The DAC-AH arrived yesterday. It sounded harsh and two dimensional at first, but by this morning, after a full afternoon and all night playing, it has improved quite a bit. Then I turned it off, let it sit for about an hour, and replaced the OPA602 op amps with OPA627's. This wasn't as easy as I had expected because the space is tight and one of the sockets apparently had some debris in one hole. Getting the replacement in was hard. I hate all these little parts in modern electronic components - I pine for the good old days when the smallest part was a half inch long resistor and IC's were only a science fiction dream. No I don't.I turned it on with the 627's installed and heard an immediate and obvious improvement. The image is quite a bit wider and more three dimensional. Instruments are more precisely placed. The digital harshness is gone. Now when little miss Norah whispers "Come away with me" I know she's talking to me and she means it. But I doubt she would buy me all this kewl audio gear like my wife does. This DAC will not cause any of the rich guys I know to sell their DCS Delius, Verdi, Purcell separates, but it's definitely one of those products whose performance exceeds what I would expect at its price point. Highly recommended as an upgrade from a mass market player!
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