Well it’s been 27 and a half hours since it arrived. Initial thoughts and a bit of what got me here.
I went from the Reference DAC → Reference + Digital Director → Cascade with Bit Diffusion. Every step along the way brought clear improvements. It’s tough to quantify, but here’s how I’d describe the progression as someone who’s owned and lived with each of these in my system.
Reference DAC (after DCS Rossini Apex + Clock):
This move was the shift from hearing music to listening to music. The Rossini was excellent—no complaints about its technical ability to reproduce sound. But it always felt like an exercise in analysis, not an experience. It never gave me the emotional engagement or “live music” vibe. The Reference changed that. (I was a long time Naim owner, they get foot stomping music, but also had a propensity to be slightly bland - tastes good but no salt, the whole PRAT thing jibes with me)
Reference + Digital Director:
This upgrade made an immediate impact in A/B/A testing. The most noticeable change? Lower noise floor, way lower. Strings became more distinct from each other. Drums had more space between hits - tap..tap..tap..; not tappitytappitytappity. The soundstage deepened. It was a meaningful improvement—no question—and in the context of total system cost, the leap didn’t feel like that much of a stretch. I’d do it again. And, might be totally comfortable stopping there.
Until…..
Enter the Cascade (with Bit Diffusion):
This is the most recent change. It came with Bit Diffusion, so I can’t separate the between with or without—just sharing my full experience as I received it. About 45 seconds into Shirley Horn – If You Go, I literally said, “What the literal F… is this?”(my dealer would confirm this)… One of my absolute favorite pieces of music…. But nothing, nothing, has ever captured cymbals like this. The depth, the separation, the dynamics—it just pulls you into the music in a completely immersive way like I’ve not heard before.
I have a pretty revealing system. Good and bad, it can cut like nails and also pull you in. Not horn-level hyper-resolution, but I run larger Magicos in a glass-heavy, bright and reflecting room—basically, a setup where flaws don’t hide. Images great, will scratch your eyes out sometimes. And yet the Cascade is one of the most jaw-dropping additions I’ve experienced in 35 years in this hobby.
Just my $0.02
