dammerson

interesting - thanks guys. I skipped the 4S so never listened to compare but for whatever reason, the same source material sounds livelier from the 5. I did notice that I had to turn the volume up one click higher so perhaps it's a resolution issue, forcing me up to where the resolution is higher.

I recently upgraded to the 5 and I swear to godzilla, my music suddenly seems to be leaping out of my UE18 pro IEMs (with no headphone amp!). I imagine they must have changed the chip. Does anyone know what's working inside there? cheers!

This sounds like a great unit but it leaves me in my usual state of confusion after reading a DAC review: what is it that makes a $4,000, $10,000, $15,000 DAC superior to a great sounding DAC like my Wyred4Sound DAC1? Is it really 4 to 15 times better sound quality or is it a combination of very slight sonic differences coupled with hype and market segmentation? Not having the advantage of access to demo units of high-end boxes, I have to rely upon what I read for the most part to try to determine which products I'd like but I have to say, I've been so impressed with the clarity and musicality of the W4S that it is hard for me to imagine a DAC that could be so much better as to make mine sound like an inferior product. I welcome any and all thoughts on the subject (but please don't flame me for calling the value of any specific gear into question).

I somehow missed the point that the DAC1 was supported but not the DAC2. Seems odd but happy for me since I opted to get their entry-level DAC. I will play around with toslink and non-integer to make a full comparison but I'm so pleased with the USB-integer sound it is hard to imagine it sounding much better. I really am impressed with the W4S DAC1. I've owned the Benchmark DAC-1 and it wasn't in the same league. Cheers

I just received my new Wyred4Sound Dac1 and even though I'd read others in this thread post that PM1.8 integer mode doesn't work with this DAC I was in fact able to set it up. In short, it sounds fantastic. I had been using an HRT Streamer II, which sounded great, but the W4S DAC is really a wonderful piece of gear. Best DAC I've heard to date (my budget won't let me play with the Wavelength or Red Wine gear).

Absolutely love it. Noticeably better than a stock cable.

This may be a stupid question but if I'm using Pure Music instead of iTunes to render and play my audio files, can I stream it via WiFi without losing the bit-perfectness of the algorithm? Before I invest in an Airport Express and separate DAC for a remote system, I want to be sure that the sound quality won't be degraded from the performance I get on the host Mac. thanks!

Typing the words "retail executive" actually caused me to wince. It is music, art and beauty that I live for - the work pays well enough to fund my hobbies but I wish it were fulfilling in and of itself. I compose and produce instrumental music which I license to film/video producers for their works and would love to make this my primary job at some point. For now it is another hobby which only partially pays me back for my investments in audio gear. As impressive as the various careers posted above may be, the ones I'm truly envious of are the retirees ;-)

Hello all, This is my first post on this forum so hello - I have ripped my entire library of CD's and sold them off so I am a 100% computer audio listener. I bought the 100D on the advice of Alan at Stereo Exchange in Manhattan, one of the premier audiophile shops in the country. I told him I had a sub-$1000 budget and wanted something that would feed my living room setup with a clear signal. I value imaging and clarity over "warmth". I'm a bit of a novice with audiophile gear and took it on faith, but I have been very pleased by the sound of the 100D At first I was concerned because it didn't sound that special out of the box and I hadn't done my research to understand about burn-in. I just remember noticing one night that my system suddenly sounded amazing when it had been lackluster. I'd guess this was at between 25-50 hours of burn-in. I'm driving a pair of Martin Logan magnetic planar speakers through a Pioneer Elite integrated amp/tuner. The system is a bit on the low end of quality from an audiophile's perspective but after adding a set of Transparent MusicLink interconnects and the 100D the sound is quite good. The Martin Logans tend to excel at midrange but the lows are understated without a separate subwoofer and the planars don't reproduce sparkling highs. I upgraded my Mac Mini with Pure Music's audio engine, which is a huge step up from iTunes. Just today I used Apple's audiounits graphic eq plug-in with Pure Music to accentuate the highs and now I'm very happy with the overall sound. I would love to audition a 300D to see how it compares. From reading others' comments it seems like the differences are subtle but hopefully noticeable at its considerably higher price point. Cheers, dammerson