Initial impressions out of the box is positive.
Sound quality wise, it is better than the 003+CCHD950X in every aspect, it about ties with the Schiit Yggdrasil for imaging, instrument separation, sound staging and presentation.
It has more bass slam and impact than the Yggy.
Compared to the 003+Pulsar the 004 is a bit cold and flat especially on the midrange and the soundstage is somewhat smaller.
The 004 falls apart on complex highly compressed tracks, instrument separation and imaging collapses which does not happen on the 003+Pulsar.
The 004 beats the Pulsar combo on bass slam and weight of the low notes, very tight and very deep, not heard that from a DS DAC before, to me, flabby ill defined bass is the hallmark of almost all the DS DACS I have listened to.
My unit has been burning in for about 2weeks.
Sound underwent a lot of changes.
On Day 1 almost all highly compressed pop and rock recordings sounded like the Chipmunks were doing the songs, thankfully this started to subside in the following days.