Thanks for the welcoming. I've been out of pocket for the past five years a bit, and started back listening a lot after trying new sources for music, and even to my own surprise have started to enjoy streaming a bit for easy listening and rediscovering music again. Recently started trying different DACs and was kind of shocked how much difference there is now days in the 31 different flavors of sound and music each produces. re: DACs/Five years ahead now I guess what kinda floored me the most is while digital technology and components have advanced with chips and DAC designs, the continued interest and passion about older NOS chips and R2R ladder DAC designs is still there for those looking for music vs. overly transparent sound and specs. Trying to revisit all of that now and hoping to learn where one technology truly leaves off and the other new technology actually takes over and sticks with the majority moving forward.
I recently tried a very well regarded DAC with amazing specs. While it was truly open, transparent, and detailed, I did not find it to be very musical at all. So, either I've been listening to music the wrong way all along or perhaps perfect specs don't always make for good music reproduction. Got lots to learn getting back engaged with my audio system again I guess.