I am a happy owner of the S17 pro and wanted to improve the sound further by replacing my DAC Loxjie D40. I compared it to Topping D90LE, Gustard R26 and Chord Qutest. Exactly volume matched I could not tell the DACs apart with statistical significance in a blind test. I do suffer from some hearing loss, but my 14 year old daughter felt the same way.
So I kept my cheap Loxjie because I don't see the point of spending a lot of money for nothing, which I would have gladly done if I had actually heard an improvement. I'm not trying to say is that there are no people who are actually able to hear a difference. But to everyone else who doesn't hear a difference in (decent) DACs, I would like to say: You are not alone!
For comparison, the differences between preamps and amplifiers were clearly audible to me. And they weren't necessarily the best-measured devices whose sound I prefer. For example, I find the Atoll AM 300 better than a Hypex Ncore class D power amplifier that I had before, but which certainly has better measurements.
So I kept my cheap Loxjie because I don't see the point of spending a lot of money for nothing, which I would have gladly done if I had actually heard an improvement. I'm not trying to say is that there are no people who are actually able to hear a difference. But to everyone else who doesn't hear a difference in (decent) DACs, I would like to say: You are not alone!
For comparison, the differences between preamps and amplifiers were clearly audible to me. And they weren't necessarily the best-measured devices whose sound I prefer. For example, I find the Atoll AM 300 better than a Hypex Ncore class D power amplifier that I had before, but which certainly has better measurements.