I will be short and I wont report on what we did in sequence - it doesn't matter in the end.
First of all, thanks again and again to Peter, Ciska and Paul for the hospitality and the great time - I was never unconfortable with them. OK, this includes Roy
IMO the NOS1 keeps the promise of providing transparent and uncolored sound, and it will be extremely enjoyable provided that what is fed to is good enough. This means decent recordings and XXHE run from a ramdisk in Vista (so far no other options work).
-A poor recording will show all the issues where they are as they are not "corrected" by filters or other means. Really poor recordings are unlistenable, and it cannot be otherwise if we are not adding or correcting anything. But so-so ones can be enjoyed or re-discovered (i.e. REM - Everybody hurts in the original release, way better than the remaster).
-The Software played from a SSD will also contaminate the sound in a way that has been described by the three crazies (me, Peter and Roy) as "aggressive" and "messy" and it took us just a few seconds to want to go back to the ramdisk/vista.
About "highres" recordings, i'm waiting for Peter to open a dedicated thread.
Instead, i'll mention the really highres stuff - the DXD material which is UNFILTERED. Peter had 4 tracks provided by 2NL (i think), I chose a sonata of Beethoven and we played it. Strangely Peter never played it... it showed the true potential of the DAC, but it also showed a bug in the software that played it at HALF SPEED :D While there were too many bass notes and too few highs (which is weird for a Beethoven piece), there was also an absolute blackness, room-filling harmonics of 20th+ order, and complete lack of fatigue that 80db seemed like 60. Really a pity for the halved HF, cause they could have been the
first high piano tones that would satisfy me, apart from the real thing.
Comparing to the very old version of the DAC that I auditioned 1 year and half ago, the progresses are huge and are all in the right direction. I was finally able to perceive the emotion of the music at a more intimate level, which means chillings and/or goosebumps.
I cannot point ANY of the small defects perceived sometimes to the DAC itself. There is a bit of dryness and that's the horns. We changed the amplifiers and there came a sonnolent smoothness similar to many Pass Labs amps, that i dont like at all. Speed speed speed.
Now I can patiently wait for the 8-channels version with a working software XO. It seems it will take between 6 and 12 months, while the 2 channel version will be ready soon.
The future is bright (but uncoloured).
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It consumes 4-5W when sleeping.
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