Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Hi Matt,  I  look forward to your impressions of the Aesthetix Romulus Eclipse player,  however,  their site says 24/192 only,  this includes this player,  sigh!

Steve - I had the top of the line Antipodes in my room (one that was well broken in) and I was not impressed in comparison to my sup'd up Mac Mini. It wasn't close, to be honest. And this was using your wonderful ODSE. The Aurender N10 is a petter performer in every perceiveable way (in my system). Sorry. 

I'm not sure what other servers you have directly compared it to, but to my ears it's not king of the hill. Or even prince.....

Aesthetix does 2X DSD through USB.

Steve the best server will be the upcoming Sound Galleries Music Server. When you hear the technical details, you will be swayed as I know you love delving into clock quality and power supply, etc.

wisnon, have you heard the Sound Galleries MS?  Just curious as to why you feel it will be the best?  I'm waiting on hearing the Melco NAS before I buy a NAS.  A friend of mine in Japan loves this NAS.  Thought I'd throw that in also as this thread now touches nearly every component in some way.  

We all hear things differently and that's why it's so important to know who you are speaking with in regards to recommendations.  I know that Matt and I have a lot in common in what and how  we listen, but we also have many differences.  Both of us know what those are too so when we discuss components etc... we each have our own reference.  I hear so many absolutes in this and other threads.  I'm the same way in my posts. Again, it just reinforces why we need to go listen before purchasing. I purchased my OSDE/SE as well as my Mac Mini (heavily modified by Steve N.) without hearing because I knew I could easily sell them off if I didn't like them.  I will probably be selling off that Mac Mini once I get a NAS and server set up in the near future.  I will promise you that I will only buy a server that I've had IN my system to know that it works properly when together.  I've heard a bunch of the servers listed in this thread and I too have felt that the Aurender sounds better than the Antipodes, but again it could have been system dependent.  I don't see Aurender in shops. I forget which one I heard it at, but I wasn't blown away like you have been Steve.  I'm just very familiar all the Aurender servers and have heard them in totally different systems and they've always sounded great and that even includes the 100xl I think they call it.  I'm still waiting to see what else comes out and at what price points. I have a GREAT server in the Mac Mini with that special power supply Steve built, so I'm not in a hurry.

How many of you guys are seriously in the market for a server and what are you looking at and why?  Fits' right in with looking for a top DAC.