While I agree with what Ted Smith is doing here, and I understand that some audiophiles would rather pay only for this than figure it out on their own, there is another way to achieve a similare approach as what the Obsidian does. The basic approach behind the Obsidian is that the high noise part of the component is in the first box (including digital receiver circuitry, and all DSP/oversampling/and modulator(s). And then the second box contains the actual D-A conversion (presumably via a discrete LPF circuit) and the analog output stage. A more powerful FPGA (than the DirectStream) in the first box, means the unit can use more sophisticated modulators, and the optical connections scheme (if well implemented) means the processing noise from he first box will not be a problem for the analog output.
Anyone who has played around with oversampling to DSD, 2x, 4x, or 8x, with HQPlayer can attest to how more processing power can equal better sound with the right DAC. Hell, Jussi's latest modulators are so sophisticated that they require an I9-9700K at a minimum to achieve DSD 256 output (and no one has been able to bull;d a machine capable of DSD 512!).
By using HQPlayer running on a powerful computer in another room doing all the oversampling, and connecting via optical Ethernet to an optically based renderer and a simple discrete DSD DAC (like Holo audio, for example), one could take advantage of orders of magnitude higher processing power of the computer to do the heavy processing, while still having an isolated, low noise, simple conversion stage in the audio system. In either case, one has the flexibility of using new oversampling/modulators when they become available, but by using a real computer for the heavy processing the sophistication of the oversampling/modulators is much less limited in terms of processing power available.
Chord's upscales use a similar approach as well, but with a PCM emphasis: and the eschew optical isolation, although they are designed to provide electrical isolation from the powerful upscaling box to the less powerful (processor) in the DAC box.