Thanks to Vitaly R., New Hampshire, USA for this testimonial!
Dan is not an ordinary vendor, I consider him an integral part of my audiophile journey. I started evaluating Audiowise’s products with a healthy dose of skepticism. My basic assumption was that a high-end product, be it a DAC, streamer or any other part of the signal path, is designed to be immune to any conducted or radiated source of interference. Well, that assumption turned out to be false.
With Dan’s help, I learned to appreciate the importance of RF hygiene and adopted his systematic approach to mitigating the impact of RF noise on my system’s performance. I have high value components, excellent hearing and a good understanding of audio science, yet it took me a few years to self-discover what Dan was preaching.
Initially, I wanted to improve my MScaler-to-Dave signal path so I purchased OPTO-DX. I heard a difference but felt it was a sideways move in sound quality. So, I returned OPTO-DX despite the fact that optical isolation made technical sense. Dan claimed that all was fine, he said that OPTO-DX did reduce MScaler RF noise from reaching Dave but that other sources of RF noise dominated (interference of frequencies). Dan insisted that I needed to continue reducing RF from those other sources and I would hear the benefits. Well I dismissed Dan's comments and moved on.
Yet, over time, I demurred. I kept in touch with Dan and read the testimonials on his site. So I yet again purchased OPTO-DX and this time I followed Dan's advice (almost like a recipe) for power and distancing components. I have now ended up with what I consider is my end game solution: a battery-powered MScaler and upstream streamer, physically removed from Dave with a long (5 meter) optical cable to a battery-powered OPTO-DX link feeding Dave on well isolated power.
I am now very happy and enjoying my system immensely. I will stop here for a while, but Dan could guide you further towards your own elusive audiophile nirvana if you are up for it. In summary, in Dan you find a reliable source of knowledge and expertise, backed up by a selection of products that will help you build a custom-fit solution meeting your particular needs.