Mutec MC-3+ USB

[f1eng]

Well I had never used the USB input to the Devialet so the first thing was a compare between Air and the USB input. I preferred Air, for whatever reason.
Then I tried the Mutec. It sounded better than USB straight into the Devialet to me but was very unstable. The Mutec sometimes showed up as a sound output device, sometimes it didn't. Sometimes it did, then it disappeared during playing leaving silence.
I didn't get a chance to really compare it to Air because it was so annoying I disconnected it and put my CD transport back in place.
I suppose it will have to go back as broken.

Yet another pitiful steaming experience. For me, I'm sticking to CD and LP so I get to listen to music rather than dicking about trying to get sound or find the stuff I want to hear. GRRR.

Well sorry to read that, but I guess that we all have our burdens :-). I personally have so much difficulty having AIR work with WiFi and my USB connection to the Mutec is so flawless... 
Have you, by any chance, been able to test the Mutec between the output of your CD transport and the input of the Devialet to check if reclocking was bringing any added value in this field ?

Sorry, no. I prefer listening to music to comparing kit for SQ so if it doesn't go completely flawlessly I completely lose interest.
My CD transport gives the best quality sound of all my sources. It is very old now, almost 20 years and I believe it has a FiFo buffer and precise clock itself. It was never made public in the spec, Goldmund never are specific, but there is a several second delay between the CD spinning up and any output.
I compared it with a well regarded Mark Levinson 31 transport, which was nowhere near as good, and a CEC TL1 which was not quite as good before buying, nothing I have tried has come close since so I hope it lasts a few more years...
None of the streaming sources I have tried have matched CD yet, though my Sooloos Control 15 is not bad for SQ.