Honestly, I don’t get why there is a percentage of folks who don’t like Windom… or are having load issues for that matter.
I have to believe there are system-specific issues and not the DAC. I know from being in this hobby for forty years plus, that system synergy is very important… OK, but to blame the DAC?
I have chosen equipment that say, balance tonality… dull equipment with bright equipment for example, but as long as I was buying high end stuff, I rarely blamed one component. I did once, when I followed a Robert Harley recommendation in Stereophile to send my Sonic Frontiers DAC back for a factory upgrade… that was just downright awful… but the sound difference was extreme.
Look, it is OK to go back to an earlier version to re-balance your system synergy. But I honestly don’t blame the DAC… Windom sounds better over speakers and my expensive headphones, and what I hear over both delivery systems is the exact same.
Peace
Bruce in Philly