I’m sceptical about user reviews for anything that’s hard to get a hold of, and I’m not a Kevin Gilmore amp fan, but a lot of people like his amps so…
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The gsx mini I had that’s based on some Gillmore design is still one of my favorites pieces of equipment ever. I sold it because I couldn’t justify keeping it with the other stuff I had around but damn I loved that little amp. Definitely would buy another one some day
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Well if you like the Gilmore design, might as well go for it then if you are on the fence. I’m sure it would probably be easy to sell if you didn’t like it. I’m just put off by some of the Gilmore designed diy amps as those that I’ve heard were mediocre (not heard the cfa3 though) to me yet people held them in such insanely high regard (while basing everything else if course) so left a bad taste in my mouth. Same sorta thing some of the estat community does that makes me want to steer clear of anything they suggest. But given you liked the mini that much and what headphones you have, I doubt trying one out would be a bad choice
If you get one I’d be curious on your thoughts of course
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If you like the signature, go for it, I am very interested in what you think of the CFA3, please do post your impressions here.
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Does anyone know if there’s been a discussion on the forum somewhere comparing mid-level DDCs? I’m (selfishly) thinking of a comparison of the Singxer SU-6 vs Denafrips Iris vs Matrix X-SPDIF 2 ? I’m sure there are others that I’m not thinking of, but these are the 3 I’ve personally been debating buying.
I like the Iris mainly because it has an internal power supply (one less LPS to go buy). But that’s also a downside - can’t easily upgrade the power supply.
Thoughts?
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DDC are something people don’t buy many of. You get one realize what they do and pretty much call it a day. At the mid level there they are all good, they’re all going to improve the signal to a degree but you’re pretty much buying connectivity and ease of use. Sound comparisons are going to be few and far between although I’m sure there will be differences.
They’re better at the higher end but I wouldn’t worry about that unless you’re a the higher end for everything in your chain to begin with. Like you said, go with power and whether or not you want/need inputs other than USB which is the first big difference among reclockers.
The Matrix is well reviewed, the SU-6 has a very good power supply system and the iris is a Denafrips and you come across them regularly enough used but people ask top dollar for them.
The Kitsume tuned SU-2 is it? Is also supposed to be good at that level. My advice, just buy one that has the connectivity you’re after and call it a day.
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But… But… I need audiophile controversy! 
Thanks for the recommendation.
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Hello,
Yes, I would almost say that the Matrix will sound clean but could have a right cold sound even as a DDC, and will also be relentlessly neutral.
Matrix tends to do that.
I have 2 products from them where I have noticed this on both.
At least that was my experience with the Mini ipro 2 and Element H card for the PC.
And I suspect it will be similar with the Spidif2.
Apart from the conectivity of the Matrix.
I normally chose the Su2 mainly because of the conectivity as Db_Cooper mentioned.
However, I would say that the Su2 sounds much warmer and less clinical than the Matrix.
Overall, it has more texture, is blacker, has more bass and is a little more rounded.
But I have to say that with the Singxer Su2, and probably also with the Su 6, it depends a bit on which driver version you use.
The older drivers have slight errors in them, the new ones from version 5 tend to be a bit more clinical and less round. that was my impression.
I found 4.86 somehow the best for my ear.
But it’s more the fine-tuning of the whole thing.
With Singxer, there are still controversies about which one to use.
Some swear by the Su2 Kitsune, others by the Su6 as well as Su2.
I would go by Db_Cooper’s opinion in terms of selection, conectivity.
The Su2 was a small improvement for me.
Unfortunately, I can’t say anything about the Denafrips.
In principle, it does the same thing as Matrix and Singxer.
Whether it is justified in terms of price, I would say that it could perhaps come close to the Su 2 kitsune, but no more.
Wavetheory once made an interesting video with a good conclusion that the DDCs are very good with cheap Dac’s and are a special improvement.Which is true,I tested on the Little Dot Dac1.
With expensive Dac’s with good Usb connection it could possibly be counterproductive and the effect could be smaller than expected.
In summary, it always makes sense to have a DDC in the chain, whether you really have to spend a lot of money on it I leave open.
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Question to the community on digital cabling. USB/COAX/AES
Does the sonic impact or characteristics of a cable change when you switch it from one system to another or do they stay predominantly the same? I mean will a cable that leans warm and lush, keep that characteristic if you move it to another system?
The more I think about this, the more it makes sense to keep an arsenal of cables with known signatures just for the sake of testing if not integrating into a system. Three or four cables with different qualities, not necessarily expensive cables just known characteristics. So when you find the one that suits a chain you can then go upscale for another cable that shares those traits.
Not everyone can plunk $4K worth of digital cables, but you don’t have to. $500 bucks would probably get you a good palette that you can then jump from to a more expensive cable. Just thinking out loud here, but for anyone that’s still in equipment/chain hunting mode, it would make a lot of sense to also change cables when you are trying new source gear just as further fine tuning to then make a more informed next step purchase.
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Here’s a useless hypothetical with no definite answer:
Is a system better served with a DDC or a power regenerator? If someone could give a definite answer that would be great! 
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Depends.
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Hello,
I don’t think so.
I would say that if the cable is kept neutral, it will remain neutral in other systems.
If you have a system that is tuned warm and benevolent, it would become a bit more neutral with the cable X that was kept neutral.
So it would probably depend on what properties were given to the cable to tune it.
Audioquest tends to favour a sharp background in their cables, so you would definitely hear that than a cable that is perhaps less black.
I think if you know some of the cable manufacturers and what they have in terms of properties, you can probably tune a few more percentages to your needs, or tune it so that the synergy fits.
Under Aes and Coax you will definitely hear differences, with Usb cables I have personal concerns.
I would really have to test whether there would be a difference between an Inakustik cable that I own and the Audioquest.
Unfortunately I couldn’t hear any difference between the Inakustik cable and the normal Usb cable.
Isn’t Aes actually a balance version of coax roughly similar to Rca and XLR but also coax “digital” based.
If so, there could certainly be differences in the cable area.
Of course, this is just a thesis of mine.
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Buy one and then we’ll all jump in telling you you should have bought the other one first. 
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Following-up on something nobody should care much on. I thought that I could simply run USB-C to USB-C from my Android phone to the SMSL PO100 and then coax out to the Mousai MSD192. I must be a fool, for my phone elicits no reaction from it - though SMSL mentions that it is compatible with Android devices. Not cable, tried various. And unit powers up from PC. In better news, the Mousai takes usb signal from my phone no-sweat. For now the Mousai is kicking out to the big esoteric Aural Audition.
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Yes, tell us what the Mousai is like.
I’m a bit keen on him.
I hope it drops again on Drop.
My cutting edge Pixel 3a LOL.
I never really have an issue with any other devices, but I guess I’m asking something different of it with this circumstance. Using Tidal.
But, I’m not even getting power recognition from the little PO100 (optical not lit, etc), much less allowing playback.
I love its heft, build and simplicity. It will likely deserve a greater throne than this setup. Gorgeous pot. Only one hour of listening yesterday, so limited impressions. Surprised at how quiet/black it was. Oodles of power into 300Ω. Loved it with some Amber Rubarth binaural, gave good amount of space, imaging and sparkle with a headphone that typically lacks it - I’d say it woke up 6xx. Was going to test with punchier music, should have grabbed 600’s for this - which I now will do - throw in some Cowboy Junkies. Need to test with much broader range of cans, see how K340, R70x, DT880-600 play. Probably a bit of a warm chain, so we’ll see what the limits are and cans/genres it plays less friendly with. Have Asgard 3, G111 and Dark Voice to compare to in same home - not same listening area. All equipped for these level of cans. I think I read that Aural didn’t recommend low impedance cans, but I might try out 560v4 gently, at 45 ohm just to test semi-difficult planar load.
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I realized that I forgot to send you the secure nut bit as I saw it the other day when I was cleaning out my office. If you decide to change the opamps, let me know and I’ll mail it to you. Save you the fifteen bucks it cost me!
If the DAC is powered from the PC, then your android device may be drawing too much power from the DAC. This is common with android devices and DACs that dont have their own power source.
I think you have something mixed up.
As you can see in the picture:
Usb C is your input from the source that is being played.
Pc,Laptop,Tablet ect…at the Po100.
Then you have to connect the coax out of the Po100 on the Mousai to the coax cable in Spif1, then it should be possible to get something out of the analogue input.
Otherwise it does not work.
Coax out would probably only be possible if you were to connect via Usb B to the amplifier, for example, which also has a coax in.
On the mousai you have to check which mode you have to select, probably the display should say something like Coax 1 or something like that.
So that it recognises it.
Then Usb C to Usb C should actually work.
If not, the Po100 may have made an error somewhere during conversion that the Mousai does not understand.
Let me take a look at the bit required and if I don’t already have it. I also thought “whoops maybe I didn’t notice it in the box” lol