Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

I think my Davinci dealer has the model below the Merlot. I'll ask. 

Playback Designs currently offers the Merlot DAC in their Sonoma series and has announced their higher end Dream series at recent shows. There is no current DAC from PD below the Merlot DAC. http://www.playbackdesigns.com/

I stand corrected. I was thinking of another line. Apologies. And thanks for providing the correct info. 

Hi gang. The ODSX is back from its spa week with the Dueland caps out and my precious offramp USB input back in. Even with no time on the new caps it's an improvement. I've been cooking th ODSX and it still needs about 400 more hours to hit my perfunctory 750 hours minimum before I make any true judgement calls. I'm also cooking the Antipodes DX Gen 2 in. On first test, with the DX Gen 2 still fresh,  the Aurender beat it squarely and without much effort. The Gen 2 DX is leagues better then the old DX Gen 1. But I need to try a few different software server options and I need to give the DX another 400 hours as well.... then I can make judgement t calls. 

I'm  STILL very interested in trying a CAD CAT as well, and I was told about the SGM (Sound Galleries, Monaco) server and I will be trying that in the room after the LH2 arrives. Speaking of the LH2, looks like next week or the week after will be arrival time. 

I also want to try out the Baetis server again once I finish my Antipodes/Aurender shootout.

Curious to hear how much closer the ODSX gets to the LH2 with the usb input back in and the better caps. 

Sorry for the long breaks. I just don't have much to report DAC wise. 

I will sneak peak that I have been bitten by the headphone bug and have been trying out and taking notes on pretty much every pair I have tried. I'll post my findings on this thread (just to keep things fresh) but suggest anyone who wants to truly discuss my findings or has questions to find the identical Head-Fi thread I will post. 

Take care!

Hi Matt,

I am very curious about an outcome of your Aurender vs Antipodes battle.
Just recently I've had a chance to compare Lampizator Superkomputer to DX Gen 2.  In the end, Antipodes won, but not by a large margin, mainly due its lower noise floor and ease of use.
I had been listening to the Superkomputer for several weeks before my Antipodes arrived.  When I first switched it on after the Lampizator, it sounded really awful.  On the third day it became listenable and after 5 days it's sound was comparable to the Lampizator.  And only after 7 days of almost uninterrupted playback it surpassed the Superkomputer.
Also, make sure, that you use Roon as apparently it sounds better than any other playback engine.  
And, for critical listening in Roon it is important to disable all the background tasks it performs or wait for them to finish. Below is an extract from the Roon knowledge base on how to do it.

"Here's a bunch of ideas. Some are things to control for. Some are other troubleshooting techniques.

(1) In settings -> services, look "Syncing library now" + wait for it to finish:

(2) In settings -> storage, look for "Scanning now..." + wait for it to finish:

(3) In settings -> setup, disable both analysis settings.

(4) The spinner in the upper right covers importing and metadata lookups. Wait for that to finish, too."

And one last thing, when you switch between Aurender and Antipodes, you need to keep the Antipodes powered on at all times.  Otherwise, the capacitors inside it are discharged and it affects the sound.  What I did, I had another plugged in power cord near my rack and used it to keep the Antipodes powered on even when I was listening to the Lampizator. 

Good luck and happy listening!

Aziz