Crystal? I see...so it seems it is indeed a bitstream DAC alright. I was curious because of the alleged superiority of the multi-bit DAC over the bitstream ones, but sadly (or not) this is the path followed by the vast majority of manufacturers including even on the high end.

I know it`s true what you said, in fact a wonderful DAC by itself won`t make a wonderful sound, but I also believe that having the best components all together can never be considered a disadvantage. It would be interesting to know if Meridian did change the DAC from the OA12 to OA13 for instance.

I read a very interesting paper although very technical and in the final conclusions the author wrote: "… The multi-bit converter is the most
straightforward method but carries a penalty of accuracy which implies higher cost."
Now the question here to me is what 'straightforward' means under this context. Is it better or just simpler to implement regardless of cost?

This is the paper I found:
http://www.essex.ac.uk/ese/research/audio_lab/malcolmspubdocs/C58%20Techniques%20in%20DAC.pdf

Cheers!
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