Spent another instructive afternoon evening with my audiophile friends in Zürich, a comparative listening session of three DACs in the same known system. For more details on the system and thoughts about the venerable old dCS Purcell/Delius combo, see:
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?21387-Playback-Designs-Merlot-comparative-listening-session-(long-rambling-tedious)
In the meantime, our engineer friend returned the Playback Designs Merlot, sold his Berkeley, and is still looking to replace his Weiss DAC202 in his main rig. Actually, this time round, we didn’t even bother plugging in the DAC202, but given the conclusions reached last time, used the old dCS combo as reference, spending most time with the DAVE and comparatively little with the Aune (which also belongs to our engineer friend, who uses it in his holiday chalet, planning to replace it with the Weiss as soon as he’s made up his mind on what to use in his main rig).
Again, the old dCS combo was fed PCM, if necessary resampled from DSD by JRiver, via a Weiss INT202 FireWire converter, putting it at a theoretical disadvantage (but see earlier thread for our impressions/conclusions).
In short, another apples to oranges comparison in that:
- the DAVE will accept and convert DSD up do 512fs and PCM up to 768 kS/s (= double DXD?)
- the Delius/Purcell combo played back re-/upsampled 24/192 PCM regardless of the native format (our engineer friend created different zones in JRiver, which also converted all DSD to PCM on the fly for dCS playback via the Weiss FW/AES-converter). Filter 6 (minimum phase) was used for the Delius throughout.
- the DAC 202 will accept DSD at its USB (but not the FireWire) input, but internally converts to PCM before conversion
- the Aune S16 will accept and convert DSD up do 256fs and PCM up to 32-bit and 768 kS/s
All units were levelled to within less than 1 dB (while the dCS allows 0.5 dB steps, the DAVE’s volume control only does 1 dB steps).
Playing back music with the DAVE, we used PCM+ mode for PCM and DSD+ mode for DSD, and didn’t bother checking what happens if one didn’t.
As to the Aune, we used our engineer friend’s filter settings and never bothered trying different ones.
Needless to say, most time was spent with the DAVE this time, same as last time with the Merlot.
We played and compared some of every format, single-blind (one person at the Goldpoint switch, the others trying to guess which DAC they were hearing). Mostly classical (opera and symphonic), some jazz and blues.
Fast forward to my/our conclusions:
- Chord DAVE pros: one of the better PCM converters any of us has heard, in particular also because it does e.g. RBCD resolution well, too (quite a feat given this is a main asset of the dCS combo, the DAVE easily held its own in this regard). A bit warm with some emphasis on upper mid-bass (rather than the dCS combo’s typically wide-band deep bass extension), which can be nice with some recordings, especially classical. It’s clearly an “effect”/a peculiarity of the converter, however, and as such relies on the recording quality, in particular dynamically and in terms of (adding) coloration. All in all, (much) closer with PCM than than the Merlot, qualitatively almost a toss-up compared to the old dCS combo, which nevertheless emerged as the winner, because…
- Chord DAVE cons: …the mid-bass to midrange warming will add up to noticeable compression with “loud” recordings (not even referring to heavily compressed ones, but e.g. Alan Parsons or Dream Theater), and it somehow managed to make the piano in Jarrett’s Köln Concert, to quote our hobbyist jazz pianist engineer friend, “not sound like a piano at all” (more clattery/clangy than I’ve ever heard it sound with a converter in this price category, and I’m the first to admit it can be a problematic recording depending on the converter/playback system, as it was this very recording that originally sent me, as a teenager, on this ever-lasting pursuit, so to speak, of the audiophile grail). Disappointingly, the DAVE’s DSD playback doesn’t quite sound like native DSD conversion at all (is it or is it not, by the way?), but reminiscent of PCM resampling with tacked on resonance (as if some filter added “analogue” reverberation), i.e. it sounds overly resonant with DSD64, then gradually better with higher-rate DSD (noticeably less irritating with DSD128), but nowhere near the best we’ve heard (e.g. the Playback Designs Merlot). Compared to the dCS combo playing back the same music converted to PCM on the fly, the DAVE clearly did too much of its “own thing”, and consistently so to all DSD64 recordings we tried.
- dCS combo pros: same as last time of course, but in direct comparison to the DAVE this time, what struck again was the huge soundstage (which in particular in terms the depth the DAVE doesn’t quite match either, even though it was immediately apparent it does better with PCM in this and almost every other regard than the Merlot). The dCS was again clearly the more wide-band and dynamic of the two with its no-holds-barred realism, which…
- dCS combo cons: …still sounds ever-so-slightly raw compared to the fractionally warmer DAVE, but neither approaches the Merlot’s liquidity and (frankly unnatural/unrealistic) smoothness. Again, the sheer size of the holographic real-life soundstage occasionally makes images hang more loosely in space, it seems as if there were a direct relation between the soundstage “hologram’s” lifelike dimensions and its density (more forward converters tend sound more compressed and “wrong”, but also “thicker”), and it’s true one occasionally wishes the dCS would do all it gets so uncompromisingly right while sounding more suave.
In a nutshell, the DAVE will make (some) well-recorded PCM sound a bit “warmer” than the dCS combo, which presents everything unvarnished just like the studio gear it originally descended from, much preferable for long-term listening (we all listen to classical music as much or more than anything, our host opera singer wife in particular, so anything deemed “souped up” or “gratuitous short-term effect” is a no-go).
- Aune S16 pros: its price! Seriously, although I ultimately couldn’t live with it, it’s surprising for its category.
- Aune S16 cons: Far from craggy, it still makes the old dCS combo sound positively voluptuous if not opulent in this admittedly unfair direct comparison, not to mention the Aune’s comparative lack of (low-level!) resolution, soundstage size and palpability, and even more noticeably, dynamic heft and gradation. It’s DSD playback doesn’t quite sound like DSD playback either (e.g. compared to some converters that thrive on it), lacking liquidity and treble resolution and refinement. In short, although clearly worth the money, it belongs to the 99.9% gear that sounds like good HiFi but barely hints at lifelike realism.
(For our impressions on the Weiss DAC 202 please see earlier thread!)
Conclusions: the first shock, which is that 15-year-old digital gear could still hold its own, has worn off a bit since last time. Still looking for a jack of all trades device for our engineer friend (suggestions welcome, but note that the sheer mention of tubes will make him shriek and disappear in a cloud of dust) after one DAC that did DSD great but PCM less so (the Merlot), and another one that does (some!) PCM great but not DSD (the DAVE).
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?21387-Playback-Designs-Merlot-comparative-listening-session-(long-rambling-tedious)
In the meantime, our engineer friend returned the Playback Designs Merlot, sold his Berkeley, and is still looking to replace his Weiss DAC202 in his main rig. Actually, this time round, we didn’t even bother plugging in the DAC202, but given the conclusions reached last time, used the old dCS combo as reference, spending most time with the DAVE and comparatively little with the Aune (which also belongs to our engineer friend, who uses it in his holiday chalet, planning to replace it with the Weiss as soon as he’s made up his mind on what to use in his main rig).
Again, the old dCS combo was fed PCM, if necessary resampled from DSD by JRiver, via a Weiss INT202 FireWire converter, putting it at a theoretical disadvantage (but see earlier thread for our impressions/conclusions).
In short, another apples to oranges comparison in that:
- the DAVE will accept and convert DSD up do 512fs and PCM up to 768 kS/s (= double DXD?)
- the Delius/Purcell combo played back re-/upsampled 24/192 PCM regardless of the native format (our engineer friend created different zones in JRiver, which also converted all DSD to PCM on the fly for dCS playback via the Weiss FW/AES-converter). Filter 6 (minimum phase) was used for the Delius throughout.
- the DAC 202 will accept DSD at its USB (but not the FireWire) input, but internally converts to PCM before conversion
- the Aune S16 will accept and convert DSD up do 256fs and PCM up to 32-bit and 768 kS/s
All units were levelled to within less than 1 dB (while the dCS allows 0.5 dB steps, the DAVE’s volume control only does 1 dB steps).
Playing back music with the DAVE, we used PCM+ mode for PCM and DSD+ mode for DSD, and didn’t bother checking what happens if one didn’t.
As to the Aune, we used our engineer friend’s filter settings and never bothered trying different ones.
Needless to say, most time was spent with the DAVE this time, same as last time with the Merlot.
We played and compared some of every format, single-blind (one person at the Goldpoint switch, the others trying to guess which DAC they were hearing). Mostly classical (opera and symphonic), some jazz and blues.
Fast forward to my/our conclusions:
- Chord DAVE pros: one of the better PCM converters any of us has heard, in particular also because it does e.g. RBCD resolution well, too (quite a feat given this is a main asset of the dCS combo, the DAVE easily held its own in this regard). A bit warm with some emphasis on upper mid-bass (rather than the dCS combo’s typically wide-band deep bass extension), which can be nice with some recordings, especially classical. It’s clearly an “effect”/a peculiarity of the converter, however, and as such relies on the recording quality, in particular dynamically and in terms of (adding) coloration. All in all, (much) closer with PCM than than the Merlot, qualitatively almost a toss-up compared to the old dCS combo, which nevertheless emerged as the winner, because…
- Chord DAVE cons: …the mid-bass to midrange warming will add up to noticeable compression with “loud” recordings (not even referring to heavily compressed ones, but e.g. Alan Parsons or Dream Theater), and it somehow managed to make the piano in Jarrett’s Köln Concert, to quote our hobbyist jazz pianist engineer friend, “not sound like a piano at all” (more clattery/clangy than I’ve ever heard it sound with a converter in this price category, and I’m the first to admit it can be a problematic recording depending on the converter/playback system, as it was this very recording that originally sent me, as a teenager, on this ever-lasting pursuit, so to speak, of the audiophile grail). Disappointingly, the DAVE’s DSD playback doesn’t quite sound like native DSD conversion at all (is it or is it not, by the way?), but reminiscent of PCM resampling with tacked on resonance (as if some filter added “analogue” reverberation), i.e. it sounds overly resonant with DSD64, then gradually better with higher-rate DSD (noticeably less irritating with DSD128), but nowhere near the best we’ve heard (e.g. the Playback Designs Merlot). Compared to the dCS combo playing back the same music converted to PCM on the fly, the DAVE clearly did too much of its “own thing”, and consistently so to all DSD64 recordings we tried.
- dCS combo pros: same as last time of course, but in direct comparison to the DAVE this time, what struck again was the huge soundstage (which in particular in terms the depth the DAVE doesn’t quite match either, even though it was immediately apparent it does better with PCM in this and almost every other regard than the Merlot). The dCS was again clearly the more wide-band and dynamic of the two with its no-holds-barred realism, which…
- dCS combo cons: …still sounds ever-so-slightly raw compared to the fractionally warmer DAVE, but neither approaches the Merlot’s liquidity and (frankly unnatural/unrealistic) smoothness. Again, the sheer size of the holographic real-life soundstage occasionally makes images hang more loosely in space, it seems as if there were a direct relation between the soundstage “hologram’s” lifelike dimensions and its density (more forward converters tend sound more compressed and “wrong”, but also “thicker”), and it’s true one occasionally wishes the dCS would do all it gets so uncompromisingly right while sounding more suave.
In a nutshell, the DAVE will make (some) well-recorded PCM sound a bit “warmer” than the dCS combo, which presents everything unvarnished just like the studio gear it originally descended from, much preferable for long-term listening (we all listen to classical music as much or more than anything, our host opera singer wife in particular, so anything deemed “souped up” or “gratuitous short-term effect” is a no-go).
- Aune S16 pros: its price! Seriously, although I ultimately couldn’t live with it, it’s surprising for its category.
- Aune S16 cons: Far from craggy, it still makes the old dCS combo sound positively voluptuous if not opulent in this admittedly unfair direct comparison, not to mention the Aune’s comparative lack of (low-level!) resolution, soundstage size and palpability, and even more noticeably, dynamic heft and gradation. It’s DSD playback doesn’t quite sound like DSD playback either (e.g. compared to some converters that thrive on it), lacking liquidity and treble resolution and refinement. In short, although clearly worth the money, it belongs to the 99.9% gear that sounds like good HiFi but barely hints at lifelike realism.
(For our impressions on the Weiss DAC 202 please see earlier thread!)
Conclusions: the first shock, which is that 15-year-old digital gear could still hold its own, has worn off a bit since last time. Still looking for a jack of all trades device for our engineer friend (suggestions welcome, but note that the sheer mention of tubes will make him shriek and disappear in a cloud of dust) after one DAC that did DSD great but PCM less so (the Merlot), and another one that does (some!) PCM great but not DSD (the DAVE).
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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