Primare Prisma I15 Integrated Amplifier/Dac $1,999 Review
July 9, 2019 Comments Off on Primare Prisma I15 Integrated Amplifier/Dac $1,999 Review
“Leaving to one side the late French maître’s insistent and occasionally heavy-handed Catholic mysticism and bird- song obsessions, Messiaen’s cornucopia of colorful sonic delights is nearly boundless. Listening to a performance of Eclairs sur l’Au Delà (Lightning over the Hereafter) , a late orchestral work, I was stunned by its ninth section, an astonishing, rhythmically free representation of forest birdsong that may well be the best musical representation of a naturalistic soundscape ever composed. The tumbling, teetering jumble of high woodwinds—flutes, piccolos, clarinets—demanded clarity, treble finesse, and top-octave air in great quantities, and the Prisma I15’s digital-to-analog and amplifying processes delivered these unrestricted for one of those literally hair-raising listening moments.
Schiit Audio Yggdrasil DAC Review
July 1, 2019 Comments Off on Schiit Audio Yggdrasil DAC Review
“I don’t have any real qualms with the Yggdrasil’s sound. Instead, most of my complaints are with its functionality and versatility. In my opinion, the biggest omission Schiit made for Yggdrasil was the lack of built-in volume control. There are other high-performance DACs out there, some that cost less than the Yggdrasil, that provide lossless digital volume control. I suppose the retort Schiit might have against digital volume control is that attenuating the output voltage creates a reduction in signal-to-noise ratio. But if you create a DAC with a low enough noise floor, you can still end up with no noticeable reduction in sound quality so I don’t think this is a valid argument, especially at Yggdrasil’s price point. Buyers should also be aware that this omission forces you into an additional preamp purchase (unless you’re using an integrated amp). As I said above, I don’t advise owners to use software volume control from the likes of Windows or MacOS as it will ruin the integrity of the audio you’re sending this high-performance DAC. If you simply must go this route, though, at least use something like JRiver Media Center. ”
BAT REX DAC $19,900 REVIEW
June 24, 2019 Comments Off on BAT REX DAC $19,900 REVIEW
“Getting it to work with the Sony HAP-Z1ES HDD audio player was as simple as running a USB cable between the two units. With the Windows-based PC running jRiver Media centre, all you have to do is to download and install the drivers from the BAT website and select the relevant option on the media-playing software. For Mac users, it’s simply plug-and-play, of course.
As expected with a complement of six tubes, the REX does run hot, so ensure that it has sufficient ventilation; an air-conditioned room will also add to your personal comfort.
With all that in place, the only thing left to do is to let the music play and immerse yourself in the REX DAC’s marvellous sonics.
And simply glorious it is. It’s not about analysing in detail each and every aspect of its performance, it is the gestalt, the sum of its parts, the ability to draw you into the sonic landscape it paints that beguiles and keeps you listening hour after hour.
How digital clocks affect sound quality
June 17, 2019 Comments Off on How digital clocks affect sound quality
AURALIC VEGA G1 NETWORK STREAMING DAC £3,299 REVIEW
June 12, 2019 Comments Off on AURALIC VEGA G1 NETWORK STREAMING DAC £3,299 REVIEW
“The G1 not being a G2 only manifests in comparison. In day-to-day use, the VEGA G1 is an ideal network streaming device that puts many really good rival products to shame. It’s extremely well built, sounds exceptionally good, and plays nice with most products it’s likely to be hooked to. I started this investigation to see what all the fuss was about, and now I’m reading from the AURALiC Fanatic’s Handbook. The company really does live up to the hype, as anyone who gives the VEGA (G2 or G1) a serious listen will attest. In fact, they might well say one of the notes I made while listening to the AURALiC VEGA G1 – Bloody hell… this thing’s good!”
Naim DAC-V1 Review
June 7, 2019 Comments Off on Naim DAC-V1 Review
“On the 24/96 Qobuz version of Kenyan-born J.S. Ondara’s Tales Of America the V1’s genealogical timing shone through with musical, yet metronomic precision in the drum work of Griffin Goldsmith and the basslines of Sebastian Steinberg and Jon Flower. The timbral bloom off Gabe Noel’s and Evgeny Tonkha’s cellos had the Naim not only capture the dimensional cues of their bow and fret work, it allowed for a constant demonstration of the DAC’s textural retrieval qualifications as well. Ondara’s voice, with all its comparisons to that of Tracy Chapman, shines through on its own merit via the V1 with the subtle – of what I can only assume are Nairobi – inflections of his birth place flavoring his lyrics on acoustically-dense tracks like “American Dream” and the a cappella “Turkish Bandana,” which is resonant with spatial reflections loaded back onto his voice beautifully capturing the studio space of the recording.”
Etalon Sound Dream DAC review
May 31, 2019 Comments Off on Etalon Sound Dream DAC review
“Classic R2R array has a flaw associated with the problem of signal conversion while virtual zero crossings. At this moment all logical circuits are switched simultaneously and even tiny non-synchronism causes an overshoot of stray impulses (the so-called glitches).
In Super R2R virtual zero crossing poses no problem because R2R arrays have balanced discrete sign-magnitude hybrid ladder topology. Positive and negative half-waves of the signal are processed independently, each by a separate array and are mixed only at the output. As a result, there’s no virtual zero crossing at all and no corresponding problems!”
Mytek BROOKLYN BRIDGE REVIEW
May 27, 2019 Comments Off on Mytek BROOKLYN BRIDGE REVIEW
“The converter supports PCM signals up to 32 bits and 384 kHz via the USB input, and thus a DXD signal as well as a DSD signal up to DSD256 (11.2 MHz). RCA inputs are also extremely “capacious”, because we can send PCM signal up to 24 bits and 384 kHz, as well as DSD (!) up to DSD128 (DoP) using them. And even the Toslink input supports PCM up to 24 bits and 176.4 kHz and DSD (DoP). In turn, the streamer supports PCM signal up to 24 bits and 192 kHz, and DSD – the USB input is intended for connecting external media and it supports files with the same parameters.
For each signal type, one can choose a digital filter – the ESS Technology DAC chip used in this device, offers up to seven different filters for the PCM signal, the most interesting of which is the “apodizing filter” once introduced into the audio by Meridian. For the DSD signal one can use one of three filters, defining the frequency at which the frequency response begins to roll off. We can also use the MQA module’s digital filter.”
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STAX SRM-D50 ELECTROSTATIC DRIVER AND DAC REVIEW
May 24, 2019 Comments Off on STAX SRM-D50 ELECTROSTATIC DRIVER AND DAC REVIEW
“In all my years as a headphone listening enthusiast, one thing has remained clear from the very start – there is nothing quite like listening to a Stax system. There’s a certain charm to it; the retro and unashamedly bulky styling of the earspeakers and the proprietary energiser system combine to create an unusual and very untraditional (in the modern world) Head-Fi encounter.
Listening to a Stax system always leads me on a listening journey. I start with my familiar test tracks and end up winding down an experimental path of music and genres I’ve never listened to before… just to experience it.”
Chord Electronics Qutest DAC Z $1895 Review
May 3, 2019 Comments Off on Chord Electronics Qutest DAC Z $1895 Review
”
The Qutest spent most of its time tethered to my near-field desktop rig, which uses the latest-generation MacPro “titanium trashcan” desktop computer for its front end. The Qutest includes options for four different filters. First there’s the “incisive neutral” filter that according to Chord “has an ultra linear frequency response…includes a 16FS to 256FS WTA2 filter.” Qutest’s second filter is “warm” which according to Chord, “is designed to introduce a little warmth to recordings…with a 16FS WTA1 filter only.” The third filter set, “incisive neutral HF roll-off,” is similar to the first one except that it includes a high-frequency filter past 20kHz. The last filter in Qutest’s stable is “warm HR roll-off,” which is similar to the second option but with the addition of a high-frequency filter above 20kHz.”
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