this one at their expense. Actually they have offered that I re-buy everything they have ever sent me at retail at their expense!
A joke! 
Unfortunately, hearing music is a experience of active imagination. And that kind of experience can’t be shared easily; you need to paint an image, or compose a poem. I see relatively little poetry on this forum. I do see people saying cryptic things and refusing to explain them, which I admit is a pretty poet-like behavior.
I suppose the objectivists are piss*d off (interesting that “pisses” is allowed, but the past participle is censored) because of all the noise (in the sense of signal-to-noise ratio; perhaps a better word is “entropy”) caused by meaningless and often incomprehensible experience reports, frequently asserted as if they illustrate some eternal verity.
Based on what I’ve seen - and experienced as an engineer who leans toward the objective side of this debate - it’s more a case that anyone daring to disagree with Amir and his coterie will not be treated as a welcome citizen, whether or not they have a rational argument.
That said I still think the aims of ASR are laudible, despite their methods apparently not being open to reasoned, constructive criticism.
Anyway, I’ll say no more as this is somewhat off topic.
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Do you think Amir’s measurements got better because the equipment was free?
You can’t have it both ways. If all Amir does is measure, how can the conclusions be biased? Are you saying that he’s not reporting the measurements correctly?
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It’s your problem if you take someone’s listening experience as a fact when it’s obviously just someone’s opinion. I find every listening experience valuable and when you read many of them, you get the big picture of how something might sound and maybe then borrow the said equipment and demo it at home.
I’ve been very skeptic about many things in this hobby but after carefully evaluating those things in my own system, my opinion sometimes changes, sometimes not. If I clearly prefer cable a to cable b, I obviously choose the cable which sounds best to me. Not the one which Amir says I should take. This should be obvious to anyone in this hobby. We don’t need to prove anything to anyone. Just choose what makes you happy and sounds best to you. This is impossible to accept for many people and they stare at measurements and might end up with subpar sounding gear and then join these forums to whine to people who evaluate equipment by ear.
Also it bothers me that forum scientists seem to think that we know everything at any given time. Ten years ago we knew that digital transports are all the same and no differences are possible but whoops, then came async usb and suddenly digital transport matters. What comes next? Maybe some day we can measure the reasons behind varying listening experiences between certain digital components but it seems that we can’t do it yet.
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That’s not a “religious attitude”. You could describe it as an inflexible attitude, but does not pertain to religious practice or religious belief in any way!
In that case I’m sorry for my language. In my native language we call people’s approach ”religious” when its fanatic and nothing about their view can be questioned. What I tried to say is that ASR has cult-like followers and there’s obviously few on this forum also.
I’m sorry to pick you up on language, buy I have no idea why you persist with the hyperbole. I have studied religion, including so-called cults, to a post-graduate level. This included, amongst other things, philosophy of religion and sociology of religion. Let me tell you, categorically, that there is nothing religious or cult-like about ASR. If you don’t like ASR, that’s fine, but please find a more accurate way of expressing your disdain.
Now we’re really getting into the heart of your bias…
Another inaccuracy. Who has said this? No scientist would ever say this.
I’ve come accross this description of ”cult-like” atmosphere on another forums also. It’s not just me but I agree to this. Some people seem to think ASR is the only truth and final word about audio equipment. But we can just agree to disagree about this subject, it’s offtopic anyway.
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To all concerned, my apologies for yesterday’s impatient exchange. I fell into tunnel vision after after “banana lobotomy” @QuinnT 
Everything I posted was with smile on face and more like friendly poking between ribs.
In the meantine - did you conclude ethernet cables? I see this topic shifted somewhere else 
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I think it’s the thread that keeps on giving!!!
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Aren’t you saying this in this thread and in the power cable thread also? People hear clear differences, especially between power cables, so maybe we just haven’t found the reason behind those differences yet? Still most objectivists seem to think that everything about these topics is known and we can’t find anything new in future. All listening experiences are labeled as imagination.
Much Ado About Nothing (sometimes).
It might be useful to get a clearer picture what objectivists and subjectivists actually are. There are clearly ‘fanatics’ in both camps. But most are quite reasonable, really. It’s just that their priorities differ.
I would describe myself as a (reasonable) subjectivist to the extent that my impression of a sonic signature is more important to me than measurements. This is not to say, however, that I dismiss measurements altogether. That would be foolish, since our equipment is built according to scientific engineering principles after all. But there is nothing wrong, I find, with using your ears as the final adjudicator in a domain that is highly complex and, by its very nature, highly personal.
A (reasonable) objectivist chooses to trust measurements more than a subjectivist does, and, when push comes to shove, often more than his own ears. Nothing wrong with that, at all. We are unable to eliminate unconscious biases, and so it does make sense for an objectivist to go with measurements rather than his impressions.
I don’t like extremists, though, I must say. Those that believe that measurements can settle all questions on the one hand, and, on the other, those that believe (and often claim) they can hear differences to this or that component of such a subtle nature that they seem to have morphed into a different species altogether (bats perhaps).
If one goes to the trouble of parsing the statements of both (reasonable) objectivists and subjectivists in a careful manner, the gaping divide that seems to separate them appears bridgeable.
Temper tantrums are clearly not helpful in this debate.
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Thanks Marco, well said.
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