New Lampizator Level 4/ Version 4 DAC in the house

Have a friend with CS and his '09 MM with LPS and MM is as good as the CS.

Hi Andrew, my MM is anything but stock and so much more than what you compared it to. Steve N of Emperical audio is no neophyte on this subject and I follow his best of show advice on my MM ..... Pretty much every single detail. To make the MM sound as mine does does take the kind of attention to detail you mention in your post.

Oh yes the USB cable matters big time! The USB port used on the MM also matters and on and on the small details go!

I built a CAPS and now use a Mac Mini. Followed Nugent's advice as well. Have to say both are very good and could have lived with either. I just prefer the Mac OS. That being said Sonore Audio has the right approach with Linux.

The trick in the Lampi Transport is the digi-Lampizator inside.

Bill, what mods did you incorporate? Steve is a business man first and foremost and very utilitarian. He (and Larry Moore formerly of UltraFi) teach people how to optimize their puters, add a SS drive abd add an external PS. That's the most they do. I have people say SS drives make little difference, and as Gary intonated, the 09 with PS and more recent mini with stock PS is indistinguishable. What does that tell us? The guy who builds my front end also offers mini mods but he actually does surgery on the internals, adds audiophile caps, mu metal shielding, SS drive, etc. I considered that route at one point ( http://www.db-system.fr/bd_system/MacMini_modifications_db.html)

Steve Nugent wrote a great piece on jitter a few years ago: http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/manufacture/0509/

I have spoken with him on numerous occasions although it has been many years. His reclockers make sense and are a good way to improve digital audio.

All that being said, when Lucas comes to the us in Oct, they should do a shootout with his transport and a "modded" Mac mini. As Gary Anderson would say, people will piss their pants...