Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Paul79 still cannot find the CBS7318.

jwm, do want to try the CBS 7318?, paul has them!, pricy, the same price as the mullard 10m tubes, cheers.

OK my tubophile friends... Would you really mind continuing this exciting -- yet DAC-unrelated -- convo on some more aptly titled discussion thread? Sorry, but my eyes --- oopsie, meant ears -- are glazing over. G.

Jwm, I sent you a message. I also replied to your previous message. You not see them?

UPDATE:

Hi all, I know I haven't posted one of these in a while since my search has sort of ended with my ODSE safe and snug in my rack. But Alex, of APL Audio has been persistent and accommodating with his DSD-S DAC for my evaluation. My initial impressions were utilized to modify the DAC (I will let Alex describe the changes) to something that he thought I would like more, and he was right.

I have had the luxury of listening to my system with a loaner amp and pre-amp for the last 3 weeks that's puts the Uber in Uber gear. I have been enraptured by my wonderful ODSE being fed into the world class Burmester 911mk3 stereo amplifier ($35k retail) and the Burmester 077 pre-amp ($50k retail). The 077 has its optional $5k DAC card, which I will be listening to next week to see how it compares to my ODSE and all the other outboard DAC's I have heard. The 911 and 077 are each truly world class and offer insane performance when used with other gear, but when put together, the 911/077 combination is literally transcendental!

The 911 sounded absolutely wonderful and incredibly engaging with my top tier Rowland Criterion. But when the Criterion was replaced with the 077, just WOW. The walls fell away from my room and I was sitting in whatever venue or recording studio the event/recording happened at. Just wow. On a different level of performance then anything I have heard before.

I am now dying to get the Rowland 825 amp into my system for a trial to see if its the magic of like company amp/pre-amp... Will my Criterion/825 combo sound that good? Or close to that good? I really hope so because $85k retail is a rather imposing number to lust after gear for.

But I digress.

So the DSD-s was compared to my tried and true ODSE on my current uber system with all else the same. And I have become familiar with the Burmester/ODSE sound.

The modified DSD-S was, IMHO, a dramatic step up from its previous iteration. It did still show a slight bright edge on piano at times, but I sincerely believe that will settle with additional burn in. Musical, engaging, articulate and with a wide soundstage that very nicely placed everything and everyone where they belonged.

If I was now deciding between all the DAC's I had, I would put the Aeris and DSD-S on similar ground performance and sound wise. I will admit, that the ODSE still has something about it that grabs me at moments that the other two just don't quite as well. But at the level I am at, i think that could be reversed with different equipment or cabling. All three are excellent and can make people very happy.

The DSD-S and ODSE are two sides of the same coin. Both high quality boutique DAC's that clearly deliver the goods. You can't go wrong with either.... Listening becomes mandatory to make that final choice.