I just retired my CAL Sigma II. It doesn't do what these new ones do. The Alpha is a better unit though and I'd be hard pressed to suggest better for several times it's cost.
What to expect from a new DAC?
There has been a lot of discussion about whether newer DAC's/CD players are truely better sounding then older ones. I'm curious, what would one expect in terms of improvement from say a Raysonic 128, which is viewed as an excellent sounding now older CD player and say a Berkeley DAC, older version. Is the improvement, going to be subtle or really apparent.