Hi all,
After having spent more time with said device | feeling I've come to understand its overall sound, as well as worth in regards to cost and value of said little investment needed to obtain this type of musicality is worthy of one's attention and than some. I've recently purchased their stablemate DAC-Z8, which offers remarkably sonics | I truthfully believe is very very very difficult to beat for less than $2500, sonically speaking that is.
As I tend to use the following settings of conventions to WAV | AIFF | ALAC, as Apple seemingly doesn't offer FLAC as an option, as I've purchased plenty of files from both Bandcamp | Qobuz which strikes me as very well balanced recordings off the bat..., as I've never been one to listen to every track on CDs or SA-CDs when I owned them between 1989-2007, where I briefly in 2002-2012 went back over to vinyl, as I found I'd never enjoy both mediums used within my system(s) at any period, as going from digital to analog only made me realize, the latter simply lacked the beauty | presence as heard | felt with via vinyl playback.
Yet I must say, as I was forced over to the dark side of buying files as far back as 2008, and no longer could enjoy spinning vinyl after 2011 due to health reasons, and once again after having owned a total of 10 DACs since then..., this very inexpensive streamer | DAC | preamp continues to impress me enough to where I've sold off the Aurender X100L server | Denafrips Pontus ll DAC and have in fact simplified the system to where I'm currently only using two components, which in hindsight means I'm able to research into options of maybe, just maybe?, exploring say $600-$900 IC's | PCs from the likes of Oyaide, as upon having sampled a few of their cables thanks in part to loans from friends or the Cable Company, each time one of their cables were installed into the system, bought about an ear to ear type of smile, where I can away thinking there's something to the manner in which these cables were voiced with a sense of correctness to balance, where many companies seem to misunderstand and instead offer the end user more of a HiFi type of presentation, where one listens more to their components, as opposed to allowing the musical passages to reach deeper into their very core.
One reality has kicked in of late, yet one I believe it valid none the least, while let's say Asians | Brits tend to focus more on the naturalness of midrange frequencies above all else, and don't tend to rock out like some cultures do, as their music focuses more on unamplified types of music, where said complexities aren't essential, on said acoustic folk | dance or jazz types of music, it becomes far easier to hear more clearly into said genres of music, which in turn to my mind means an accurate portrayal of what's within said recordings, and therein lies my current perspective on how we each weigh on how we shop for said hardware...., some love a fleshed out system where scale | walk to wall bass, all over the place | a fuller sense of tonality is their only requirements, whereas some of us ( myself included ) like a more organic | balanced | engaging type of presentation which captures our hearts | ears | spirits | imagination and refuses to stray outside the dotted lines | as simply as it may sound, yet seemingly in some cultures is overlooked, the truth of timbre | tonal shadings | accuracy and beauty of the musical notes themselves must shine through as unfiltered as possible, balance is key, lest one merely likes opening boxes, or an endless search for the illusion of the absolute?, where it has been written, spoken on for countless years now, a properly balanced system based upon the concept of synergy first and foremost, will always speaks to a purist ( or music lover first type ) as opposed to those seeking bragging rights, by merely throwing large amounts at components which don't play well together, based upon their ratings in someone else's reviews, yet I'm an avid believer in traveling around America if need be?, to sample systems as ideally put together by a dealer of which has taking the time to know what plays well collectively, as opposed to merely pushing pieces on the buying public, where more often than not, you'll know the types..., as these are the same guys buying and selling off this shit within a month or two of buying it.
Bottom line " synergy counts ". This device is more than enough to keep me content for years to come, providing the company doesn't come out with a " Premium Edition " within say the next 2-3 years?, I'll be riding it out. As it stands, I've never heard the brightness some have spoken on, and feel like the story of Little Red Riding Hood | The 3 Bears, it's overall sonic signature | sense of balance isn't overly warm | overly analytical, but fits into my own preference as " just right ", of which cost more than sitting here and regretting the funds wasted on one of those HiFi Rose units awhile back, yet how does the saying go?, one can only gain knowledge from living | listening to said components collectively in isolation, to buy blindly just as Mr. Spock would say is " illogical ".
