Start up a new thread, there is no lack of interest in the Buffalo DAC here

As soon as I receive it and it is built/assembled/functional, I will definitely report back

i also think that, given my experience as a musician (i don't know too many other people here, with a couple exceptions, who have ever played with a major US symphony orchestra), i can say a bit more about whether something sounds real or not that most. yes, musical memory is highly flawed, but fuck, i know what a cellist playing in the room sounds like, because i've heard it hundreds of times. if you don't believe me, i'll produce pictures of me next to the principal clarinetist of the CSO, circa 1999, i just have to go to my mother's house to get them. i consider myself to the kind of internet authority on whether acoustic instruments sound right as Dusty Chalk is with electronic instruments or Grawk is with all those indie-ish bands i don't like all that much.

I've come to realize from the few musicians I know that they all like a bit more treble energy than non musiciains. It also takes more treble energy for it to sound REAL as compared to others.

I think this stems from you, a classically trained player, sitting on the stage. Every instrument there sounds piercing as opposed to someone sitting in the audience, where alot of the high frequencies are lost or disappated in the space.

You are treble sensitive probably be cause you are young(er) with young ears not yet damaged by the many years of sitting in the wind instrument section. Older musicians and older folks have had many years to slowly damage their hearing so to speak so that may be the reason why they think higher levels of treble are "natural" to them. Perhaps???

Having seen the EQ curve of hundreds of CD's and LP's, I can say that a good deal of them have the treble and high mids boosted to a very unnatural level. I hate that. Why do they do this? A lot of people, especially the old execs and old engineers, love that "clean" sound think it makes the music sparkle. All it does IMHO is turn good sounding music into bright crap. Now, add in the treble boosts, funky EQ and over-compression and you have your newest top 10 release. Add a bass boost of about 15db and you have your new Rap/Hip-hop single.

Sad.