I was looking for a step up from PA2V2, admirable though it is and fond though I am of it. I listened to a friend's Headroom Maxed Out Home Amp that showed what I was missing because of the PA2V2.   I got this m901 used. I generally feed unbalanced analog sources and am happy that I can distinguish between my various disc spinners.   Using the coaxial digital input from a Sony DVP S7000, I was not able to tell the difference between the inbuilt DAC and the Sony's analog outputs. No mods to either. Headphone was a Focal Spirit Pro.

An interesting introduction for me to tube sound. No idea if this is a faithful representation of the genre.   When I turned it on it the first time, left channel had lots of hiss. But the signal was equal in both channels, when playing music. So I decided to keep it for a while. After a few hours, the hiss evened out, but still was noticeable with the following equipment. Hiss was with only the headphones connected to the amp, no sources or cables.   Monoprice MEP-839 Grado SR 60 Focal Spirit Pro Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Panasonic RP...

I am happy with this DAC.  . Instruments sound good. There is a smoothness to the sound that makes me smile.   This was a demo unit, hence the lower price. But the corners of the plastic box do not close completely. So light leaks out, which though non-functional looks funny in the dark of a recessed space. Tape you say? Perhaps.    Equipment: Squeezebox touch USB -> Micromega mydac -> PA2V2 -> grado sr 60