ExaSound PlayPoint DM Review
February 15, 2019 Comments Off on ExaSound PlayPoint DM Review
“As I listened to Brenda Navarette’s album Mi Mundo (192/24), I experienced stunning realism and immediacy to this Cuban singer/percussionist’s performance – it left me grinning at the beauty of the recording. The sound spread beyond the outer borders of my speakers with excellent focus and clear reproduction of the voices and percussive instruments while always sounding natural and effortless. The dynamic qualities of the percussion and bass were reproduced with a transient quickness and impact that were a real treat for this listener.
One recording that will challenge the best of systems is Don Grusin’s live album The Hang; a 96/24 presentation that combines the musical skills of Don Grusin with a host of top-flight musicians including Patti Austin, Ernie Watts, and Sadao Watanabe. I decided to open up the volume level to allow me to feel the dynamic impact reproduced by my Wilson Alexia Series 2 speakers. If this recording sounds congested during the dynamic passages, it’s something in your system. The PlayPoint DM sailed through this album with a “you are there” presence with absolutely no layer congeal. There was terrific weight and slam to the bass and percussion with impressive reproduction of instrumental textures. The powerful rhythmic drive of many of the selections were reproduced with a lively, upbeat sound that was an absolute pleasure to experience.”
EXOGAL COMET DAC AND ION STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER REVIEW
January 31, 2019 Comments Off on EXOGAL COMET DAC AND ION STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER REVIEW
“The Comet has the usual array of digital inputs plus a single pair of analogue inputs in a billet machined case with a headphone socket on one side and an almost unreadable LCD display. It does look cool though and if you get the angle right it’s possible to discern the reflective text and numbers from the matte silver background. The information is pretty basic with the chosen input at the top above the selected output, the latter offering main, Exonet, or headphones, a numerical volume indicator sits below both. A cheap remote control is supplied that can be used to change any of these but the simple app that Exogal has developed is a nicer way to do it. The latter baffled me initially because the Comet has no network connections or Wi-Fi antenna, it does however have a short Bluetooth antenna and that’s how it connects to your smartphone or tablet. Users of streaming sources will realise that this is all fine, but when you are choosing tracks with the streaming app you don’t want to have to switch to another app just to change volume. One answer is to use a second touchscreen device but the remote is probably easiest; that said, the app does make it clear when the output is muted as is the case at switch on, which can save some head scratching. Since its introduction the Comet has had one upgrade and that’s a new power supply; this is a £400 extra in a nice aluminium box (albeit with a power inlet that’s a little deep for chunky IEC plugs) and this was supplied for this review. The Ion also has an external power supply in a less sexy plastic case.”
Totaldac D1-Direct DAC $8,970 Review
January 28, 2019 Comments Off on Totaldac D1-Direct DAC $8,970 Review
“Each exquisitely rendered in photovoltaic relief from one another through the d1 like a strobe-light afterimage. As the almost falsetto harmonies of “doo-doo-doo-doo-do-doo-do-doo-doo” rise up glittering through the sound stage on a floating bubble of pure solid-gold energy I could feel my whole sofa vibrate in time. Just when you think their voices couldn’t go any higher the bridge hits and what has sounded etched on some sigma-delta DACs I’ve listened to this through, is glorious and liquid in its presentation, the totaldac’s R2R ladder and FPGA processing taming any treble burn completely and allowing their voices to soar up the scales. Pace, rhythm, timing – the hallmarks of PRaT – is what this cut is all about. Through the d1 every tonal and timbral nuance is presented without blurring or smearing with a speed on the leading edges of notes I’ve rarely experienced. Power, tonal accuracy, timbral delineation, a huge sound stage, three-point fadeaway jump shot decay and the ability to plumb frequency extremes without fatigue on upper regist
AURALIC VEGA G2 STREAMING DAC WITH LEO GX CLOCK
January 24, 2019 Comments Off on AURALIC VEGA G2 STREAMING DAC WITH LEO GX CLOCK
”
Lightning DS is one of AURALiC’s USPs; it looks great thanks to clear graphics and decently sized album art and, so long as your iPad isn’t an antique, works really nicely as well. This is where you set up the VEGA G2; you can do pretty much everything you need to, which is handy because there’s slightly more set up required than with a Naim or Linn. The data from your music library needs to be imported into the streamer, which a case of picking the server or NAS that it’s stored on from the list that appears and Lightning DS then goes through the titles so it can display them properly. You can also access Tidal and Qobuz from Lightning DS, the latter being a relatively rare but welcome feature especially if your musical tastes are broader than those catered for by Tidal. The only drawback with Lightning DS is that it’s iOS only; there are third party apps for Android, however.
While everything is shown on the app, a lot of information is also displayed on the four inch high resolution screen, including album artwork, volume level, and track title… but there is no way of pausing playback without the app, unless you use the ‘any remote control’ option with the smart-IR control function in the system menu. ”
Best Headphone Amps & DACs To Buy In 2019
January 17, 2019 Comments Off on Best Headphone Amps & DACs To Buy In 2019
PS Audio DirectStream DAC Review
January 9, 2019 Comments Off on PS Audio DirectStream DAC Review
“The hype is real. Snowmass is leaps and bounds better than the previous Redcloud OS – and you didn’t even have to pull out your wallet.
One could learn a lot about the designers from their best work. After having the pleasure of indulging in Ted Smith’s latest masterpiece, it’s obvious he is a music lover himself – and we’re reaping the benefits.
Snowmass reminds me of what we strive for when listening to music. It facilitates toe-tapping, dancing, and singalongs. What else do we want? For that, I really must commend Mr. Smith and PS Audio for continually providing appreciable value to their customers.”
Chord Electronics Qutest D/A processor $1895 Review
January 8, 2019 Comments Off on Chord Electronics Qutest D/A processor $1895 Review
“Overall, a win on points to the PS Audio, but of course, it ought to sound better than the Chord, given that it costs more than three times as much. I therefore reached for our review sample of the original Mytek Brooklyn, which Jim Austin reviewed in November 2016. The Brooklyn cost $100 more than the Qutest (footnote 4) but includes a phono preamp, volume control, and headphone output, as well as offering MQA decoding. For the comparisons I set the Brooklyn’s reconstruction filter to MPh (Minimum Phase), which I felt dealt most gracefully with the overcooked Queen album. Even so, the Mytek’s balance was slightly more forward than the Chord’s, which meant it sounded a little louder despite the levels being matched.”
AVM Ovation SD 6.2 Preamplifier-DAC-Streamer $9990
December 24, 2018 Comments Off on AVM Ovation SD 6.2 Preamplifier-DAC-Streamer $9990
‘As I listened more, I began to concentrate less on the performance of the SD 6.2 within specific frequency bands. For instance, when I tried to focus on what the AVM was doing in the bass, I realized I was assessing more the sound of the speakers than of the electronics. This became obvious when I swapped out the EgglestonWorks Kivas, which are fairly large, three-way floorstanders, for Monitor Audio’s smallish, two-way, Studio stand-mounts, then swapped the Kivas back in again. My takeaway from all of that was that the Ovation SD 6.2 had no problem of bass lightness or heavy-handedness. Its sound seemed perfectly neutral, feeding each pair of speakers exactly what it needed to produce excellent bass within that model’s capabilities.
Eventually, as I began to focus more on soundstaging, I came to find out that this largely depended on how the SD 6.2 handled high-frequency subtleties. Basically, the AVM’s reproduction of the treble was so delicate and precise that its re-creations of the subtle cues of the acoustics of live venues were stunningly realistic. Concert recordings took on a more holographic nature in terms of soundstage depth, and my perception of the AVM’s ability to reproduce the ambience that placed me at the center of a soundfield — as opposed to looking in at it from a distance, from the outside — also increased.”
Audiophilepure 
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