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Bidat vs Perfect Wave vs Weiss and others

This is thread I started a while ago and promised in February i would start doing some real world comparative testing using the Bidat (Plus Mod) as the ref. The units under test are to include in no specific order the MSB Platinum Dac, the Weiss Minervera and the Playback Design player. I posted this under the follow-up of the original thread and it is there is you do a search under Digital for "ps audio perfect". I can't understand why it did not 'promote' to the top of the digital section as it did in the past whenever there was a new contribution, so I have started a new related thread with the first entry of my fun (and I hope edifying comparative experiences).
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Ok, I just got a broken in Weiss Minerva (several hundred hours at least). It has been in my system burning in for about 18 hours (18 hours since arriving in my home, time to come to thermal equilibrium). I have done some comparative listening to the Museatex Dcc-1 (a rarely known digital preamp 19 bit dual differential type) using glass Tos on both and then glass on the DCC1 vs a very expensive (can't name it yet as the manufacturer has not released it...sorry :( ) Firewire on the Weiss. I have a Mac Mini (2007 model) 2.0 ghz Core2Duo with 4Gig of ram running Leopard (although this model can only see 3.01 gig of that (I used 4gig as the memory transfer is optimized when the mem modules are the same). I also have a 1TB NAS (all over wifi). I am of course going to reserve final judement until a bit later.

I will be comparing the Museatex Bidat with the Plus Mod later this weekend. As a teaser, I will go on record and say that honestly at this point I don't agree with the stellar reviews concerning the Weiss Minerva.

It is resolute, almost technicolor but just to give you a short glimpse of what I am hearing, I could imagine a well healed vinyl person listening to Holly Cole on vinyl and then listening to the Weiss (playing the same in CD format) and saying "this is why I will never leave vinyl". Now that may sound harsh, but this is a hobby and I don't have a dog in the race, I am just reporting my ears findings.

I listened to a few high resolution files 176.4/24 and 96/24 but what I heard was a really clear highly resolved soul-less rendition of the music. It never ever made me smile or relax into the music the way the DCC-1/Bidat or even my former (when I actually spun cd's...wow time flies) stellar Dynavox Dynastation 2 (the finest CD player I have ever heard).

In a nutshell (at this point) it just sounds like digital and that aint good in my camp because I am not forgetting about the gear and just listening to the music. I don't like syrupy or dark, I have heard plenty of players try to use that trick to sound musical. No, I look for something that is more elusive and few their be that find that magical combination when forging through the nether regions of the digital domain. I will continue listening to see if the Weiss surprises me :)

More to come...
audiofun
vhiner
544 posts
 
Audiofun,

Not bad for a unit that ended production more than 14 years ago, nes pas? It's a classic hotrod and only gets better with time.

There's one for sale right now; looks like it's in good condition and I can't believe no one's snapped it up yet.
audiofun OP
799 posts
 
The one that's for sale was also mine, I had 2 of them :)
audiofun OP
799 posts
 
John Wright just told me he didn't want to hear my opinion on the Bidat until 3 weeks have elapsed LOL!!!
vhiner
544 posts
 
One man, two bidats...there must be a Chinese proverb about that..
audiofun OP
799 posts
 
Ok, so I will try to make this concise and clear:

With about 25 hours on the Bidat I did some preliminary testing last evening. Note that John Wright has informed me that the Bidat mods need 3 weeks to fully settle in so this is a sort of "take it for what it is" review.

I just found out that HDTracks is now carrying the Verve Catalog and they have Diana Krall "Quiet Nights" on 24/96khz FLAC ready for download. I already owned the Redbook version so I thought, great I will download it and compare the various versions.

I converted the flac files to AIFF using Max (I run a mac mini using the HiFace converter and a FIM Gold digital S.E. cable to the various dacs).

I first compared the Bidat and MSB Power Dac using the 24/96 material down-sample in iTunes to 44.1khz. That is a no-no iTunes did not do a very good job and I did not like the sound on either machine. I then compared the 24/96khz material down-sampled to 44.1 using PureMusic (MUCH MUCH better than iTunes doing the down-sampling :) the sound was very close, but I noted that the Bidat did not seem to sound as good with the down-sampled material as the MSB...it had a sort of constrained uptight character to the overall flavor of the music.

Next up I compared the 24/96 version played (obviously) on the MSB to the Redbook on the Bidat. This is a comparison that I don't think yielded much real world information. The material is mastered too differently, the Redbook is compress (like most RB material) whereas the 24/96 material is very relaxed and flowing. Despite this I walked away thinking the MSB 24/96 was most enjoyable, but the Bidat RB was more energetic. That last statement may seem to contradict my comments concerning compression, but it really does not, I did note both characteristics.

Now this is the test I believe was most telling. RB on the Bidat vs the MSB. Bidat wins!!!

Ok, kidding it is not that simple. The Bidat does in fact sound far more musical than the MSB all things being equal, but when one allows PureMusic to handle the number crunching duties instead of iTunes, the MSB becomes so close to the Bidat (kissn cousins) I can not readily make a decision as to which is better (remember the Bidat only has 25 hours on it). I would go so far as to say that ANYONE who owns the MSB owes to themselves to purchase the PuerMusic software (and before anyone asks, no I do not have any type of relationship with the folks a ChannlD other than they got my $129.00 for the PureMusic s.w. :)

PM on the MSB is really beautiful, but with the Bidat.., NOT so much. The Bidat did not take to the PM very well at all in fact I flat did not care for the sound. The Bidat has a character which is simply breathtaking and the PM did not mix well with its' natural character.

This is perfect as the Bidat is on 44.1/48khz so I don't need the sample rate switching abilities of PM when I listen to the Bidat. Thus the PM software will be used exclusively with the MSB in my system.

Killer digital = Bidat + Mac Mini + M2Tech HiFace + REALLY REALLY GOOD Coax digital cable

or

MSB + Mac Mini + PureMusic Software + M2Tech HiFace + REALLY REALLY GOOD Coax digital cable (Note I have found that the best filter to use with the MSB is the default filter).

Ok, there you have it. I will follow this up when the Bidat fully breaks in.
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