Bwos, any update? I'm very surprised there have been so few who have tried this DAC, give Jim's pedigree and what appears to be a very well designed product. I should receive mine with volume control in 2 weeks. I'll have 30 days to determine if it's better than the Metric Halo LIO-8. If it is, it'll stay.
Has anyone heard Aesthetix Romulus/Pandora?
I got the Romulus w/volume control after a 4 month wait. It was worth it! I've never experienced digital sound like this.
It is very analogue sounding. The Romulus and Pandora are identical dacs, but the Romulus has a built in cd player. I had the Berkeley Alpha dac before this which I liked very much, but the Romulus was in a whole different world. I was able to drive my amps directly with both of these dacs. The Berkeley had barely enough output to drive the amps. The Romulus had more than enough. I've listened to a few dacs (AMR, Bryston, and several others), and I liked the Romulus far and away over anything I've heard. There have been no major reviews that I've seen yet, but here is a link for some user reviews:
http://forums.theaudioforums.com/showthread.php?321-Aesthetix-Romulus-CD-Player-DAC.
I have no affiliation with Aesthetix, except for the fact that I've owned their Calypso preamp, which I no longer use.
It is very analogue sounding. The Romulus and Pandora are identical dacs, but the Romulus has a built in cd player. I had the Berkeley Alpha dac before this which I liked very much, but the Romulus was in a whole different world. I was able to drive my amps directly with both of these dacs. The Berkeley had barely enough output to drive the amps. The Romulus had more than enough. I've listened to a few dacs (AMR, Bryston, and several others), and I liked the Romulus far and away over anything I've heard. There have been no major reviews that I've seen yet, but here is a link for some user reviews:
http://forums.theaudioforums.com/showthread.php?321-Aesthetix-Romulus-CD-Player-DAC.
I have no affiliation with Aesthetix, except for the fact that I've owned their Calypso preamp, which I no longer use.