Burl Audio B2 Bomber DAC Digital/Analog Converter

First, I'm not a pro, I'm actually an audiophile, and as such, this was an unexpected find. And not just a nice one, but in terms of sq, I have plainly found my dream DAC - if it should ever fail, I'll just get another one. Not a bad thing to say at all for a DAC that was introduced back in 2010.From all I can gather after studying digital sound reproduction since 1982, chip design for example, is not what people expect. People tend to think of it as a 'learned technical skill', that after you've made one nice-sounding digital chip, then your next chip design will likely sound even better, what with all the lessons you, as a chip designer, have surely learned from the prior go round, right? Actually, in reality I think nothing could be further from the truth. Successful chip design is truthfully perhaps more of a 'shot in the dark' than anything else...something the industry (pro or high end) has never wanted to admit to or come clean about. It seems a chip can be designed in a myriad of different combinations of methods and materials, and that, evidently, has a bigger impact on sq than even circuit design. In the analog world, circuit design tends to be king and the things that may negatively influence that tend to be fairly well understood. Unfortunately for digital, those relationships between methods/materials and sq are so seemingly random as to have remained perfectly mysterious, and therefore are poorly understood, even through to today.That most people are ready to assume that chip engineers generally know what they're doing in that regard has I think been the "sleeping dog" that the industry has let lie. And that foundation is what the time-honored, "newer-is-always-better" hype has since been built on. Not that all that is the end of the world exactly, it's just that the game of finding a really good-sounding DAC is a bit more challenging than going in for the manufacturer's hype. But, it's closer to the truth IME, to say that, especially with DAC's, you don't really know what sq you've got until you hear it in your own system, at least for a while.So, what's the sq nature of this beast then? I've heard a fair amount of digital playback since 1982. This is among the very best o-v-e-r-a-l-l. By 'overall', I just mean that I've heard any number of DAC's that may have been better at this or that, but that were invariably not as particularly well balanced overall. This DAC is most unusual in that everything is so completely on the same page with everything else in the sound and the presentation. Had this DAC simply been a "jack of all trades and master of none", I believe I would've dismissed it as mediocre. But, it's far better than that. Is it the best DAC on the planet?? I doubt it. But, I might hate to see the price of what consistently betters it. Not that I think this is simply a good DAC "for the money". You can find those almost everywhere. But, this is THE DAC, if what you want is something that was plainly made by someone who was listening to the result All the way through the design process - a process clearly aimed at the task of unerringly seeing into the recording materials without exaggerating anything or sweeping anything under the rug. And nothing overly romanticized, nor left behind. But, this DAC was never conceived for the mass market. It was designed and built by the pro's, for the pro's...so it never gathered a strong following in the audiophile marketing arena. But, it unmistakably has in the pro realm.Of course, chip design is Far from the whole picture. The capacitorless signal path, discrete analog output stages, intentionally purposed design all combine to create the kind of DAC that can continue to impress over the long run. I'm amazed, every time out, as each and every musical instrument and genre is presented in its ideal and best light, without compromise. Add a "boutique" fuse (if that's your thing) and enjoy. The B2 has found a permanent home in my $30k, CD-only system. No plans to change any of it.