Well, you see, DACs and most certainely amplifiers do sound and measure slightly different because they use different components within, and along with those different components are different designs that are made to tune and refine the sound to the designers liking. It's nothing drastic like what an obviously v-shaped headphone would sound next to a neutral headphone, but it's extremely subtle, and requires the most critical of listening along with a pair of headphones that can effectively resolve those tiny sonic differences.

Let me give you an example. I'll say it right out; Sabre DAC chips suck, including the 9018k2m. The 9018k2m itself is glaring with an overemphasized push-up in the high frequencies. However, underneath that glare, is a wonderfully resolving sound that reproduces space and microdetail very beautifully and realistically. Many DAC/Amps with this chip are considered too bright and brittle to be considered natural, not necessarily neutral. However, Light Harmonic came out with a portable DAC/Amp called the Geek Out V2 with this exact chip. Aside from some minor, inherent brightness, it is a very resolving, spacious, and natural sounding amplifier, and if I listened to it before I knew it had a sabre chip, I would have never guessed. Something like Oppo HA-2 has this sabre glare; GOV2 does not. Larry Ho, the main designer of all of LH's DACs and Amplifiers, has a great ear and hand selected parts and components for the Analog design of the GOV2 to compensate for the sabre glare, while still retaining its resolving and natural way to reproduce microdynamics.