Surprising to me, but when I changed out my Onkyo desk stereo with Burr-Brown DACS for a cheap little Behringer U-Control, the sound quality improved noticeably. Both output USB signal to same Onkyo TX-SV727 AVR via RCA and on to the same speakers.
But when the Behr is used, the clarity is much better, background all of a sudden sounds quiet, and thus fine details come out - i.e., the old "hey, is that a continuous guitar pluck I had not noticed on that song I hear at least 3 times a week on this system?"
Anyway, I know many will say it is the Pixie Dust I snort, but I fully expected the Behr to sound much worse than the Burr-Brown DACs, if any difference was found. The only factor I can see is that the Onkyo pre-amp outs were at a much lower volume (gain) level. But not sure that would cause the MP3-ish sound it had compared to the Behr.
Just tossing that out for your general amazement.
