Hey man,

I don't have much to comment on regarding the equipment that you're talking about, as I'm not familiar with it, but I saw one thing that I wanted to discuss. Are you saying that you're using an AQ Sidewinder as your analog interconnect from your CD source? Your system is definitely a lot higher fidelity than my modest one, yet when I demoed and purchased interconnects for it, I found the Sidewinder to be very sub-par and deemed it necessary to spend more on an interconnect so as not to render it a weak link in my system. I then moved up to the Copperhead and was much more satisfied. I would say that the performance difference between the two is very significant. I was about to get the Copperhead, but was then presented with an unbeatable deal on a Nordost Blue Heaven, which was a lesser but still noticeable improvement over the Copperhead, so I ended up going with that.

My suggestion is that your interconnect could very likely be a weak link in your system that is preventing you from fully experiencing the capabilities of the other components in your system. It could very well be that the resolution limitations of the Sidewinder aren't letting you hear the differences between the DACs, and if you were to find a better performing interconnect you could then be able to distinguish these differences. The golden rule is always that your system is only as good as its weakest link. Sound like a possible explanation?

Let me know your thoughts!