New DAC issues

@zlone, the first couple of things that jumped out at me when I looked up the Merason Reuss DAC was that it uses an Amanero based USB technology with two Burr Brown 1794A converter modules. I purposely bypass using the Amanero USB input on my Chord DAC because to me using the BNC inputs sounds a whole lot better. It’s nice that the unit has its own purpose built-in power supplies, and it also looks well made as most electronics from Switzerland tend to be. I’ve just never been a fan of the sound of Burr Brown chip based digital audio converters that I’ve listened to in the past. 
 Your absolutely right that having the cleanest power going thru your system is crucial to getting the best sound out of your system. I suggest taking some time to let your brain get used to how things sound with the Merason Reuss before deciding yeah or nay. 

What input to use on the DAC depends on the transport/streamer clock quality. In example, if you are using a streamer with high quality clock such as OCXO, then AES or SPDIF would most likely sound better than USB. But if you have a streamer optimized for USB, you will be using the clock that’s in the DAC and if that sucks, you’re out of luck. When you get your new streamer try both the USB and the AES. 

@adasdad Good comments. I recently owned an Aurender N10 and purposely used the SPDIF outputs because the designers included a very good OCXO clock, it sounded great. However, I could not deal with the Conductor software, and they recently made it clear that the N10 would never be Roon ready. We will see how good the USB interface is when I plug in the Innuos coming this week. As for Burr Brown, I don't have any experience with them before this, my Gungnir is ASIC based(I think) R2R. All I know is that I have heard the Merason's in a couple settings and they are quite natural, which is my goal. I am not a freak about high resolution, I want the sound to be real and not wear on me. It will take some time, on the order of months, to decide if I like the unit or not. At some point I will pops the Gungnir back in and assess the contrast.

@audphile1 Unfortunately, Innuos Zenith only offers USB. I think you have to get to the Statement to get SPDIF of any flavor. Makes me a little nervous having no options, and some really nice SPDIF cables, but it is a well reviewed unit and I expect it will be decent.

@stuartk  I will provide my thoughts on the Reuss after some time. Unlike other components, I am not sure I am a good judge of DAC's, I just don't have broad experience in that space. When I get to the point of plugging the Gungnir back in to the system and hearing contrast, I will be able to put some thoughts together.

Okay, big day yesterday! I said I was going to pop the lids on the preamp and the DAC and see if I could find anything amiss. I started with the Pass preamp and it took me about five seconds to discover the issue, a very incomplete solder joint, on Pin 1 of one of the balanced outputs. Like, you could not miss it when comparing it to others. I have only had the preamp for a month or so, and I suspect that the limited connection was holding on and functioning, probably at a reduced level, during that time. When introducing the new DAC, it is my guess that I jarred the solder connection loose and it was now functioning simply by pressing against the pin. Pulling and reseating cables must have improved this, hence the better sound I heard the other night.

Being handy enough with a soldering iron, I fixed the connection. Wow! Everything is back and big! It makes me feel better that I was not imagining this after all. I only had 60/40 solder available, I hope that will be sufficient for a rather critical connection, I am not sure what Pass uses. Makes me wonder if I should have them look the whole thing over.

Thanks for all the comments. This was not quite the journey I expected when adding a new DAC, but really glad I got it resolved. On to listening...