Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

08-25-14: Phasecorrect
Fwiw...my brother in law was in the same dilemma...and spent a boat load on a premium dac ...suffice to say...it was a marginal improvement at best...but he at least got bragging rights out of it...haha

Phasecorrect, that's funny. What did he get and what did it replace? I too have experienced nominal changes in digital. I believe one of the reasons why this thread has so much traction is the population of philes in digital purgatory is pretty high and everyone is looking for an out. That being said, my Lampizator L7 being fed DSD (and RB for that matter) via an Auralic Aries is a quantum leap forward for moi....stunning.

Hey, my Kuzma is only 140 pounds but be my guest beating it with any digital, cost no object. :-)

Paul,

Sure I understand. Yes, the monos sounded better when I've auditioned them at the Munich show. Better in terms of a cleaner top-end and overall more realistic and natural presentation.

Because of Matt's findings and many other people who are into NOS DACs, I have decided to give you guys an option for zero oversampling (no digital filters) so you get the same type of sound. :-)
To my ears, the top gets a tad blurry, but the mids shine. So maybe this little trade-off coloration will be good for some ears and systems. Shoot me off an email if you'd like to schedule DSD-S audition.

And specially for Guido, I am thinking about Zero, 2x, 4x and 8x selectable options with slow and sharp digital filter roll-off characteristics for CD resolution playback, but that will probably happen in a couple of months from now, right on time for a cool audition in the listening room. :-)

Anything else on the wish list? Just let me know. :-)

Best,
Alex Peychev
APL Hi-Fi

I think for me, this thread has shown me that digital is the most difficult part of my system to understand and then to get right. Like other components, I'll just figure out what I really want to spend and then make decisions based on what the dealers have and plug them into the systems and see what I like best and why. I just redid everything. It's not cheap for me, but it sounds great. Do I want it to sound better? Of course I do. I ended up getting a Music Hall DAC and a balance set of AQ Niagara cables to hook it up. Cabling made the world of difference and I figured that when I upgrade digital, I will keep the cables. I went with a Basis TT with MB Glider cart and a special Cloud 11 platform. It still sounds better to me than any of the top digital I've heard at the stores or in friends systems. I guess in time, I'll spend another 3k to upgrade storage, DAC or media server to make my life easier. I guess I'm still waiting for all this stuff to sort out and finally make it over the top to sound as good as the analog does. JMHO...I'm learning a lot here and thanks.

Digital to me is the hardest to get right versus any other component, but don't think analog is easy. You have the table, arm, cartridge to mate well with each other and then have to set up the cartridge which is no easy feat. You then need a great phono stage. Let me tell you analog aint easy, but the rewards can be great.

Thank you so much Alex... Let us keep in touch! G.