Monolith,
Thanks for the post. He did a wonderful job - I completed a very similar design (with a transformer driven gain stage verus tubes), and the results really are fantastic. However, I believe there is still room for improvement, as his use of the I2S at the D/A stage synchronizes the internal clocks of the TDA 1541a - additionally the (a) version differs from the 1541; I think the latter performs better in a parallel implementation.
However, he used the internal oscillator of the actual transport, which is good but not the most accurate available regarding timing. I'd like to ideally synchronize the clock of the Pro2 with the 1541 in the native I2S - unfortunately I've been unsuccessful with the Pro2 accepting an external clock source (i.e. Superclock, etc). The results are already phoenomenal now; after quite a few listening sessions with the player I sold my Wadia 861. Absolutely no regrets - except for that aluminum remote

.
I know combining extreme detail and liquid smoothness tends to be an oxymoron with compact disc players, but this design is an exception to the rule.
Regards,
Rup