I do wonder how much it would cost to do all mods which gazjam is hinting at. I'm scared to do any myself right now, as I'm reasonably happy with the DAC as it is. Isn't there a danger that the mods could make things worse? Also, if - say - the mods brought the total cost up to around £500, would that still be a competitive price? I don't know what the competitors are in that price range.
If you follow the Caiman mod thread I think you can be sure that it won't sound worse. Including a new power supply it would cost about £100
Jerry
Hifi: IPL transmission line floorstanding speakers, Squeezebox Touch, Denafrips Ares 11 DAC, DCB1 Pre-amplifier, Croft Series 7 power amp.
Custom Hifi cables HA10SE headphone amplifier and Hifiman HE-400 headphones.
AV system: LG 55B7, Denon AVR -x2300w receiver, Quad 12L (front) 11c Centre and 11L rear . Velodyne DD15 subwoofer.