Hi guys,
I spent yesterday nearly 2 hours with Geoffrey Armstrong in his Sound Galleries to audition SGM server and especially DSD 512 fs files.
Geoff kindly prepared the system consisting of Duo Omega G2 horns( my former speakers) but instead of normal 231 subs he installed... big basshorns from Trio series.
Then we had the amplification from Audiopax( pre and monoblocks) , the front end was SGM connected with Tellurium usb to T+A DAC8 DSD.
On the server both HQPlayer and Roon were installed , Geoffrey presented to me Roon capabilities which are really impressive, especially as far as informations about the artist, recording and related items are concerned.
SGM was equipped with 1TB SSD and the files were transfered a day before from NAS.
I selected well known pieces of music of different genres for audition : Cassandra Wilson for vocals, Count Basie for swing jazz and Scheherazade the 4th mouvement for classical .
All albums were standard RB resolution , transcoded then with HQ Player to dsd 512 and played with T+A DAC.
In the beginning the sound lacked of integration for me, so Geoffrey changed setting of basshorn and reduced the deep bass a bit.
Now I must say that I am in the camp of those who prefer music in native format , be it PCM RB, hirez or DSD.
I believe the less signal is manipulated, the better is the sound.
So I was sceptical about all this 512 fs story and its supremacy over native formats.
However
Already Cassandra Wilson presentation showed outstanding level of transparency and fluidity .The timbre was to dark for me and then Geoff changed basshorn settings, in a good way.
With Scheherazade I discovered very precise and deep stage with resolve, selective and smooth sound on the dark backround.
Ok , I said, but do you have on SSD any Fone native dsd recording , my beloved files?
Hi did and first we played Stradivari violin in 512 fs, transcoded from native 64fs.
Then HQ Player was switched off and the music was reproduced by the DAC in the native form.
And you know what?
It was no contest, the native lacked of transparency, precision and resolution.
The only thing which was still there was the timbre, but the whole presentation was blurred compared to 512 fs.
So , I wil be back home next week with the homework to upgrade my Lampi board to 512 fs and prepare myself for the audition of SGM at home , most probably after Warsaw Audio Show in the beginning of November.
In the end we played some pop and rock music a bit louder , Speed Demon by Michael Jackson from RB material sounded as the best pcm hires.
Of course there are only first impressions after a short listening session, but I am a bit less sceptical about 512 fs and congratulate Geoffrey and his team for their server , it has a big potential .