Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD


Hi All.

Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.

I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.

Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?

All opinions welcome.

And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.

Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
mattnshilp
UPDATE: (SORT OF)

My apologies to all, but my day to play turned into a day to work.

So my update is limited.

I did try to run the ODSE via the Final Drive direct to my amps and I seam to have run into a snag. I am trying to work through it with Steve, who has been very responsive.

I can say that the Final Drive units are built to the same standards and style as the ODSE. Very industrial, very well built and a quality product all around. I can't decide where to put them though. Should they go on the rack next to or behind the ODSE, on the ground between rack and amps or should I set them atop the mono blocks? When I set it up, the cables seated snugly and were stable. I have decided that the only thing I am not in love with on the ODSE control unit, from a functional standpoint, are the recessed toggles; the purpose for which is to adjust high/low gain and to turn on/off the volume control. I understand that they are essentially set it and forget it. But they are difficult to get to and I think they would have been better placed under the unit as easier sliding switches then on the front as recessed toggles (and I think it would clean the front panel up a bit more and make it more attractive).

My Direct Stream arrived today (no one was home yesterday to accept it). It is sitting in its box on my floor currently.

My hope is that, if it stays quiet tomorrow morning, I will have time to run the ODSE direct via Final Drive and compare it to running through my pre-amp. I also will take another listen to the Aeris as it is now about 400 hours (give or take) on it. I will not make a final call on the Aeris until it is over 700; so I still have 300 hours to put on it (12.5 days).

I'm going to unpack the DirectStream right now and check it out, although I don't really expect it to look at all different from the Perfect Wave II sitting 2 feet to its left.

Sorry I don't have more to report. My intentions for today were high. Sigh.

And thanks all for the kind words. We must be doing something fun, because this thread has over 22 thousand views. Thats pretty cool I think!!!

I will post again tomorrow if I can get some Matt time.

fin
Matt, How did you determine how many views this thread has got?, I did not know someone can do that.
The person who starts the thread sees the view count.
Go to your home page and then select Forum Threads on bottom left. If you started the thread or have a Virtual System it shows you a view count.
AudioLabrynth, Audiogon shows the viewcount for all threads that you have started. If you simply respond to a thread instead, its viewcount is not shown in your threads list.

Guido
What is the record for most hits I wonder? I also wonder if this thread will have a shelf life (ie how many posts are allowed before it self locks). I'm on a sports board and have started a few threads that went 30 or so pages that was all that it could fit. Matt, thanks. It really is very interesting for those of us who won't ever be able to purchase any of these units, lol.