What is the deal with the ART DIO

I have read that some IC's do not work good with the unit.Boulder uses Belden,I am getting Canare to see if it will work with it for a low cost cable until I find something better!
Someone wrote me with this Q?
Will the DIO work with any player with COAX out?My response was--yes!

I've read about and experienced clock locking problems with some digital cables. This causes a momentary dropout. I'm using a Cardas Lightening that works fine.

I do not know what Bit DAC's you might be using ,but upon inserting the DAC with the new Canare Cable into the loop I was able to discern that some of the underlying Details that I was missing were more apparent!The effect is not astronomical,but it is there!

The most important improvement that I noticed was a better presence of Cymbals and Voice info is more distinct.

I will also point out that this is inserted in to a system which only had a 16bit stock Phillips DAC!Anything just about short of getting a Custom Powercord would probably be an improvement.

Another fact I will mention is I only had time to play 4 tunes that were fresh in my mind from listening at high Vol. yesterday as a good reference .The amp was cold and the CDP \ART DAC were on for 10mins so that they could warm up.The sound is rather sterile until my system has a chance to get warm so these are just initial impressions.The DAC and the Cable will also need time to burn-in for the sound to warm up.

The DAC Mod.\Tweeks would probably help also.If it was voted as being used in the playback at CES for Finest Sound Booth at the show there must be merit in using it .For me it was worth it!

Later!

I guess I should have specified; "Which op-amps are being used besides the Linear Technologies 1365 and 1362 chips? Kevin Morris uses a special Motorola chip which betters them both. Just wondering?

I own a stock DI/O. Definitely a great deal. Even in stock form it improves the sound of sub-$600 CDPs. I agree with Sean about soundstage. Also, the bass is rather boomy in my experience.

Having replaced the DI/O in my main system, I moved it to my second system (headphones). In that system, it has an effect similar to the Stax diffuser or Headroom processer--sounds less like headphones--may relate to soundstage issues noted above. That is a nice effect because it doesn't degrade the sound or change the frequencies as the those processor technologies can.

I haven't heard a modified DI/O, but relatively inexpensive used DACs at current prices here on Audiogon beat the stock DI/O in frequency balance, texture, and soundstage. I have retired mine again in favor of a Muse Model 2 for the headphone system. So, while I consider the DI/O a great deal and hope to use the A/D feature in recording at some point, there are a lot of other great DAC deals out there worth considering as well. Perhaps a trip to Plato's to hear the modified version would make me a convert. . . .