Pale Rider
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Yeah, Gopher, I have to agree with Lon. Nothing wrong with what you are running, and what Bolder does for the EE DAC is quite impressive, but the technology behind PSA's Digital Lens is in another league. The EE DAC unmodded is very good, and modded, maybe one of the better DACs in the sub-2k range, arguably a much better value than the superficially similar Wavelength Cosecant. I believe the EE uses the same chipset as my Oppo BDP-95, and it is indeed very, very good. But the chip is not the endgame of DAC design.
I have now heard the PSA up against the Weiss, Ayre, Cosecant, and Metric Halo units, all of which were on my list. I cannot say it was no contest, but the differences among the others were so close, I wasn't sure I could discern them, even with the MH running over FireWire and the Ayre and Wyred running asynchronous; the PWD is different, and I think it is the Lens that makes all the difference. And while I think the MSB Platinum DAC is a bit better, not enough to justify the price differential. My other combo of the Cullen-modded PSA DAL III, plus the Audiophileo M-1 (asynchronous) is extremely good, but there is simply no contest there in the combo of detail, air, and musicality.
You owe it to yourself to hear it.
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