Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Bryston is a good brand and reasonable price. - I was impressed with the quality of sound when paired with the ODSE. Much cheaper than my highly invested CAPS server.

"Computer Audio Design - not available in the US. You can get them, but import only. Usb only for Input. Probably in the same class as the ODSE. But as long as it doesn't have a solid US presence, I'm hesitant to look further."

-They make a great USB cable. I am unfamiliar with their dac, but I do not believe they make a server.

***Regarding servers - the interface design of the dac and how this is implemented goes a *Very* long way to eliminating any sonic issues created by the server. In other words, the benefits generated by using LPS, OS optimizer programs, quality USB cables have benefits of diminishing returns.

"After a multiple USB cable trial, I found galvanic isolated interface greatly reduces the sonic differences between cables. Although there remains a difference between extremes comparing a USB 2.0 generic USB printer cable to my preferred Vertere Pulse-R 1.5 meter USB cable, the difference is muted demonstrating subtle differences. The Pulse-R removes a slight course texturing or hash bringing the overall soundstage into focus."

At $1800 this cable paid dividends when used with the EMM DAC2x. When I asked their engineer why they did not have galvanic isolation, he believe it would be prohibitively expensive. ODSE (and ODSX) with XMOS USB interface will have galvanic isolation. Allnic and Waversa are two dacs with this implementation.

Empirical Audio new Ethernet to I2S converter (either internal dac implementation or and external unit with a linear power supply) will eliminate the server and its associated issues.

As I stated in my previous message I have had the Antipodes DX for approximately 3 months. I am using it with an Auralic Vega DAC. While I believe this is a very a good DAC for the money, I also realize it is not playing in the major leagues. Because of that I have been following this thread with great interest since its inception as a new DAC is my next planned purchase.

Before I get into how it sounds I need to talk about a few of the features. The DX uses a Linux based media server called Vortex Box. Setup is straight forward and the Vortex Box recognized the Vega with no issues. I use my iPad and an app called IPeng 8 to control the server. IPeng 8 is intuitive and easy to use. The DX rips CDs as uncompressed FLAC files directly to the hard drive. It takes approximately 15 – 20 minutes to rip a CD. You can play music while the CD is being ripped. A really nice feature is there are two USB digital out connections. One is labelled “USB Audio 5V On” and the other is “USB Audio 5V Off”. As I expected the “USB Audio 5V Off” connection sounded considerably better. The only downside I have found is there does not appear to be an easy way to create play lists.

For perspective, prior to the DX I was using an off shelf laptop with JRivers 20. I disabled many of the PCs features based on internet guidance to improve the sound quality. I know many of you are using a modified Mac mini and are looking for the deltas, unfortunately I cannot provide them.

Out of the box the DX sounds pretty bad. There is a tremendous amount of detail, but the sound is lean and there is no bass. I didn’t keep track of break in time, but after 200 hours you are going to have a very good idea of where you are heading…and from my perspective it’s all good. In my system the significant improvements are as follows:

• Resolution increased significantly

• There is a phenomenal increase in bass information and the associated musical foundation

• Mids moved forward and the soundstage deepened

• Instruments and vocals pop out of what seems like a totally black background

• I do not hear a significant improvement in treble information, but I believe that is an age related issue

• Many files became listenable and enjoyable that previously I had given up on due to poor sound quality

• Transparency improved even though I did not think it was possible

• The overall presentation is more neutral, but there is no listener fatigue, none

Having said all that the biggest improvement is the increase in clarity and realism. I don’t know of any other way to describe it. I have heard high resolution systems, but this is different. It sucks you in and doesn’t let go. It has me totally rethinking the need for DSD. I can honestly say that no other piece of hardware or wire I have purchased has led to this level of improvement, not even close.

I will be interested to see how the DX compares to the Mac Mini. I believe the DX will still be a significant improvement. I also wonder if the improvements will be as substantial with a superior DAC such as the Empirical Audio. I am looking forward to the reviews on this thread with great interest as they will guide my next DAC purchase.

In closing I need to say that I have no affiliation with Antipodes Audio and all the above is based on what I hear in my system. As I’ve gotten older I have become more and more skeptical of new products and the hype that goes with them, but in this case I truly believe we have a breakthrough product. Yes, the price will drop over time and the quality will improve, but you have to jump on the train at some time. I’m glad I jumped on when I did. If anyone has any questions I will do my best to try to answer them.

Regards

The Totaldac Server is so far beyond any computer source or transport that I have ever tried. You need a WiFi Router, NAS, Ipad, and you are set. Vincent's latest sets of software are insanely good. This should be on your short list, no doubt.

It also streams, so for those that are into this, he has you covered here also. It's only limitation is that it does not do double DSD, DXD. Only up to DSD 64 (currently).

I was seriously considering the Antipodes DXe and then DV but the price kept going up with the new version to more than I wanted to pay. So I decided for the money that I would go for the Aries into my Lampizator L4G4. I'm having a blast with it, especially with Tidal. A definite improvement over my CD player running into the Lampi via coax. I'm just getting started ripping my CD collection and playing around with sample DSD downloads. So far I'm just copying everything to a portable hard drive and plugging that into the Aries USB port, but will probably set up a NAS server soon.

I've saw in John Darko's review that he gave an Antipodes DXe an edge over the Aries. But for $1600 you can't go wrong with the Aries!

Wisnon, you mentioned something about Aries mods? What do you hear -- I'd love to know!