cmarin

Chris, Have to second your inclusion of the Rockport Cygnus in your list. Andy produces outstanding speakers. As a well known and well respected speaker set up expert mentioned recently, in terms of high end speakers, the Rockport Lyras are “transformative speakers”. Good luck with your final selection.

Mani, Tried the Lush USB cable with a three box TotalDac d1-12 (reclocker and 2 mono DACs). The Lush was being fed from a Sound Galleries Monaco server and connected to the USB input of the TotalDac reclocker. The Lush matched beautifully with the TotalDac. You can add the TotalDac d1-12 to your DAC list.

Hi Mani, I'm using a Playback Designs USB-XIII USB-AES Converter (one wire) to feed the Pacific Microsonics Model 2 from a Sound Galleries Monaco server.

FWIW, as Peter pointed out, my NOS1a was not in my possession when Peter's Lush USB cable was delivered. The improvements that I experienced with Peter's USB cable occurred with two different DACs: Pacific Microsonics Model 2 and the Aries Cerat Kassandra Reference Mk2. Both are amazing DACs. And if that's expectation bias, then so be it. But my enjoyment of my system with Peter's cable is still real and getting better as the cable settles. And the improvement, to an already good system, was not subtle. Of course, YMMV.

Peter's new Lush USB cable has been in my system for only about ten hours. And while my system prior to the introduction of his cable was sounding the best I've ever heard in my room, the Lush cable has taken it to another level completely. It is simply the most realistic, natural reproduction of music I've ever heard in my room by a not insignificant measure. It's simply MUSIC! Let me join the chorus and extend my hearty congratulations to Peter!! An amazing design achievement!

Hi rickca, Sorry for the confusion. Hope Ed clarified the point. Cheers

Zorntel, Couldn't agree more about the xtr filters with HQPlayer 3.16.0. It raised the sound quality level of several DACs I had coupled with the SGM 2015 server in my system by a very significant amount. Amazing improvement in sound quality at a basically zero marginal cost.

Had the pleasure of hosting Edward Hsu (Eurodriver) over the last few days in my music room. Ed came down to increase the SSD capacity in my SGM2015. More importantly, however, Ed installed the new 3.16.0 version of HQPlayer with the poly-sinc-xtr filter on the SGM, and optimized it for four different DACs that were available during his visit: the Pacific Microsonics model 2, the Playback Designs MPS-5, Aqua Formula and Nagra HD. The poly-sinc-xtr filter was a revelation. It raised the performance level of all four DACs in my system by an order of magnitude relative to their corresponding prior baselines. These were not subtle changes. Optimizing the filter settings for each DAC led to jaw-dropping differences in each case. Yet it required only a software change in the SGM/HQPlayer - a zero marginal cost that was on the order of a major component change. And this is considering, at least in my humble opinion, that my system was already at a fairly high relative level of performance. Of course the magnitude and direction of the improvements will be system dependent. But it appears that they are in part directly related to the signal/noise level in a system. I have seen and heard the future of digital, at least for me in my system. And it lies in the SGM/HQPlayer combo - an utterly reliable digital server that is guaranteed to stay ahead of the curve due to its inherent flexibility and upgradability; its overbuilt platform focused on low noise; and its DAC agnostic framework. It can be optimized to deliver the best that a DAC can deliver given the surrounding components and the user's sonic preferences. Something that a conventional transport cannot do easily. Thank you Ed for your team's commitment to excellence and customer service, and for helping achieve a significant leap in the level of my system's performance.

Great read. Thank you Gilbert! Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

Congratulations Edward!! The pudding is real and tastes pretty good from my end of the table! Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

Thanks Blue2. Will try to reach out Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

Hi blue2, I may have missed the reference in the review, but what server was the reviewer using to feed the totalDac and Rossini DACs which the reviewer preferred over the T+A DAC8, albeit by "inches"? Did he use the SGM server on the totalDac and Rossini as well? Thanks. Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

Excellent point Jud. That was my conclusion after the first few posts. Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

Thanks Larry. Looks as if it may be worth waiting for the 205. Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

Hi Larry, Good to hear about OPPO's great customer service. Currently using an older OPPO for playing blu ray/dvd movies through a JVC projector/2-Channel system. Looking at the possibility of replacing it. What OPPO model are you using now in your main system and how does it generally compare with your older model? Thanks. Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile