As fate wants it I had to sell my Audiophilleo 2 as I miscalculated the invoices I had to pay. Before that I was pretty impressed by the AP 2 as it had even more transparency, air, focus, micro details and 3D than the JKenny MK2 /MK3 . ( had them both). But the JKenny has much less electronic emphasis. With the JKenny music sounds more organic, more real and more lifelike, But, with not the fastest or transparent systems I can imagine the AP will really sound better. Also the bass is more compact and better defined than the MK3. Still I could not live with it and told Philip ( a wonderful and understanding guy) about my reservations. He told me the PurePower (PP) was coming and would make the music more "organic".
I got the PP and yes, PP lessened the "electronic" signature of the sound. That "thing" which has nothing to do with frequencies, that always reminds you in spite of transparency, prat, micro details and lack of distortion, 3D and all that, that you are listening to a studio recording or alive recording. Especially with acoustical material.
Then, as my source is a dedicated PC with Windows 8 and JPlay ( MAC is better than windows 7/8 without JPLAY, I obtained a fiber usb out, perfect galvanic isolation through the Adnaco S3b. The translation of lightpulses to digital USB out was fully powered by a high end linear 5V power supply. (Hynes) That made the AP shine and crushed 60-70% of its electronic signature. Still the MK3 sounds more musical but at the expense of a bit less of everything else. Not that much though. At this high level of reproduction the differences are relative to each other. The MK3 does not really need the Adnaco and that makes it a bargain for true high end sound.
But as said before I had to sell my Audiophilleo with pain in my heart as combined with the Adnaco and PurePower it was a wonderful device. Srajan from 6moons.com is very fond of his AP to review and compare the ultimate cream of top end DACs.
Then within a few weeks of selling my AP I got room enough to buy it again or shop elsewhere. As I reckoned the musicality from the JKenny came from the M2Tech manufacturer, I searched for USB/SPDIF converters based on the M2Tech board. I knew that Cees, CEO form the Dutch Metrum company, which makes affordable world top dacs, choose for his latest product the "Hex" dac, a M2Tech board for its USB input. The raving good reviews on the web for that DAC all praise its USB input. That made decide me to try out Steven Nugent's newest incarnation of his OFF-Ramp, the OFF-Ramp 5 as it is based on that same pcb board.
I bought the version with the turbo clocks and Hynes power mod for the SPDIF out.
I did not listen to it cold out of the box. I let it play with repeated loops of ISOTEK burn in computer generated sounds. After 2 hrs I got curious. It looks so effective, no thrills, just black with small white letters and a row of red leds showing in what mode it was operating. I listened to my most known music, but briefly as 2 hrs is close to nothing to burn in high end gears, Yes, it sounded discernible more 3D than the AP2. Same micro details, and transparency but better and deeper bass ( my system is flat to 18 hz) and already the OR5 has less electronic signature than the AP at its best. I was a happy camper. That evening ( 6 hrs burn in) I l listened for hrs. Then I let it play the ISOTEK files for 24 hrs a day. After 3 days I found the music as organic as i could want, and compared in my memory (!) how some music sounded I played dozens and dozens of times on my turntable (Well Tempered) and Koetsu MC cartridge, I found the PC/JPLAY combo slightly better especially the rock steady solidity of the presentation and its pure blackness and transparency and equal musicality.
But what happened. After 10 days non stop playing the ISOTEK files the OFF-RAMP opened up. It is now on a league of its own. The 3D is better, but the micro details are going deeper, one , two levels? I hear more details and things I never heard before, not even on the LP. I am convinced now that the best digital recordings are better than the best analogue of yesteryear and strangest of all even in redbook format. 90% of my digital files are coming from CD I ripped with EAC. Empirical Audio OFF RAMP 5 is not comparable with Audiophilleo or JKenny. Still I read on the web that some prefer brands over the Empirical Audio mostly I suspect because the marketing of other brands is more professional. So why do I hear the Off-Ramp as a class of its own? Then I realize my DAC (DEQX) slave itself to the incoming spdif clock signal. Most modern dacs don't do that. They are so called asynchronous, that gives them the freedom to be clocked by their own clock. I suspect 98% of the present high end dacs have inferior clock solutions than the Off Ramp 5. My DEQX being a a 'slave" of the Off RAMP becomes a true high end friend of the OFF RAMP. Although I replaced the DEQX clock and its power supply for a superior femto clock (200fs) it is still controlled by the incoming signal. Would there be a need for a future OFF RAMP 6? Not for me. If I better already my cherished LPs, I am content.
PS. I use an OB system with Visaton mid between 150Hz and 8khz, lacquered by C37 Ennemoser lacquer ( the biggest musical difference a tweek can do) ribbon tweeters and GR Research servo woofers, DEQX digital active triamp preamp, and modified Jadis tube amps.and all the rest like line conditioner (multiple Felix, balanced transformers) audiophile cables, bybees and so on.
I use a 12V battery to power the OFF-RAMP and use a direct link as USB cable (1 inch USB A/B converter wrapped in 3M EMI/RFI reducing foil)
