Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Yes, I am a difficult customer. Customer service is extremely important to me. Items should work as advertised and Companies should back there products.

I applaud Matt for doing this comparison and I have no doubt that with his system he is giving an honest evaluation in sound quality.

I will bow out of this thread, for I agree that it is about the Dacs Matt is reviewing and I am sorry if I got it off course.

Joecasey.. I didn't read it like the DS was crushed I read it that Matt liked the ODSE better.. I wish he'd spent a bit more time listening to it, and spent some time reloading the firmware or getting help to resolve the firmware issue but honestly his thoughts on the DS's sound quality don't really matter to me, what matters to me is how the DS sounds in my system. Also I spent way way less $$ for my DS then he's spending for his ODSE.. so I'm good with my decision..

Additionally I found the DS is quite sensitive to power cables and interconnects.. So if he'd chosen to I suspect he could have gotten it to perform at another level, also consider that the ODSE has a built in off ramp thingy that if added to any of the other Dac's might have swayed him in another direction. But in the end it's his ears and his choice, I've just enjoyed his journey..

As for PSA firmware issues no question the Bridge is flawed but so are lots of other software driven products.. I had a bridge for a while and also gave up on it (planning on an Aurulic Aries soon) so I'm not a PSA fanboy by any stretch.

And I thought all along that Ozzy's beef with Nugent should have been private.. But if you are a manufacturer who uses a public forum for among other things promoting ones products ( frequently) then one needs to be prepared to take some flack from time to time. To Empirical's credit there doesn't seem to be too many folks that are un-happy, so he/they must for the most part be doing the right thing by their customers..

Ozzy, thanks for your input!

Matt is correct that several negative posts can hurt such manufacturers like Steve and me.

After what happen back in the days, I worked very hard to improve customer satisfaction, and I think I did it. :-)

As for PS Audio, such company cannot be compared to what Steve does, for example. We are talking about pure all-hand-made boutique that is made with the best possible components, free of any budgets. At least this is how I feel about this subject.

As for servicing, the Electronic Express service center in Chicago is fully authorized to service all of my products, both warranty and out-of-warranty, and they have done a great gob over the past few years. So I think there are no worries about that.

Best wishes,
Alex

I thought the OP started this thread to describe his comparison of products? Complaints about one-man shows etc. belong elsewhere.