Glad to hear Glory likes the Phasure so much, and having heard it on quite a few occasions now it's a great DAC - no question - easily accounting for a number of DAC's like the MSB, PDX and Playback Designs.
But yesterday I was privy to a 4 way comparison:
1. A Killer DAC driven by an Off-Ramp
2. A Phasure
3. A Playback Designs MPD5
4. A Wiess Minerva
My ordering was the Killer, a tie with the Wiess and Phasure, then the PD.
The Killer was harmonically rich and real sounding. The Wiess was surprisingly like the Killer but not quite as harmonically rich, the Phasure was, just like every other time I heard it, extremely clear, clean and pure, but lacking in realism and life to my ears, the PD was far too polite, recessed and relaxed for my taste.
Strangely, the person who held the event to help him decide on his DAC upgrade liked the PD best - precisely for the reason I didn't like it. This is really a funny hobby isn't it.
Thanks
Bill