We are all reviewers

For those interested in reading some first impressions of the DirectStream DAC you can go here and read on our forums. Reviewing a new piece of equipment is a tough job. I am glad the challenge isn't mine to review and then publish. I am in awe of professional audio reviewers that can change gears so quickly and give great unbiased reviews of each new piece of gear that comes their way and, even more impressive to me, remember how the others they've reviewed sounded and mentally compare them for their readers. After writing those words my first reaction was that I certainly do not possess those skills. But then it occurred to me I might be wrong. I think we're all reviewers. No, we don't write for magazines, no we don't place our words on paper open for criticism and discussion each and every month, but in our own way we review everything that's important to us. And our reviews may matter more than what's on paper, because our reviews affect our system choices. Of course many of us read everything we can on a piece of gear that interests us. We do the homework, learn what others think, build up enough knowledge to want to give it a try. But then the ball's in our court. We are the ones reviewing the kit in our own environment. We are the ones that "live or die" by our decisions because we choose what to keep and what to reject. And most of us compare what we review to what we have in the system as well as what we remember older kit sounded like. I think we're all reviewers at heart.