My experience is more in line with Muralman1. I too was seduced by a Zero DAC. When I took it home for a short trial, I was less than impressed by the bass, but there was just something about the sound. To my ears it had a rightness that transcended audiophile issues like resolution and soundstaging.
So I bought a 3.1x Balanced, and it was a revelation. It was the least corrupt sound I'd ever heard from a digital box. Eventually I got greedy and went for a 4.1x, and despite the ferocious price I can't imagine wanting to change.
One thing I've realized is that each of us have our own set of aural expectations, and what sounds perfect to me may sound fatally flawed to someone else. Or vice versa - I bought a pair of top-notch 845 monoblocks recently, and they didn't turn my crank at all. After a couple of months I gave up on trying to like them, and gave them to my local dealer to sell. He promptly fell totally, head-over-heels in love with them. The same goes for DACs - I've never heard an oversampling DAC I like nearly as much as my AN, but I'm quite prepared to believe that someone else will feel differently. Caveat, as always, emptor.
So I bought a 3.1x Balanced, and it was a revelation. It was the least corrupt sound I'd ever heard from a digital box. Eventually I got greedy and went for a 4.1x, and despite the ferocious price I can't imagine wanting to change.
One thing I've realized is that each of us have our own set of aural expectations, and what sounds perfect to me may sound fatally flawed to someone else. Or vice versa - I bought a pair of top-notch 845 monoblocks recently, and they didn't turn my crank at all. After a couple of months I gave up on trying to like them, and gave them to my local dealer to sell. He promptly fell totally, head-over-heels in love with them. The same goes for DACs - I've never heard an oversampling DAC I like nearly as much as my AN, but I'm quite prepared to believe that someone else will feel differently. Caveat, as always, emptor.