ZenGentleman

Instantly (well, not “instantly” as it took a long time to read) my most favorite audio gear review I’ve ever read in my 30 years of interest in audio. Comprehensive, detailed, and exceptionally well-conceptualized, executed, and written. Honestly, a stunning achievement. Thank you, Ray, for the considerable time and unbelievable effort you put into this review. This magnum opus belongs in the pantheon of all-time audio gear reviews greatest hits.

Excellent Part 1 review, a few typos notwithstanding, and I’m looking forward to Part 2. Did you talk to Mike or Jason about your experience with the Vidar sounding a bit veiled in the mids and highs when you subbed in the CR1s? Could it be an impedance matching issue?

Cool! Also. Typo. 3rd paragraph, 2nd sentence.

I'm excited to be #22 in the queue for my USB Gen5 upgrade to my Bifrist Multibit! Upon further inquiry, the company stated that once I receive my RMA# Invite it should take 5 business days for the upgrade, once received. Thankfully, I live 20 minutes from the Schiit warehouse and will be saving a bit of time (and shipping costs) by dropping off my DAC and picking it up when it's done. Don't know how I'm going to live without it over those 5 days but I'm excited to hear some (hopefully) incremental improvements when it comes home to the rest of my Schiit stack (Valhalla 2 amp, Wyrd USB Decrapifier).

Vega G2 "The Tesla platform for the VEGA G2 includes an ARM Quad-Core A9 chip, 1GB DDR3 RAM and 4GB of storage." Chris, quick question and not to be "that guy" but is that storage number a typo? I'm assuming it should say "4TB of storage" and not "4GB of storage," or am I misunderstanding something?

I'm a "live, and let live" kinda guy when it come to this hobby. There's quite a bit of quirky gear out there. Whatever floats your boat, I say. However, that said, I must admit to being rather surprised that, in 2017, a manufacturer as respected and as consistently excellent as ARC would release a DAC that features a "not great" USB input. Won't work with Linux? A bit wonky with Macs? That's unacceptable in a $500 DAC, let alone a $7,500 one. The questionable choice made for the USB solution in the new DAC 9 is squarely in the "WTF were they thinking?" camp. That is simply just a huge head-scratcher for me. Also, the manufacturer acknowledges the issue as a problem and hopes there will be a fix down the line? In my opinion, they shouldn't have released this new model until it worked flawlessly. Period. Just my opinion. I'm sure others will disagree.

I just have to comment that this review has everything I want to see in an assessment of a new piece of gear. All the features are covered, build quality is touched upon, shortcomings are mentioned but not emphasized, and sound quality is discussed but kept in the proper context of a $400 piece of kit. A clear, concise and well-written review. Well done, Chris.

Chris: Just curious. Are you listening to the 24/192 stereo or mono version of Kind of Blue?

So earlier this week I took the plunge and bought via HDtracks the 24/192 ALAC version of the David Bowie Five Years: 1969-1973 box set. Although I haven't yet had the time to critically listen to all of the albums, I have jumped around and while doing so, came across a few audio issues that I'm wondering if anyone else who has downloaded either the box set or the individual albums from which these problem tracks are from are hearing the same glitches I'm hearing. All listening done using iTunes 12.4.1 and Pure Music 3.0.5 on Sennheiser HD700s via Schiit Audio Bitfrost Multibit DAC, Valhalla 2 OTL headphone amp from my 2014 15" MacBook Pro Retina and WD Thunderbolt Duo external RAID HD. 1) "Changes (2015 Remastered Version)" - track #1 from Hunky Dory. The audio issue I hear starts at :20 and lasts until :50 and it is a slight but perceptible "garbling" in the upper register of the background strings behind Bowie's voice. When I compare it to my 16/44 rip from the CD there is none of this garbling of the strings. It makes me wonder if this is a remastering error? 2) "Cracked Actor (2013 Remastered Version)" track 5 from Aladdin Sane. There is a digital "hiccup" at :39. 3) Track 5 from PinUps downloads with title "I Can't Explain" but should be "Everything's Alright." Audio is correct, it is just the title that is incorrect. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else who has bought these tracks from HDtracks, in whatever format and sample rate, to see if you experience the same issues. The unexpectedly great news is that upon submitting these issues to HDtracks customer support, they promptly refunded my purchase price. That was amazing customer service. However, still no solution on how to replace the tracks with issues.