Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

The Seven says "bring it on".

How do you know if you're desperate to hear one?

I know how its made and I have many pals who heard one and heard several other Dacs including other Lampis. I also recently heard an anniversary Shandling and a tubed Oppo running through a Big 6.

Big7 and Big6 are completely different animals.

If you are happy with your CDP, more power to you. People like different things and some people are just gear swappers, as that is their thing.

CORRECTION to my previous post:

What I meant to say is, Valid shootout is between Off-Ramp+Romulus DAC vs Romulus Player. Replace all the ODSE with Off-Ramp.

My guess your motivation starting "Is computer audio a bust" after Grannyring replaced his ODSE/Lamp for Romulus.

That would be incorrect Joey. I have had several friends do this recently (one with a vintage Marantz CDP) and I have read such verbiage online over the last few years. My curiosity was piqued. Its more of an intellectual exercise. As expected, people are all over the map.

You are not comparing apples to apples until Aesthetix makes a Romulus DAC.

Incorrect again. They do, Its called the Pandora. Its just a Romulus minus the CD tray. Either way, it would or could be an apples to apples comparison with the Romulus digital input. Adding the element of a plastic spinner would be intriguing as so many people aggressively pan them as an inferior and dated technology. Would the Offramp technology stand up to a lowly plastic spinner?

JWM was NOT using ODSE and he replaced Big 6 with Romulus. So it appears owners are replacing Lamps with Romulus

No, what appears to be happening is audiophiles are doing what audiophiles do best....:/ We huff and puff about our dac du jour and then its gone months later. Other than cables, I have never seen people hydroplane through so much equipment. Never mind the fact that the rest of the system is questionable. Audio tunnel vision says something must go! I have committed that sin repeatedly.

In the immortal words of Syntax:

06-04-14: Syntax
The best DAC? Always the next one.
Syntax (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

Agear, I wish you guys had listened to the BMC PureDac. At $1790 retail it is the best production dac I've heard. I must use my prototype dac with my present music server as it uses the new JRivers MC 19 and outputs double DSD. It allows me to compare cds in double DSD through the Sabre chip to them in PCM at 44.1/16. It is amazing how poor a choice PCM is. I have tried PCM up to 192/24 versus double DSD and the latter wins hands down.

Since Sabre's best chip includes a separate portion that can do native DSD, if the designer knows how to do so, I think this is the wave of the future.