Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Hi Guido! How goes the Flugelhorn'ing?

The Aurender W20 is completely off the grid. Totally battery driven... Intriguing, isn't it. And I was just told that they introduced native TIDAL control within its proprietary ipad app at CES...

Just not sure I want to spend more then $10K on something so, uh, outdatable...

Hi Matt, flugel (Kanstul 1525) and trumpet (Adams A4 Large Bore) are totally amazing... These days I am experimenting with mouthpieces: Curry, ACB, and soon Flip Oakes. MPs make an enormous difference on the total sound of a horn, without any of them necessarily being the "best"... Each creates a unique Nirvana.... And with prices ranging from $56 to about $350 a piece, you can experiment without too many adverse reactions from the "Bposs".

Btw, this is what my A4 sounds like, using a relatively shallow ACB TA-3CS Heavy mouthpiece:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53640097/ACB%20-%20Adams%20A4%20trumpet%20brushed%20silver%20plate%20--%20192K.wav

On battery supplies... Batteries are a draconian way to isolate a line level device from AC grundge... But is it the best way? For one thing, ultra-caps are superior at delivering broad/fast transients... Furthermore, a well designed AC supply should be able to isolate the device as much as a DC battery supply... Case in point is your/my Criterion... Sounded identical in my system, whether I fed it from batteries, or through its SMPS.

G.

Matt, will you please text me your number again. I'm in FL as my dad is dying, but I wanted to touch base when I get the chance as you are I are on the same page and I wanted to speak with you about it, but I'll go off on a tangent on the board, lol. Thanks.

CTSooner - so sorry to hear that. My sympathies and thoughts during your hard times. I lost my Dad while I was in Med school, he was only 49. Hardest thing I ever had to deal with. PM sent with phone #.

I've been researching music servers like crazy.

Guido - great to hear from you. I couldn't open the link on my iPad. I'll try it on my computer later. I agree with your feeling on battery, ultra caps, etc. Even a well implemented robust linear power supply can make a unit sing, as long as it gets a healthy supply of clean and relatively unrestricted electrons. I am fortunate that my new room has very clean AC to start with and with a 4 gauge run from main panel to dedicated sub-panel and isolated 10 gauge runs to each outlet, there is practically unrestricted power getting to each unit. Battery power done wrong can actually limit power supply, so as we all know, just putting batteries in doesn't make it better.

My room is hopefully going to be ready in about 2 weeks. I'm waiting on my 9m XLR interconnects to arrive and my side wall baffle diffusers which were on backorder a few weeks.

Then I can start to pursue some more DAC evals and maybe try borrowing a music server or two.

Guido - Sounds awesome! But we want to hear YOU play it!!!! grins….