[MarkD]

Summary:  It's a keeper, and my expectations were exceeded.

The DAC arrived yesterday in perfect shape.  I was expecting to see a digital cable, but one was not included.That was easily remedied by a trip to WalMart. I picked up a Phillips made in China cable that not only reached the CD player, but boasts gold plated connectors as well, for under $13.  My wife was home, and watching TV in the other room, so all my listening was done at a moderate volume - actually lower than normal.

I've been mentally noting a few songs that I had hoped would sound better than they do with my Sony
DVD/CD player.  First up was Jonas and Ezekial from the Indigo Girls.  Through the Sony, the vocals tended
to become a bit muddled at almost 2 minutes  into that song.  The Insight DAC completely remedied that
situation.  The louder sounds did not obscure the softer sounds at all.  The soundstage went from
"I think that instrument is around here on the left" to "I know that instrument is exactly there." Pre-DAC,
the best way to describe it would have been two dimensional and somewhat imprecise.

I have some other random observations from about two hours of listening to a variety of CDs ranging from decent sounding but not audiophile quality to fairly bad.  Fine detail and microdynamics improved.  The soundstage has depth where before there was very little.  Sibilants no longer annoy.  Transients are stronger, and the decay is more natural.  You can actually hear a stick striking a wood block versus a whack in the background.  Brushes sound like brushes, not background hisses.  I'm listening to things like 10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged (a decent sounding CD) to Sally Oldfield's Greatest Hits (harsh sounding in spots.)  It's all improved through the Insight DAC.  The worse the recording, the bigger the improvement.  I won't tell you it makes bad recordings good, but it does make them better.

Is it perfect?  Maybe.  It seems to me that some vocals don't have quite as much energy in the lower midrange region.  I believe this is probably because the Sony (and most cheap CD players I've heard) accentuate them unnaturally.  I've heard them this way since I've owned a CD player, so I'm accustomed to "wrong."   If I could only use one word to describe the DAC, the word is detailed.  However, it is detailed in a way that never comes close to harsh or hard.  Most of my CDs are better than I thought, and certainly good enough now to make me reluctant to invest in a turntable.  This is not a subtle improvement.  It's immediately noticeable on everything I played.

Could the Ultra DAC be even better?  It's hard to imagine that it could be much better, excepting possibly for even stronger dynamics, but it costs a lot more.  The Insight is good enough to make me seriously consider solid state for my next preamp, and I'm the guy who was astounded by how much the FET Valve preamp improved things a decade ago.  I suspect AVA is giving us at least 90% of their best for half the price in the Insight line.

The DAC runs cool and has more than enough ventilation.  It should outlast me, and I expect to be around for awhile.  I've got a lot of music to listen to. 

[gjs_cds]

I was expecting to see a digital cable, but one was not included.  That was easily remedied by a trip to WalMart. I picked up a Phillips made in China cable that not only reached the CD player, but boasts gold plated connectors as well, for under $13. 

...I see that we have the same taste in digital cables... 

Your review is spot on with my experience.  (And it's better written!)  Happy listening...   

[sueata1]

I cannot understand why some of you guy's agonize over hearing differences with this new Insight Dac,,,
plugged mine into the system and in the first 5 seconds I heard awesome clarity, bass, vocals, frighteningly dynamics,
no grit, or haze, etc,,etc. 
This mind you just listening background music as I sat on the deck smoking my daily cigar.....
I might also add that the system is on 12 hrs. a day and perhaps this allows me to notice subtle
changes,,,,however this DAC is not subtle,,it's like the speakers were removed from the
shipping cartons,,,,to me it is night and day,,,,,,very good job Frank,,
I also think that because of this extreme clarity ya might think it dosen't sound loud enough and be tempted
to turn that Vol. cntrl. up,up,,up,,,,be careful I clipped my Mags for the 1st time (not a happy sound)
OH well,,enough of the drivel,,,,later
I will report further thoughts after some critical listening,,,

Happy listening
Mel

[MarkD]

All my agonizing was done before mine arrived.  I expected it to be good, but I wasn't really positive it would be worth the price to me.  I'm happy to report that it was, despite the significant cost, a bargain.