Actually I think the problem comes when you start talking in terms of "sides". I am not on a "side" as such and don't see any conflict between (1) trying to determine whether a product works as its makers claim, that's to say does something objectively useful, and (2) enjoying the subjective experience of buying and using something which makes music more fun to listen to. The difficulty and risk of misunderstanding arises when people try to mix these two domains together and use information from one domain to make statements about the other domain.
If you want me to "put my cards on the table" as clearly as I can: on (1) based on some limited domain knowledge and what I've seen from UpTone, I am sceptical that the ER does anything that would objectively change the output from a well-designed streaming DAC; on (2) I can't make any comment as I haven't tried an ER, and other people's listening reports are not relevant to what I would personally experience, except insofar as they might introduce some bias. To be clear again, that doesn't mean I think other people's listening reports are any less valid subjective experiences for them.
If you want me to "put my cards on the table" as clearly as I can: on (1) based on some limited domain knowledge and what I've seen from UpTone, I am sceptical that the ER does anything that would objectively change the output from a well-designed streaming DAC; on (2) I can't make any comment as I haven't tried an ER, and other people's listening reports are not relevant to what I would personally experience, except insofar as they might introduce some bias. To be clear again, that doesn't mean I think other people's listening reports are any less valid subjective experiences for them.
Roon (Mac Mini), Wilson Benesch Full Circle, Expert 1000 Pro CI, Kaiser Chiara
Warwickshire, UK
