Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Aeris, Aeris, Aeris!!!

This is too easy to predict.

AGear. I'm not sure why you say that.
I actually just emailed Guido and told him that his prized Aeris better turn a corner in the next 300 burn-in hours or I'm keeping the ODSE (or DirectStream if it blows me away). I have absolutely no bias towards one or the other. Just looking for the best of the best.

FYI - I am leaving for Boston today and won't be back until Wed. I'm following on my phone but no updates will be posted.
Aeris and DS will cook while I am away.

Matt- Just an FYI there is new firmware for the DS that was just released yesterday. Your unit is pretty new and could already have it. Just check the screen (push the little gear in the upper left corner) the newest firmware is 6115, the older is 5417 .. Nice improvement with the new firmware.

Thank you Matt for the thoughtful update.

As I suspected, after the 400 or 450 hours mark, Aeris would start a gradual normalization of treble artifacts. I still expect some fluctuations throughout the audible bandwidth for a while. My experience with Aeris, as well as other Rowland components is that they are late bloomers... They continue to break-in and bloom at least until the 1200 hours mark. At 700 to 800 hours, they give a semi-reasonable idea of their capabilities, but they still do not yield their best.

BTW, I have confirmation from the Rowland factory that Aeris delivers its best performance through its SPDIF inputs, which are transformer-coupled for optimizing common mode noise rejection, galvanic isolation, and impedance stability... This will be particularly effective if Eris is fed from a transformer-coupled source. It is interesting to note that Rowland feeds Aeris mostly through the Bryston BDP-2 server/player, which has implemented transformer coupling on its SPDIF and XLR outputs.

No, I am not using the Bryston player in my system yet... I am a dinosaur, and am still using the Esoteric X-01 as a source.

G.