Thank you!
Been trying to A/B AL vs A6. It’s not easy as the USB connection seems to take time to reconnect. I cannot group them either. When I switch to I2S the A6 looses connection. Very strange. So it’s a bit manual and have to go by short term (10 seconds maybe) audio memory when comparing. These two devices are very close in sound so that short time really makes it hard. Last few comparisons I did did not do this. Very strange.
A few things I noticed. FYI I have standard edition
A6 seems a tad louder. Not much but it can throw me off too.
AL seems to be a bit blacker background.
They do have a diff Sonic signature. Hard to put my ear on it. Super close. I would not say one is better than other.
I think I am preferring the AL. But have to do a song at a time compare and hate to say use memory. Not the best but it’s all I got.
But if I was going to advise which one to buy it would be hard for me to say get the AL as it’s twice as much. I
Had trade in so much close but still more money. $500 more. Nice cable for that price. Not a dragon but decent.
The A6 is just so much more. Does so much more. Do I use that? Not really. The screen is nice but I use roon so don’t really need it. If I had a second system in office it would be there. If I was not a Roonmperson I would probably keep the A6 for sure.
More to come.
Suffering from memory issues as well… Help me out, what is the A6?
I’m glad you asked because if you didn’t, I was going to. 
While I understand going back and forth listening to brief snippets, I find it more meaningful to listen for a couple of days to one unit and then to the other.
Found it… Eversolo DMP-A6😎
For those who have the DS MK1 with the bridge II and are wondering about the AL let me say I don’t see how anyone would not be able to hear the improvement. It’s not just the improved detail and separation of the instruments in the sound stage but it’s also something I struggle with to describe. It’s like the imagining is tighter yet taller or bigger at the same time. Palpable might be a good word.
Bridge II is in a box to be sent back tomorrow.
Using Roon and the Qobuz/hard drive sonic gap for me has disappeared.
And it looks great too, I think! Nice job. Just my observations. Hope it helps someone.
Just need to adjust the old brain to not being able to hit “pause” on the DS MK1 display!
The first thing that jumped out at me at first when I switched from the Matrix SPDIF 2 to the AirLens was that acoustic instruments sounded “woodier” than they did before – which is a good thing.
Next I noticed a much more spacious soundstage with lots of depth. It would be hard for me to go back to the Matrix now after experiencing this kind of improvement.
Now that I have a few more hours on the AirLens, I keep thinking a good description of what I am hearing is to say the music is sounding more “natural”.
Does that make sense to you (or another AL users out there)?
maybe i missed it above but what streamer were you using with the Matrix X-SPDIF2?
The DSD MK I.
wait, that’s a DAC. What were you using as a streamer with the Matrix before you got the the airlens?
(or maybe I’m not smelling what you’re cooking)
I use a Matrix X-SPDIF 2 also, but it’s a DDC.
(Sreamer > DDC > DAC)
So I go Eversolo DMP-A6 streamer > USB > Matrix X-SPDIF 2 > i2s > Denafrips Pontus II DAC
Interesting, thanks for the efforts. A real testament to the Eversolo at less than half the price of AirLens to equal it in SQ and have it stomped in features. I was expecting that the AL would sound better, at least than the $900 base Eversolo if not the $1300 master edition Eversolo. Maybe it still will. If your findings change, please continue to update.
You have PSA dac too, right? That should give synergy advantage to AL if that’s right. If you don’t have PSA dac which one do you use?
Edit: I see now you have mk2. How close does base Eversolo with dac output get to AL/mk2 combo? Hopefully not close at all but the Eversolo seems like it really punches high. That comparison should be a no brainer win for the PSA combo I would hope (it’s 11x more expensive), at a minimum. Not totally surprised that Eversolo can hang as a streamer-only based on all the hype it is getting even here on these forums
Oh sorry, brain fart. 
I’m using a Roon Nucleus into the AirLens and then into the DAC.
Ok, I must not be asking things correctly!
So Nucleus as your core… Airlens > DAC is your setup NOW. I was curious what you were using as a streamer before the Airlens. “Before” meaning, like in time. Not in the chain.
Or were you just using the Nucleus as the endpoint before you got the airlens?
Nucleus > USB into Matrix > i2s into DAC?
Yes, that’s exactly how I used to have everything connected.
Sorry, after 50+ years of being and analog guy, I’m still challenged when it comes to digital technology and terminology.
I miss film cameras too. 
Gotcha. All crystal clear now! 
Agree. Also more alive. I had to think long and to come up with “palpable” and now I just thought of this, the soundstage now is like stepping into Dr. Who’s Tardis! An acoustic guitar is bigger and with a more well defined presence yet there’s more space around all the other instruments yet I’m in the same room. I’m not trying to overplay things, it’s just the feeling. Everyone has their perspectives.
The Air Lens sounds great after a couple of days run-in. I am not sending it back. It seems that the Air Lens’s ability as a Roon endpoint to send to the DS II via I2S local music on a hard drive processed with a MacMini has not been emphasized. With Roon the MacMini runs the core and sends to the Air Lens as an endpoint over the LAN/ethernet cable which is the ideal way to utilize Roon. One can play all of one’s music, including HiRes downloads and DSD 256 through the Air Lens. I no longer need the USB/Matrix/DS II chain of transmission and its attendant cost with cables, power cords, LPS. I could even put the MacMini is another room. If I want to compare say a Qobuz track with the same track burned from a CD via dBpower Amp on the Mac, it is easy to select the other Is2 input/Matrix. Just sayin’. Mark H.