To anybody that suggested Audibile differences can't be detected at the price points listed for digital frontends are wrong in my very humble opinion.
John Wright of museatex heavily moddified my Melior DAC, and the differences were huge. The problem with hearing digital differences is patience. Everybody wants instant results. The same people that can't hear differences in interconnects and speaker wire probably don't hear many differences in CDPs or digital front ends. They want instant change. They want to go from hearing RED to hearing BLACK within seconds.
I had been using a NAD 541i CDP and I hooked up the Meilor DAC (using the NAD as a transport) with a Moray James interconnect and a Harmonic Technology Cyberlink Platinum cable. At first there were differences but they were small, or so I thought. After 6 days I hooked up my NAD again and listened. I was disgusted. What I thought was a decent CDP sounded horribly 2-D stale and flat in comparison. These differences were not leaping out in front of me within the first 5mins of listening. After a week of listening to the DAC I heard differences that weren't subtle upon going back to the NAD. The Museatex gave me what the NAD did and didn't take anything away but simply added. Speakers can both add and subtract from other speakers, making the differences more striking.
I think part of the problem stems because speakers can be subjective and people can hear instant change. I sincerly doubt a person could spend $5k on a CDP/dac combo and "hate" its sonic signiture. Generally the more money spent on a CDP will allow you a better overall sound. Likewise, I have listened to speakers costing $5k that I hated. Speakers might be more subjective and might change the sound of music more, but don't disregard the frontend.
The kind of improvements take time, but when you hear them its all worth while. If you had to take away one thing from my system I can tell you right now, the DAC and digital interconnect would be the last thing you could get your paws on. I'd be content listening to this setup on cheaper speakers then a cheaper source. I can live with a system living up to its potential. Having more expensive speakers not coming close to what they could sound like would drive me insane, or kill me.
John Wright of museatex heavily moddified my Melior DAC, and the differences were huge. The problem with hearing digital differences is patience. Everybody wants instant results. The same people that can't hear differences in interconnects and speaker wire probably don't hear many differences in CDPs or digital front ends. They want instant change. They want to go from hearing RED to hearing BLACK within seconds.
I had been using a NAD 541i CDP and I hooked up the Meilor DAC (using the NAD as a transport) with a Moray James interconnect and a Harmonic Technology Cyberlink Platinum cable. At first there were differences but they were small, or so I thought. After 6 days I hooked up my NAD again and listened. I was disgusted. What I thought was a decent CDP sounded horribly 2-D stale and flat in comparison. These differences were not leaping out in front of me within the first 5mins of listening. After a week of listening to the DAC I heard differences that weren't subtle upon going back to the NAD. The Museatex gave me what the NAD did and didn't take anything away but simply added. Speakers can both add and subtract from other speakers, making the differences more striking.
I think part of the problem stems because speakers can be subjective and people can hear instant change. I sincerly doubt a person could spend $5k on a CDP/dac combo and "hate" its sonic signiture. Generally the more money spent on a CDP will allow you a better overall sound. Likewise, I have listened to speakers costing $5k that I hated. Speakers might be more subjective and might change the sound of music more, but don't disregard the frontend.
The kind of improvements take time, but when you hear them its all worth while. If you had to take away one thing from my system I can tell you right now, the DAC and digital interconnect would be the last thing you could get your paws on. I'd be content listening to this setup on cheaper speakers then a cheaper source. I can live with a system living up to its potential. Having more expensive speakers not coming close to what they could sound like would drive me insane, or kill me.
