EMM Labs new XSD1 single box player

First review up here:

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/cd-players-and-recorders/emm-labs-xds1-645292/review?src=rss&attr=reviewhi-fi

While I'm not a big SACD guy (very limited musical selection and uneven quality), the review sells the CD side well short; you don't have to care about SACD to seriously consider this player imo.

Also, the claim that the fit and finish leave something to be desired is, at best, laughable. While not up to the herculean efforts of my current Wadia 861se (certainly in the upper echelon of CDPs in terms of fit and finish) no excuses generally need to be made (well, other than EMM Labs making sure that the screws on the bottom of the unit are secured properly so that they don't come loose in transit, but since they are regular philips screws they can be tightened without too much trouble) and the ergonomics are superior to Wadia in at least one noticeable aspect - direct selection of digital inputs (Wadia, why is this so difficult to implement?!?).

I just picked up an XSD1 from my dealer. I'm trading in my previous units - the TSD1 & DAC2. I like the idea of a single box with digital inputs. It's a bit early to say exactly what it sounds like. As for fit & finish - nothing wrong that I can see. It's an attractive unit, seems well built.

You really won't get a proper feel for it until 500 hours or so.

I think the best player at the show was the AMR model I heard. It sounded very close to the better Audio Note transport + Dac combinations at a lower price. The EMM I heard was poorly set up. No room I visited had a high end Audio Note digital source, which is what I generally use as a standard.

Also, make sure you get the new November firmware (102_002) off of the EMM Labs site.