Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Matt, Please give the Comet Plus a go in your big rig before the DaVinci arrives, I'm betting it will surprise (in a good way) when running with the big dogs.

Thanks for the input Glory. The Merlot is an excellent DAC and shines in my main system, outperforming (to some) my prized ODSX. I think I preferred my ODSX over the Merlot, but didn’t have enough time to truly listen. I have wanted to hear the Rockna as it has an exceptional reputation.

In my office system, the Comet (which has well in excess of 700 hours on it and is well burned in) bettered the Merlot; but not by much. I made sure to say what gear was being used so people could pass their own judgement on my report. No tin ears in the room, nor was anyone sitting on a synergy stool. Both were bettered by the A10 with internal DAC. I would not consider my "inexpensive" office system the ultimate in resolution but the results were what they were. The Comet "belonged" in that level system, the Merlot did not. It may be a case of putting bicycle tires on a Porsche if you know what I mean; the office system may simply not have allowed the Merlot to stretch its legs and show it’s stuff. I never even tried the Comet in my main system as I borrowed it exclusively to try with headphones, and it excels in that regard. As you said, it’s an "entry level" DAC (and a damn good one) and I had not considered trying it in my reference home system. I did try the Merlot at home and several felt it was exceptional. Makes me want to try the Comet in my main rig just to see. I can say that one of the guys present did try the Merlot and Comet in their main rig and he preferred the Comet over the Merlot there as well. Again, no stool or atomic #50 ears, just opinion. And the beauty of an opinion is that you can take it or leave it with no cost or obligation.

Contradicting opinions and reports like yours are what makes this thread so valueable to everyone. I have said over and over, I just report what I hear. I welcome disagreeing views and the expression of those views. It makes this a better and more useful thread for all involved.

Sincerely sorry to see you go. Hope you check in and continue offering credible differing opinions!

Matt, that is awesome news about your DaVinci DAC. 
As I mentioned to you I had heard the DaVinci Dual DAC at the NYC Audio Show a few years ago. 
I was blown away by the quality of the sound and this being at a show.  
So I am anxious to see how good the current version is. 

You must be like an expecting father waiting for the baby to arrive 😉

Fascinating. Larry of Distinctive Stereo came over to my office last weekend to play. I bought a Wells Innamorata amp from him (just WOW! It's the best "affordable" amp you've never heard of!!!) to match up to the new Scansonic 2.5 speakers I just got. Sounds AWESOME!!

We used his Aurender A10 (which is a single unit combo N100H server and built in DAC) and compared that to using just the A10 server portion output via USB to an external DAC (Axogal Comet and Playback Design's Merlot).

The A10 with internal DAC readily beat the A10 server feeding either the Axogal or the Merlot. Seriously! The internal DAC in the A10 sounded the best is probably a result of being a good DAC, using a linear power supply, crazy short I2S jumper between server board and DAC, shared clock and just good design and synergy.

Also, the A10 server sourcing the Axogal DAC sounded BETTER then sourcing the Merlot!!! Not huge, but considering the $3+ K difference it still says a lot. That Comet Plus is a damn good DAC for its crazy affordable price!

Thanks Larry, for a super fun day! And thanks for helping work your magic to get my 2.5's dialed in perfectly!

Talking about dealers, I want to shout out to Paul Hovenga of Many Moons Audio who has provided exceptional customer service on a purchase that had some functional issues; and who will be arranging a TotalDAC Uber DAC/server audition for me in the coming months!

And a well deserved shout out to Dave, The Audio Doctor who just received my Davinci 2 today and has stood behind Light Harmonic and made sure my product was delivered without drama or issue! Can't wait to get that in my rack!!!

Studio Monitors setup correctly will give you very accurate sound reproduction, I use Studio monitors in the office and bedroom. Does it give you that magical sound audiophiles tend to refer too. No....

Horns or High sensitive Single Wide band Speakers do this better paired with Tube Amps. We all have our own opinion iv lived with super expensive gear and large Solid state amps. Now I’m using High Sensitive Speakers and lower powered Amps. Listening to music is now shifted from the realms of just listening to feeling emotional waves from it. It is a different feeling altogether.

What is it that Tube Amps paired with high sensitive speakers do that  large Solid State Amps driving inefficient speakers cant do? I have yet to figure that out.

True Dragon_Vibe. Accuracy is an objective measurement. That's what we have JA for. Lol. 

Emotional engagement is as subjective as it comes. 

I always find it fascinating to see how different listeners listen for different things to hit their emotional target. Imaging, soundstage, leading edge, trailing edge, dynamics, scale, noise floor, subtlety, low frequency extension, etc etc. We all want it all, but one or two things in particular hit that personal spot and make us sink into nirvana. 

I just love this hobby! And the people who share it with me!

Accurate Reproduction of Music has nothing to do with something that is emotioonally engaging, just saying. If you want super Acurate sound why not setup a Studio monitor instead since they are built for accuracy.

Matt, we've spoken so much about it all.  Yes, IR a fanboy for all the reasons stated that don't even deal with my feeling that for the price the SQ is the best for ME.  They just stand by their products even out of warranty if needed.  I love that about any company ;).

Aolmrd brings up a serious point.  I'm sure they will make you happy Matt, but there is a lot of money involved.  How many folks could they take care of if problems arise and the company is gone or won't stand behind the products.  It's scary for any of us when purchasing an expensive product.  That's one reason I don't buy used that much anymore.  Been burned a couple of times already.  Thankful that companies like Aesthetix and Empirical have stood behind their gear, but it's expensive lessons we all learn.

For those who want to understand MQA and Tidal integration a bit better, I found this. It’s excellent.

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2017/01/mqa-tidal-where-are-we-now/

Enjoy.

Im staying away from the Light Harmonic discussion right now. If/When my product is delivered and no issues arise I will post my experience. I can say that as of now Dave the Audio Doctor had been supportive and communicative (and I believe he would do what needed to be done to make things right if a major issue were to arise, because he has shown me nothing but sincerity, passion for gear and music, and active support). 

CT- your a Vandersteen and Ayre fanboy! 😂😂 

audiotroy....As a dealer...are you saying with the knowledge in concern of Light Harmonic that you still give full credence to that company in a complete and whole manner? Even to the point of making the perspective buyer of such a product whole again if the need arises? In other words...are you putting your money where your mouth is?

Dragon, I kind of agree.  I purposely didn't mention the name of the dealer as I didn't want things to 'go there'.  The post has nothing to do with the sound of the product. I don't think any of us are saying it's not a great product.  

My thoughts are about dealing with companies that can't deliver what is expected of a customer.  If they can't keep up with basic delivery of their product, then how would they ever be able to fix what gets broken.  If a company that is selling a 35k plus DAC (or whatever the high cost is) and they can't deliver a product that isn't DOA, then what kind of QA do they have? 

As I stated above and in other posts over the years, I usually stay with named companies who will be there to service their products over time as I keep things for a long time.  I notice that many stores change their products (companies) like underwear.  Flavor of the day.  What product is on the cover of the current mag.....we have all seen this at many stores.  

Looking back at where I've purchased over the years (many stores as I know many owners, lol), nearly all of them have been carrying the same lines for a long time.  They will bring in a new line or two over time, but only after the lines prove that they will support their products.  

It's just alarming that a company who's selling gear in this stratosphere treats anyone the way they have been and continue to do.  LH isn't the only one either.  There have always been companies who are not on the up and up regardless of why.  Buyer be ware I guess.  Not even trying to get anyone to buy into my personal feelings, just sharing them.  

I must stress that Distributors and Dealers need to refrain from over maketting products on this forum.

We are the dealer for Matt, and we were also concerned after reading the computer audiophile post.

We did contact the owner Larry Ho, who was out of the country and he is aware that there have been some problems with production and is working to fix some of these issues. Part of the problems they have been having is getting some of their suppliers to deliver consistent boards. 

The boards they are using in some of their products are difficult to build and this is leading to delays as well as shortages. 

On a positive note people who have actually heard the Davinci including the older versions have stated it is the best digital they have ever heard. 

In our tests the Davinci was substantially better than a very well rated $25k dac that uses some of the most advanced technology in the industry the issue with LH Labs has been their limited production capabilities, as well as getting good sub assemblies. 

We have also been having withdrawal symptoms, once you have heard a Davinci it is intoxicating and is so musical  resolving that it is very hard to listen to anything else. Our new MK 2.5 dual dac is also waiting for one of these new boards.

The unfortunate nature of many of the small companies is that they can suffer from similar issues, some of the larger ones have also had giant issues, Krell almost went away same as Levinson, Classe is also having some development issues with new products. Spica died, Infinity died from what they were, and so on and so on. 

Dave 
Audio Doctor NJ

Wow, this is nuts. I've heard that they had many problems with the Geek'd line, but didn't realize how bad it was/is.

Matt, just got the Davinci mk 2 through a NJ dealer.  Hope they don't go under for his sake as that's a lot of coin for no warranty.  I know of two dealers who didn't want to carry their DAC's, but they never said why.  I wonder if they didn't like the owners.  Now I need to find out, lol.  

This is one of the biggest reasons I usually only buy from companies that are established with strong reputations.  It's one reason I stopped having friend buy Krell gear as well as Levinson back in the day.  I won't buy Pass now either as I hate companies that screw over the BnM businesses or customers. To me, that shows that they won't  be there when you really need them.  

Folks call me a Vandersteen fan boy or an Ayre fan boy, but those two will stand by their products for years and years and I have no worries about that.  These products eventually do have something go wrong.  Electronics always do.

Just a word of caution regarding Light Harmonic Labs in the following thread I came across and thought it would be of interest here. I have no personal experience with them but thought that potential buyers of their product should be aware of their history. If there's another side to the story it would be helpful if others would share it, TIA. https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/34857-light-harmonic-labs-rip/

Brinkmann sounds outstanding to me.  My ear isn't what everyone else's is and visa versa.  Matt knows my ear fairly well by now I think (we have discussed our differences).  It's like most great audio products. It gets better and better the more time you spend with it.

I've never bothered with looking at measurements.  I know that they are important to some degree, but I will listen to anything.  that way I can make up my own mind about a product.  

I agree somewhat, but I feel a good sounding product should still measure somewhat decent. There are dac's out there that measure great and also sound wonderful. An example is the MSB mark II.

Al,
+ 1 in regard to the value of the Stereophile measurements as a very effective "initial screening step and assisting in narrowing the field of potential audio candidates.  My only observation was the measurements just don't correlate well with a product's sound quality 
Charles 

This paper is presented at the Brinkmann site and seems to amount almost to a point-by-point rebuttal of the concerns JA expressed.  And in doing so I note that the paper goes considerably beyond what is said in the manufacturer's comment section of the Stereophile issue which presents the review.

IMO most of what is said in the paper is persuasive.  The only issue I would take with it, at least in the case of a DAC, is in relation to the statement that "over-damping (i.e., filtering) the incoming power might result in better measured values, but often kills the life in the music."  While lightening up on the filtering of incoming power might in some DAC designs result in sound that is subjectively preferable, it certainly won't make the sound more true to the source IMO.  But in any event the numbers cited in the paper and in JA's measurements are suggestive of that not being a significant issue in this case.

Regarding JA's measurements more generally, they are IMO of inestimable value in identifying possible or likely mismatches or incompatibilities between components, and often in diagnosing sonic issues as well.  I couldn't begin to count the number of times I and many others have referred to his measurements in responding to questions and issues that are posted here.  In that sense JA performs a uniquely valuable service to the audiophile community, especially given the thoroughness of his measurements relative to those that are provided in some other publications, and given the much higher probability that he has measured a component that is being considered, compared to other publications that provide measurements.   And every now and then some of his measurements raise legitimate concern about the quality of the engineering that went into the design of a product.  Beyond those benefits, though, I would certainly agree that they generally provide little if any insight into how a component will sound.

Best regards,
-- Al
   

Audio products that sound terrific per the Stereophile viewers and yet measure poorly per JA. This dilemma has been noted by quite a few observers  over the years. 
Charles 

Not sure why Brinkmann opted for tubed output stage but it sure didn't help their measurements. But JA has measured many a piece of kit that sounds damn good and measures damn bad. 

JA pretty much trashed it in the measurements section. Perhaps another example where measurements and human hearing are at odds?

Dave

I heard the Brinkmann Nyquist DAC about a  year or so ago (not totally sure, but it was just before it came to market).  I was really impressed and have probably mentioned it in this thread, but I know I have told Matt multiple times that it was a really impressive session.  I spoke with more than a few who heard it recently with the Vandersteen speakers at a show and were blown away by how great sounding the music was in that room all weekend.  I was able to bend RV's ear about the sound that weekend.  He told me that was the first time he enjoyed digital.  Keep in mind that he works the shows and doesn't get out to hear all the digital gear out there.  He's like Fremer, a true analog guy.  He said that he was surprised at how good the sound was with the Nyquist.  I thought it was a 14k DAC, but I immediately said that it was most probably better than my Ayre QX5/20, which is to my ears, a highly musical DAC and plenty detailed.

I just read Fremer's review of the Nyquist online for Stereophile.  He too feels the same way that I did the first time I heard it.  I did hear it with some MQA recordings that seemed to be very well recorded to show off MQA as well as the DAC.  I thought I'd share the review with you guys.  Hope you enjoy the read (this is for those who think I only like Ayre gear, lol).

https://www.stereophile.com/content/brinkmann-audio-nyquist-da-processor

Thanks Matt.  Yes, that was the deal. I just knew that they were identical other than a connection. Clock, not source connection, lmao.....  What if your DAC has a great clock.  How would that then work?  Does it then get bypassed if you use an external clock?  Why not use a great clock INSIDE said server?  I just don't fully understand it, that's all I guess. 

Matt,
Though I have not heard it, the MEMORY PLAYER BY MARK PORZILLI is the only one with proprietary tech.

Its the one that has the potential to be VERY different. Nothing me too about it.

Peter, according to the Aurender rep, the W20 and N10 sound identical unless you are running an external clock. Then the W20 sounds better. I would imagine the battery power has to give the W20 an edge. But the N10 is awesome so I'm not complaining. 

HI all.

This is Larry of Distinctive Stereo.  As this is my first time here I don't want to be accused of self-promotion, but I do want to thank Matt for his kind words on my listening room and system (I am the U.S. importer of German Physiks loudspeakers, which he forgot to mention-!), in particular the Exogal Comet.  I also appreciate the Exogal head honcho for contributing to the thread.

Needless to say, anyone in the NJ/NYC area who has an interest in or questions about the Exogal, please feel free to contact me.

And now back to your regularly scheduled program.

Regards,

Larry 

First off, thanks to Jeff for making the offer (I have the best headphone amp I've ever heard in my Ayre QX5/20) even though I don't need a new DAC/amp.  That's really kind and he's doing the opposite of some companies by NOT selling out the back door and screwing dealers.  That's important as we don't have this thread without some great dealers who have helped Matt and others attain most of these products.

As for someone asking about good IEM's or CIEM's...I have been using a pair of Noble Audio Savants since they came out and they are awesome.  Love them on my QX5/20 as well as through a basic AQ Red DAC on the iPhone for travel.  They will show you the sound curves on their site.  There are other nice ones out there, but for my money the Noble's have some of the best sound you can get in all price ranges. They'd match nicely with the Comet for sure.

Matt, I can't wait for you to get these servers up and running once the Davici gets put back into use ;).  I'm really interested to see how the Burmeister and other very expensive units compare to the N10. Honestly, you are only using the N10 and not the W20, so that's not fair to Aurender is it?  Ha....Seriously though, Wouldn't you want to try the W20 also or is that only if you want to use the AES/EBU out to the DAC?  I was told it's virtually the same unit other than a better output connection (which made no sense).  I've heard the W20 a few years ago and was blown away by how natural it was.  Fully extended on both ends with a glorious mid range.  I believe it was highly detailed with a very very low noise floor.  It was awhile ago.  I love the N10 and the N100H for their price ranges also.  Never been a huge fan of the earlier ones though.

I heard a rumor that we could see the Aurender using both their app as well as......wait on it......wait.........still waiting.......ROON.  Was told last night by someone who spoke with their rep that they are actually talking to Soon about being able to use the Aurender servers as a Roon core.  If so, that gives them an even larger leg up.  They really stand behind the units and the dealers love selling them as they never have problems and the company takes care of everything for them.  Can't beat that business model and it's helpful for we consumers also.  Not dealing with the SQ as Matt does, but to me, JUST as important.  Customer service and supporting the product fully in both set up, use and in times of peril.  

Hey gang. I’ve been trying to find Uber servers and have only really come upon 3 (or 4) thus far. The Burmester 151 server/DAC/preamp and 111 Music Center (both of which are REALLY long in the tooth!) and the Boulder 2120 server/DAC/preamp. And The Memory Player. $22k-$55k based on configurations. That looks rather interesting and has some amazing reviews (constantly updated over the course of 11 years is pretty impressive, and their customer support is first rate from what I hear).

The 151 and 2120 are both $50k +++

then theres the $15-20k range of the Aurender W20 and the DCS Rossini Player.

Are there any others that I am missing?

i guess there is Request’s The Beast and BMC’s PureAudio server. The BMC product seems more lifestyle then high end. The Beast looks very intriguing but I don’t think has any US representation; like the CAD CAT, which also looks awesome but doesn’t have any US importer (you can buy and ship here, but service would need to be done back in England if needed). And the TotalDAC server/system which I have plans to audition, but has "limited" US presence (there is a dealer in the US but any service would still need to be done overseas).

Dragon_Vibe - Agreed. I think Exogal-CEO was responding to a casual statement I made and has shown his respects to the Audiogon Admin, dealer/manufacturer relationship and Can obsessiva all in one quick and concise post. Thanks Exogal-CEO for the offer and the thorough post!!

JWM - my muse to take the obsession plunge in any direction hits me at random and is then unstoppable. I’m trying to go to CanMania at the CapitalAudioFest. I plan on starting some IEM research there.

I’m hoping next Sunday is as fun as I’m planning it to be. I’m hoping to have a few stellar servers to compare and a fun group of listening buddies to help me out.

The list of whose who in the server selection is not quite finalized. But it will yield some fascinating information for one and all. Stay tuned!!

This sort of sales talk should be reserved in private chat i think. Otherwise this thread will end up as a sales force for certain products. No Offense to Exogal or anyone else just a pleasant reminder.

This would give other Dealers/Manufactures excuses to do the same.

Matt when are you going to test in ear headphones for portable use. I would love to buy one that sounds good.

Hi Guys,

The answer to your "...boost the headphone..." question is that, no, it's not possible to do this on the Comet. Honestly, we expected minimal use of the headphone output and so it's not so much that it was an afterthought as it was a conscious decision to do it the way we did. We expected the "95% Use Case" would be a customer listening to music through speakers and when the family went to bed, they'd plug in headphones to hear the last few tracks before they went off to bed, too. We were simply caught off guard by how many users were primarily headphone listeners. But, live and learn, we won't make that assumption again and anything else we build will get the same level of performance for the headphone as the other outputs.

Also, I saw a comment earlier regarding the cost of products in this market. It's really true that by the time it reaches the end consumer, each $1 of cost to the manufacturer becomes $5 at retail. The reason that happens is that the business has some overhead, the distributor has to get paid, and the dealer has to get paid. And hopefully there's some profit for each of those people as well. What happens when manufacturers sell direct is they are cutting out the distributors and / or dealers because they can't afford to pay these channel costs and it's the only way the manufacturer can make any money. If a dealer offers you a discount to make a sale, they're usually making a conscious decision to eat cat food for dinner instead of a tuna sandwich. They have tough businesses to run. 

When we make offers like this, we can afford to do it because we built our business so we can afford to pay the channel costs. The reason is that our products are 95% built by robots. Humans don't touch them until we do final assembly and test. We did it this way because ultimately, this hobby won't really survive if the dealers die. (So at least buy a cable or something from them once in a while!) We wanted to build a product that dealers can sell profitably, even if they end up offering a discount.

When we make an offer like this, it's a Marketing expense for us. Even if you hadn't asked, we would (will) send Larry a cash "finder's fee" for each unit. We'd like him to become a dealer but he's under no obligation to do so. In addition, when we ship a unit to one of the forum members, we will also send a commission check to the dealer nearest that member (or one of their choice) in an attempt to get them to become a dealer if they aren't already. We don't want to be one of those companies that looks to screw the dealers - we want to be the one who helps them survive. 

So if anyone is interested, contact us at sales@exogal.com and we'll take it off-line. Put "Audiogon713" in the subject line so we know it's one of you. (Don't worry, you'll all get the same deal!) But even if you don't take advantage of our deal, make sure you patronize your dealers once in a while! 

Jeff

Matt, you crack me up.  I love it.  Guys, he texts me all the time about can's as I'm into them a lot.  He still needs to try a pair of Noble IEM's, lol.  He will in time I'm sure.

Very cool of the company to make this offer.   I know on other boards offers for board members happen all the time. I don't see a problem with it and if there is, folks can just go to head-fi's thread and do it over there.  Not a big deal as this is about we the customer I would think.  Very kind thing to do.

Hi Jeff, welcome aboard! I don’t know the answer to that question as it’s never come up here before. I think the solution would be to make an offer and anyone interested can PM you to get on board. Shoot the admin a PM at the same time to confirm it’s ok.

If possible, I feel that Larry from Distinctive Stereo would deserve something since he was the one who introduced me to it and suggested a demo. He lent me the unit and I have had it at home for a week enjoying it. Anyone with headphones needs to hear this thing! It’s awesome and a ridiculous value! And I’m sure it sounds equally great with a 2 channel rig. But if not for Larry, this rave would not have occurred. Lol.

I am getting nothing from Larry nor Jeff for this outpouring of "this thing is awesome!"

But it is!

One request Jeff.... can you increase the gain on the headphone amp a bit? The headphone out strugggled with lower efficiency headphones. Unless your running IEM’s, the volume when set to Headphone out is useless until over 80.

I also just started my new Headphone thread on Head-Fi!!!!

https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/65-headphones-7-dac-amps-1-persons-opinion-oh-my.854984/

Jeff, you may want to offer the group buy there also!! If you can.

I saw the nice comments that the user "mattnshilp" made about the Comet DAC and his musings around "getting together a group buy".

We don't normally follow this forum and I'm not sure of the rules. So forgive the following possibly stupid question: Are we allowed to offer a deal to the followers of this thread?

Jeff

Looks like he may be looking at Playback.  The more this thread goes and the more I think bout my own situation, I'm leaning heavily towards maybe keeping my MacMini and just put a 1T SSD in it for my CD collection (not sure it can handle what I have, but probably close) and call it a day, lol.  

I need to get some of the better servers in my system if I'm able to, but the Aurender is just a great unit for the costs.

Playback Design has the Syrah Server, its a optimised computer. This is something you should look into.

SOTM makes great gear and some of the other companies use their parts internally.

I have had a few Ready made Server/network players. Decided on building my own Using HDplex Power Supply and Sotm Cards, Turned out to be better than my 10K Of the shelf network player. Sold that and now have 2 I use.

I too feel it's excellent throughout Tidal.  They really miked it nicely. I went into the hall as soon as they opened it as I was so excited to see him in person finally and to share it with my wife.   The musicians he had were a who's who.  Tina Guo is one of the best cellists going right now and she plays everything. I've started to follow her on Instagram.  There are so many songs where the string just bites through everything.  When they dual on one of the cuts, it's so edgy, but not fatiguing like so many rock recordings.  

I guess he does everything himself from renting the halls, to marketing the shows to doing his own recordings. He owns it all out of J&R Industries in FL.  He was very smart not to sign away his work and he's very smart in the way he runs the business. I sure he has a partner or manager who does it for him.    

No thread hijack here.  Matt, I can't wait for you to get all the toys you are about to get into your room.  You can share when you want, but it's a veritable list of who's who in servers and so many have been mentioned already.  Talk about putting your money/ears where your mouth is....wait, ears/mouth switch....Oh well, back to servers.

TD, I listened to JB at Carnegie recording thru Tidal last night and the SQ is very good, actually excellent.

ctsooner.......you mentioned the new Bonamassa recording....how is the sound quality?  I'm a huge JB fan but the sonics are pretty poor on all of the recordings I have.

TD

Now I'm seriously considering trying an Sotm sMS-1000SQ which come with tX-USBexp as standard USB output, added sCLK-EX clock for the tX-USBexp for ultra low jitter clock. Then ALSO use an external TX-USB-Ultra to reclock again as suggested by Sotm. 

120gb SSD for the Os.

And I also need an SPS-1000 power supply, or better yet, an SR-7 Paul Hynes power supply.

MQA compatible. Comes standard with Roon and JRiver and can add HQ Player if requested. 


I am also arranging some time with the SGM with Al's generous assistance. 

I also opened a dialogue with Neil of Music Vault at several of your requests. Let's see where that goes. But what a nice guy!!!!!!

Antipodes final opinion.....

I think i spent more time perseverating about this unit then most. The opinion base flows exuberant with supporters of the DX Gen 2 as well as DS lovers and the like. While the original DX was simply outclassed by the Aurender N10 unabashedly, the DX Gen2 stands its ground and went ten rounds without blinking. It never fell or waivered in this battle and walked away with no shame; but it walked away.......

Both would be enjoyed and both are fantastic and I could live with either forever and a day and never blink. But I wasn't listening to them on their own, I was comparing them. And I needed to take my microscope out to make a final judgement call. This statement flaunts the fact that this was a personal decision and varying systems will yield varying results. So I will say as I always do.....

in my system, in my room, to my ears (and those of my "panel's" ears, lol).......

The Antipodes DX Gen 2 took 400 hours to stabilize. But after that, I heard no additional changes. Careful testing to determine which USB output to use (5V on or off) and careful attention to setting up Roon (which I found to be the best sounding "fully" native server app) yielded the best results. This was my first real experience with Roon, and I like it: although I don't really find the Aurender App that much less robust for my personal needs. I previously reported my experience with my Short Block and how I got my best results using the 5V off output with no filtering or Short Block in between. And I opted NOT to use HQPlayer (which many say gives the best possible results) because it requires HQPlayer to exist on a separate computer which is both confusing and counterintuitive to me. So native Roon was what I used.

The enclosure is nicely done and attractive with a simple power button on the front and the outputs and inputs well laid out on back. Nothing was crowded it got in the way of anything else. The unit starts up fast and having a built in Cd ripper is a nice feature. It's software takes a little getting used to but with a bit of experience never have me an issue, froze or became problematic. It was stable. The only issues I encountered was with swapping USB back and forth between n10 and DX. While the N10 is crazy stable and grabs the USB as soon as it's plugged, Roon did occasionally have a hard time connecting with my DAC and I had to reset the Room software once via the Antipodes web control. Other then that, and if it was just left connected all the time, I found it stable and reliable. Roon is great; period.

The Antipodes is wonderful. It's an excellent digital source and makes managing my library and implementing Tidal a breeze. It presented a naturally wide and deep soundstage with proper imaging and the correct sense of space between performers. I found it not quite as black as the N10 and the DX soundstage was shifted about 6" to the left of the N10 (weird, I know). Bass and treble extension and was similar and the reproduction of the midrange was spot on.

Where the differences showed was more subtle. There was a pace to the rhythm of music that was more organic on the N10. The texture of instrument harmonics was more identifiable and perceived. The visual cues given by the auditory cues were more visable; I could see performers expressions with the N10 and I could not with the DX. There is a texture and layering to the tone of mids and especially lower frequencies that was more liquid with the N10 and less nature on the DX. I'm talking SUBTLE!!!! But palpable. 

In the end, the N10 was simply more analog, more engaging, expressed complexity and Harmonic scale better and offered a bit deeper soundstage then the DX Gen 2. 

Did I mention Subtle?!?!!

In a different system, I'm not sure the findings would have been the same. But in my system, the N10 stays top dog for now. And someone else gets to enjoy the DX Gen 2 and will potentially make it sound even better then it sounded in my room.

Fair thee well DX Gen 2. You will make someone VERY HAPPY!!!!!!

mattnshilp

Negative posts about gear are fine until it’s from a dealer or manufacturer ... If Aurender posts something bad about SGM, the motives are questionable ... I try to watchdog this VERY long lived thread to keep things fair and educational for all involved. Thus far it has worked. It is a massive undertaking, but a labor of love.

Thanks for your input

Pardon me, but you are not an Audiogon moderator. It is not your role to "watchdog" this group. It is not for you or me to impose our rules on top of Audiogon’s.