Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Matt said... "I am pretty sure the Rowland Aeris is also software driven. I bet that the right firmware update could make the Aeris untouchable."

You are correct Matt, Rowland Aeris is driven by a large FPGA which performes a variety of master functions, including FIFO jitter elimination and control of a 24-bit DAC module.
I have no information about what a hypothetical Aeris FPGA firmware update might achieve... Meantime, the best way to use Aeris is to feed it through SPDIF... Aeris performance is optimized through its transformer-coupled SPDIF coax input, ideally fed from a transformer-coupled source, such as the Bryston BDP1 or BDP-2 music servers.

Purely conjectural on my part, sound may be further enhanced by the use of an SSD as a storage medium, to eliminate jitter caused by inter-sector disk head seek delays.
G.

Admittedly, in the end the above does not imply that you would necessarily prefer Aeris over OverDrive or other DAC... DAC preference is, very much like paraphrasing female beauty, in the... ears of the beholder *grins!*

G

Great thread. The only problem is the ODSE is made by one man at his time table.

Basically he takes the money up front.
He told me when I ordered (a different item than the ODSE) that he would build my unit when he has enough orders to make several in a row. When I tried to persuade him to build mine quicker, he said it was summer time and he was not going to be tied to a schedule.

Now Matt you may get special treatment due to this thread, but I didn't.
Just a heads up for you guys that want to part with your $8000.

I do not build onesey-twosey on products that cost $200. It would be a waste of my time.

If you order an Overdrive, Off-Ramp or Synchro-Mesh, these orders go into the queue and get built in that order. I don't wait for more orders. Standard wait time on an Overdrive is 2-3 weeks, 1 week on an Off-Ramp and 2-3 days on a Synchro-Mesh

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Steve, Thanks for the reply. My order with you was for the Synchro Mesh that goes for $600.
It took 2 months to get and you wouldn't give me my money back when I wasn't impressed.

I wanted to send a big Thank You out to Merrill of Merrill Audio (another lone wolf manufacturer who builds every piece by hand).

He loaned me a set of 2m RCA and XLR cables to do my shootout. They are exceptional and reasonably priced for how good they are. Merrill is very generous with loaning cables for auditions, especially since very few come back (ie. most auditions end in a purchase).

Google Merrill Audio and check it out. My Veritas monoblock amps are ridiculously good!!!! He also just introduced a Phono stage that the owner of VPI said was amongst the best he had ever heard. Check it out!