Birdland DAC

Very nice DAC right out of the box, but really stellar once modded (Odeon-lite).

I've had my Odeon-Ag for about 2 months now. I think it's the finest audio purchase I've ever made. I'm not exaggerating. If you have a substantial investment in CD's, this is investment protection at the highest level. I've not had a chance to audition some of the other well known DACs, like Bel Canto and MF TriVista, so I cannot offer comparisons, unfortunately.
I will say this. Right now, I'm enjoying my RBCDs with the DAC more than my SACDs. Before the Odeon-Ag, SACD and RB weren't in the same league.

Best Regards,

Tom

Wow. So far very impressive. Tom, what types of music do you listen to?

Hello. I listen to a lot of different music, but mostly I would say I listen to Rock and Classical. In Rock, well, I guess you could say I listen to the big ones (Dylan, Who, Elvis Costello, Clash, Bowie, Beatles, Doors, etc.). In classical, I favor mostly Orchestral and Chamber music. I don't do a lot of Opera. I found the Birdland really shines with solo piano. I've been listening to Beethoven's Complete Piano Sonatas by Daniel Barenboim on EMI 5-72912-2, and it's SO easy to follow each melodic line now! It's really something special. Some Rock CDs that I thought I knew inside and out, have a whole CD "underneath it" that I didn't know was there. Some Rock CDs that really had me doing a double take:

The Who - Face Dances (The Remastered edition w/extra tracks.
Peggy Suicide - Julian Cope
Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello
Earth & Sun & Moon - Midnight Oil

And I'm just getting started re-listening to my collection. I'm sure there will be many more.

Also, my system is NOT serious high-end stuff. If you already own a very good Red Book CD player, the improvement you experience may not be as drastic as was mine.
I currently run 2 Sony CDP-CX400 400 CD carousels into the Birdland Odeon-Ag via Toslink cables. I connect the Birdland Directly into a Rotel RMB-1095 (I'm using this 5 channel AMP as 2 stereo Amps for 2 different rooms since I grew bored with Multi-Channel Audio). The speakers are Sonus Fabers Grand Piano upstairs and Paradigm Studio 60's downstairs.

Tom

Tom, I want to thank you for the time you took to give such a detailed response with excellent information. It is very much appreciated. I have a Meridain 588 CD player but I want to use the DAC for my CAL CL-10 multi disk player. I find that I use this much more because of the versatility. I have B&W N802 speakers and a Bryston 4B-ST amp and BP-25 preamp. I use Audio Magic power conditioners (very nice tweek I might add). It is nice stuff but not out of this world. It is a little too analytical at times but I really like detail in my music. Sounds like our systems are comprable, I love those speakers of yours. After this feedback, I am sure I will buy and then I will let you know what I think.