Well, OK, how about this:
Amazon dropped off a soft package of mass-produced goodies this afternoon. No AKM chips, or sheet metal or PCBs. I cobbled together my trial stack: Bifrost MB/ Musical Fidelity/ Stax. Then I sat down with some BBQ left over from last night and a stein of TX craft brew (from the Hill Country, so having it in a stein is culturally appropriate) and put my head phones on. I made sure our cat was comfortable on the footstool and checked my watch to make sure I had a while before I might get interrupted. All was fine so I pushed PLAY.
I have my DAP playing its current catalog in alphabetical order. Right now "Stairway to Heaven" is playing and sounds quite good. Smooth and full with a good foundation. Plant's vocals are strong and clear but not separated from the rest of the music. After Plant tells us about the "whispering wind" and Jimmy Page takes over, his guitar solo is compelling. Aching and driving at the same time, his guitar tone all midrange and sweet as honey. Articulation is on display with Bonham's kit: satisfying thwacks instead of sloppy thuds.
After "Stairway to Heaven" came Braga-Santos String Quartet 1. Good instrumental differentiation, but there's a lot to sort out. First violin playing "lead" while Second violin and viola play "rhythm" and the cello is playing pizzicato under it all. Parts of this movement actually remind me of Reich's
Different Trains in that it has kind of a "railroad beat" (you know, as the wheels hit the joints between rail sections, that clickety-clack...). The recording isn't intimate enough, like the Bach cello suites I have, to hear the wood of the cello right away, but I'll keep listening. When the violins are playing hard, though, you can hear their bodies underneath the strings.
Unfortunately, on some of the "hotter" tracks I've listened to, including parts of "Stairway to Heaven" I think the Bifrost overloads the Musical Fidelity's input stage. I get some crackling/ staticky noise during loud passages. This doesn't happen when my DAP's connected directly to the V90-AMP via USB. As I said, I think it will be a good addition to my other hobby den.
Now that I've identified the strengths and weaknesses of my latest piece of gear (I like Schiit DACs better than this Musical Fidelity offering, and it has an easily overloaded input stage) I'm off to get a double dram of scotch before I take off my watch and dim the lights for a while. Perhaps if I have two double drams I'll be able to ignore the input stage clipping (all hail the scotch mod). My Bifrost goes back to the bed room system after tonight. I may hijack my son's Modi multi-bit for the evening tomorrow. His terms aren't as generous as
@Jason Stoddard's, though. One day audition, not fifteen days.
I haven't tried my Loki with this particular stack... Hmmm. I have, though, considered taking the Loki out to the other hobby den when I get that all set up. It may have a big effect out there as basic as that system will be.