[Golden Monkey]

Well, sort of. I'll leave any commenting on this to him, but he says that the time commitment versus the actual number of units he sells is fairly prohibitive. His goal in doing this in the first place was to make quality high-end audio affordable, but building DACs as a side project is a strain on his time. He's still doing them until the supply runs out, but Zhaolu is going to stop producing the 2.5A, so...who knows? He'll still be making the X-1 and X-2 and digital cables (a cable set only takes a few hours, compared to a couple of days for a DAC), and as an aside the X-2 is simply stunning. I got to spend a few hours listening to his set-up (OMZ/Preamp, X-2's,custom power amp, and I don't know what amazing speakers, in addition to his recabled AKG 701's) and I'm deeply impressed with the performance and workmanship. Ori's a great guy...very welcoming, friendly, and passionate and meticulous about sound. Next up on my list are some X-2 ICs!

How does the OMZ sound? Well...phenominal. Or should I say "invisible"? Here's what I'm listening to right now:
Denon DVD-1920 as transport
HGA Veritas silver digital cable
OMZ
Both digital sources on a transformer power conditioner
Monster Interlink 400 MkII IC's (yeah, I know...weak link...shoot me...)
Little Dot MKV hp amp
Senn HD650
(Amp and phones have approx 60 hours on them. OMZ has less than 10, but needs about 200. Cables, idk, but they aren't fully done either. The digi coax is fully burned in)

I'm listening to a DDD Chesky Records high resolution (128x oversampling) standard CD, "The Ultimate Demonstration Disc". This disc takes you through examples of depth, accuracy, resolution, transparency, etc. with samples from their catalogue. It is a great reference disc, although none of it is typically to my taste (vocals, jazz, stuff like that-I prefer rock, blues, techno, punk,classical, anything mostly, lol). Compared to previous listenings, without the OMZ and digital cable in the chain, I can say that it's much more "alive". Very focused, fast, detailed, pure, slightly more analytical without sounding too thin, harsh, or bright...that "digital" sound. Instruments are well placed, distinct, and sound very real. There's a track on here, "Ask Me Now", performed by Joe Henderson...it's a sax solo, with him playing with his back to the mic, about three feet away, with a wall about 15 feet beyond that. This recording is very detailed...you hear the keys as he plays, can hear his breath, etc., but...I never noticed the sound of him wetting his lips before! The reflection off the wall is amazing. It literally sounds like, well, a live sax. Right freakin' in front of you. There's too much happening in my head right now, and I'd rather listen to music than dissect things, so I'll write a full review later of the DAC - I'll be without it for some time, unfortunately...my wife is a bit of a fascist, lol - apparently I can't have it until I've paid it off (I had to dip into our "war chest" so I could snap it up before they were gone forever).
Initial impressions...was it worth the money? Is it an excellent piece of equipment? Does it blow away anything else I've heard (admittedly, not much)? Should you buy one before they're gone? Will I count the days until it's truly mine?

HELL YES!

EDIT - Resolution and focus aside, I think another strength of this DAC is...I actually don't know how to quantify this, but over a couple of hours listening last night, it was a very non-fatigueing experience. I noticed that when I let my wife hear the system before, her initial reaction was "I don't like it. It sounds too clear." She's no audiophile, and didn't have the terminology to talk about the terms we like to throw around on the forums, but I think I understand where she's coming from. without the DAC, it's not so much an excercise in aural torture by any stretch, but there was a very noticable difference this time around. Nothing that "sounded" different, just that there were no parts where you'd get that startled feeling at a sudden dynamic shift or cymbal crash. It's not that the DAC injects warmth or anything, it's just very very natural and accurate and real...does that make sense?