I was waiting for the arrival of my new Singlepower MPX3 Slam before doing any comment about the aqvox (to better judge it), but reading your love about it I can't hold myself. I'm really enjoying this piece of hardware. Thanks to everybody (cosmopragma and mattigol especially) for convincing me with your comments. And please be understanding with my english; is not my first language
The aesthetics of the aqvox are not very special, but above the average in his class. I would like a black version, but the matte, soft silver finish is not bad. I apreciate its standard measures, which allows stack the unit with cdplayers or amps without problems. A great difference for me over the lavry and dac1 alternatives, but you may prefer a smaller unit, of course. The lights are dim and somewhat atractive with low light, but the quality of the plastic blue buttons could be better. The feet could be better too, they slip a bit being of something like felt. I don't need a headphone amp section because I will use a mpx3, and therefore I prefer a dac without one and put my euros in other place.
I concur with everybody about the musical character, boogie factor or whatever you call it. You connect the aqvox, you start to move your feet. So simple
. I usually use the "pulse" and "bypass" buttons, but maybe I prefer the "flat" one for orchestral music. I think I like the 192khz and dither options with orchestral music too. Still deciding.
The highs are smooth and natural, good thing because I'm very sensitive to harsh highs, and the bass is full and vibrant. Middles are a strong point in my opinion, very natural. The overall sound is very natural to me, detailed but not cold or "analytical" at all. Can't say warm neither. Maybe a little bit to the warm side, which I think is good. Soundstage is another strong point of this unit, which in my opinion contribute in a great manner to the natural and fun character of the aqvox. And I love the flexibility of this dac. You can connect anything to this thing and make it sound good.
Finally I want to thank Susanne Candeias and Norman Luebke. They have been very professional and considerate, and after a long, long period of waiting for my decision they even warned me about the price rise in order to save me some money. Thanks!
I had some trouble when I got the AQVOX. Overall presentation was clearly improved, but all those settings didn't seem to make so much of a difference. And some truly are subtle, yet once you read up on what *should* be happening it becomes much easier to differentiate. The differences are still subtle, but now I notice them they become significant & appreciated. It is pretty much like using a lossy encoder, once you know where to listen for artifacts and degradation, you will be unable to miss them.
