Now that my feet are wet....

Mezmo,

Thanks for the well thought out reply.

As you noted, I failed to point out a valid comparison. It was compared to my TEAC PDH-600 (its no slouch) as a stand alone or as a transport for the DACmini. As a transport, it acquitted itself quite nicely, allowing a bit more detail and separation. But it couldn't keep up with the CDs I imported into iTunes and played back through the DACmini. Totally different league.

From what you said, I now believe its the DACmini. I honestly feel that no more tweaking is needed; just 20' or so of good ICs so I can keep the DACmini alongside my iMac for the Audioengine A2s and headphone use.

All the best!

Nonoise

In audio everything is relative, but you also have to understand that a lot of people suffer from placebo effects and will believe in anything. In addition, a lot of audio tweeks that can work may require a system that's much better than what you have to really hear the difference. This doesn't mean that your system isn't good enough, it just means you don't have to spend your life chasing a unicorn.

Anything related to digital, including USB cables, is much less likely to make a significant improvement compared to analog components.

On Friday I visited my local hi fi store because they were showing off clear audio turntable. The system was clear audio, aesthetix amplification, Focal Stella ($90k) speaker with dual JL Audio Gothom ($12k ea) subwoofers. This is a very nice system. When they switched from the turntable to a laptop connected to the DAC via USB the sound was amazing. I didn't look super close, but I don't think it was a super fancy cable as that wasn't at all the point of the event. A system like this will have significant changes from things that a system like mine never will.

If you're happy, stay happy and don't look for reasons to be unhappy!

It's like learning Golf, everyone has to go through all of the stages of improvement. You are now at stage 2. Better than stage 1, but you have at least 8 more to go. This particular DAC uses older USB technology. There are newer technolgies, namely asychronous USB that enable lower jitter. There are also very low jitter clocks available now. The master clock in the USB interface is the most important aspect in the entire digital audio system. Always has been, but previously it was hidden inside the CD player. If this is not really good, then the rest does not matter much. You can't fix it downstream. This is why it is important to understand the latest technology and where to put your money to make the biggest improvment. USB interface and low-jitter clock.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

I dunno....

10ppm,<1ps jitter (immeasurable) on the receiving end, after their proprietary buffer and DAC....

Is this really old USB technology? Most of their stats are go over my head but this is one quiet unit with a noise floor that is subterranean which most likely accounts for the dead silent background, dynamics, and presence that I'm now getting. Depending on recording, some instruments are resolving 'out' from my speakers due to the wholeness of the presentation. Its all a bit weird but I'm liking it, old tech or not.

As of now, I really can't see it getting that much better, but thanks for the heads up as I've got a lot to learn.

I dunno....

10ppm,<1ps jitter (immeasurable) on the receiving end, after their proprietary buffer and DAC....

Is this really old USB technology? Most of their stats go over my head but this is one quiet unit with a noise floor that is subterranean which most likely accounts for the dead silent background, dynamics, and presence that I'm now getting. Depending on recording, some instruments are resolving 'out' from my speakers due to the wholeness of the presentation. Its all a bit weird but I'm liking it, old tech or not.

As of now, I really can't see it getting that much better, but thanks for the heads up as I've got a lot to learn.