Sound Galleries SGM 2015

wisnon

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Dec 12, 2011
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I know..East London. But the description of the Atlantic is valid everywhere.
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
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Hong Kong
I listened to the SGMS2015 at Volent HK, the official SG dealer in Hong Kong last week.
Compared it with Aurender W20, Rockna NET & Antipodes top model with the same music files.
DACs used were T+A DAC8 DSD dac and Totaldac Six dac.

In simple words and IMHO, SGMS2015 is the best server in the market currently.
All-rounded and more analogue-like than the other three.
All other aspects such as quietness, dynamics, soundstage, imaging ... etc are also excellent.
The built is impeccable. The proprietary chassis is like a tank.
Any audiophiles with the budget and are looking for a CAS forntend must listen to SGMS2015 before making the purchase decision.
My highest recommendation!

P_20160802_192240.jpg
 

marslo

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May 2, 2014
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Interesting CKKeung, thank you for your opinion.
 

bibo01

Member
Nov 26, 2013
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What did you listen to? What condition: bit perfect, oversampling, upconversion to DSD...? What player?
 

Blue58

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Jan 20, 2013
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London, UK
Interesting comparison, with the Totaldac six coming out on top. A much more expensive Dac than the T&A (4x)
I'm assuming DSD256 through The six and DSD512 through Dac 8. Would be great to read some more info to complete the picture.

Just had another week with the SGMS2015 and tried the modulators again so I can be happy with my fit and forget choice, all in the context of my system and music choices, everything from The Wknd to Copland to Cecille McLorin Savant and Rush(reluctantly).
I'm hearing the ADSM7 as being a great match for DSD>512 and DSD7 256fs for everything else>DSD512. So, as I've only about 20 DSD recordings of dubious musical merit, the latter is confirmed as my preferred modulator. Just don't ask me what it is or why it's labelled 256. Obviously these preferences may not be relevant if using a different Dac or indeed different amp/speaker.

Also, the SGMS2015 is sat on a granite slab(30kg) on carpet over floorboards so I thought I heard a thickening/smearing of bass lines on bass heavy material caused by vibrations. At 84db the room does start to sing along in the best possible way. Luckily I had a set of three Aurios roller bearings and with some help elevated the SGMS2015 onto the bearings. An additional spacer was used due to the bearings being about 2mm shorter than stock feet. Great result, the bass now quicker and less smeared.

Still can't believe how good Tidal sounds.

Cheers
Blue58
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
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Hong Kong
Is it because more expensive?

Pearl of the Orient = ?
Go to listen to them yourself and tell us your view.
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
What did you listen to? What condition: bit perfect, oversampling, upconversion to DSD...? What player?

The 3 players are used with their native OS & playback softwares.
Files used are 16/44.1 files ripped from CD.
SGMS has native advantage because its HQPlayer onboard can do upsampling : to DSD512 when with T+A and to 24/176.4 when with Totaldac Six.
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
Interesting comparison, with the Totaldac six coming out on top. A much more expensive Dac than the T&A (4x)
I'm assuming DSD256 through The six and DSD512 through Dac 8. Would be great to read some more info to complete the picture.
Just had another week with the SGMS2015 and tried the modulators again so I can be happy with my fit and forget choice, all in the context of my system and music choices, everything from The Wknd to Copland to Cecille McLorin Savant and Rush(reluctantly).
I'm hearing the ADSM7 as being a great match for DSD>512 and DSD7 256fs for everything else>DSD512. So, as I've only about 20 DSD recordings of dubious musical merit, the latter is confirmed as my preferred modulator. Just don't ask me what it is or why it's labelled 256. Obviously these preferences may not be relevant if using a different Dac or indeed different amp/speaker.
Also, the SGMS2015 is sat on a granite slab(30kg) on carpet over floorboards so I thought I heard a thickening/smearing of bass lines on bass heavy material caused by vibrations. At 84db the room does start to sing along in the best possible way. Luckily I had a set of three Aurios roller bearings and with some help elevated the SGMS2015 onto the bearings. An additional spacer was used due to the bearings being about 2mm shorter than stock feet. Great result, the bass now quicker and less smeared.
Still can't believe how good Tidal sounds.
Cheers
Blue58

Thanks for sharing the info on footers' effect on SGMS.

I noticed that SGMS performance can be enhanced further with accessories such as better usb cables and power-conditioner.
 

EuroDriver

Well-Known Member
Sep 16, 2015
926
2,479
450
Monaco
The 3 players are used with their native OS & playback softwares.
Files used are 16/44.1 files ripped from CD.
SGMS has native advantage because its HQPlayer onboard can do upsampling : to DSD512 when with T+A and to 24/176.4 when with Totaldac Six.

I had a landmark day with Ben and Dominc at Volent's office and showroom in Kowloon. Ben's Paragon VL3.5 speakers are superb, with in-house technology ribbon super tweeter, Acuton ceramic tweeter, ATD mid range and woofers, all in a HDF cabinet with no parallel sides. These speakers were TAS editors choice award winners !

It was my first meeting with the TotalDAC D1-six, and the task was to come up with new settings to suit this great sounding DAC so as to deliver the best possible sound from Roon to HQ Player upsampling to 24/176. We were able to develop new OS settings and HQ Player settings that brought the already excellent TDD1-6 to a new level.

With the T+ A DAC 8 DSD, we were able to raise the performance to a higher level with a USB cable change to Sablon's USB.

The SQ of both DAC's was raised so much, that people will need to hear both of these DAC's again to see which one they like the best.

The depth of the sound stage was an incredible 3.5 meters behind the plane of the speakers
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
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Hong Kong
I thought you can tell the sound quality by price and no need for any auditioning.

Which one you like more : music/audio or to argue with others?

Go listen and share your view here.
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
I had a landmark day with Ben and Dominc at Volent's office and showroom in Kowloon. Ben's Paragon VL3.5 speakers are superb, with in-house technology ribbon super tweeter, Acuton ceramic tweeter, ATD mid range and woofers, all in a HDF cabinet with no parallel sides. These speakers were TAS editors choice award winners !
It was my first meeting with the TotalDAC D1-six, and the task was to come up with new settings to suit this great sounding DAC so as to deliver the best possible sound from Roon to HQ Player upsampling to 24/176. We were able to develop new OS settings and HQ Player settings that brought the already excellent TDD1-6 to a new level.
With the T+ A DAC 8 DSD, we were able to raise the performance to a higher level with a USB cable change to Sablon's USB.
The SQ of both DAC's was raised so much, that people will need to hear both of these DAC's again to see which one they like the best.
The depth of the sound stage was an incredible 3.5 meters behind the plane of the speakers

Hi Edward,

I shall visit Volent showroom again on Wed evening.
Hope that I may meet you and learn from you how to set the HQPlayer to suit different DACs.

Many thanks in advance!

CK
 

GuillaumeB

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Mar 10, 2014
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www.boyeraudio.com
It was my first meeting with the TotalDAC D1-six, and the task was to come up with new settings to suit this great sounding DAC so as to deliver the best possible sound from Roon to HQ Player upsampling to 24/176. We were able to develop new OS settings and HQ Player settings that brought the already excellent TDD1-6 to a new level.

Very interesting. What did you make of the totaldac d1-six? There aren't many reviews online so your impressions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Guillaume
 

EuroDriver

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Sep 16, 2015
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Very interesting. What did you make of the totaldac d1-six? There aren't many reviews online so your impressions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Guillaume

I have heard the TotalDAC D1-six several times and D1-12 yesterday, and can say with full confidence that their performance is superb when the audio data is being delivered from Roon to HQ Player, upsampled by HQ player to 24/176. Playing 16/44 native is not in the same sonic class, even when delivered by a top of the line bit perfect transport or music server. It's good to point out that HQ Players digital artifact hunting and elimination is also in action when doing PCM to PCM upsampling.

The TotalDAC's do need a very "RFI clean" source as evidenced by TotalDAC's various add on offerings. When I met Michael Lavorgna in Munich in May, he told me that he was extremely impressed by the TotalDAC's having just visited Vincent

on my recommended DAC's to audition list for Roon to HQ Player are sorted by detail on top and tone color / richness on the bottom

T+A DAC 8 DSD
TotalDAC D1-Six and 12
Lampizator Siebener DSD 512

What I would like to hear to evaluate are Nagra HD, and Lampizator Atlantic to see where they fall in the detail <> tone color spectrum

Not such a long list :)
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
I have heard the TotalDAC D1-six several times and D1-12 yesterday, and can say with full confidence that their performance is superb when the audio data is being delivered from Roon to HQ Player, upsampled by HQ player to 24/176. Playing 16/44 native is not in the same sonic class, even when delivered by a top of the line bit perfect transport or music server. It's good to point out that HQ Players digital artifact hunting and elimination is also in action when doing PCM to PCM upsampling.
The TotalDAC's do need a very "RFI clean" source as evidenced by TotalDAC's various add on offerings. When I met Michael Lavorgna in Munich in May, he told me that he was extremely impressed by the TotalDAC's having just visited Vincent

on my recommended DAC's to audition list for Roon to HQ Player are sorted by detail on top and tone color / richness on the bottom
T+A DAC 8 DSD
TotalDAC D1-Six and 12
Lampizator Siebener DSD 512

What I would like to hear to evaluate are Nagra HD, and Lampizator Atlantic to see where they fall in the detail <> tone color spectrum
Not such a long list :)

Hi Edward,

So you prefer the above-mentioned DACs to pair with SGMS instead of other top DACs such as dCS Vivaldi, CH Precision C1, MSB & Trinity?
Please share with us your view.
Many Thanks!

(My personal favourites are MSB Select II and Totaldac Twelve)

CK
 

EuroDriver

Well-Known Member
Sep 16, 2015
926
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Monaco
Hi Edward,

So you prefer the above-mentioned DACs to pair with SGMS instead of other top DACs such as dCS Vivaldi, CH Precision C1, MSB & Trinity?
Please share with us your view.
Many Thanks!

(My personal favourites are MSB Select II and Totaldac Twelve)

CK

Hi CK,

There is always a trade off between sonic performance, convenience & easy of use, and cost which my recommended to audition list reflects.

I have not heard the dCS Vivaldi stack, but I would, just for fun like to compare it with SGM with HQP but no Roon feeding to a custom DSD 512 discreet converter. However it's not something available on the market yet. It's a horse race between large parallel processing in firmware and hardware versus heavy software processing delivering to fast and relatively simple firmware and hardware processing.

I have only heard reports on CH Precision C1, I expect it to be a very nice paring with the SGM, but the PCM 1704 is a bit of an old timer classic now

The Trinity DAC is another DAC I have not heard, but I do know Trinity owners who prefer the TotalDAC D1 -12 to it, and it is very expensive

MSB is well beyond my pay grade, so it's not on my list of recommendations to friends
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
Hi CK,
There is always a trade off between sonic performance, convenience & easy of use, and cost which my recommended to audition list reflects.
I have not heard the dCS Vivaldi stack, but I would, just for fun like to compare it with SGM with HQP but no Roon feeding to a custom DSD 512 discreet converter. However it's not something available on the market yet. It's a horse race between large parallel processing in firmware and hardware versus heavy software processing delivering to fast and relatively simple firmware and hardware processing.
I have only heard reports on CH Precision C1, I expect it to be a very nice paring with the SGM, but the PCM 1704 is a bit of an old timer classic now
The Trinity DAC is another DAC I have not heard, but I do know Trinity owners who prefer the TotalDAC D1 -12 to it, and it is very expensive
MSB is well beyond my pay grade, so it's not on my list of recommendations to friends

Dear Edward,

Thank you so much in sharing your views with us.
Looking forward to meeting you tomorrow evening and listen to the tuned SGMS with T+A and Totaldac Six.

BTW please note that the pricing of these top DACs in Hong Kong is very different when compared to those in N Am or Europe.
You will be surprised by their net prices in Hong Kong. ;)

CK
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
I visited Volent HK showroom again yesterday to listened to the SGMS fine-tuned by Edward and Ben to suit Totaldac dac.
The default SGMS settings was for T+A DAC8 DSD dac.

Also chatted with Edward for half an hour.
He is very knowledgeable on CAS yet so humble.
I learned a lot from him.
Dear Edward : Many thanks!

Here are some photos taken. Components used were Totaldac Six dac, Bespoke passive preamp, Westminster Unum mono power-amps, black cat cables, Sablon & Vertere usb cables, Volent VL-3.5 loudspeakers.
P_20160810_184510.jpg
P_20160810_184530.jpg
P_20160810_184554.jpg

The SGMS after tuning had much improved dynamics and density.
It was very analog and IMO surpassed all other CAS frontends in this very important aspect.
The HQPlayer has the distinctive advantage of being able to be tuned to suit any DACs.
 

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