For anyone that's curious, I went ahead and placed my order for the C2. Kingwa gave me a decent discount since I'm purchasing it together with my Reference 5 DSP, so I'm very happy with the price I got on it. My only question is, what connector or cable do I need to hook up my headphones to the C2? It looks like a Neutrik XLR connector but my headphones have a 1/4" phono plug, what do I need to complete the connection?

Its a normal 1/4" plug on the C2.

Just received my Reference 5 DSP-1 and C2!
 
Snapped a few pictures, really like the way the ACSS cables look (though their feedback could be more positive):
 

Wompa,
 
Any impressions thus far or is it forthcoming pending burn-in.  Would be interested to hear your impressions.
 
Thanks,
 
Kenobi

It's got about 20 hours of burn-in currently, I spent my weekend exploring and rediscovering my music collection, listening to all sorts of recordings. I also spent a good portion of my weekend reacquiring a lot of my favorite albums in FLAC.
 
Even though I'm using Kingwa's entry level amplifier (C2) paired with the Reference 5, the sound is unbelievable. Granted I'm coming from a terrible setup (Creative X-Fi Elite Pro connected straight to my HD650s) that was incapable of driving the headphones properly. I was actually pretty worried while I was hooking everything up.. would I really be able to tell the difference? A lot of people seem to be overly critical of high-end audio equipment for it's high cost and obsessive nature (often citing the age-old double-blind test and similar snake-oil busters) and rightfully so. However I just spent $1,500 on my DAC and amp, never having heard it before and having purchased it entirely upon the recommendations of complete strangers.. talk about a leap of faith. I was afraid that the difference might not actually be that great, or that my ears wouldn't be refined or trained enough to tell a substantial difference. However, as soon as I fired it up and begun playing my first album, I knew that my money was well spent.
 
Nothing is left to the imagination, every instrument and sound registers with incredible clarity - the difference is simply breathtaking. The DAC is revealing beyond words, which can be a bit of a double-edged sword. While poorly recorded albums aren't entirely unlistenable, the recording can be quite distracting from the actual music taking place. However with that comes the ability to make truly excellent albums shine like no other. Listening to my favorite song  (A-ha!) from Imogen Heap's latest album gave me goosebumps, I almost cried because the music was so powerful.
 
I have a bunch of impressions that I'll come back with later after the DAC finishes it's burn-in period, but right now I have to say that I'm in love.

Not sure if this has been linked to, but 6 Moons has a review up of the Ref 5:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/audiogd/1.html
 
The review seems pretty much on the mark and positive.
 
One interesting comment:
"Audio-GD was thinking hard about a replacement for the PCM1704U-K in its Reference line of products and has identified during the last few days a stock of chips which will continue the production of the Reference 5 under consideration for almost another two years."
 
So looks like the current Ref series will be around for longer than a few months.

 
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The 6moons review is out, and was a good read.

thanks for the link to the review! I will reard it tomorrow but I noticed "Reference 5 has its own darker flavor" and this is indeed true.

I thought the review was about as negative as you will see on 6moons,  him prefering that overpriced Japanese DAC with its passive I/V,  thing could be built for under $200.   That was a slap in the face to AudioGd who designs DAC's with serious analog stages.

Quote:

regal said:

I thought the review was about as negative as you will see on 6moons,  him prefering that overpriced Japanese DAC with its passive I/V,  thing could be built for under $200.   That was a slap in the face to AudioGd who designs DAC's with serious analog stages.

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 I agree. Luke warm is my take on it.

It wasn´t written by the lead editor, the writer probably doesn´t have as much freedom anyway... And to be honest, that site has a lot of sponsors, it wouldn´t be good business to say a semi-unknown "DIY-style" DAC from China defeats most highly marketed DAC´s they´ve been reviewing. So taking that into consideration, I thought it was suprisingly positive The IP-rights comments with the editor posting a comment was pretty funny too.

Well, the tone might haven been a little lukewarm for commercial reasons, and, owning the DAC myself, I would have been more enthusiastic.
OTOH, I still see it as a favorable review:
 
Quote:

 I experienced the Ref 5 in various contexts and thought that in most cases, it presented an interesting upgrade over integrated CD players up to $3.000.

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Quote:

 In short, I’d describe the Audio-GD’s contributions as added transparency, more detail, a wider sound stage and increased bandwidth. The most remarkable attributes were the silent background and a sound stage that delivered unusual coherence and spaciousness in this price range. The sonic imagery was so dense that it gave an impression of a solid screen without any discontinuity. The quality of tones at the upper end was  average with an arguably somewhat darkened midrange to blend seamlessly into systems whose tonal balance shows an emphasized treble. The association with the Audio Analogue Grand Maestro CD and its airy treble and a gorgeous upper midrange register was a perfect match.

The Ref 5 DAC sonic identity reminded me indeed of Krell and Levinson.

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 And a clear description of its impressive build-for-the-price.
 
My observations are not in contradiction to the review; I like the REF55 because of its slightly dark, pure tone. It's main shortcoming IMO is its slightly undefined bass (it times and is in good tonal balance, but not very structured). I  can live with that. It's main advantage is I think that it completely lacks the edgy midtreble I hate so much in the majority of digital sources, without sacrificing anything for that. 
Oh, BTW, in my set the DAC seems, despite its DSP-1 which should give some jitter immunity, sensitive to the coax digital cable used; a digiflex gold (with ferrites) gives a laid back, slightly bland sound, a bolder cable give much more treble and thereby a more 3D sound stage, my current fav the oyaide gives the best balance to my ears. 

I thought the review was quite positive. And I'm pretty mind-blown the reviewer knew so much about audio-gd.... he must've either chatted with Kingwa for a few hours or have omniscience.

I don't think the review was negative at all. He was comparing it against gear of 3x the price and he was very upfront about doing so.. he said multiple times in the review that the Ref5 is an excellent value for the money.