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EMM Labs CDSD / DCC2 - Initial Listening Session

With only 48 hours of burn-in on these pieces, this review is hardly definitive- but here goes...

I think old Ed (Meitner) has hit the cover off the ball with this, his latest offering in CD/SACD playback equipment. The following comments are based on comparisons to my previous front-end: Meitnerized Philips SACD 1000, Meitner DAC6, Meitner Switchman II and apply to both SACD & CD playback.

The CDSD & DCC2 - compared to the previous Meitner rig---

-Much deeper soundstage, much more layered, as well, width about the same.
-Hall ambiance retrieval is vastly superior.
-Tonal and timbral qualities are unsurpassed in any digital gear I've experienced. Piano reproduction is absolutely stunningly good!! Acoustic guitar has the string interaction/wooden resonance of the real thing.
-There is a "Bloom" to instuments, even voice, that seems typically absent in digital playback. This quality is very "Analog" like.
-So far, I sense not even a suggestion of stridency or digital fatigue- It is just not there. This new gear is just plain musical. That word is overused- but there is no other word to better describe the overall experience. There is a natural seamlessness and natural bloom to the music, as a whole, which reminds me of a live performance within a live venue. All of the elements of that live experience seem reproduced faithfully by the CDSD & DCC2. This is no small feat. In quantitative terms I'd say the new gear is 25%-35% better, in every listening category (it is about the same in soudstage width), than the earlier 3 piece set-up I had.

As the new gear continues to burn-in there will certainly be changes and refinements, probably for the better, which I will try to keep track of. But so far- Ooh, La, La!!!

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT:
Kharma Midi Grand
Tenor 300 HP
Jena Labs Pathfinder
Shunyata Anaconda VX & VX Alpha
fbhifi
jjwa
69 posts
 
Out of the box, I was not so impressed, (I have the DCC2 replacing my CHORD DAC64 connected via TOSLINK on a CHORD BLU transport)......the sound seemed flat & hard.
Now after about 10 hours play time it's a whole different storey.
Everything I want to say about the DCC2 has already been said by some of you wonderful people on the ..GON and I will just regurgitate some of the highlights: natural, unbelievably detail, precise deep/wide/ soundstage etc.
Thanks to all who posted their experiences (FBHIFI,TIREGUY, HOOPER, CEOL, JTINN.....etc.) I bought on your recommendations without ever having heard or seen. Now I'm just waiting for the CDSD that will probably bring me to the stratosphere.....
drhst20
71 posts
 
Jjwa....are you using a modified philips? I though I had heard what the DCC2 was capable of before I had a Meitner compatible transport...but now....WOW. It really makes all the difference. If you are just using a standard transport with the DCC2...be prepared to be impressed.
jjwa
69 posts
 
Drhst20....I'm running my DCC2 through a "standard transport" via the TOSLINK connection as I await the CDSD.

Thanks for the reassurance..... I can hardly wait.

Right now I'm experimenting with using my NAGRA PL-L preamp and bypassing the DCC2 preamp.......it really, really opens up the sound! but I would like to wait until the DCC2 breaks in before passing final judgement. I read here on the ...GON that it takes 500 hrs. Does anyone know if that is 500 hrs PLAY TIME or just 500 hrs PLUGED in?
mes
393 posts
 
Drhst20 is correct, if you haven't heard the DCC2 ( or DAC 6e for that matter) with the CDSD, you've not heard the this combnation is capable of. As good as the modded Phillips was as a transport, it pales in comparison to the CDSD. The difference is startling. And Jjwa, neither play time nor plugged in. Pilates.
nikki
57 posts
 
Just leave it turned on all the time. It is true that the DCC2 requires a long break-in period as well as warm up period, so I never turn it off unless I'm away from home for an extended period. The CDSD seems to stay on, even when on standby, unlike the DCC2 which just shuts down.

The magic isn't there until you mate it with the CDSD, not to my ears anyways.
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