I believe the WM8741 was also used by Rega, Lumin and Linn. I know they were used in the original Linn Klimax streamer, and my Akurate model, before they moved to AKM for the Katalyst upgrade.
As ever, the implementation makes as much if not more difference than the actual chip.
I agree; if you read the whole segment from NJC's site focused on the DAC, and everything they built up around the chip itself, you can see they haven't just thrown a chip in a box with some in's and outputs and said "hey, here's our DAC". There's a lot of deliberation over other component choices, and design around how it's all put together.
I was ok with my Bluesound Node feeding the NJC; I new the Node was probably the weakest link in my set up, so recently (this week) purchased the Innuos Zen Mini Mkiii w/LPS pre-loved.
In the back of my mind I did have a niggle that the NJC may be playing its A Game already, decoding the Node, and it may not get any better than what I was getting with that combo.
But no, the NJC has certainly not disgraced itself at all; it's met the upgrade head on, the pairing sounds excellent to me. I stand by my earlier remark re: the NJC DAC; it let's the music through without messing about - I'm hearing the Innuos/music, not the DAC itself.
Whatever NJC are doing with the WM8471 altogether, I don't have the technical knowledge to fully understand/comprehend it, but it's more than earning its keep. I was thinking of upgrading my DAC before I came to my senses, and looked at my Streamer instead.
Plus of course the source upgrade, through the NJC is bringing me more musical enjoyment from the investment in the Atoll and Triangles, showing me more of what those 2 pieces of gear can do. Definitely the right move for me, and a lot of that satisfaction is down to the NJC.
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