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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
lush
262 posts
 
I did an 'sighted' A/B comparison today: Museatex Bitstream against a No. 512 Mark Levinson CD player. We used the Levinson as a transport with the Bitstream vs standalone Levinson. Van Den Hul cables and a Moray James digital interconnect. Pre amplifier was Levinson No. 326 with a No 532 Power amplifier. Speakers were F52 Revel Speakers.

My first impressions: You have to level match, the gain output on the Bitstream was much higher, we didn't have an SPL meter on hand so we did it by ear, trying to level match as best we could the Bitstream appeared more lively, big and bold with more punch in the bass. Having said all that I actually preferred the Levinson's neater presentation, in some respects. The Levinsons's soundstange was narrower but I thought it was more refined, the Bitstream was big across the board but I felt it was EVER so slightly smeared. The two were closer in sound then apart. It was a neat test.
vhiner
544 posts
 
Lush,

Thanks for the fascinating post. Given the 512's $15,000 price tag, I imagine you'll be keeping the bitstream?
mike1000
71 posts
 
Has anybody compared a recently modified Bidat to the new Wyred 4s DAC-2?
vhiner
544 posts
 
I've recently compared a friend's modified bistream to the Wyred 4 and the bistream was more musical on Redbook. I own a fully modified Bidat and it is better than the bitstream, so logic would dictate that it probably bests the Wyred 4 DAC. This is not to say the Wyred is not excellent. It just doesn't have the bass and sound stage of the Bidat based upon my having heard both, albeit at different times. The comparison with the bitstream was a bit closer. The advantage of the Wyred is that it handles hi Rez (if you can find any material worth listening to in that format LOL)
tubehead1
2 posts
 
I've had the chance lately to listen to the PS Audio Perfect Wave and the Weiss DAC 202 both in my own system. To cut it short: I preferred the Weiss hands down. The sound of the Perfect Wave was on a high level of performance but still a bit edgy while the Weiss showed more of the relaxed, yet detailed sound I've come to get used to. As I am not sold on computer-based reproduction this opinion is based on my CD-Drives (Resolution Audio, Wadia) as the source of the "digital datafeed". I tried different filter settings with the PS Audio but still the Weiss has the upper hand in sheer musicality.
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