Is SINAD a meaningful measurement for comparing audio equipment?

Question

I've recently come across some audio sites[0][1] that measure audio equipments performance and among other measurements, report their 'Signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SINAD)'[2].I applaud any efforts to quantify audio equipment and systems in a measurable and repeatable way. That said, do you think SINAD is a meaningful way to rank equipment? (understanding that it's only a measure of one measurable variable).[0] https://www-l7audiolab-com.translate.goog/dac-sinad-charts/?_x_tr_sl=zh-CN&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp [1] https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?pages/Reviews/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SINAD

RicoElectrico · Accepted Answer

SINAD is just another way of stating THD+N (in dB instead of %). It is convenient to use for ADCs and DACs because you can calculate the effective number of bits ENOB = (SINAD-1.76)/6.02
That said most of the time for audio power amplifiers and mic pre-amps THD and noise are stated separately in the spec sheets. THD would matter for PAs (usually output power is given under THD not exceeding some value); noise would matter for quiet signals like in mic pre-amps although PAs can be surprisingly noisy on volume turned up to 11.
For DACs and ADCs which should be quite linear (they usually have low THD anyway) SINAD seems like a good figure of merit.