A Very Tasteful Music Feast
Reimyo DAP-999EX Limited “TOKU” Edition D/A Converter
One piece of stone can create thousands of waves! Only rely on one set of audio equipment can also
tune up a very tasteful music feast! What I am saying, is that this D/A converter, being produced by thesound tuning master, Mr. Kazuo Kiuchi. The Reimyo new flagship D/A converter “TOKU” edition under his
Combak Corporation’s electronics line, without changing any of the other matching gears in the system,
the DAP-999EX Limited “TOKU” is just as by virtue of the music with unblockable charm, to get all theother members of the monitor system to be united, so as to fully support it to reproduce the very
tasteful music over and over again.
Fascinating Thousands of Audiophile Enthusiasts
I am sure that some of the audiophiles may not be familiar with or may have forgotten the brand nameof Reimyo and its mother company Combak Corporation. However, if we mention Harmonix tuning
spikes & bases, wooden feet, tuning cables, room tuning devices, CD tuning sheets, LP Clamps etc., orthe Enacom series – noise eliminators for signal and AC power – these are those little piece of devices
connecting to your speaker terminals, input/output connectors, AC power sockets; I believe now
everyone would say “Oh…yes.” and remember them! More than 20 years ago, Combak Corporation
established its name in the Hong Kong Hi Fi market with its outstanding Cherry wood tuning spikes that
had fascinated thousands of audiophile enthusiasts. After trying and experiencing its powerful effect, I
am one of those audiophiles would definitely remember it!
Due to the above fact in the history, for those audiophiles who have already used and experienced
Harmonix or Enacom tuning devices, for sure, would be a lot more than those audiophiles who haveowned or experienced the Reimyo electronics. Moreover, Reimyo products have been known as refined
products but expensive. Current models include CDT-777 CD Transport, DAP-999EX Limited D/AConverter, CAT-777MKII Vacuum Tube Preamplifier, KAP-777 Single Mos FET Transistor Power Amplifier,and the ALS-777 AC Line Stabilizer. Sometime ago, there were also DAP-777 D/A Converter and PAT-777
300B Vacuum Tube Power Amplifier which have been discontinued. We can say Reimyo is definitely theniche products of minority group of knowledgeable audiophiles.

Theory to Practice
For those audiophiles who know about the Harmonix tuning devices should also know that its company
leader, Mr. Kazuo Kiuchi (the Japanese tuning master well-known in global audiophile market) talking
about the theory of “Equalization of Resonance”, or even have experienced in person his effective tuning
devices on their own audio system. Viewing it from another angle, Harmonix tuning devices caneffectively upgrade your audio system, and it is the same theory as mentioned by Mr. Kiuchi that when
the resonance is harmonized in one frequency, every aspect of the sound is precisely conveyed as it
emanates from the instrument. When Harmonix is applied, you can eliminate unwanted resonancefrequencies to achieve incredibly pure and natural, distortion-free music reproduction for a new level ofsonic realism. It has also proved that his ears are very sensitive with excellent judgement. Thus, inaddition to producing the tuning devices, with his golden ears and great listening experience and soundtuning knowledge, he has developed a series of audiophile cables and electronics with guaranteed highperformance. For example, the Harmonix HS101 speaker cable being sold successfully in the HK
audiophile market for more than 10 years ago.

For the electronics, Combak Corporation exhibits theconventional fine Japanese craftsmanshipmeticulously! Starting from the design, the choice ofmaterials and workmanship, from its chassis to theinternal components, every single bit is well-thoughtwith adequate material. Moreover, its refine limited
products with a long production leadtime, plus its
ever-lasting cosmetic, exhibiting a master piece ofaudiophile equipment. The look of the CD Transport
CDT-777 or the DAP-999EX is still not outdated even though it has been the same style/look for manyyears. If I use today’s trendy description, isn’t it a beautiful equipment with frozen age? Just kidding!

Rites into Feeling
You may properly guess that the tuning master, Mr.
Kiuchi, an expert in the control of the resonance,
should have already planned well in the chassis
design for resonance elimination and isolation. Nomatter the quality of material, the thickness of themetal chassis, and the arrangement of the circuitry,
they have all been well considered.
With his sharp marketing and sales experience, Mr.
Kiuchi would definitely know that if he changes thelook and the model number of this unit, it would help
to excite the market with increasing sales. However,
he decided not to follow
such marketing gimmickbecause he is full ofconfidence with it! The
whole chassis is made ofaluminum, and the top
cover together with both sides are in one piece under the C shape construction; plus the extra thickfront panel, rear panel and bottom plate. If you lightly tap on top of the chassis, you can hear only adeep solid sound without any tail. It has proven that there was no resonance on it. The unit is less than 2inches tall (44mm), plus a thick and heavy bottom plate, to form a low gravity center. When I unpacked itout from the carton box and put it on the Hi Fi rack, I felt it extremely steady, just having a very stable,
properly, rites into feeling. There is not necessary to use any spikes or base etc.
Having such a good confidence, of course, it is mainly because of the 4 pcs. nice and solid tuning feetattached onto its bottom plate. These 4 pcs. Harmonix TU-600, with the diameter of 44mm, 18mm
height, made of special selected high density solid wood surrounding with metal ring, it does not only
eliminate the resonance, it canalso support the weight up to100kgs. Using 4 pcs. TU-600 to
support this DAP-999EX Limited“Toku” which weighed only over
10 lbs., it is surely effortlessly.
Very Particular Design
Looking at the inside, actually
starting from the earlier versionof the DAP-999EX, no matter thepower supply, DAC and analog
circuitry, or even the internalwiring are all very particularly chosen and designed. Two pieces high quality low noise C shapetransformers utilizing the light and electric coupling component to further eliminate the interference.
Moreover, adding its own Harmonix “Enacom” for the high frequency filer, so as to eliminate the ACnoise. Even the fuse is also the famous German Brand HiFi-Tuning audiophile fuses being speciallytreated by Reimyo. The difference between the normal “Limited” edition and the “Toku” edition ismainly inside the unit - all the internal circuit boards and its components have been optimized withfurther resonance control. The usual German made HiFi-Tuning fuse has been upgraded to its higher
quality grade black version and the AC Power filter capacitors as well as the output section capacitors
have also been upgraded.
There are 4 groups of digital input - AES/EBU, BNC, RCA & Toslink, also utilizing matching transformer for
signal isolation, so as to allow it to process different input impedance (75 or 110 ohm), to deliver thesignal to the extremely low time error/discrepancy, Yahama YM3436D digital signal receiver. With regard
to its main course, it is the K2 JVC 8009 circuitry, and it is separated from the main board so as toeliminate any interference. It’ll also be benefit for the possibility of any future upgrade. The digital signal
input first goes through the K2 JVC 8009 circuitry which is mainly composed with 8 pcs. CMOS processing
chips, and it is also the up-sampling circuitry that it can process the CD signal of 16 Bit/44.1kHz upsampling to 24 Bit/176.4kHz, further through the MXO digital clock so as to assure the time consistence.
Utilizing Burr Brown DF1706 DAC, at the same time, adding a group of light and electric coupling
circuitry to act as the isolation of the next circuitry.
The digital to analog job is done by the matching pair of the most stringent “K” grade Burr Brown
PCM1704 DAC and the power supply filter of the digital to analog circuitry is handled by the Sanyo highquality capacitors. The analog output section is simple but refined, utilizing Burr Brown OPA627 to act asthe operational amplification, and the low pass filter and amplification are handled by the good standard
of JRC 5534. Equipped with 2 groups analog outputs, including the Rhodium plated XLR and the gold
plated RCA sockets.
Choosing the Best to Execute
Looking at today’s prevalence generation of digital music files / streaming playback, Mr. Kiuchi still did
not consider to add USB input to the DAP-999EX Limited “Toku”, and there is no doubt that Mr. Kiuchi
insisted to concentrate to the CD source!
Perhaps, some people may think that he is stubborn! In fact, he is actually choosing the best to execute.
Moreover, CD has been available in the market for more than 30 years, every audiophile should haveaccumulated huge quantity of CD albums in various titles and these will not be given up or disappeared.
Thus, there is still a demand of the proper playback equipment. Furthermore, serious audiophiles are
the minority. Although CAS has already been getting popular in the HiFi markets all over the world, CD isstill the mainstream. Obviously, the DAP-999EX Limited “Toku” is really targeted for those serious
audiophiles who choose only the best but also know how to enjoy music.
Perhaps it is a historical legacy problem that the Reimyo D/A Converter product having the identity ofJVC K2 D/A Converter from the day one and it represented that it’s exceptionally good at playback K2,
K2HD, XRCD, XRCD2 and XRCD24 versions of CDs. At the end, it is actually particular about the quality inreproducing the CD.

Also Poignant and also Temptation
This time I have connected the DAP-999EX Limited “Toku” with two different CD transports with bigdifference in price. The conclusion is that Mr. Kiuchi is not only choosing the best to execute in theformat, and there is also a very good attitude towards the sound!

When I connected it to the sound system at our large listening room to replace the Acoustic Arts TUBEDAC II MK2 D/A Converter, there was an obvious big difference. Tasteful is the word popped up in mymind immediately to describe the difference. The more I listened to it, this feeling was getting stronger.
It is not easy to tune the sound like this at all, and it is just like taking an adventure of dancing on a wire.
Just a little bias or a little too far, it’ll cause unbearable sound coloration
disaster. I listened to it again and again, with the DAP-999EX Limited“Toku” connected to our sound system, there is no any disaster at all.
On the other hand, listening to the song “李香蘭” from the CD album“陪著我走”, I can hear the voice of Sandy Lam and herinterpretation with an additional charm, but it is absolutely notcoloration or artificially twisted. In fact, it is more heart touching.
In addition to the vocal, the accompaniment of the guitar and double
bass are also very tasteful; the sound quality is so moist but not greasy,
and the lines are sharp with tenacity. Through the interpretation of Sandy
Lam, it creates a feeling of poignant and also temptation.
Sparkling Mineral Water
In a film soundtrack CD album “Notting Hill”, there is a song namely “She” interpreted by Elvis Costello.
Listening to it with the DAP-999EX Limited “Toku”, it definitely has further enhanced the French romantic
style of singing with improved three-dimensional image that made you feel so touching and emotional
feelings into your hearts and lungs. Then I played the song “End Of the Rainbow” by Quadro Nuevo; thesoundstage of the big band is so wide with precise imaging, adding a dip of golden beauty especially on
the sound of the accordion, under the intoxicating tone, the exceptionally sentiment, getting all thefeelings. Overall it has continuously reproduced the very pleasing and comfortable music emotions, andit gave me such a satisfied listening experience and enjoyment.
Listening to the song of “New Dawn” by the Libera Children Choirs, I could hear the voices of thechildren sounded so natural and real instead of the original frivolous children voices, it made me feel soreal as if I could see them singing in front of me. It’s so wonderful that just like drinking the sparklingmineral water instead of distill water. It gave you more impact and more tasteful favor!
Surely not Shy
During the test, I saw the Kalista Ultimate Signature CD Transport from Kalista Audio and also the very hiend audiophile cable Seraphim AES/EBU digital cable at our place. Although these are a lot more
expensive than the DAP-999EX Limited “Toku” D/A Converter, I thought I could just try to connect with it.
I have listened to the same CDs again with this new combination. The conclusion is that everything
immediately and obviously becomes more elegant, and the texture is greatly enhanced that you canreally get the Hi-End feel. Without any question, it is the power of money. Such unbalanced system
matching is just a game, but it has also proven that the DAP-999EX Limited “Toku” is surely an excellent
D/A Converter which is not shy to match with any price range of products. According to my opinion, it
does not only match well with its own CDT-777 CD transport, and it is also a very good partner with theneutral sounding Acoustic Arts Drive II.
Meeting it too late
For sure, the DAP-999EX Limited “Toku” has acharacter of elegant and tasteful, a very good
attitude towards the sound, but not every
audiophile knows how to appreciate it! If you havea big collection of CDs, and you really enjoy
listening to good music and looking for elegant andtasteful sound, I urge you to go to get a demo of
this DAP-999EX Limited “Toku”. You may perhaps
complain why you didn’t meet it sooner!