Audiophile distrust of DSP has been remarkably persistent. Go back to forum discussions from 2010 and many of the complaints sound almost identical to the ones still appearing today.

And some of that skepticism had good reasons behind it.

Early room-correction systems could cost thousands of dollars, add more hardware to carefully assembled signal chains, and require enough setup knowledge to make even experienced listeners wary. Some owners also found that what looked better on a measurement did not necessarily sound better from the chair.

Those experiences mattered because they helped define what “room correction” meant to an entire generation of audiophiles.

But the technology did not stand still.

We traced 22 objections spanning more than 15 years, including complaints from manufacturers, engineers, reviewers, and ordinary users. What becomes increasingly strange is how long some criticisms survived after the systems that originally inspired them had changed or disappeared.

Dirac’s latest room-correction technology makes that gap especially hard to ignore.

Some old concerns remain very much alive. Others run into a version of DSP that behaves quite differently from the one skeptics remember.

And separating those two groups changes the argument considerably.

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Full story: https://www.headphonesty.com/2026/09/audiophiles-distrust-dsp-judging-technology/

The heavy lifting happens in software before a relatively simple hardware stage turns the result into an analog headphone output. It also includes adjustable correction intended to deal with distortion beyond the digital processing itself.

That makes the measurements especially interesting because they show what happens when the familiar DAC-chip architecture is rearranged from the ground up. One set of figures looks remarkably strong, while the complete headphone output adds a wrinkle that is easy to miss.

Full story: https://www.headphonesty.com/2026/09/dac-no-dac-chip-clean-audio-gear/

Some listeners have spent years arguing that room correction interferes with the sound their speakers were designed to produce. Others question whether a microphone can measure everything that matters to human hearing.

These concerns have reached well beyond forum arguments. Speaker researchers, equipment designers, and acousticians have examined the assumptions behind correction software, often from very different perspectives.

Dirac has now introduced its most advanced system after 25 years in the business. Its approach creates an important distinction between the technology audiophiles originally criticized and what they’re being asked to consider today.

Full story: https://www.headphonesty.com/2026/09/audiophiles-distrust-dsp-judging-technology/?utm_source=fb&utm_campaign=caption

The 50 picks cover virtually every major audio category, including amplifiers, speakers, DACs, streamers, headphones, IEMs, turntables, CD players, tape decks, and subwoofers. Some earn their place through unusually strong measurements, while others borrow engineering ideas from far more expensive gear.

That makes the list less about finding the cheapest gear and more about finding where the money actually goes.

Full story: https://www.headphonesty.com/2026/09/budget-audio-gear-punch-price-categories-audiophiles/?utm_source=fb&utm_campaign=caption

Another has replaced an expensive CD-playing system with a version that no longer plays discs.

The problem reaches beyond these two products. Several premium brands have depended on mechanisms supplied by companies that serve a much larger market, and the shrinking supply is forcing manufacturers to make some difficult decisions.

Full story: https://www.headphonesty.com/2026/09/hifi-brands-running-out-drives-cd-players/?utm_source=fb&utm_campaign=caption

It is also an unusual result for two amplifiers carrying the same 75-watt rating while sitting thousands of dollars apart in price. The measurement was only one part of a much broader comparison, though, and its significance becomes clearer once the rest of the bench results are put beside it.

Full story: https://www.headphonesty.com/2026/09/mcintosh-clone-beats-original-one-measurement/?utm_source=fb&utm_campaign=caption

But as most categories fail, one product category broke away from the rest so dramatically that it raises an uncomfortable question about where the entire hobby’s money is actually going.

Full story: https://www.headphonesty.com/2026/03/blind-tests-reveal-only-one-upgrade-matters/?utm_source=fb&utm_campaign=caption