Why won't Rob comment on other brands' products?
Short answer
Watts says Head-Fi's rules bar a member of the trade from subjective or negative comments about competitors' products, that he does not want to disrespect anybody else's work, and that he has a responsibility to Chord and its employees Head-Fi, Sep 2016Head-Fi, Aug 2023. Expect technical answers, not sound verdicts: in 2022 he wrote "I can't comment upon individual products, but I can comment upon the technical side of implementations." Head-Fi, Feb 2022 He has still criticized some named products, notably PGGB Head-Fi, Jun 2021Head-Fi, Aug 2023.
The practical answer
Ask Rob Watts to rank your Chord device against another brand's and expect a technical answer, not a sound-quality verdict. He gives three reasons: Head-Fi's rules for members of the trade, courtesy, and his responsibility to Chord. In August 2023 he said he can "discuss technical facts and details which in turn may have subjective consequences", giving as his example that apodizing filters sound artificially soft, with the technical reasons why Head-Fi, Aug 2023. In February 2022, answering about EQ in the Mojo 2 thread, he wrote "I can't comment upon individual products, but I can comment upon the technical side of implementations." Head-Fi, Feb 2022 In May 2020 he wrote "I can't comment about the jitterbug directly - but USB is important for two reasons - the RF noise that enters the DAC, and signal correlated noise, which degrades depth perception" before explaining USB noise generally Head-Fi, May 2020.
His reasons
Forum rules. In September 2016 (DAVE thread) he said Head-Fi has stricter posting guidelines and quoted the rule as barring a member of the trade from subjective assessments or negative comments about competitors' products or services. A graphic that obviously showed another maker's design, he said, put him "in a difficult position" Head-Fi, Sep 2016. In October 2016 he said he had had posts deleted, factual replies that could be verified by measurements, "because I was specifically talking about another manufacturer". He said that on balance he preferred a heavy-handed moderator, while finding it "galling that I can't say some things, but somebody else can" Head-Fi, Oct 2016. In May 2017 (Hugo 2 thread) he called it frustrating that "forum rules means I can't comment on the sound quality or measurements of other DAC's" Head-Fi, May 2017. In January 2020 (TT2 thread; date estimated from the post ID) he wrote "Forum rules prevent me from discussing other companies products", adding that if you think another manufacturer outperforms his designs, "I have no problem with that" Head-Fi, Jan 2020.
Courtesy. In 2016 he wrote "Moreover, I personally don't want to disrespect anybody else's work." Head-Fi, Sep 2016 In 2020 he said "common courtesy and professional respect" also stop him from properly answering a post about a specific product Head-Fi, Jan 2020.
Responsibility to Chord. In August 2023, on whether he would ever admit another filter is better than his, he said "I have a responsibility to Chord and their employees", that the blowback from Chord would be "absolutely immense", and that "I would be publicly silent on this hypothetical issue". He added "But I would never, ever state that a filter sounded worse than mine, if that was not the case." Head-Fi, Aug 2023
Silence is not agreement. In July 2022 (M Scaler thread) he wrote "Just because I don't post about comments that to me are completely wrong, does not imply any form of agreement." Head-Fi, Jul 2022
Where he has named other products
- October 2015 (DAVE thread): he opened with "I don't usually comment of other companies products", then rebutted, point by point, statements about a Nagra DAC, ending "So no, this DAC bears absolutely no similarity with my work" Head-Fi, Oct 2015. In December 2015 he said "its not appropriate for me to comment on sound quality against other products" Head-Fi, Dec 2015.
- August 2017 (Hugo 2 thread): he questioned whether the Benchmark DAC2 was properly isolated Head-Fi, Aug 2017Head-Fi, Aug 2017.
- PGGB upsampling software: in May 2021 he said it "uses an apodizing filter, so it will not re-construct transients properly" Head-Fi, May 2021. In early June 2021 (date estimated) he said samples he was sent in December "sounded typically like apodizing filters" Head-Fi, Jun 2021. In March 2023 (check the recording) he said "I've listened to the original files for the PGGB and I didn't like the sound of it", but also that he had not heard the latest version and "can't comment on it what the latest version is like" Eric's Hi-Fi 11:13Eric's Hi-Fi 12:01. In August 2023 he wrote "I can't state if there is anything wrong with their algorithm because we don't know what it is" Head-Fi, Aug 2023, and four days later "I am not happy about the way that PGGB markets and promotes the filter" Head-Fi, Aug 2023.
- January 2024 (DAVE thread): he said early DAVE prototypes had slightly worse harmonic distortion than the dCS Vivaldi, then wrote "I can't think of any technical quality from any other DACs at any price (be it chip or custom designed) that I respect or admire." Head-Fi, Jan 2024
What this archive does not show
He quoted the rule only in 2016; later posts refer to forum rules or trade-member limits without quoting it Head-Fi, May 2017Head-Fi, Jan 2020Head-Fi, Aug 2023. The items do not show how he squares his named-product comments with that rule, beyond the 2022 line between individual products and technical implementations Head-Fi, Feb 2022. Outside Head-Fi, the only related item is a publisher's note: a Hifistatement writer said in October 2017 that he was not permitted to publish all of Watts's remarks, especially on competitors' technical solutions, without saying who set that limit article, Oct 2017.
Quotes
“I can't comment upon individual products, but I can comment upon the technical side of implementations.”2022-02-14 Head-Fi, Feb 2022
“Forum rules prevent me from discussing other companies products”2020-01-14 Head-Fi, Jan 2020
“I can however, discuss technical facts and details which in turn may have subjective consequences”2023-08-26 Head-Fi, Aug 2023
“Moreover, I personally don't want to disrespect anybody else's work.”2016-09-05 Head-Fi, Sep 2016
Dated positions
| When | Products | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2015-10 | DAVE, Other brands' DACs named by Watts | He said he does not usually comment on other companies' products, then rebutted statements about a Nagra DAC quoted by a poster, on technical grounds. Head-Fi, Oct 2015 |
| 2015-12 | DAVE, Other brands' DACs named by Watts | He said it is not appropriate for him to comment on sound quality against other products, but that he had not heard a DAC sound like DAVE and that listeners must decide for themselves. Head-Fi, Dec 2015 |
| 2016-09 to 2017-05 | DAVE, Hugo 2 | He attributed his silence to Head-Fi's rule for members of the trade, said he had had factual posts about another manufacturer deleted, and said he did not want to disrespect others' work. Head-Fi, Sep 2016Head-Fi, Oct 2016Head-Fi, May 2017 |
| 2020-01 | Hugo TT2 | He said forum rules and common courtesy prevent him from discussing other companies' products and asked that such comparisons be posted in an appropriate thread. Head-Fi, Jan 2020 |
| 2020-05 | General | He said he could not comment on the Jitterbug directly, then explained USB RF and signal-correlated noise in general terms. Head-Fi, May 2020 |
| 2021-05 to 2023-08 | HQPlayer and PGGB, Hugo M Scaler | He criticized PGGB's apodizing filter by name and said early sample files did not sound good to him; in 2023 he said he had not heard the latest version and could not say whether its current algorithm is wrong, while still objecting to its marketing. Head-Fi, May 2021Head-Fi, Jun 2021Eric's Hi-Fi 11:13Eric's Hi-Fi 12:01Head-Fi, Aug 2023Head-Fi, Aug 2023 |
| 2022-02 | Mojo 2 | Answering a question about EQ, he wrote that he cannot comment on individual products but can comment on the technical side of implementations. Head-Fi, Feb 2022 |
| 2023-08 | General | He said that as a member of the trade he cannot freely post sound-quality impressions, owes a responsibility to Chord and its employees, would stay publicly silent on whether another filter is better than his, and would never say a filter sounded worse than his if that were not the case. Head-Fi, Aug 2023 |
| 2024-01 | DAVE, dCS (Vivaldi, Bartok) | He said early DAVE prototypes had slightly worse harmonic distortion than the dCS Vivaldi and that he cannot think of any technical quality from other DACs that he respects or admires. Head-Fi, Jan 2024 |
Caveats and open points
- Watts quoted the Head-Fi rule for members of the trade only in September 2016; the rule text itself is not in this archive, and later references do not quote it.
- Head-Fi, Jan 2020 and Head-Fi, Jun 2021 carry dates estimated from their post IDs.
- The items do not show how Watts reconciles his named-product comments (Nagra, Benchmark, PGGB, dCS) with the rule he cites, beyond his February 2022 distinction between individual products and technical implementations.
- Most of the evidence is from Head-Fi; the only non-forum item on the constraint is a 2017 Hifistatement publisher's note, which is the writer's account (machine-translated from German), not Watts's words.
- Interviewer and audience passages were treated as context only.