So I received an MPD-8 Dream DAC in on trade and am doing a deep dive into Edelweiss vs. the Dream. Still keeping the Kaya 45s for consistency sake but have a new amp that arrived which is stunningly good. A customer ordered the AVM Ovation A 8.3 integrated and asked me to roll a few tubes into it and offer some feedback on the amp. It has a relatively steep price tag at $18.2K but it is the best integrated amp I have had here. Also, for purposes of this test, I am using Inakustik power cables and ICs as I am trying to push these DACs as far as I can.
The two DACs are obviously from the same company and it is really more defining what more you get from Dream in comparison to the Edelweiss. Having not heard the Dream, I would have told you that the Edelweiss is the smoothest, most analog sounding DAC I have ever heard in my system. No hard edges, no digital artifacts (or so I thought) just liquid, analog sound. In some ways I like the Jadis or the Rockna as much but neither has the smoothness and analog feel of the Edelweiss.
Then you hear the Dream. The Edelwiess sounds hard and edgy compared to the dream. Admittedly, this is only obvious when you take a few seconds to switch cables between devices and get back to listening. But the best way to describe the difference between these two insanely good DACs is that the Dream just gives you more....
And by more, I mean cleaner and smoother detail. In practice this shows up in a place like the beginning of Duende from Bozio, Leven, Stevens. You guys know I have mentioned this many times and use it for a reference. This speedy bass solo at the beginning is incredibly difficult to reproduce without something going wrong. It either sounds muddy or you get digital artifacts that sound hard and slightly distorted. The Edelweiss sounded smooth and clean but compared to the Dream, there is still a little bit of a hard edge on each note. Listening to this on the dream DAC, it is the first time that I hear completely smooth bass plucks with no distortion.
The opening of Miles Davis Kind of Blue was cleaner and clearer on the Dream than I have heard on any other DAC streaming. The token exception to this was the SACD version on the Edelweiss. Those are a push.
The soundstage on the Dream is a bit wider. It is probably still not as massive as the Rockna but it is big sounding. The Central image is similarly deep but with the added width, instruments seem placed slightly differently. But both are rock solid.
The Dream is slightly more neutral tonally while the Edelweiss is just a hair warm. The AVM 8.3 is a neutral to warm integrated. The Dream is a bit more in your face in a good way where the Edelweiss was a hair polite. This shows up on a track like Maria Mena's cover of I Was Made for Loving You. When reproduced correctly, this track marches a line of being in your face vs. glaring. With the Dream, it was in my face. With the Edelweiss, it was slightly recessed.
Listening to that track made me warm up my typical reference AVM A5.2 integrated. Being a Class D tube hybrid, it is warm but a hair more forward than the 8.3. Playing the same song, the Edelweiss is right in my face and the Dream had moments that crossed the line into glaring.
Tonally, The Dream is about the same as the Jadis making me think it is just the tiniest bit warmer than the Rockna. The customer who traded it in has a Wavedream Signature and confirmed this as he had them side-by-side for a few months.
If you have the extra $9K, you definitely get more out of the Dream. It has definitely set a new standard for me.