Ok, after a week of silence, I had another few hour session of comparing. I've always found I can't compare sound quality, very well, after prolonged listening, due to confusion. I get a better sense of what I'm hearing on a "first impression" basis, like I'm listening to someone's system for the first time. After a week of not listening, my memory, and expectations, for what my stuff sounds like is pretty much gone.
Anyways, after listening to the Valab, for a few songs, and then going back to my CDP's internal DAC for the same songs, I figured out what the Valab is lacking, in my system. It's the "blackness" of the background that's absent. Yes, the Valab is easy to listen to, but it sounds more like I'm listening to music being reproduced within my room. By comparison, my CDP creates a whole new "space" from where the music emerges from, and I find it easy to suck myself into this space, and listen from deep within. With my eyes closed, I feel as if If I'm somewhere else. I think this sense of space is what most of us are striving for. With the Valab, I feel as if I'm still sitting in my own living room. It just sounds more 2 dimensional. I'm sure some modding or cable swapping would help, but do I wanna go down that path?
On the other hand, I found if I got up and walked around to other areas of the house, the Valab sounds more listenable, and more what people would expect a stereo to sound like. It's like, if I was going to have a party and crank some tunes, I would use the Valab. Hmmm.... Maybe I'll just stick with my CDP, for now, and use the Valab for my "party DAC", cause I can crank some loud hard core music through this thing without things sounding objectionable, but for solo critical listening from my sweet spot, my CDP has the edge, by a wide margin. Much more fine detail being heard, but somewhat tilted towards the top.
So, how does the DacMagic fit in? Compared to my CDP, it does have a fuller, and probably more realistic sounding midrange, but it seems to push the midrange forward, somewhat masking the top and bottom extension, and also masking that sense of "space", I've grown accustomed to. The space is there, but it's harder for my brain to drift into it, kinda like the forward midrange is acting like a wall, keeping me out. I think my CDP's seemingly recessed midrange forces me to pull my focus deeper in. My CDP gives me more of a "dished" sound, and my original goal was to find something to pull some midrange out, but I think the DacMagic might be pulling out too much, for my tastes.
BTW, in case anyone was curious, my Valab is a March 2009 version, and my analog interconnect of choice is TMC Whites.
Anyways, after listening to the Valab, for a few songs, and then going back to my CDP's internal DAC for the same songs, I figured out what the Valab is lacking, in my system. It's the "blackness" of the background that's absent. Yes, the Valab is easy to listen to, but it sounds more like I'm listening to music being reproduced within my room. By comparison, my CDP creates a whole new "space" from where the music emerges from, and I find it easy to suck myself into this space, and listen from deep within. With my eyes closed, I feel as if If I'm somewhere else. I think this sense of space is what most of us are striving for. With the Valab, I feel as if I'm still sitting in my own living room. It just sounds more 2 dimensional. I'm sure some modding or cable swapping would help, but do I wanna go down that path?
On the other hand, I found if I got up and walked around to other areas of the house, the Valab sounds more listenable, and more what people would expect a stereo to sound like. It's like, if I was going to have a party and crank some tunes, I would use the Valab. Hmmm.... Maybe I'll just stick with my CDP, for now, and use the Valab for my "party DAC", cause I can crank some loud hard core music through this thing without things sounding objectionable, but for solo critical listening from my sweet spot, my CDP has the edge, by a wide margin. Much more fine detail being heard, but somewhat tilted towards the top.
So, how does the DacMagic fit in? Compared to my CDP, it does have a fuller, and probably more realistic sounding midrange, but it seems to push the midrange forward, somewhat masking the top and bottom extension, and also masking that sense of "space", I've grown accustomed to. The space is there, but it's harder for my brain to drift into it, kinda like the forward midrange is acting like a wall, keeping me out. I think my CDP's seemingly recessed midrange forces me to pull my focus deeper in. My CDP gives me more of a "dished" sound, and my original goal was to find something to pull some midrange out, but I think the DacMagic might be pulling out too much, for my tastes.
BTW, in case anyone was curious, my Valab is a March 2009 version, and my analog interconnect of choice is TMC Whites.