Core Infinity listening impressions and comparisons

[Confused]

We have finally reached the point where one or two Pro owners are getting their amps returned with the Devialet OS Core Infinity board installed.  I thought it would be useful to have a new thread to capture user reviews and listening impressions.

In particular, I think comparative reviews are useful.  There is a whole range of kit out there that people use with their Devialets, such as Melcos, Aurenders, Mutecs and a whole lot more, but very many of us will eventually have the Core Infinity board which can therefore act as a consistent reference point and benchmark to the other alternatives.  Just how good will the new board prove to be?  What kind of kit will it take to beat it for ultimate sound quality?  The answers to these questions could be very interesting and useful to us all, indeed, it could save a few of us from making mistakes with expensive but disappointing purchases in the future.

To be honest, I suspect that this thread might prove to be a little bit of a 'slow burner'.  I am sure that the initial impressions will come, but the full potential of the OS Board may only become apparent as the software matures and more options for use become available.  For example, I suspect that it will be many months before we will be able to try proper Roon RAAT versus Roon integrated AIR, but this will come in time.

I am also hoping that we can all be reasonably disciplined ant try to keep this thread mainly to listening impressions and sound quality observations.  Well, I can at least hope!  I suspect that there is a risk of the thread filling up with technical issues, trouble shooting and maybe little a bit of complaining, it is the nature of the beast, but it should be easy enough to segregate this stuff into a separate thread or two.

So, if you have got you lovely new OS Board up and running and producing glorious smusic, let us know what you think.  Plus, if you happen to have an Aurender W20 or something sitting on a shelf, how does it sound in comparison?

It is also good that I can sign off in this first post with something very positive.  I think forum poster markush was first to actually have a listen to his own OS board and post his thoughts, stating 'the new board is so amazingly great in sound quality!!  Never ever would have expected that big improvement.' 

So kudos to Markus for being the first to have a listen, and it is great to see that the initial impressions at least are looking positive.  I wonder how this one will develop?