Milt99

If I were buying a Terminator & believe me I'd love to, I would be trying the USB & the I2S. Probably not hear a significant difference but why not?

Give me $20K & I'll do the most thorough comparo you've ever seen

Although I'm out of the audio gear market for a couple years having overshot my wad in the last 18 months, I'm strangely drawn to statement gear especially at un-insane prices. I did research Denafrips on audition\return policy, not happening. The May is the new R2R Sheriff in town and most fortunately Kitsune is 25 miles from where I live! That said, I am curious about these R2R implementations. Never heard one. A WAG thinks that it lends itself to DSD. No subjective or objective proof. Excellent audio gear can and has been a story of wild diversity of design. Not married to any particular one. It's like judging a DAC solely by the chip or a speaker by the driver material. It's immaterial, imo

Thanks, Tim. I figured as much. Clever idea making unique demo units never seen that before. Sorry but I likely would pass on the May in the demo finish compared to the Spring. Yeah, I love excellent SQ but I also love understated gear design. I'm superficial that way 😎 OTOH with a decent discount...

Tim, I don't know if Amir would solicit a loan from you but I'm positive if you contacted him he would be happy to measure the May. He seems to be really into this as are the forum members & it wouldn't hurt sales Plus it would be great to see the production version of the May. Forum members, including myself, like to see the insides of the gear as well. I think your products have a distinct advantage over Denafrips with you being located in the US. Best of luck with the new product, it measures superbly, looks great & exudes quality & great design, imo.

To be accurate, the much reviled(here) Amir did not do the measurements. It was done independently by a member in China who also measured the Spring LVL 2. He did a few more measurements requested by forum members I point blank asked him about the SQ, he replied that he really liked it and was seriously considering buying the demo unit. IMO, this could be serious competition for the Terminator. I would say that Holo Audio has come up with a winna

If you haven't already, 6Moons site has reviewed both of those players

Mitch, you've nailed it again. Love your observations & articles. Rare combo of logical, straight forward writing. Explained so a chunkhead like me can understand & read the entire copy. Sorry but, you can elucidate audio like Richard Feynman could explain astrophysics.

Mark Levinson was not barred from using his own name in public for godsakes. He was barred from using the brand name Mark Levinson on gear after he left the company as Madrigal owned the brand name. FWIW, I think using MF as a forum name unless it is your name is retarded. I call BS on your explanation that no one would read into it. Please. Fremer is a well-known analog evangelist and this is a digital music web site. Yeah, you're right. Nothing there at all.

I found his youtube video to very real & revealing in delivery. Comparatively modest for a reviewer but excellent gear. More like what people in the real world might have. I could listen to music & have drinks with this guy.

Excellent, thoughtfully subjective comparison review. Far better than the "impressions" posted on the Lavorgna etc., version of Audiostream. Seriously if I hadn't invested in 2 Oppo-205s & a 203 I would've sprung for the Terminator. Thanks

Way too late but I can't believe I didn't think of this before but reading Mitchco's review jogged my brain. Kii 3's plus the BXT units. If I ever have the money they're the only thing I can think of would sway me away from my Revel Ultima2s

Roy724, in addition to Robert Harley's purely subjective review, take a look at the Stereophile review of the Schiit w\ measurements & further comments by John Atkinson yggdrasil

Well, in my experience spending time & money on measuring your room and judicious room treatments are more effective in creating a cohesive sound field can make a very modest system sound better than a system several times the price. I'm with beerandmusic here to a point: The recording is everything. Measuring and treating your room 2nd. Many rooms are predisposed to having a nice acoustic. treatments always improve that. Speaker placement comes in 3rd. One thing I have found is that soundstage depth is very amplifier dependent. Soundstage width is due to the speaker, placement and your room in that order but face it, a narrow room is going to be challenged. Jud, I personally haven't played vinyl since 1986, but I do have a couple vinylite Pals & I've listened to their & my vinyl and much of it sounds great. Low play 12" 45s singles are the best. I'm in the process of digitally cataloging my modest LP collection for sale. And you are correct, Sir. I've taken this thread farther OT. Back OT, Archimago is doing a review of the RME ADI-2 Pro FS. Excellent measurements by ASR. Looking forward to it.

austinpop, ya got my vote