432 EVO

Thyname the reviewer at first was using the wrong usb input he switched to the correct one he  found the sound was far better now

As per rip times it is 8 to12 mins

“The reviewer had a hard time discerning any differences between the EVO and his NUC, USB out to his Schiit DAC”

@thyname

A great DAC like Yggie; seriously 😂 It’s a decent DAC but hardly a SOTA DAC to evaluate a server like 432EVO. I bet a different result when 432EVO paired with a Esoteric DAC like yours! I agree with you on ridiculous 20-25 minutes to rip a single CD. My ACS100 takes less than 5 minutes to rip a single CD.

at first was using the wrong usb input

You mean the wrong OUTPUT on the EVO 432? Or the wrong USB input on his DAC?

And if the reviewer says the following on FB forum immediately after posting the review, that is all someone needs to know. Having a hard time distinguishing between USB out from a $400 NUC to DAC vs. a $5,000 server / streamer, sounds like a waste of money to me.

I have to say though, up until the actual review of the unit, the entire historical story of the 432 tuning was well written and a pleasure to read. Lots of stuff I did not know. I enjoyed that.

I read the review last evening. My take: Positive Feedback should get an experienced (digital focused) reviewer for a second opinion. @thyname  @facten  @lalitk all would do a far, far superior job.

I agree on the historical portion of the review...perhaps the reviewer should reconsider what he's better suited for?

@thyname, You left this part of the "Where's the Magic?" section of the review out:

I recalled reading a passage that warned not to use the USB 3.0 ports to connect the audio, as they were noisier than the USB 2.0 port which I couldn't seem to find. Then, spotting another reviewer's photo of their USB playback cable plugged into the 432 EVO, I found it: a single USB port with the familiar SOtM Audio name stamped sideways to the left (SOtM USB cards are specifically designed to reduce noise and maximize computer audio playback performance with its special filter circuits, low-noise voltage regulator and ultra-low jitter clock). 

Apparently using the USB 2.0 output on the 432 brought the magic that the USB 3.0 output on the 432 did not.  This part of the review was not well written or laid out with the pictures, but I think this is what the reviewer meant.  You'd have to ask him to know for sure.