Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

UPDATE!!!

Thanks to Dave, The Audio Doctor, for stopping by and bringing all those fun toys. See the YouTube video for images and Dave explaining the gear.

What he brought :
-Baetis music server (I’ll let Dave post about the nuances of the external power supply system used) - from what I understand a pretty standard example of the Baetis. Supposedly there is a higher current power supply available.
-Enklein David power cord
-Enklein usb cord
-Light Harmonic Lightspeed 20G usb cable

I’ll start with the usb cables (and will post the Baetis to MP64 comparison in another post). The Enklein cable has about 200 hours on it while the LH 20G was almost new. The Enklein is beautifully built with very heavy usb connectors and stalks that are very stiff but appear strong and resistant to bending and damage. If you need a tight turn off of the unit, these are not the cables for you. They are wrapped in a golden yellow woven material that is attractive and strong. The cable is expensive for a usb cable and looks expensive. The LH 20G is two smaller cables coming off of the usb connector which is strong and simply implemented with heat wrap connecting the plug to the wires. It is very flexible and looks resistant to damage over time. There is a black box in the middle of the double cable run. Instead of trying to explain it, here is LH’s web page on the cables text:
“With our new LightSpeed 20G USB Cable we enhance two key things: (1) Completely bypass the USB sending device’s noisy 5V power supply with an ultra low noise 5V battery based power supply (2) Regenerate and re-clock the USB high speed data stream with our “Regenerate and Revive” circuitry that exceeds the USB 3.0 standard.”

The box is powered and has a battery that recharges with a micro usb plus and charger. I have no idea how long the charge lasts but I would Imagine quite a while.....

We first listened to my “stock” system using my tried and true Wireworld Platinum Starlight usb cable (most recent model) between my Memory Player 64, which now has just over 1000 hours on it, and the LH Davinci DAC. The Wireworld usb cable probably has 5-7k hours on it! The sound was familiar and wonderful. Soundstage was wide, deep and with very nice image specificity. Ok, a quick swap of the usb cables to the Enklein and Dave and I “dropped the digital needle” on the same three tracks. Wow! Did we change cables or components?!? The texture of vocals became more layered, subtlety of tone was better, dynamics improved and the soundstage became deeper and about 6-10” taller. I would say it took a step towards realism. I was expecting an improvement as Enklein makes some seriously good cables, but I wasn’t expecting THIS big a difference! I’m already picturing the Enklein in my system for a long time, when we hit the stop button and swap out the Enklein for the LH 20G. We hit play starting at the top track, and almost instantly Dave and I look at each other in astonishment! The vocals jumped a foot higher, to normal human height. The bass became more taught and extended, the entire drum set suddenly appeared IN my room. The upright bass wasn’t just better, it was there! It was natural and just flowed easily without effort, yet displayed dynamics that I had not heard before. If the Enklein was wow, the LH 20G was Holy $&!? !!!

Now I don’t know, and strongly assume there is, a designed synergy between the LH 20G and the LH Davinci 2 DAC. And the Enklein was exceptional, and may sound best with other dacs. But with my system the LH 20G was mouth dropingly amazing! It sounded like a massive component upgrade.

I can’t wait for the guys to come over and hear the system and see their reaction.

Dave was kind enough to leave the 20G with me to burn in a bit more before I make a purchase decision. But I don’t think it will be leaving my system, ever!

Thanks Mr. Audio Doctor!!

For those that want to upgrade your DAC, upgrade your usb cable first! It may be just the upgrade your looking for.
——

See the next post for a comparison between the Baetis and Memory Player.

You couldn’t get any worse source music than iTunes. Plus you are limited by using a Mac mini with amarra. Plus having a Mac in an audio room is the worse. I had this setup a few years ago and replaced it with an Auralic Aries and SQ was much better. Even with the Aries I used a AQ Diamond USB cable to an external dac. USB sucks!
I sold that setup and went with the PS Audio directstream with the bridge 2 and SQ is fantastic.
i moved the Mac mini into the basement with 24TB of raid disk using OS X server for all my music and communicated to the DS using 1G Ethernet 

Cable addendum:

I don't know how many of you have played with power cords. But they make a bigger difference than one would think. I am a HUGE Shunyata fan and currently have a full loom of Shunyata Sigma NR power cables throughout my system and they are excellent. I have heard many (not close to all) power cords in the $100-$4000 price range and I am continuously impressed with, and have learned to rely on, the performance of Shunyata power cables and conditioners.

That said, the power cable that the Audio Doctor has brought over several times to my room (I think he’s taunting me) is the Enklein DAVID power cable. Enklein cables are hand built, masterfully crafted pieces of audiophile jewelry, like my Crystal Cable Absolute Dream speaker wire. At $8,800- a cable they are nigh unreachable but the improvement on any component you power them with is astounding.

Going from my already expensive Sigma NR to the DAVID yields a denser and more extended low frequency with a slight refinement of the overall presentation as if the music is being served on a silver platter instead of a wood cutting board. There is more presence in the upper registers that doesn’t cause brightness, but adds clarity and resolution without being offensive or overstated; it’s more a sense of correctness than added accuracy. The overall construction of the presentation just seams more masterfully recreated, if that makes sense. And that’s only using ONE DAVID on the server!!!! I would need 6!!!! But just thinking about those results gets me a bit hot and bothered.... ;)

Dave took his Enklein DAVID home with him and will continue taunting me with them with every visit I am sure. I now know that sense of remorse reviewers feel when they need to send back equipment that makes an incontrovertible improvement in their system but is just beyond their reach. 

Rbstehno - I’m not sure where you are thread wise, but the Mac Mini hasn’t been my source for quite some time. I’ve moved WAY beyond that. I will update my virtual system as I didn’t even think of it until you just posted. I’m assuming that’s what you are looking at. I’ve auditioned almost a dozen servers since then and am now dancing with some of the best servers out there. 

I vehemently disagree with your blanket statement that “USB sucks.” I have heard usb sound meh and I have heard (and use) usb that sounds amazing! Don’t believe the hype that usb is dead: it ain’t. It’s not what you have, it’s how you use it that counts. ;)

UPDATE - SERVER COMPARISON!

The long awaited comparison between the mighty and very well respected Baetis and my newly acquired and wonderful sounding Memory Player 64 server is upon us! Huzzah , I say!!!!

As always, enclosure first....

The Baetis has the best enclosure I have yet encountered in a modified PC. It is a completely custom enclosure with the generic layout of a PC but in a more rigid, attractive, purpose built design. It looks more like an audio component. It has an external power supply which allows the main unit to be a bit more petite than the other modified PC’s I have seen. The back was well laid out and traded a power receptacle for a power umbilical connector. I could not open the unit but I remember reading that the internal cables are upgraded and intentionally kept to minimal runs, all done to improve sound quality. There is a built in disc drive to rip CD’s and the unit boot up quickly and without issues. I will openly state that the Baetis is a better executed enclosure and, I suspect, is wired more elegantly and with more intention, than the more expensive MP64. I just don’t know how, or even if, this translates into improved sound quality.

We used JRiver on both systems. No upsampling on the MP64. Dave set the Baetis to upsample; he felt it sounded best with these settings. I ran the MP64 with my Shunyata Sigma NR and we gave the Baetis the advantage of the Enklein DAVID power cord. Both were set on StillPoint Ultra 5’s and the same LH usb cable was used.

The Baetis had been run at Dr. Dave’s until it’s 45 minute journey to my house, and was plugged in shortly after arrival. Identical files were loaded to compare. It was on and running for around 45-60 minutes prior to its first comparison. Was it warmed up and settled? Not completely; but it wasn’t ice cold either. It worked flawlessly and without issue.

We listened to the MP64 first while letting the Baetis warm up. Then to the Baetis, and then back to the MP64.

Sonically, Dave and I differed a bit in opinion. He preferred the more forward sounding Baetis while I preferred my more harmonic Memory Player. I heard a slight collapse of the front to back soundstage on the Baetis. The MP64 projected that life size top to bottom soundstage, especially with the newly installed LH usb cable. We lost some of that with the Baetis. Tonally they were similar. I heard a greater sense of depth and control in the lower frequencies, and I felt a richer sense of harmonic structure on the MP64. I think Dave preferred the slight warmth the Baetis bestowed upon the midrange. From MP64 to Baetis we both agreed we actually heard a bigger difference when going from the Wireworld to LH usb cable then swapping components, lol. We both agreed that there was a more dramatic difference palpable upon the change back to the MP64 then the initial difference going to the Baetis. It became more apparent that the MP64 offered delicacy, layered harmonics, a deeper and more realistic soundstage and image, and extended dynamics that the Baetis lacked (only in comparison to the MP64). But considering the price difference ($17k vs $48-52k’ish), the Baetis performed mesmerizingly well, and far surpassed the previous champion Aurender N10 (which makes sense considering it’s twice the price). For $17k it was just awesome! And makes me really look forward to the upcoming release of the newly revamped SGM Gen 2 server, which I believe to be around the same price.

We did, of course, try the DAVID power cord on the MP64 when we had completed our comparison. And it did the same magic to the MP64 that I’ve heard on everything else. And it pushed the MP64 that much further above the Baetis in the comparison since the Baetis was powered by the DAVID the whole time.

I congratulated Dave, The Audio Doctor, on representing some seriously fine equipment and thanked him for a fun time. After all was said and done, he had given me over 5 hours of his precious time.

I invited him to bring the Baetis back for a head to head against the SGM Gen 2 when I can arrange for it to grace my room.

The world of high end audio has some seriously awesome digital front end to consider these days. Is it maybe safe to say that “The times they are a’changing “?