I don't know that I have the chops but others might appreciate some detail as to the mods performed. Sounds like money and time wellwell spent.

The Chromecast Audio is a fantastic device and I recommend it highly however you plan to use it. I can't say whether or not you'd find the internal DAC acceptable, that's a matter of personal preference. I use mine with a good external DAC but many report decent playback without.

I may have missed it but did anyone try the Corning USB > converter > Remedy lineup? I use the Remedy between my Chromecast Audio and Audio-Gd Reference 5 and it makes a tremendous difference. Considering the Breeze and it sure would be handy to just have to get the Corning then run both inputs...

Emotiva and Audio-Gd make fine balanced DACs in the under $500. Over $500 Schlitt and many others. My Audio-GD Reference 5 works great with the LSR305. Sent from my ONE A2005 using Tapatalk

Wish I'd known you were in Cambodia. I'm guessing I'm the only Audio-GD owner in the country. Unlike Thailand and Vietnam there's no audiophile scene here at all.

Me too.

I have the XA2 which is a phenonomenal DVD player -- best I've ever seen -- and the sound from CD's is quite exceptional (better than my old OPPO). BUT, it is a terrible reader, the OPPO is much more reliable in that regard. So good as it is I'm copying everything I've got to FLAC format and...

I'm a very happy owner of a Citypulse 7.2x (with Discovery Hi-Fi capacitor and power supply mods). Long, long burn-in but the wait is worth it. Cost me less than $350 with the mods. Jeff

Quote: Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict The Icon's DAC is USB only (I have one). ... I'll probably stick with my Citypulse DAC and use the Icon only as an amp, but I wonder if you could use a M-Audio Transit to take an optical source and output to a USB DAC like the Icon?

Quote: Originally Posted by davidhunternyc ... Now if the Wadia had a fantastic DAC inside also, now we would be talking... oh, and an amplifier : ) Can you say "Nuforce Icon"?. Seems like Nuforce timed release of their DAC/Amp just right. Have one on order.

Quote: Originally Posted by elrod-tom Hmmm...I don't know that I'd say "the same", given all this can do. BTW - As a former iRiver H140 owner, I think it's a passable digital out for portable/lugable applications. I don't see using it quite the same way (or as well) as I'd use this...

Not being invested in an iPod I'm going a different route to get the same without the need for a lovely but expensive transport: iRiver H120 with optical out - $145 80gb hard drive upgrade - $85 Rockbox software for FLAC - $0

Burn-in time seems crazy long. My unit sounds completely different (better) than it did four months ago, with the most dramatic changes kicking in after about three months of regular use.

I've now had my Citypulse 7.2x modified by Discovery Hi-Fi in Bangkok (link in my post above) and can only say good things about the upgrade and the shop. For just 2000B ($60USD) for modded caps, power supply and low pass filter I'm very very impressed. Comparing two modded units there we found...

Given the 7.2's sensitivity to power supply issues, am wondering whether anyone has tried running the unit off the grid?? Since all my other components will be battery powered, it would be nice to be able to do that with the Citypulse as well. (I pick mine up in January when I'm back in the...