250 Pro

[Confused]

It is clear to me that Woodstock's issues have nothing to do with 'burn in' time or similar. Furthermore, it is unlikely be something like one DAC or something else out of phase, after all, if vocals sound crystal clear running from a TV (presumably via Toslink) but 'not always discernible' via USB, there have to be other factors at play here. Looking at woodstocks signature, there is one very easy test he can perform, that is to try playing something via his Marantz SA11 s2, which is a pretty decent SADC / CD player, which I presume is connected via S/PDIF. Another obvious test would be to try streaming via AIR rather than USB. I could speculate as to what is going on here, but it would be worth at least trying the Marantz (and AIR if you can) and reporting back.

Oh, and a quick note to KIBM, I had much time to listen to my 1000 Pro last weekend and it was sounding most splendid, I really was enjoying it enormously, so I suspect you are in for a treat!