I would like to commend Oriel and Peter for creating a product which thrills from the moment you pull it out of the box.
I received my K.I.C.A.S. just before lunch today and I must say I am nothing but thrilled with the combination of the K.I.C.A.S. and my D5000s. Fed through the E-MU 0404 USB and
this cable which is silver-plated copper, I wanted to note a few major differences between the K.I.C.A.S. and my E-MU 0404 USB.
First noticeable difference: Much better depth of sound stage.
Second noticeable difference: Far better control of bass. The D5000 has very little bloat now!
Third noticeable difference: Better control of sibilance and piercing highs. An overall smoothing of the sound. My enjoyment of metal just shot through the roof.
Fourth noticeable difference: It took me a while to put my finger on this one, but it simply feels as if MORE of the headphone driver is being used at any one time as opposed to the E-MU 0404's built-in headphone amp.
Fifth noticeable difference: This is really difficult to explain, but with the smoothing of the sound the volume level of the overall sound coming from the headphone is more uniform, yet at the same time it feels as if almost every song has much more "room to breathe" or "depth".....can't think of the word at the moment. Unless I just wasn't listening to the track before, I think I heard a train/subway stopping outside the recording studio/area near the beginning of Porcupine Tree's "Deadwing". Simply incredible.
Sixth and most important noticeable difference: Every single reproduced sound has a much more REAL feeling to it. I am very close to using the word "texture" to describe what I'm hearing.
I'll likely have more thoughts tomorrow at work. Going to be a long day and I'll definitely need some music to get me through it.