Wisnon, I auditioned an L4G4 and I thought it sounded good in some respects, like midrange tonality, musicality, dimensionality and decay, but not so good at the extremes and specifically in the bass, which I thought had body but lacked impact.
Like Mapman, I have been content to stay with my non-oversampling R2R DAC, a Metrum Hex. So far, I have found the Hex to keep up with source upgrades I have done to my Mac mini server and USB delivery. A recent inquiry about updating to their latest/new USB board that works with OS X Mavericks was answered promptly and reasonably by Cees himself at Metrum, indicating good client service, which is important to me.
Because I am curious about how a higher level (aka more expensive) DAC might sound in my system, and because of my preference for solid state, I am planning on trying the ODSE when the opportunity permits. Even though the Aqua has two tubes (a tube/MOSFET hybrid output stage), Darko's comments about the unit sparked my interest in learning more.
I have not considered the L7 because of the price. If I decide to extend to that price level, the CAD 1543 and the Total DAC would be on my must hear list.
