Over the last 6 months I've been constantly fussing with my setup. I sent my 626r's to the factory for wiring/megawoofer/mls cabinet/lambswool upgrades. All I can say is I won't be looking for new speakers anytime soon. I then sold my Modwright 999es, it's a great player, but I got sick of the constant urge to upgrade it, wanted to get my invetment back, and was intrigued by PC audio. Then came my DAC auditioning faze--needed one for pc playback. I bought a Nixon Tubedac+, a dack!, and a Modwright modified CI Audio and tested them using a Sony 7700. They're all nice. The only thing I didn't like about the dack! was the constant need to recharge it--plus the one I bought came with a semi-broken charging unit. I liked the Tubedac+, but when I tried it with the Off-Ramp the soundstage got all messed up. I asked Steve about it, and he seemed to think the Tubedac+ wouldn't work well with the Off-Ramp. I tried to get the soundstage straight myself, but it was always 2 to 3 feet to the right of center. When I used the CI DAC with the Off-Ramp the soundstage snapped right back into place. I'll now end my ramble and go on to what I think about the Off-Ramp--not sure if it's the turbo. For my initial tests I'm using the Modwright CI DAC along with all of Steve's recommended PC settings.
How do I like the Off-Ramp? It--insert appropriate f-word--rocks. The soundstage is huge with pinpoint imaging. Everything sounds utterly natural and accurate. I was listening to Einsturzende Neubauten--a band that uses everyday items in their music, ie twigs, drills, and cigarettes. In the song I played they use some sort of stick for the drumbeat. It sounded like the drummer was standing in my living room tapping against my wall. Every micro-detail of the music was present in all of its glory. The music takes on an amazing texture I've never experienced before. It's as if the sound is filling up every atom of space in the room. The music's in front, behind, above and below. I felt completely submerged in it, or what I imagine being submerged in music would feel like. Kind of like sitting at the bottom of a pool's deep end, minus the annoying ear pressure. It's hard to do justice to how 3-D everything is. And the bass, oh the bass. It has intense slam and is so tight my eyes well-up just writing about it. The vocals sound like the singer is whispering in my ears. It's like some sort of intimate reality hidden in the 0's & 1's of the cd is revealed with the Off-Ramp. It's that special. Is it a religous experience? No, but it does give me the chills.
I a/b'd the Off-Ramp against the Modwright CI DAC/Sony 7700 combo. Everything I described above is completely lacking or painfully diminished with the 7700 setup. It sounds good, but the magic is gone. The cold harsher world of digital emerges. Bass-lacking. Detail-blurred. Soundstage-muddled. Vocals-coming from another room. Do I dare keep this playing? No.
I never had the chance to directly a/b the Off-Ramp against the 999es so take my comparison with a grain of salt. I really did love my 999es--might of just been the glowing tubes. I haven't read a bad thing about it, and I'm not going to be the one to write the 1st negative comments I've seen. Does the 999es compare with the Off-Ramp? Probably, but like I said above, I've never experienced music like I have with the Off-Ramp/CI DAC combo. And it's a <$1500 package. I honestly believe that no CD playback system can compare with the Off-Ramp PC audio setup. They're 2 different breeds, and I bet you won't have a hard time guessing which one I'm sticking with.
I've only being playing around with the Off-Ramp for a couple days so more comments may follow.
