Brianmgrarcom, I have been wracking my memory to see if I can be of any use and I come up with this. I am presently using an Esoteric P-10 transport with an Atlas Opus cable (1.5m) and a battery-powered Apogee Mini-DAC. This DAC with a battery PS would sell in the $1K range.
Now I think way back to the first time I heard a P-10. Thanks to a very generous pal, I was comparing four digital sources: an Ensemble Dirondo/Dichrono, the P-10 with an Apogee DA-2000, a TEAC T1 with an Apogee DA-1000E-20 and a Shanling CD-T100.
The order I've listed them in was the order in which I perceived their quality. The top two were very close (in the top 3 I'd heard up till then with the Linn CD12), and now I am trying to recall that experience so I can give a rough idea of how my present setup compares to those.
I would say that the Mini-DAC on a battery is very surprising. With a P-10 it would take the middle spot in the lineup above, and perhaps sit very close to the second. My impression is of a bit less liveliness and punch than the DA-1000E, but also less congestion on complex passages, and more openness and air.
For tone and body, all five of the sources did very well. I wouldn't call any of them thin-sounding.
Now I think way back to the first time I heard a P-10. Thanks to a very generous pal, I was comparing four digital sources: an Ensemble Dirondo/Dichrono, the P-10 with an Apogee DA-2000, a TEAC T1 with an Apogee DA-1000E-20 and a Shanling CD-T100.
The order I've listed them in was the order in which I perceived their quality. The top two were very close (in the top 3 I'd heard up till then with the Linn CD12), and now I am trying to recall that experience so I can give a rough idea of how my present setup compares to those.
I would say that the Mini-DAC on a battery is very surprising. With a P-10 it would take the middle spot in the lineup above, and perhaps sit very close to the second. My impression is of a bit less liveliness and punch than the DA-1000E, but also less congestion on complex passages, and more openness and air.
For tone and body, all five of the sources did very well. I wouldn't call any of them thin-sounding.