Ideon Absolute epsilon In The House

[Gregm]

Ideon Absolute Epsilon appears to be very sensitive to mechanical isolation.

After trying several options, I like Isoaccoustic foot which give fuller and organic sound.

I have sitting on a heavy, rigid structure. The bass energy and extension are extraordinary

 

[thomask]

I have sitting on a heavy, rigid structure. The bass energy and extension are extraordinary

It will depend on system and taste.

Since I have two 18 inch Scaena subwoofers, I prefer softer foot from Isoaccoustics.

 

[matthias]

I had Ideon Absolute Epsilon (47k$ ) at my system for home audition yesterday.
It may be too early to reach conclusion.
But it is very positive so far.
i will keep this one untill 22nd of June.
It may not be easy to judge the sound recorded by Galaxy s20 phone.
Nevertheless you can have some idea.
it sounds very neutral, transparent with clean details and not overbearing but tight bass,

Thanks for sharing.
Will you get the Absolute Time as well for audition?

Matt

 

[thomask]

Thanks for sharing.
Will you get the Absolute Time as well for audition?

Matt

Could be in the future?

But I play only files strored in SSD.

Thus I am not sure how much diifference it will make.

i am trying Denafris Gaia reclocker and Chord mscaler for upsampling.

Msclaer give some sparkle that I want.

So far, my impression is very positive except the price.

If it is priced at 35k$, it would have been more competitive.

I had not done side by side comparison, but this Ideon may sound better than MSB reference which is also priced around 50k$.


Ideon sound clean with tight but not overbearing bass and nice focus.

i wish to listen to Lamp Horizon which is also priced similar to this one.

But I am not sure whether I will have chance to audition Horizon at home.

 

[thomask]

Another recording done 30 minutes ago.



About three years ago, I wrote some comparison of Dacs that I had auditioned seriously at the shops.


If I include Ideon Absolute, I would give 97 points just below MSB Select II.

This one sounds neutral, nice details but not etched, stable deep and wide soundstage, very tight and controlled bass.

But it may not sound as analog as MSB Select II although very close.

I had not listened to Wadax or Lampi Horizon yet, but expect to listen to them at Pacific Audiofest.




Point 100
There is nothing to criticize over MSB Select II except its high price around 100K$.
It has magical relaxed texture similar to top grade vinyl.

Dynamics, details, soundstage are all excellent.

Point 95
Kalista Dreamplay transport and Dac
It is excellent matching MSB Select II on almost every aspects.

The only down side is that it does not have relaxed texture similar to top grade vinyl although it still sounds silky.

Point 91.
Trinity Dac
This one is also all round player with hard to criticize.
But it falls slightly short of MSB Select II on details and relaxed texture.

Point 90
Lampiziator Pacific Dac
I had auditioned this Dac with same setup with MSB Select II.

This one is also all round player with hard to criticize.
It falls slightly short of MSB Select II on dynamics and relaxed texture.
But this one has a nice bloom and full bodied sound,
which make some people prefer this one to MSB Select II



Point 85
Chord Dave and Mscaler(or Blue II transport)
This one give transparent and 3D soundstage with excellent details.
But it need good system matching.
It could sound analytical or hot coupled with bright combination of speaker and amplifier.
Without upscaling using Mscaler, its sound is mediocre around 75 points.

Point 84
MSB Premier with one more basic power supply
I had auditioned this one side by side with Lampiziator Pacific Dac.
It matches Pacific Dac with Dynamics, details, soundstage but fall short of Pacific Dac in magical bloom and full body.
With improved power supply or clock, its performance have room to improve further.

Point 80
Formula XHD Dac
I auditioned this one side by side with Trinity Dac
This one is a very musical player with full bloom.
But it falls short of Trinity Dac by one notch in dynamics and bass slam.

Point 79
TotalDac 6 tube version
This one is also a very musical player.
But from the point of audiophile, its dynamics, details, soundstage are all one notch below the standard set by MSB Select II.


Point 78
MSB Discrete Dac with one additional basic power supply.
This one has similar sound signature to MSB Premier
But it is half notch below MSB Premier on dynamics, details, soundstage.

Point 75
EmmLab Dac2
I paid 9K$ for this on 2010.
It matches Chord Dave and Mscaler on dynamics with slightly more bass slam.
But Chord Dave and Mscaler give more transparent and deeper soundstage than EmmLab Dac2 while soundstage width are comparable to each other.
This one has slight fuller sound than Chord Dave and Mscaler.
It is still working fine after 10 years of use.


Point 73.

Lyngdorf 2170
This one has Dac, pre and power amp, active crossover and room correction functions.
It’s Dac sounds very similar to EmmLab Dac2 but with slightly less details and bass slam.

 

[thomask]

Beethoven Violin Concerto played by Chung Kyunghwa

 

[thomask]

Ideon give very clean details and tight and controlled bass.

After I use Accuphase F25 crossover(30 years old almost vintage) , it sound more balanced with nuanced details.

I think Ideon Absolute belongs to elite group of Dac.

it is meaningless to point out that which is beat.

it will depend on personal taste and system.

 

[bonzo75]

The UK distro of Ideon and Lampi is the same so anyone can visit him for a compare.

 

[thomask]

The UK distro of Ideon and Lampi is the same so anyone can visit him for a compare.

It would be nice to have same dealer of Lampi and Ideon in Washington State.

I am not sure whether there are any Lampi dealer here.

From my memory of Pacific, I found it fuller and emotional not neutral.


But Ideon sounds very neutral with tight bass.

It will depend on personal taste which one to choose.

 

[bonzo75]

It would be nice to have dealer of Lampi and Ideon same in Washington State.

I am not sure whether there are any Lampi dealer here.

From my memory of Pacific, I found it fuller and emotional sound not neutral.

But Ideon sounds very neutral with tight bass.

It will depend on personal taste which one to choose.

You never really demoed the Pac. You did not do a single valve change. By changing valves you can change the sound quite a bit.

 

[thomask]

You never really demoed the Pac. You did not do a single valve change. By changing valves you can change the sound quite a bit.

That means it is not neutral.

Since I am already using tube amp, I will have too many combinations.

Let me find out how Horizon and Pacific sound at the Pacific Audiofest.

 

[bonzo75]

That means it is not neutral.

Since I am already using tube amp, I will have too many combinations.

Let me find out how Horizon and Pacific sound at the Pacific Audiofest.

? So tube rolling means the component is not neutral because it changes to tube sounds? And TTs are not neutral when they change sound to cartirdges?

You will not find out how a component sounds at Pacific audiofest

 

[thomask]

? So tube rolling means the component is not neutral because it changes to tube sounds? And TTs are not neutral when they change sound to cartirdges?

You will not find out how a component sounds at Pacific audiofest

It is going to be better to do home audition of Horizon, but I am not sure it will be possible.

 

[Gregm]

About three years ago, I wrote some comparison of Dacs that I had auditioned seriously at the shops.


If I include Ideon Absolute, I would give 97 points just below MSB Select II.

This one sounds neutral, nice details but not etched, stable deep and wide soundstage, very tight and controlled bass.

But it may not sound as analog as MSB Select II although very close.

This is interesting. My experience when I compared the two at home was symmetrically opposite: my Select was softer sounding, and not so extended on both ends, particularly in the bass. Empirically, the Absolute was crispier, more dynamic, with more energy in the bass. Following your grading, I would have attributed 103 (Abs) - 100 (Select)

 

[thomask]

This is interesting. My experience when I compared the two at home was symmetrically opposite: my Select was softer sounding, and not so extended on both ends, particularly in the bass. Empirically, the Absolute was crispier, more dynamic, with more energy in the bass. Following your grading, I would have attributed 103 (Abs) - 100 (Select)

I agree with you that Ideon can have better bass than Select

 

[Mike Lavigne]

This is interesting. My experience when I compared the two at home was symmetrically opposite: my Select was softer sounding, and not so extended on both ends, particularly in the bass. Empirically, the Absolute was crispier, more dynamic, with more energy in the bass. Following your grading, I would have attributed 103 (Abs) - 100 (Select)

i listened to the whole Ideon Epsilon stack at Axpona; went back to the room 6 or 7 times. the room was good in some respects, but it could not handle high spl's....so my take was 'incomplete'. but based on my listening i agree with you regarding the Ideon compared to my time with the Select II. the Ideon had more 'apparent' detail and refinement, was more vivid sounding, and greater micro-dynamics. could not tell on macro-dynamics. i liked it alot. maybe another time i can hear it in a more open and energetic system.

it would be very high on my short list of potential dac choices.

 

[Alrainbow]

capital was a good showing for ideon was very clear at axpona not so much to me. the krell room at a msb dAC I liked it more
I’m not sure but I think the sel 2 was more of an analog sound
where ideon was great digital but not make me feel analog in nature to my brain

 

[caesar]

i listened to the whole Ideon Epsilon stack at Axpona; went back to the room 6 or 7 times. the room was good in some respects, but it could not handle high spl's....so my take was 'incomplete'. but based on my listening i agree with you regarding the Ideon compared to my time with the Select II. the Ideon had more 'apparent' detail and refinement, was more vivid sounding, and greater micro-dynamics. could not tell on macro-dynamics. i liked it alot. maybe another time i can hear it in a more open and energetic system.

it would be very high on my short list of potential dac choices.

Yes, Ideon has better micro and macro dynamics than MSB.

Because of that, I find MSB boring as hell in most systems - excepting the super efficient horn systems , which are inherently dynamic.

 

[caesar]

The UK distro of Ideon and Lampi is the same so anyone can visit him for a compare.

If the guy has typical audiophile box speakers, it will be like comparing a SET amp and CH Precision - polar opposites. Now if the guys says, say a horn driven by Kondo Ongaku, this comparison will be much more interesting

 

[thomask]

Ideon Absolute show great micro and macro dynamics.

It had been almost 3 years since I had listened to Select II.

From my memory, analog like ease was strength of Select II,.