how good are the non os dacs?

Assuming you mean 16/44.1 by non OS DACS, the two that have auditioned (and own one of them) does sure come close to a good Vinyl rig experience. Undertow describes this sound very well. All the notes sounds like real music and can tell what instruments the sounds originates from- acoustic or electronic. Human voices are so natural and real and you can also hear 'inner' sound. Less to zero sibilance.

I also have auditioned many OS DACs (and own one of them) and can audition on a fly. Again, Undertow describes this sounds very well. Almost always, weight on the OS DAC notes is comparatively lighter- lower and mids, exhibits more air, tend to have more sibilance (compared to non OS DACs).

I find myself listening to non OS DAC for serious listening since it compares to my Vinyl set frighteningly well. The OS DAC does a good job but not as well.

hi djwilbourn:

i own the promitheus dac and two others. it has a lot of resolution and does not possess the characterostics that others have observed regarding os dacs.

the other two dacs, the paradisea and the exemplar little dac are also very detailed. i find the paradisea dac to be the "sharpest" sounding of the three.

i compared the dac in my vincent cd player to the three dacs. the differences are not that great. of course, the digital interconnect is key as well as the analog interconnects.

i reiterate that it is counter productive to make general statements about non os dacs. there are differences between them.

i also have not found any lush, rich or euphonic digital components which are in current production.

thanks for the responses so far, i am getting a great impression of pros to this design and the limits of its capability. mr. tennis, since you own the one i want, how pleased are you with it and do you feel it was a good investment? nill the pill, which one do you have? thanks again for the input

Undertow did a very good job of describing what I hear as differences between the two... He said it better than I could have. NOS dacs have plenty of detail, but as he stated OS dacs produce a soundstage that seems more airy or larger in an artificial way...

hi dj:

i don't think much of it in its present state. it needs all silver wire and rcas removed. at that point i will have a better idea whether it is a good dac.