bo1972 Patricia Barber, Diana Krall recordings-YUK! I heard that Lumin makes very fine DAC streamers but if it were based on those recordings, I couldn't trust it. Try some 50's-60's jazz or classical (or even pop that was well recorded and mastered). Then I have a basis for comparison. When I bring great music to stereo shows, people stop and listen. Great sounding systems mesmerize listeners. |
Shouldn‘t the goal for any set-up be neutrality and transparency?In that case my vote goes to the Zodiac Platinum. I think that NOS Euphonics are ultimately a dead end and the Zodiac‘s upsampling actually allows for shifting filters away from the audible spectrum. The result is a very transparent and uncoloured presentation. BTW the best way to assess a DAC is solo piano because of its reach harmonic spectrum, overtone decay and Impulse. |
@antigrunge2 Some believe tuning a system akin to tuning a car's engine or suspension. For instance, to use a car analogy, which camp would you fall in? "I like my car to tell me exactly what the surface of the road is like. I want to feel every bump, crack, crevace and pothole but man, when we get to that smooth stretch of road, there is nothing better". |
Wouldn‘t that amount to fighting one coloration with another? My own experience throughout many years of improving my system has been that avoiding any deviation from neutrality and transparency is the only good way to achieve life-like sound reproduction. Usually this means reducing the number of analogue connections in a system to a minimum and fighting power related noise intrusion wherever possible, ideally with a dedicated spur to the mains. On digital, things are even more complicated: DACs can sound very different when fed via USB, SP/DIF or AES/EBU. I have from experience ruled out optical and am still experimenting with Ethernet. In my System SP/DIF is still the preferred route, USB is making progress but still prone to interference from the 5v line and poorly designed USB receiver chips. Here again, reducing mains and IR interference is paramount. So cleaning up rather than compensating is my preferred way to go. |
Who's version of "neutral or transparent"? Listen to a Steinway in the Village Vanguard or the exact piano in Carnegie hall. If it was recorded with identical equipment down to the cables? Of course not. We are listening to the space/musical interface. Please share with us what is neutral and transparent. |
