My friend John Darko is a well known reviewer who lives below me in Australia. John's never been shy with his opinions, something we are all quite happy about, since strong opinions are what make the world a more interesting place to live in. In response to my post Oh boy about the surprising differences between PCM and DSD, even on DirectStream which converts everything to DSD he writes: "PCM sounds livelier, more energised than DSD. The leading edges of transients are three espressos in by the time they arrive at your ear. DSD on the other hand sounds like it's been taken advantage of recent changes to Colorado state law (if you catch my drift). It leans towards cotton ball softness, whereas PCM can sound harder.

Facts? Possibly. Observations? Definitely. Can you tell which one I prefer? Probably not. I've purposely sidestepped words like 'best' and 'better'."

Go John!