Unlike machines, people have their ups and downs.
We’ve all had our fair share and I recently had outpatient surgery that has me a bit off and out of commission for a few weeks when it comes to lifting anything weighing more than 10lbs according to the post-surgery instructions. Then there’s the medication that went on for days after to deal with the physical discomfort which added to my sorry state, feeling at once punch drunk and beat up. Such is life.
Ignoring those instructions, I recently put the Audio Note DAC 4.1x IZVOR Balanced that’s in for review on the Box Furniture rack on the Barn’s A-Side where it joined my system, as in the one I own and use and love:
DeVore Fidelity O/96
Aurorasound HFSA-02 Integrated Tube Amplifier
Grimm MU1
Imersiv D-1 DAC
Michell Gyro SE Turntable/Sorane SA1.2 Tonearm
EMT HSD 006 MC Cartridge
Aurorasound VIDA MK.II Phono Stage
Power conditioning and all of the cables in play come courtesy of AudioQuest (see full system and Barn details).
I posted a photo of the Audio Note DAC on my Box Furniture rack on Instagram the other day and received a number of queries soon thereafter, all along the lines of—”What do you think of the Audio Note DAC?”
Even though music has been playing through the IZVOR for a few days, I can’t tell you about its sound for one reason—I’m not feeling up to listening in that way. In that way meaning to listen critically with all of my attention focused on what this new DAC brings to the table versus the Barn resident Imersiv D-1 or totaldac d-1 unity. I’m simply not feeling up to that task and instead I’ve just been enjoying the soothing sounds of music. Uncritically.
There. I said it. The cat is out of the bag—reviewers are people too and I decided to share this tiny tale of woe because it seems to me that people in our hobby rarely, if ever, talk about the importance of health when it comes to the ability to properly evaluate gear. Heck, even a headache or agita will impact our listening impressions to some degree and seeing as many reviewers and hobbyists are at or past the age of Medicare benefits, you have to figure being sick with something comes with the territory more often than…never.
Of course we’re not just meat puppets, bags of blood and guts bumping our way ’round the merry-go-round. There’s also thoughts and emotions to consider which can be taxed to the point of distraction, whether that be a loved one dealing with serious health issues or some kind of personal crisis of which there are many. In all of these cases music can offer real comfort but attempting to narrow in and focus on aspects of hifi performance requires, at least to my mind, the ability to leave all that baggage behind and be perfectly present in the moment. In the listening.
To widen my point, my turnaround time for review gear typically hovers around the two-month mark. This allows me the time I need to properly evaluate gear, “I” meaning me as I like to listen long and judge slow, while also offering some padding for the occasional off day(s) for whatever reason they may come as well as things like logistics, bookkeeping, cleaning, unboxing, eating, sleeping, living, processing, etc.
The good news is I’m feeling better and figure I’ll be back in critical listening shape in a day or so. In the mean time I’m going to do what I imagine/hope most people do with their hifi—sit back and enjoy music.