Exogal...

  New to me and this area is the newish DAC from Exogal, the same folks who did Wadia way back when.  I love that it's not suitcase size, like a Lampizator, and with its separate power supply is easy to shelve.  I've been using the AES cables from both Audioquest (Diamond) and the new Tellurium TQ (Silver Diamond).  Loving the new TQ, btw.  The Exogal is controlled by its own app, generally once set up, no need to app up again. It would be handy for headphone users, having an easy volume control, which I am still not, and probably won't be.  I've been doing a bit of a DAC shootout with both my own here and from several local customers in recently, and the Exogal is holding its own.  Quite a lovely sound, so absolutely no quibbles so far. DACs are a little funny in shootouts, as I've been discovering. They're not like turntables or amps, where you immediately get a huge sense of what each is doing.  More like you need to do long term listening, to see how the overall effect gets to you. Seems like an odd statement to make, even for me, yet it's been proving true. If DACs are your secondary source, perhaps it's not so critical.  But if digital is your only source, or dare I say, one's main source, then take the time, and do go all out.  After you get the unit that appeals best to you, take the time to get the right cables, the most proper shelf, even if the more money spent yields only a wee bit more....with digital that bit more can make a huge difference between wanting to listen or not, at least to Mr. Picky here.
  I've been told by my new Exogal rep that it has great appeal amongst women, due to its ease of use and size.  Comes in silver and black.  Now taking orders....so come have a listen.

now being coupled with the new extremely popular Aurender ACS10, the new cd ripper/storage from the marvelous folks at Aurender. The Exogal and the ACS10 make quite a pair. Couple via a good usb cable, and you're off and running, with rip and play convenience, will have a ripped cd with the correct tagging of metadata in 3-5 minutes on average, then use the Aurender app and off you go....