EDIT: It ain't the same as with the ARES II, but it's not THAT big of a deal. Now, without them, my STAX combo sounds a little harsh when plugged directly to my PC. A couple of months prior selling it, I did the FW upgrade (v3.12), which it did solve some bugs the DAC had and that were a bit annoying, but I didn't notice a real improvement on the sound quality. I ordered it in April 2021 and sold it in November 2022 because I needed money for other projects. The thing is that I did own an ARES II for about a bit over a year and a half. Power, Cables, and Isolation: Furutech GTX-D NCF(R), Furutech 106-D NCF, Furutech NCF Booster-Brace, Furutech NCF Clear Line, Equi=Tech 2RQ, UpTone Audio JS-2, Furutech Evolution II Power (x4), Furutech NCF Booster (x5), Furutech NCF Booster-Signal (x5), Pink Faun Interlink USB (1m), Pink Faun Interlink I2S (HDMI, 1m), Pink Faun Interlink BNC (1m, x2), Straight Wire Crescendo 3 IC (XLR, 6in, x4), Straight Wire Crescendo 3 SC (Large Spades, 8ft), isoAcoustics Orea Graphite (x4), zaZen I, zaZen II (x2), Indigo (x4), Bordeaux (x4), Aperta (x2)

Source: High Performance Air-cooled Windows 10 Professional PC with dBpoweramp Reference, Fidelizer Pro 8.9, and JRiver Media Center 30 -> Pink Faun USB bridge (Ultra OCXO + eLPS) -> Denafrips Gaia (I²S LVDS-HDMI) -> Denafrips Terminator-Plus (OS-Slow) -> Denafrips Athena (XLR4 Input) -> Denafrips Hyperion -> KEF LS50 Meta (Stereo, Nearfield) Denafrips - Furutech - isoAcoustics - KEF - Pink Faun - S chiit Audio - Sennhesier Straight Wire - Master Race!

Jriver media center 28 review