Matt,The power base added more bottom end and made my rig sound more dynamic.Kind of like the dif. between a 25w amp compaired to say a 50w amp.At any rate it sounded more powerful(not louder).As for the upsample option,I feel it ads some detail and sounds transparent.I also use a Monarchy Audio jitter bug(not a fishing lure).This seem to me as making the sound a bit smoother and more"analog like". These pieces go reasonable used and for three or four hundred$$ on the used market. In IMHO would be a worth while investment.If you don"t like it you will be able to resell the units and loss very little if anything.Thanks,Gixerman