[danvu]

Just wonder if anyone has experience/owned either a Monarchy DIP Classic or Combo (or any DIPs from other brands) and got significant improvement in the sound. First I thought adding another box between the source and a DAC would be a none-sense but wow, I was wrong. Just out of curiosity, I borrowed a DIP Classic from a friend and put it between my HK CD player/Apple TV and my tube Cal sigma tube DAC. I heard a noticeable improvement. Things seemed livelier. I did more seriously listening and found out that the bass was tighter and the highs had a bit more air. Imaging was more precise, clearer notes on instruments and vocal was more solid.

Hope that other people hear the same things and not my imagination. I want to order one but still not sure if I should go for the DIP Classic or Combo. The Combo also converts up to 96Khz but I dont know if I really need that and the DIP Classic is on sale for $240. Can any DIP Combo owners share their experiences?

[timind]

I use a Super DIP between my Mac mini and PS Audio DLIII. Optical out of the mini, in to the DIP and use the BNC coaxial output from the DIP in to the dac. This provides an improvement over the optical out from the mini in to the DLIII. Not sure I'd call the improvement drastic. It is definite though, one of those " there's more there, there" type improvements.
I'm not sure the "super" designation means anything more than a different output configuration consisting of the BNC connector. But as my digital cable has the BNC on one end, it works for me.

[danvu]

Update: I've got my own DIP classic now and had more time to play it around with it. It improves the sound from my Apple TV optical out the most. Things sound a lot better, more focused and clear edge. The sound from my CD player thru coaxial connection also improves noticeably but not as dramatic as the optical one since it already sounds very good without the DIP. There must be a lot of jitters in the optical connection. The DIP also serves as a source switcher .

This concludes that if you use your mac mini/apple TV or use any optical connection in your sound system, this thing is probably a great and cheap way to enhance the digital signal and sound. I'm pretty happy with this purchase.