The Numerik is definitely an upgrade from the DAC in the Karik. You will get deeper bass and and a more dimesnional soundstage. The advantage of the Numerik over a more modern DAC is you have the separate clock link for lower jitter and you can probably buy the Numerik for a reasonable price. All the blabber about "modern" being better is just that. Remember AMR, Zanden and others are using "old" chipsets that they find superior. I am not saying that the Numeric is currently state of the art. I have heard other DACs that I prefer but for what you will pay, I think you would be happy with the result.
