Audiophilepure

https://pt.audio/2025/05/23/kalista-dreamplay-x-transport-and-mantax-dac-review/

One of the strengths of this duo was the ability to soften the blow of some of the more typically aggressive, more strident sounding, early ‘80s all digital (SPARS Code, DDD) CDs in my collection, titles like my UK Deutsche Grammophon copy of Beethoven: Symphonien 1 & 2, by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Karajan, or the original US Warner issue of Donald Fagen’s, The Nightfly. Employing some combination of either the “Corrected Minimum Phase Fast,” or “Minimum Phase Slow,” along with the AKM chipset and the tubed output options, rendered such titles not only less harsh, edgy, or strident sounding, but imbued them with a “warmer,” more analog feel or flavor, very closely approximating an LP playback experience.

As a specific example, my Redbook CD of the reading of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13, by Franz Liszt, with Alfred Brendle on piano, was utterly captivating. Here, this system’s ability to bring this performance to life, especially its ability to recreate the nuance and power of its dynamic prowess, made for a stand-out presentation. This is a recording that I’ve often heard sound too energized above about 3000 Hz with many digital front ends. Yet this presentation was balanced with remarkable tonal honesty, an engaging vibrance, and an amazing sense of harmonic bloom. Suffice it to say that, depending on the variation of combinations of title, label, mastering, and production values found within my disc collection, the Mantax was able to deliver the musical goods on so many different levels that I simply fell in love with the surprisingly impressive and resultant enveloping tapestry of sound it routinely created for me.

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