Any reviews/input on Cary Audio Xciter DAC?

2nd try - I posted a detailed response earlier today and it didn't get through for reasons unknown to me. So, briefly, I used the Cary's Toslink input, driven by my Blu-Ray player through a 0.5 meter glass fiber cable. The Cary locked up to the 24/96 signal with no problem and it sounds amazing. I have also used the Cary's USB input through a 16-foot( !) cable to play ripped Redbook CDs and I doubt that I could tell it from the coax or Toslink inputs in a blind test. To get 24/192 into it such as DVD-Audio, though, I think you have to use the Cary's coax input.

I know this posting probably won't be very helpful, insofar as I really don't have a lot to compare my Cary Xciter DAC with (well, I do own a Headroom ultra micro DAC and amp), but I own the Cary Xciter DAC and the Cary Xciter amp (I've had them for about three months now, though I don't have that much time actually playing them), and the combination sounds wonderful - absolutely smooth, in a good sense, and no "digital harshness" at all. I mainly listen to high-bitstream classical music and classical redbook CDs, but I am also pleased with this combination with respect to classic rock, vocals, jazz, and a variety of world music. I am using the USB connections only for now, and mainly with the Grado PS-1000 and Sennheiser HD800 headphones, so I haven't even tapped into all the DAC's capabilities, but I am very, very happy with my purchase. So, for what it's worth, I simply wanted to get the word out that the Cary Xciter DAC (and the Xciter amp) really is/are something special (and apparently, for reasons that are beyond me, very little known!)

I agree. I could find very little about it while searching the internet for DACs and once I discovered it, could not find any reviews, other than the one that Doug-mann steered me to (thanks again!). Also Drew Baird at Moon Audio was very helpful and had a good price on it. This is what makes Audiogon a great site. I would rather get the opinion of other users than a industry magazine review (even though those are interesting and helpful sometimes also). Maybe Cary's marketing plan is word of mouth, trade shows, etc. instead of print and internet advertising.

I read a comment that said the Xciter DAC's USB input was only 16-bit. Any knowledge about this out there?

The Xciter DAC manual at http://www.caryaudio.com/pdfs/manuals/Xciter_DAC_manual.pdf is clear that the upper limit of the USB input sampling rate is 48 khz (see pp. 6 and 12), but it is unclear as to whether the word length limit is 16 or 24 bit. I suspect it's limited to 16-bit USB input like most other DACs that don't use special USB software. The manual needs a bit more detail on the specs.
A related question: The Cary DAC does not list 88.2 khz as a supported input sampling rate, although there are quite a few high-rez downloads available in 24-bit 88.2 khz. Has anybody tried 88.2 khz into the Xciter DAC?