Just for fun I tried it in the USB input of the Wadia S7i, in which position it also made a worthwhile difference, arguably the extra tonal and textural detail, the added sense of organisation and musical purpose giving what is now a solid yet venerable performer a whole new lease of life.
This is another of those plug-n-play devices: you stick it in, you listen and if you like the results you leave it in place. Like the Chord GroundARAYs it’s strength and its weakness lies in the multiple options it presents you with. In my system, if I was limited to a single USB control, it would be used on the L1. A second would find its way onto the X1 or the Ref DAC’s USB input – I’d need to listen and decide. Which sums up the challenge neatly: to really get the best out of the USB Control in your system, you are going to need to figure out how many you might use and what your order of priority is going to be? In the context of an all CH system, I can see you wanting one for each and every box. But wanting and having are two different things. Hey – look on the bright side: 10 Series owners will only need one for each pair of boxes. Is that the audio equivalent of every financial cloud having a silver lining? If I can lay my hands on any extra USB Controls I’ll report on multiple application. But in the meantime, for us lesser mortals, I suspect it’s a case of getting hold of as many USB Controls as your system/wallet can take and then ringing the changes… I suspect you are in for a pleasant surprise AND some serious fun!
Prices:
CAD USB Control – $750 USD
Computer Audio Design
www.computeraudiodesign.com
T. (UK) +44 (0) 203 397 0334
T. (US) +1 541 728 3199
