God I was dreading listening to this thing....poor wallet.   

Going into a meeting but....this gets a 5/5 for me.



Honestly didn't think this would make a huge difference. Thought it would be another audiophool tool. Nice to be proven wrong!

Space, blackness, definition...OH MAN...REALISM GALORE! 

Definitely one of the best things I have heard as of late. It really wowed  me...and that's not easy to do.

Three thoughts:

• Not a bullshit product. Every time I see magikal boxes like this, I ph33r bullshit. This is not bullshit. It works.
• Changstar seal of high approval. This thing works.
• Burning money. This should not be taken as poor value, but rather, it's so good that it makes me want to burn money to get it.

This box made the Schiit Gungnir have more precision, control, definition, articulation, space, openness, blackness, than the PWD2 via straight USB (without the box), and made the Gungnir roughly equal in those specific attributes to that of the PWD2 with the box.

No need to worry about or deal with expensive transports. This will make your PC via USB into an expensive transport.

I'll report back on the I2S HDMI with the PWD2 (it looks like its compatible with PSA's HDMI I2S standard.) So far, I've just been using the AES/EBU.

This is what I'm referring to BTW:

"I recently got the 75 ohm termination plug-in for my GHz scope.  Very expensive BTW.  This new tool allowed me to see what I could never see before: exactly what is happening at the S/PDIF termination and the jitter there.  This revealed that my current circuit, which is typical for transformer-coupled galvanically isolated S/PDIF, was holding-back the performance of both the Synchro-Mesh and the Off-Ramp 5.  Bummer :scratch:  Not that the jitter was high, but it should be a LOT lower that what I am measuring."

"Even though the new transformer jitter is on the order of 40psec, I can hear the difference with no transformer at <20psec.  It's particularly noticable in vocalists.  More solid and 3-D.

Now, what to do?

I am thinking because the edge-rates are so fast with the no-transformer output that I need to sell a cable to go with that mod if I do it.  Lesser cables will puke with it I think   Even my own Bitmeister is not good enough.  The user must also use the same AC outlet for the SM and DAC."

"Here is my current thinking:

Two upgrade options, OTL and OT (Output TransformerLess and Output Transformer):

OTL option:
If you have a DAC like the Overdrive SE with galvanically isolated S/PDIF coax input, remove the transformer from the SM or OR5 and make the other circuit changes.  Only one transformer is needed for galvanic isolation.  This also removes the RCA output jack on the SM, so includes a BNC-RCA adapter.  Include a 4-foot BNC-BNC 75 ohm cable of high quality with the mod.  This achieves less than half the jitter of the OT option.

OT option:
If you have a typical DAC, replace the transformer in the SM or OR5 and make the other circuit changes.  This may require hand-tuning with the scope to optimize jitter performance.

Pricing for OT will be around $150.00 plus shipping.

Pricing for OTL depends on the cable cost.  I expect it to be in the $200-$250 range for mod and cable.  For those with the right DAC, this could save you hundreds on the cable."

Steve was working on this as of about 3 weeks ago, so unless your OR is literally brand spanking new, I would guess that it has the original output transformer which would mean jitter in the 150psec range.

Emprical Audio Off-Ramp USB Converter Review.



I'm keeping it and not giving it back.

Details forthcoming...

Ok, can I have it back now ..,,