"...For me, the exaSound e20 was a game-changer. It played standard PCM files extremely capably, but its greatest strength was its ability to play DSD files in their native format, which took my system to a new and higher level. The e20 is an attractive, compact, and clearly thoughtfully-designed example of a modern DAC. It produced a rich detailed sonic picture, with solid bass and extended high frequencies. I heartily recommend that if you’re in the market for a new DAC, you consider one with DSD-playback capability, ..."

"...To evaluate the e20’s performance with DSD files, I selected Channel Classics’ album Super Artists on Super Audio Sampler Vol.5 and downloaded both the 192/24 FLAC version (2406.9MB) and the original DSD (DFF format, 2956.4MB) version. I listened first to several FLAC files, beginning with Dejan Lazic playing the “Allegro” from Scarlatti’s Sonata in C major. I remember thinking how clean and detailed this recording of a piano sounded. Then, hoping I would be able to detect the difference, I cued up the DSD version of the same recording..."

"...Holy flaming cow! The DSD version of the recording made the FLAC version sound flat and mechanical. With DSD, it sounded like a different piano! The DSD version had the relaxed sound I associate with analog playback. In comparison, the FLAC piano sounded bleached and harmonically threadbare; and for some reason, the DSD version of the piece also sounded distinctly more dynamic. Reach-out-and-touch-it textures further increased the impression that, with the DSD recording, I was listening to a real piano. With the FLAC file, the piano notes just splatted into existence, while the DSD file’s piano notes sounded spookily real, beginning with the hammer hitting a string, the note launching into space, and then decaying off into silence as the note ended..."