calabashak

There are quite a few comments now from folks who have received their Phantoms at Devialet Chat - #phantomrising

Received and set up a W4S Music Server 2 a week ago, running on I2S over HDMI to the W4S DAC2. Due to work interfering with my music life, I have not been able to spend a great deal of time with the MS2, but my first impressions are that this is truly a major step (for me) in having a system that makes music more enjoyable. My previous (and still existing) setup is a Windows 7 box connected via asynch USB to the W4S DAC2. That W7 box was nothing special - a stock small form Acer desktop, so any comparison to the W4S MS2 as compared to a more refined W7 setup (such as a CAPS) must be taken into account. With all that said, with my system, the difference is quite noticeable. I am not very good at describing those differences, but more realism and clarity are very pronounced. With my speakers (and room), soundstage height and width (but not depth) have increased. At a dinner I had last weekend, both the GF (who puts up with my stereo hobby) and my son (visiting from out of town, but familiar with my system) noticed a difference and asked what the heck I had changed recently. Most times folks never notice changes to my system. By the way, all functions on the MS2 work perfectly - network access, Ipad/Iphone remotes, ripping, and coax/optical outputs. Very easy setup and a great introduction to the headless server world. I'll try to post a few more impressions as time permits.

As long as we are discussing the distilled stuff, there is a definitive study (a quadruple triple double blind study) that shows that the Irish Red Breast whiskey, when compared to Jamesons or Bushmills, reduces jitter, increases vertical and horizontal soundstage, and tends to make the imbiber ignore cable spats. I cannot find the link to the academic paper right now, but I will post the link as soon as possible.

Wow. Small world. I get to Santa Cruz a few times a year to visit old friends who are still there, and to hit some of the jazz concerts presented by Kuumbwa. In the last couple of years I have seen Jim Hall, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, and others. I have tickets for the Chick Corea/Stanley Clarke/Jack DeJohnette concert at the Rio in September. I love live jazz.

My response was 2 - alcohol only, but if this poll (or the interweb) was around during my undergrad days at UC Santa Cruz in the 70's it would be a completely different story. I think. There may be some memory impairment concerning those years.

Thank you to all for your responses. Looks like the additional RAM is the way to go.

Long time lurker, first time posting. A very timely thread. Currently running a Win 7 setup, but thinking about a Mac Mini. The reason is is that the Win 7 box needs to be replaced, and thought I might jump into the Mac world. This thread has already covered the topic of SQ differences (or lack thereof) between the two different systems. All of my library is in FLAC with a few high res downloads. Looking at Amarra or Audirvana Plus as a player. My question is about Mac Mini options - 2.3 or 2.5 GHz processor? Should I get more than the standard 4GB RAM? The Mini will be used only for music. Thanks in advance.