I gave the Verdi Encore another chance and compared it against the computer. The computer was better at first, but when the Verdi had warmed up for 2 hours I started hearing more low-level detail and dynamics, warm-up makes a huge difference! Verdi had more low-level detail than the computer but that was just because of a thinner power cord. I can easily add more low-level detail to the computer by removing the fat Valhalla power cord band-aid, but it would become too bright if I did that.
[size=medium]Stock power cord is better than Valhalla[/size]
The Verdi is meant to be used with thin power cords because it's still silky smooth. You don't need to veil the sound with fat cables. A couple hours after owning the Verdi I found that a stock power cord sounds better than Valhalla. I'm also using stock power cord (wrapped in ERS Paper) with my Elgar Plus DAC because it sounds better than Valhalla power cord. Based on previous experiments a stock power cord sounds harsh and bright but when it's wrapped in ERS Paper it has more low-level detail than Valhalla wrapped in ERS Paper.
I also realized that Valhalla power cord is a perfect match with Benchmark DAC1 because it smoothens out the edginess to make it sound like real life. Valhalla is also the best match for Class D amps and computer transports, because those components are edgier than neutral, while Valhalla is smoother than neutral.
But when using a dCS combo which already sounds silky, I don't need to add Valhalla power cord to smoothen it out further, I like stock power cord better because it's more revealing.
[size=medium]More Magix to computer = silky smooth![/size]
I turned the Verdi on and it added brightness into my system when listening to the computer, it gave me a headache so I needed to compensate for it somewhere in my system.
With Verdi, when going from 3 to 4 Magix the difference was very noticeable. So I thought I could try it with my computer too. But I didn't realize how HUGE the improvement would be. Going from 3 to 4 Magix under the computer case removed that extra brightness and made everything silky smooth with new low-level details everywhere. IMO, Magix is the best tweak in audio for any price. It made my computer sound almost as silky as the Verdi Encore. It's actually way too silky for my taste, the soundstage is deeper and cleaner but that aggressive sharpness I had before is now gone. It's more relaxing but it's boring to listen to. It doesn't sound like real life anymore. Maybe I need to remove that 4th Magix to put the sharpness back.
The sound signature of Verdi Encore and my computer are very close now, they both sound silky smooth. It's because of 4 Magix under the computer case and 1 Magix under the PSU.
I will still keep tweaking the Verdi to see how far it will go, because I hope that eventually it will be a significant upgrade from my computer. I have already stacked the Verdi with a lot of books and it gave slight improvements but not as huge as when I tried it with Cary 303/300. Vibration isolation doesn't improve the Verdi much. I'm going to try vibration dampening of the power cord soon to find out if the Verdi benefits from it...
