Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Correct on K-01 breakin.I suggest the following:

Set device to

4X upsampling,

S_dly2 filter,
digital out active,
display dim automatically after 5 or 10 seconds.

Connect K-01 via XLR outs to Criterion... Simultaneously with SPDIF to OV... The two outputs can be broken-in in simultaneously.

Give the newborn a steady diet of high-fiber material for 1K hours.... E.g. Stravinsky Rite of Spring, mixed with a bit of Purist Break-in CD, may be a touch of punk rock for good measure.

Teste taste periodically the results on the two outputs.... Note that for best results on the XLR outs, the digital outputs should be deactivated during critical listening.

After basic break-in, each further filter/codec that you wish to develop to its full potential, requires its own 500 hours. So....

500 on DSD
500 on FIR2 + 2X upsampling

I am not sure if FiR1 and S_dly1 require thir own independent breakin time.

Saluti, G.

08-30-14: Calvinj
Resonessence mirus dac. Sounding good over here. Check it out.

I have "read" good things too. Made and manufactured in Canada like Exasound. Both seem like solid companies.

Matt,

DSD-S will come back to you with its output stage biased with twice higher current compared to what it was before.

Also now it has Zero oversampling for PCM, compared to 8x oversampling earlier.

This made a good difference during experiments using all-solid state amplification here, so I've decided to see if you will hear it as an improvement in your system, or not. :-)

Best,
Alex Peychev
APL Hi-Fi

Matt, I have read every post of this exciting thread.
Since you have the Overdrive, I highly recommend you speak to Steve Nugent about his 1.5m SPDIF cable with BNC terminations. He has done measurements that demonstrate this length, with BNCs, offers the lowest jitter. His cable is very competitively priced. I recently attended a Nordost cable demonstration for the Los Angeles Audio Society and had these facts independently confirmed by a vice president of national sales. The only other option I would trust is Oyaide BNC to BNC true 75 ohm cable, hard to find, and without Steve's support. Furthermore, in Steve's Audiocircle, you will find jitter measurements of his cable.
I hope you find this helpful.

I use a low fi Sonos connect into an Empirical Audio Pace Car with turboclocks and the Dynamo power supply into a modified (silver fuse, BNC input, Lundahl transformer) Metrum Octave. I wonder what it would take to improve on this setup significantly...Overdrive is really geared to the USB input (SPDIF is not reclocked, I believe). I read with interest in your input regarding the Rowland Aeris DAC. It is similar to Steve's Overdrive in so far as they both use an Analog Devices chip which provides volume control by varying the voltage. They both strive for an analog, non-over sampling DAC-like sound. Matt, could you be so kind as to elaborate on the differences between your old Aeris and your new Overdrive SE?
I want to thank you for creating and more importantly following up on this extremely instructive thread!!, Tom

Hi Matt, ironically, Steve has done that post before the moderator could even put my up on the board!!
I neglected to mention I am using Steve's cable in my setup.
Just for kicks I checked what a Nordost Odin digital cable costs....I find this hard to believe...$10,000 (cough,Gag)