Playback Designs vs. Berkeley

The PD MPS-5 was reviewed/tested in the 2/10 issue of Stereophile.

Some folks over on the Computer Audiophile forum think the Metric Halo ULN-8/LIO-8 also sound much better the Berkeley Alpha DAC.

Unless you have a large DSD collection, I'd check those units out before spending $15K on the PD MPS-5.

Kana813: I think he was asking about the Playback Designs DAC (MPD-5), not the player (MPS-5). It is $4000.00 less.

SACD/DSD collections really have very little to do with why people are buying a PD. Most of the owners we have use them for redbook and hi-res off of a computer. Being able to play SACD is just a bonus.

Best Regards,
Jonathan Tinn
Playback Designs

I guess we've had our Playback about 2 years now. To me, it's the best sounding, most honest DAC I've heard.
I spent about 2 years trying a bevy of digital converters for mastering. Before I got the PB, I felt the DAD AX24 had the best DAC section made. We've had in here the Berkeley, Prism Dream, dCS 9xx, PM2, Lavry Gold, EMM/Meitner, UA2192, Crane Song Avocet, Dangerous ST, Genex and more I can't remember right now. We still have the AX24, EMM/Meitner and Avocet that we're using every day.
The best thing about the PB is the coherency. From the lowest of lows to the upper frequency extremes, the PB is the most linear of them all. The DAD excells in the mids/upper freq and the EMM/Meitner does great from the mids on down. The PM2 is bottom heavy to me which the Berkely also exhibits that trait. The only downside I see to the PB is that the USB only goes up to 48k. We use the Lynx AES16 via AES/EBU into the PB and it sounds magical. The DAD is very analytical, which is good for picking apart music. The PB will let you hear deep into the music as well but it won't draw attention to itself and it's not fatiguing over extended periods of time unlike the DAD.
The Berkely we felt is musical, but it didn't allow us to hear the low level details needed to make critical adjustments to clients files without second guessing. With the PB, it's the only DAC that I've heard where I can actually sense the size of the venue by the ambience. If I make a .5dB adjustmet at 125Hz on the mastering console, I know it's because the music needed it and not because of a poor DAC design.

Mr.Tinn-

Sorry I missed that he was asking about the $11K Playback Designs MPD-5 DAC, which still cost more than twice as much as a Metric Halo ULN-8/LIO-8.

The MPD-5 has no analog inputs and it's USB can only handle sample rates up to 48kHz. It's other digital inputs are formatted for stereo linear PCM data, so there goes the SACD bonus of the MPS-5.;-)

In addition to their analog and standard digital inputs, PCs & MACs can be connected to the Metric Halo ULN-8/LIO-8 via asyncronous 24/192 firewire. They're multi channel units which can provide digital crossovers and EQ for subs and surround systems.

Aloha.

Kana813: The Metric is a good pro-audio dac. It certainly does not compare to our products, nor is it meant to. You should really find a way to listen to it.

I will tell you that we have a DAC coming out which will be officially released at CES in January at half the price of our current converter. It will do beyond 5.6 mHz through USB. This feature will also be available to all of our existing customers with their current converters.

As far as analog inputs, we never felt a need for it, nor is there a demand from any of our customers for this feature.

You stated: "Unless you have a large DSD collection, I'd check those units out before spending $15K on the PD MPS-5." My statement was related to your referencing the MPS-5 which, of course, is an SACD/CD player and you absolutely benefit from it playing SACD which is a bonus.:) What I mean is, I do not think the majority of those that have purchased the MPS-5 bought it for SACD. They mostly listen to redbook and seem to love it. Also another correction, the MPD-5, indeed, can play multi-channel SACD through the PLink digital optical input.

You and I have gone down this road before and I sense a bit of sarcasm and hostility. I certainly hold no ill will toward you and would be happy to entertain further discussions off line.