Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

This seems to be a good place to throw out a question about a possible "top tier" DAC;
Have any of you heard the Aqua La Scala Mk II?
Darko and Srajan at 6moons both called it the best they have heard in their systems, "without the shadow of a doubt," and The Ear gave it 5 stars.
At around $6K it doesn't even begin to enter the ultra priced market but rather competes price-wise in the same arena as the OD SE, Lampi Big 6, and Metrum Pavane to name a few.
Issues include no DSD, two tubes, and no distributor or dealer that I could find in the USA.

Usb is asynchronous so I thought there is no clock from usb card. Word clock is only for spdif. there was a great article from 2010 demonstrating external clocks performed worse than dac clocks. I will email the article to matt.

Steve. Eta on the release of the sx. Would late March seem about correct?

USB has an embedded clock, just like S/PDIF. It is used in Async interfaces only to capture the data. It is then reclocked to the S/PDIF or I2S interface. Backchannel handshake insures there is no overrun.

March availability of SX is about right.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Ok, so now I have done some research into a server/DAC/ NAS system. I'm totally confused. I spoke with someone from Baetis about their servers. their lowest price one is around 5k and it rips which I have to have. He was telling me that USB sucks as a connection and that AES is the best if you find a DAC that has it and that their 5k unit uses a BNC s/p diff connection. He said that any DAC is DSD capable with some program from JRiver and that it's marketing BS saying a dad is DSD capable ( believe that's how he put it).
I have heard some of the DACs in this thread and I haven't liked some of them. I have never heard Steve's DAC. I was told that Bel Canto 1.7 is a good inexpensive one and that the Berkley Alpha 2 is the best under 5k. This seems to fly in the face of what many in this thread have said.
I also liked a few other servers like Antipode and the Aries streamer looks like a good value, but I don't know how it really sounds as I don't know anyone who has heard it.

I don't want to go back and reread this whole thread so my question is where do we stand on DACS under 5k? What about what the Baetis guy told me? He also said that digital cables make a HUGE difference compared to analog and I fully believe cables are huge and always have heard a big difference.
Matt, are any of the DACS you heard in the 5k range? Maybe I would even be able to find a used model so that I can afford that and a server. I only have maybe 1k CD's and I still use phono or else I could go directly into an amp and sell my integrated. Wish I knew more about digital. Glad you have this thread...thanks all

My ODSE was just under $7k with the promotion running at the time. And you all know my feelings on its prowess. Spend the extra $2k and by a Mac mini and you'll be in heaven for well under $2k. Then buy my prized Merrill Veritas amps (about to be put up for sale) and hold onto your hat!!

I find anyone who bashes any method of signal transmission a questionable resource. I get ridiculously good sound from my Mac mini via usb. And the Trinity DAC, which retails for $53k, and many consider to be the best out there, relies on its usb input as its best input (so much so that the designer opted for usb as his choice of signal transmission from his transport to DAC).

CAD also has an exceptional usb input from what I have heard, and a usb cable that is also supposedly top notch.

As far as DSD goes, I can only give you opinion, not technical responses. Overall I do not prefer the sound of those DACs that convert everything to DSD to make music. I prefer my PCM to stay pcm until it's analog. DSD as a source has its advantages. I still have no interest in DSD and focus on red book cd and hi rez PCM. That said, there are certainly DACs that do DSD properly as DSD input processed in a DSD domain. DSD converted to PCM is a different story and can be accomplished with the proper hardware or software. I'll leave the technical answer to others.

Don't listen to me, listen to the DAC's. They speak for themselves. I can tell you the different ways to convert digital to analog yield very different sounds. You will unqionably prefer one way or one brand over another. Just get your ears on them and you will see.