I received my preorder yesterday at work. Of course, I dropped everything I was doing, shut my office door, and opened my present!
It *is* larger than expected - and bigger than my old mobile rig. (I'm trying to attach a photo of it next to my old portable unit, but since I've got a new Head-Fi account, it's not giving me permission to do that yet. Or I don't know how.... Any suggestions?)
My two headphones are Senn. HD700's, and JH-13 (Freq-phase) IEM's - both with Moon Audio Black Dragon balanced cables.
When first plugged in, I was a little underwhelmed - and with some sleuthing saw found that my Mac settings kept forcing the DAC to 44.1kHz. Oops. At full resolution it was a different beast, entirely! If I only had a couple words to describe it, they would be open, effortless, liquid. It's a very, very refined tube amp sound.
The HD700's opened-up in a way I've not heard them before... yes, the soundstage widened, with more detail and space. But what really struck me wasn't audiophile fireworks, but how liquid and effortless the sound flowed... it just comes with nothing blocking it. It's an extremely well-designed - and mature - presentation.
What really struck me was the response on my JH-13's! I use them all the time for working on my laptop in loud environments / traveling. They're great, but I didn't have much expectations for them to improve. Wow, was I wrong! I've never heard them play anything like this!!! Background noise was zero (really!). Soundstage moved from "inside" my brain to an encompassing experience. And the details... man.
I've always been a tube guy. The biggest challenge I've had with my IEMs is making them sound "musical & liquid". My last stack (Continental v.3 + Centrance DACport) had a magic to make the JH-13's warm and enjoyable... but the sound was fat, bloated, and artificially warm at the expense of articulation. And, it was noisy. The CDM finally did the trick! At my main desk, I'm finding myself enjoying my JH-13's more than my HD700's. Not my typical experience!!
I let the unit play overnight (man it does get warm!), and its sound has significantly improved. I'd say the break-in is somewhat necessary to evaluate. Now, the CDM is just *invisible*. Even trying to analyze it's sound, it's hard to focus on what the unit sounds like. Its just "out of the way", and lets the music flow through. Even the most dense recordings I have are being opened-up with subtle layers separated - not analytical, but musically.
Oh, and never before have there been such a *requirement* to use Pure Music, Amarra, etc... The CDM can keep up with the source material. Still, MP3 streaming on Spotify is still enjoyable if I'm not being picky and focussing on work. PureMusic makes a big difference for the MP3 streaming quality thru my Mac, too.
Overall, I'm extremely happy! My old Continental v.3 + DACport has served me well... but it's time to let them go to someone else on their journey. I've arrived at a destination I'm thrilled with! Thanks to Ken, Vinnie, and all those who made this happen. Well done!