Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

All Tidal speakers are rear ported and won't integrate well into my room. Same for the larger Boenicke. The upcoming W13 looks great, but it's got a huge rear port. I've tried about a dozen rear port speakers and they just don't work in my room. Boom boom boom. Nodes activated everywhere. I think it has to do with my rooms stiff walls, completely sealed nature and the almost square shape of the room (15x18.5x9) with an almost doubling of the height to length. It just doesn't work with rear ports. Which eliminates a LOT of very fine speakers. Not that they are in any way bad, just not for my room.

And the USB issue was experienced first hand while I had my Big 6 Lampy here. The USB input was just terrible compared to the spdif. And everyone told me to try the off ramp to improve it. But I wasn't going that route. That's why I asked.

07-13-15: Mattnshilp
Agear - What is the Golden Gate's best input? Does it use the CMOS chip for USB?

I think many agree that one of the big Lampy drawbacks was its less then stellar usb input performance. Has that been corrected with the GG or is an Empirical Audio OffRamp still needed to get the most out of that inout?

Hi Matt. I have not paid attention to what changes Lucas has made regarding the USB. I also do not know what Amanero chip is in the GG. I know it has its own PS, is galvanically isolated, etc, etc. I do know that the Totaldac USB cable made a profound difference and that the Auralic Aries was a substantial step up from a unmodded Mini and Macbook Air. I am sure that any dac would benefit from an Offramp or a SOTA transport. I do also know that I can do better than the Aries and may do so at a later date. That being said, I am getting very good sound. I have not done a comparison with the SPDIF yet but probably should. I am using USB in the name of DSD. I had Lucas add an external grounding post for use with grounding boxes (Tripoint Troy) in the future. I currently have it grounded to a binding post on the back wall that is linked to my ionic grounding unit that is dedicated for my room. Maybe that's the secret sauce and confounding variable. Who knows....

All, the name of the VA music speaker in German is "Die Muzik", rather than "Der Muzik".... Muzik in German, French, Italian, and Spanish is a feminine noun, not masculine. Hence... "Die Muzik". G.

Thanks Guido. Maybe Fraulein Muzik would be most appropriate. Hehe.

Apparently the guys at Vapor are preferential to the Antipodes and ran it with the Golden Gate at Axpona along with their monster Perfect Storm speakers. I know Steve from Empirical prefers it as well.

I would be happy to hear a Golden Gate in my room. Should the opportunity arise I will jump on it. But I'm still USB dependent so I'm hoping he's improvised his USB inputs. CMOS would be great.

Matt - with all due respect I think you may be referring to the XMOS USB input receiver chip, which is used in many high end DACs including the Bricasti M1. CMOS stands for a Complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor, a technology for constructing integrated circuits but not related to USB input circuitry.