Even with an iPad Mini as the source and a Centrance DAC, the Liquid Carbon was really impressive. Fast and clean, with plenty of extension at both ends. I can easily see one sitting on top of my Hilo, or in the office with a Concero on top. Hard to be certain because the Ayre room was noisy and they were even worse than Schiit in terms of having familiar music to listen to, but the Concero-Carbon combo might beat the Codex.
The prototype Cavalli portable is insane. Must be heard to be believed. If the production model is as good as the prototype, Alex has hit a five-run home run.
Closed EL-8 did nothing for me. It doesn't do anything horribly wrong, but it's just dull.
On the other hand, given how much I dislike the PM-1 and PM-2, the PM-3 was a real surprise. For what it is and what it costs, it is a solid value. Sounded really good with the Pono Player. Gets instrumental timbres almost entirely right. Doesn't get congested in big orchestral climaxes. Soundstage isn't spectacularly wide or deep, but it's good enough.
Lastly, the Noble N9 bluetooth gizmo is a steal at $99. Music coming out of iPhone sounds much better than I expected it to. Phone audio on the prototype is a little grainy, but per Brannan the production models have a different chip than the prototype and do a better job of noise reduction. If you have a use case for something like this, don't over-think it, just buy it.
