Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Hi Matt, you are right... While Criterion is far from being a "bright" pre, it does not share the slightly dark golden house sound of classic Rowland products from the 1990s and the earlier part of the 200X decade... Fact is that, with some exceptions, the "dark Rowland sound" is becoming a bit of a charming urban legend.
On the other hand, I expect that Aeris's juvenile exhuberance in the treble region should start to be reabsorbed once you pass the 450 hours mark.

Concerning Final Drive and its transformer coupling... It is worth pointing out that both Aeris and Criterion have trnsformer-coupled balanced I/O... on Aeris transformer-coupled input is the SPDIF 75 Ohm coaxial. Conversely, Veritas inputs are not transformer coupled as far as I know. G.

"Steve (Empirical Audio), is it safe to say your Final Drive is virtually a Music First or Bent TAP-X without a volume control?"

Essentially yes, except for the transformer quality. I have an all-silver Music First and the FD beats it hands-down. The FD is in two chassis on purpose, so the fields do not interact. I use better switches than the MF. The MF also has some strange wiring in it, different for left and right channels on grounding...

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

" I know Steve Nugent made the comment that Rowland has a darker tinge to it"

Actually, I was talking about Mark Levinson. I have had Rowland, ML and Pass Labs preamps in the house. None of them lit my fire. Like most components, I needed to mod them and even then, not spectacular. These were older models though. Some of these guys have learned some lessons I think.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Guido - the Final Drive is only for analog outputs, not AES/EBU or S/PDIF inputs.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

In fact, the Aeris is currently a bit bright if anything.

Bright as compared to what? I based my thoughts on your response to the MA-1 in particular. That is not typically perceived as a overly bright or hyper detailed dac but can reveal crappy Redbook files for what they are:

File density. Primarily, increased data density seems to net greater ambient retrieval. Space appears. With it the venue acoustics turn 'wetter'. Minuscule reverb interactions come more to the fore as performer auras. Reducing file density from 24/192 to 16/44 dries out the apparent acoustics. This puts the focus on just the performers. It eliminates much contextual data which previously interfaced the performers with the physical space in which they performed. It's quite similar to overdamping a room. Lower resolution mirrors higher damping and how too much absorption progressively kills off not just room reflections but also the musical charge or energy of the playback. In that sense hi-rez isn't about more primary stuff. It's about more secondary and tertiary stuff. Short hand might call that a lot more audible space.

A parallel perception is of greater fluidity. Lower resolution appears stiffer and starker. As resolution increases, more nuanced microdynamics flow into this feel. That greater differentiation of micro swings translates into more ebb and flow, into greater inner motion and from there into greater listener e-motion. Finally treble performance becomes more sophisticated particularly with as revealing a tweeter as the Raal ribbon in my Aries Cerat Gladius speaker. But the most profound benefit from higher resolution—at least to my ears—really is the superior ambient recovery or dimensional context.

DSD vs. PCM. The dsf/dff files compared directly to their PCM equivalents all exhibited the same slightly sweet slightly soft texture. As perhaps a deeply PCM-engrained listener who couldn't make the quick transition, I soon related to this as an admittedly pleasing but nonetheless minor coloration. Sharing this with Morton, his terse reply was comforting. Exactly my experience. There's a kind of Hollywood soft focus to DSD. Those who concur to prefer high-resolution PCM (someone could acknowledge this DSD effect but be partial to it*1) might refocus from streaming DSD to playing back PCM at up to 24/352.

Sixmoons

Thus the need for a slightly softer SS or tubed dac particularly in light of your room and primary source material.