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 other $3000 dacs are not 99% as good. My goodness folks, please post here based on your actual experience with the Cinnamon Galle dac

+1 , although my wallet wishes otherwise.  While there have been many fantastic sounding DACs <5k in the past few years, sonic improvements can be easily heard at higher quality/engineered/prices gear.  Like all things high-end audio, diminishing returns is the norm BUT the “99%” comment is baselessly incorrect.

I have a sonic high quality analog rig so needed a high sonic DAC good enough so that the digital side won’t sound like a letdown.  

@lalitk - I’m on the west coast, Silicon Valley - so Capital Audio Fest not on my radar.  Being on the west coast I checked out T.H.E. show, Pacific Audio Fest, in addition to AXPONA and the late RMAF.Thanks for the suggestion

@kennyc 

I hope to catch up with you at AXPONA 2025. 

@grannyring 

Thanks for posting your impressions! 

@grannyring Great to hear your review of the Cinnamon Galle DAC. I also have the Mojo Audio Evo Pro DAC for the past 3 years and have enjoyed it very much. I started getting fixated on the Playback Designs Dream DAC, but in the meantime I tried out some more expensive DACs including the Weiss Helios ($22k) and the Grimm 2 (with streamer built in). Both sounded good in my system, particularly the Weiss but I wasn't sure the difference in sound was worth the investment over the Mojo Evo, which really does sound pretty damn good. The thing that has intrigued me about the Playback Designs is how people, particularly those with extremely high end analog and even super expensive digital systems consistently rave about the PBD's musicality. I've been talking to Colin about the Cinnamon Galle and he has offered to send one to audition. However, I wanted to wait until I was really  ready to purchase something. although if I really liked it, I'd probably find a way! (Recently got a new TREK Madone bicycle that cost the same as the Galle so need to let the dust settle on that purchase).

I don't know if you still have your Mojo, but do you have a sense of the differences in sound with the Galle? The Mojo Evo Pro is a very nice DAC and I am very happy with it. ,At this point I don't want to buy a DAC that is a stepping stone to top end and would rather wait a while to get something like the PBD. BUt if the Galle is a transformative change I would be very interested in moving forward with auditioning and possibly purchasing it. As others have said, Colin at Gestalt has an impeccable ability to select superbly musical components and reading your comments as well as others' here so I suspect that this is a very special component. 

Apparently Cinnamon is coming out with a new DAC called the model II that is a two box (rectangular in shape) affair sporting some new tech/implementation. No info on price that I saw.

@hchilcoat 

I directly compared the Cinnamon Galle dac to my Tron Atlantic Signature dac.  I could not get past how much I enjoyed listening to the Galle.  It just made music with a realism and muscularity that captured me completely. I wanted Colin to leave the Galle in my system and wanted to buy it on the spot.  
 

This is saying a lot because I loved my Tron dac.  The Tron bested the Mojo Pro dac pretty obviously to my ears in my system.  That gives you a sense on how good I think the Galle is.