As I have posted here and on several other forums, I couldn't have been happier with what a K30 brought to my system. It replaced and Innous Zenith Mk3 and Chord M-Scaler. I combine them because the K30 has both a built-in scaling capability via HQPlayer and the ability to play files scaled up to 16FS using PGGB. The Zenith Mk3 fell short on both those marks. What mattered most though was that the K30 absolutely clobbered the Zenith Mk3/M-Scaler combo - especially in tonal density, tonal saturation and dynamics. It was quieter too, which in addition to allowing more low level detail emerge also brought a greater ease and naturalness to the music.
I really wasn't itching to hear how a K50 might compare, but the opportunity presented itself. Just over two weeks ago a demo K50 arrived. Out of the box what most struck me was the impact of struck notes. I'm a drummer so the reproduction of drums, cymbals and percussion have always been the most important to me. One of my reference tracks is “Sippin’ At Bells” from The Roy Haynes Trio. This is an incredible live performance that is very well recorded. Roy Haynes’ communicates a great deal in his drumming via his touch. From light taps to WHACK, and many levels in between. With the K50, the WHACK is conveyed with a ferocity that my K30 could not muster (though my K30 conveys this far better than any server I had previously owned).
Despite all that I mentioned, during that first week with the K50 I wasn't so sure that it really justified its higher price over the K30. That changed though once week two came along. What emerged after that just astonishing. I would sum it up as profound improvements in tone (timbre/tonal density/tonal color), dynamics/propulsive-ness, and naturalness.
Another favorite album is Wayne Shorter’s “Speak No Evil”. When Hubbard and Shorter really blow there is considerable energy behind that - just like it would be with you sitting in the same room as them. The K30 hinted at it but it’s much more impactful and more like you'd expect from being in the room with those musicians with the K50. Tone and timbre are off the charts as well. It truly boggles my mind that a server plays such a big role in the reproduction of timbre, but no other component swap has moved the needle as far as the K50 has. It's evident in vocals as well - maybe even more so.
Nearly all my listening to the K50 has been via USB. Antipodes favors their reclocker over USB and their reasoning has to do with the fact that the clock in the K50 will be superior to the DACs found inside most DACs. That's certainly true, but it wasn't clear that this would necessarily be true in my situation as my DAC gets an assist from a REF10 SE120 when the USB input is selected. To really test this out I would need to have digital cables that are nearly on par with each other, but unfortunately none of my HDMI cables come close to my Shunyata Omega USB. I report on my first round of comparisons here, but it appears to me so far that the digital cable matters more than which of the K50's digital outputs are used. I will say though that the sound quality USB is freaking fantastic.
I'm really glad to see some of the positive reports trickling out about the OLADRA. But, I hope that doesn't cause folks to look past the K50 because Antipodes really hit the ball out of the park with it. The K30 isn't a slouch either providing one be mindful of its more-affordable price. I feel like I really lucked out with my choice to move to an Antipodes server. They really get right all the things that are important to my musical enjoyment.
I hope this was of some interest.
I really wasn't itching to hear how a K50 might compare, but the opportunity presented itself. Just over two weeks ago a demo K50 arrived. Out of the box what most struck me was the impact of struck notes. I'm a drummer so the reproduction of drums, cymbals and percussion have always been the most important to me. One of my reference tracks is “Sippin’ At Bells” from The Roy Haynes Trio. This is an incredible live performance that is very well recorded. Roy Haynes’ communicates a great deal in his drumming via his touch. From light taps to WHACK, and many levels in between. With the K50, the WHACK is conveyed with a ferocity that my K30 could not muster (though my K30 conveys this far better than any server I had previously owned).
Despite all that I mentioned, during that first week with the K50 I wasn't so sure that it really justified its higher price over the K30. That changed though once week two came along. What emerged after that just astonishing. I would sum it up as profound improvements in tone (timbre/tonal density/tonal color), dynamics/propulsive-ness, and naturalness.
Another favorite album is Wayne Shorter’s “Speak No Evil”. When Hubbard and Shorter really blow there is considerable energy behind that - just like it would be with you sitting in the same room as them. The K30 hinted at it but it’s much more impactful and more like you'd expect from being in the room with those musicians with the K50. Tone and timbre are off the charts as well. It truly boggles my mind that a server plays such a big role in the reproduction of timbre, but no other component swap has moved the needle as far as the K50 has. It's evident in vocals as well - maybe even more so.
Nearly all my listening to the K50 has been via USB. Antipodes favors their reclocker over USB and their reasoning has to do with the fact that the clock in the K50 will be superior to the DACs found inside most DACs. That's certainly true, but it wasn't clear that this would necessarily be true in my situation as my DAC gets an assist from a REF10 SE120 when the USB input is selected. To really test this out I would need to have digital cables that are nearly on par with each other, but unfortunately none of my HDMI cables come close to my Shunyata Omega USB. I report on my first round of comparisons here, but it appears to me so far that the digital cable matters more than which of the K50's digital outputs are used. I will say though that the sound quality USB is freaking fantastic.
I'm really glad to see some of the positive reports trickling out about the OLADRA. But, I hope that doesn't cause folks to look past the K50 because Antipodes really hit the ball out of the park with it. The K30 isn't a slouch either providing one be mindful of its more-affordable price. I feel like I really lucked out with my choice to move to an Antipodes server. They really get right all the things that are important to my musical enjoyment.
I hope this was of some interest.