Hey, don't tell Blue58 or Emile...but I think Blue's La Fontaine has the edge on his SGM/Formula.
And your Eera will sound better than the Extreme, Yada, Yada, YadaHey, don't tell Blue58 or Emile...but I think Blue's La Fontaine has the edge on his SGM/Formula.
And since noone is prepared to do an MSB Select transport versus Extreme on MSB Select dac, or Wadax Atlantis transport versus Wadax Atlantis server on Wadax Reference dac, then there is no definitive ranking.
Hey, don't tell Blue58 or Emile...but I think Blue's La Fontaine has the edge on his SGM/Formula.
Seems like you have a solution Marc. Stick an Extreme or whatever Server you like in your system for a month and have at em'. Life's too short to fart around!Mike, my biggest sensitivity now in audio is perceived lack of midband texture or fleshiness in gear. I tend to hear more of what I like here in idler drives, triodes, analog, and xoverless full range box spkrs or well-sorted horns. And yes, the very best cdp's (seemingly 95% of them being French, only exception being the Marantz CD12/DA12 from late 80s).
I've heard a half dozen servers, incl a very pricey prototype and one that has proprietary software, that sound great at first blush, but their lack of palpability in the critical mids region gives away the game.
On one occasion, switching from the whistles and bells server to a YBA cdp wasn't even close.
I'm not gonna draw any conclusion greater than that. I have no doubts Extreme succesfully bridges the gap. I have a chance to hear it soon if Boris lets me out of the chapel (or I hitch a ride in Dominic Cummings's car Lol). I'll be the first to declare if it does that chocolate midband trick successfully.
My only point w Blue's system is that his Audio Aero La Fontaine cdp had a heft and creaminess to midband and upper bass that his subsequent SGM maybe hasn't quite matched
I'll freely admit the SGM is more transparent and faster
But since what draws me in most listening to lps is this mids quality, and is what I hear live in concert, I'm only reporting it as I hear it
If the Extreme demo happens, I'll know if its doing the mids solidity thing as well as the best cdp's and maybe in analog territory
If I hear that, Emile will have my lifelong admiration as the first digital engineer to get THAT hugely elusive quality.
Stick an Extreme or whatever Server you like in your system for a month and have at em'. Life's too short to fart around!
Howie, great idea. You send the cheque to Emile, but put Victoria Chapel on the delivery address.Seems like you have a solution Marc. Stick an Extreme or whatever Server you like in your system for a month and have at em'. Life's too short to fart around!
Seems like you have a solution Marc. Stick an Extreme or whatever Server you like in your system for a month and have at em'. Life's too short to fart around!
Howie, great idea. You send the cheque to Emile, but put Victoria Chapel on the delivery address.
I'll buy a £1k MHDT Atlantis dac, get a trial USB Sablon...Bob's yr uncle.
+1 A good mate lent me his Aqua Formula with Diva transport for 6 weeks ages ago and I jockeyed between that and the Formula running then with a Sotm ultra. In terms of musicality the Sotm had a slight edge but in many ways it was just different to the Diva transport. I enjoyed both musically but felt the Sotm formula combo was more resolving and had moments of realness. I had resurrected my old CD library to compare but at less than a thousand CD albums I realised the joy with a CD transport compared to streaming would become also a repetitive stuck sameness primarily confined musically to just even a thousand or even then if it became five thousand CDs.i can say (and have said) that my SGM server/Formula was superior on redbook files to my La Diva Transport/Formula on CD even with the proprietary Aqua interface and the La Diva sitting on my Herzan. it was very close, but i very slightly preferred the files.
it's only a data point, and the La Diva while an excellent sounding transport, is not at or near the top rank of transports. OTOH the SGM 2015 is not there either anymore.
Marc, I wouldn’t dismiss the Innuos servers. They are great value and picking up a used one is easy if you’re not convinced about streaming yet. That’s what I would do in your position.Graham, as usual from you, a nicely articulated case in favour of streaming. I've only really heard one slam dunk streamer I really respect (Blue's SGM, first on T&A Dac8, and now the Aqua Formula XHD...I missed his minor excursions w Lampi GG and Denafrips Terminator), and sessions at his have always been never less than engrossing. I just have an aural memory of the AA cdp that I fully admit could be misleading.
I just remember less than stellar sonics cds being more forgiving than the same recordings via the SGM.
I also fully get that the mental gear shift to choosing music differently via streaming then has a knock on effect on how that music is enjoyed compared to picking cds off the shelf.
No way is Extreme happening this side of anything tangible. And thus it's good to hear that there are alternative wholly immersive server choices out there which totally get one in the zone.
The SGM as was at €16k is one. It's finding those others.
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