OK, I'll wade into this as I now have my Sonic Frontiers (SF) D2D-1 installed as well as the 24/96 filter chip for my SF DAC 3.0 (which has 24/96 processing capability ONCE you replace the HDCD filter chip). Both have been broken in with about 50-60 hours of time. First off the DAC 3.0 is an exceptional DAC. The only reason I got it was because I was getting the D2D-1 and wanted to see (hear actually)what upsampling of the resolution and frequency REALLY does. I had the DAC 3.0 for almost 2 weeks before I decided to hook it up to my Muse 5 and compare it to my Muse 2+. Even though I was using the BNC connection, a 3 dollar Radio Shack BNC-BNC, 75 ohm cable, and the DAC 3.0 was stone cold and brand new, it was fully the equal, and in some ways superior to my Muse 5/2+ combo using the 13W3 interface. Interesting Observation No.1 : The difference between 16/44.1 and upsampled 24/96 was not subtle. EVERYTHING improved, imaging, dynamics, transparency, depth....everything. What really got my attention was the bottom end. Much tighter and dynamic. Interesting Observation No.2 : Using my Pioneer DVD-05's digital output, I compared upsampled 16/44.1 versions of the soundtrack Glory & Muddy Water's Folk Singer (Mo-Fi version)to the 24/96 versions. Again the differences were not too subtle and tracked with those while comparing straight and upsampled 16 bit stuff. But the upsampled stuff still sounded REALLY good. Kinda like the difference between really good DVD video and HDTV. The HDTV can look REAL and noticably better when compare to good DVD but, taken on its own DVD is also REALLY good. Interesting Observation No.3 : The better the 16/44.1 disc, the better the upsampled result. For example, the difference between the upsampled 16/44.1 version of the Glory disc and the 24/96 verion were noticably greater and less subtle than between those of the Muddy Waters disc. This has been my experience. I,ve also made other comparisons (HDCD vs upsampled 16/44.1 for example)if anyone is interested. Jeff
