Any reviews/input on Cary Audio Xciter DAC?

There's a review posted at: http://hometheaterreview.com/cary-audio-xciter-dac-reviewed/
The Cary DAC apparently sounded better than the DAC built into the reviewer's Esoteric DV-50 (a universal player introduced around 2002, I think). I will be receiving a Cary DAC tomorrow and can post some comments if you're still interested.

I've just spent an evening listening to the Cary Xciter DAC and it's pretty amazing. Don't be fooled by the MSRP of $1,500. Cary kept the costs down by simplifying (no remote, single-ended outputs only, non-adjustable 24/192 upsampling, simple but solid enclosure). The money went into the state of the art 32-bit/192khz DAC chip and the new technology in the analog output stage. The previous owner feels that it's comparable to the $4,000 Cary 303/300 CDP in terms of DAC quality (he upgraded to the Cary 306 Pro SACD/CD player, an $8,000 unit). The Cary DAC immediately blew away my old but much enjoyed MSB DAC Link III with 24/96 upsampling and Powerbase. With the Cary processing Eva Cassidy's "Live at Blues Alley" CD, I heard much more detail with better dynamics, yet with an effortless sound and without any digital harshness. I turned up the volume and remained very comfortable for a long listening session, like listening to vinyl or SACD. Then I put on the hybrid SACD/CD of "The Ray Brown Trio, Live at the Loa," a very fine live jazz recording. I've listened to its SACD layer many times through my Sony SCD-2000ES player. However, the CD layer through the Cary (using the Sony as the transport) sounded better than the SACD layer going through the Sony's DSD DAC; more detail, more dynamics, taller and deeper soundstage, effortless detail. Next week I will receive a new Sony 5400ES SACD/CD player and the Cary will have some stiffer competition. (The Sony 5400 has no digital input, so I bought the Cary to process other sources, and eventually to serve as the DAC for a network music system, probably based on the new Squeezebox Touch, available in December, which will handle up to 24/96 input for $299 MSRP.) I hope this is helpful. I will comment later on the Cary's Toslink and USB inputs, and in comparison to the Sony 5400ES, if anybody's interested. You might want to hear this DAC before you spend a lot of money on mods to a CDP that may not have a DAC chip or output stage design that is as capable as the Cary's.

You are most welcome. I read the 6moons review of the Underwood-modified Music Hall 25.2 CDP and it sounds like a very nice unit. However, even if you paid an extra $100 to get the Burr-Brown op amp upgrade, I think the Cary would have the technology edge with its 32-bit DAC and collaboratively designed National Semiconductor output devices. Good luck with your decision! Either way you will enjoy your music more than ever.

Hi Moofoo, here's some followup. Redbook CD playback, Cary Xciter vs. Sony 5400es: (Caveat: my Xciter DAC was thoroughly broken in by the previous owner, but my new 5400es has been on for 200 hrs, played about 30 hrs.) At this point the Xciter DAC (using the 5400es as a transport via a 0.5 meter digital coax) is equally detailed and spacious but pleasantly smoother and sweeter than the 5400es built-in DAC. The Xciter just never seems to have any digital edge, whereas the (still breaking in) 5400es DAC doesn't produce quite the same feeling of "ease" while listening to RBCDs. According to some the 5400es requires a long break-in period, so it is likely to smooth out over time.
Xciter Toslink input: Tested via Samsung BDP-2500 BD player ouputting 48khz PCM > 0.5 meter glass fiber Toslink cable > Xciter. The Dolby Digital soundtrack on Diana Krall's "Live in Paris" DVD sounds better through the Xciter than I thought possible from a lossy compressed standard DVD soundtrack. The Xciter sounds deeper and more dynamic than the Samsung, which although it's an inexpensive BD player, uses the ESS 9006 DAC chip which is quite good.

Wyred has a great reputation and that is ESS's 32-bit chip; I'll bet it's awesome. No specs on the Wyred site yet, though; do you know whether they are using any of the new minimum phase or "apodizing" filters (Meridian, Ayre, and Cambridge use different implementations of these ideas)? Some people think these new types of filters are a revelation, others can barely hear the difference. I haven't heard one yet. Cary doesn't say anything about their digital filter(s).
Moofoo, you need to hear some hi-res through the Cary DAC. I got the hybrid DVD of "Muddy Waters - Folk Singer" from Acoustic Sounds and played it from my Blu-Ray player through the Cary at 24/96, and the great performance, excellent 1963 recording, and hi-res reproduction will raise the hairs on your neck. Assuming that you like blues, of course!

2nd try - I posted a detailed response earlier today and it didn't get through for reasons unknown to me. So, briefly, I used the Cary's Toslink input, driven by my Blu-Ray player through a 0.5 meter glass fiber cable. The Cary locked up to the 24/96 signal with no problem and it sounds amazing. I have also used the Cary's USB input through a 16-foot( !) cable to play ripped Redbook CDs and I doubt that I could tell it from the coax or Toslink inputs in a blind test. To get 24/192 into it such as DVD-Audio, though, I think you have to use the Cary's coax input.

The Xciter DAC manual at http://www.caryaudio.com/pdfs/manuals/Xciter_DAC_manual.pdf is clear that the upper limit of the USB input sampling rate is 48 khz (see pp. 6 and 12), but it is unclear as to whether the word length limit is 16 or 24 bit. I suspect it's limited to 16-bit USB input like most other DACs that don't use special USB software. The manual needs a bit more detail on the specs.
A related question: The Cary DAC does not list 88.2 khz as a supported input sampling rate, although there are quite a few high-rez downloads available in 24-bit 88.2 khz. Has anybody tried 88.2 khz into the Xciter DAC?