Burmester 151 Musiccenter - Whats the next step?

[DomA]

Hi all, this is my first post here as a new member.

I have been streaming for approx 10 years now and currently own the 151 Musiccenter. When I say streaming, I mean my own curated library that has been ripped and managed by myself. There are many hidef albums too, mostly PCM but just a few DSD albums (play these on my office system). Everything is ripped/downloaded in full fat WAV. My library size is approx 900 albums in total.

I believe there are some Burmester owners on this forum and probably forum members with Burmester experience too. I am interested in your opinions/experience on just how good the 151 Musiccenter is.

Having owned the 151 for nearly 2 years and with many hours listening time, I am absolutely thrilled with its performance and music playback. I can listen for hours/days without any fatigue whatsoever. Voices and instruments sound so real and the tone of the instruments is just unbelievable imo. I am happy with every aspect really but in particular drums. On certain albums I can hear/differentiate the different drum skins that are been hit. Its as if the drummer is in the room and is simply wonderful. Cymbals too. There is no hint of digital glare at all.

Of course system synergy is key and i think you can see my system in my profile. Redbook CD ripped never fails to astound me as to how good it sounds on my system. I sometimes think I am listening to hidef music. I do also understand that the original recording, mixing and hardware used by the studio is paramount to the end result.

So, if I was to change my source, probably a music server transport into a DAC, what would be considered the next level DAC from my current setup? My preference is to achieve an analogue type sound that you can just listen to and enjoy for days on end.

For context, i would probably look at the Auralic Aries G2.1 transport to perform streaming duties, leaving the DAC to be identified. Budget for the DAC would be £10,000 area.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[treitz3]

Hello and please allow me to offer you a warm welcome to the What's Best Forum.

While I have no direct experience (in full disclosure), it has been relayed to me by a trusted ear that the G2 is slightly better for the end result than the G2.1. I only have the G2. I can definitely relate to the comment you made with RB sounding like hidef music.

Tom

 

[Ron Resnick]

Welcome to WBF, Dom!

 

[ecwl]

I'm trying to understand why you would want to change your source first, instead of the DAC first. Do you not like Burmester's user interface?

I agree that Musiccenter 151 sounds fantastic. I presume it's based on a delta-sigma DAC chip design based on its sound but I may be wrong.

To me, your Musiccenter 151and ML 512 SACD player both have digital outputs. So you can demo/try various DACs using your existing system using these two devices as source. And see if you like the sonic upgrade/change or not.

Some people simply prefer R2R DACs as they have a unique sound signature. So that may be one direction you want to go. You can see I personally prefer Chord DACs which is another direction to go. Esoteric/Berkeley Alpha DAC probably is another direction to go if you want a top of the line delta-sigma DAC chip design. Emm Labs probably offers a top DSD DAC design. Linn/Mola Mola has a different DAC design and so does dCS using its own Ring DAC. These types of DACs all sound different and sometimes it comes down to personal preferences and system synergy which one you'd prefer. I don't think you have to listen to all of them. Just try to demo some and see if you prefer them over your Burmester. If you find one you love, then go for it. If not, just keep enjoying your Burmester.

 

[DomA]

I'm trying to understand why you would want to change your source first, instead of the DAC first. Do you not like Burmester's user interface?

I agree that Musiccenter 151 sounds fantastic. I presume it's based on a delta-sigma DAC chip design based on its sound but I may be wrong.

To me, your Musiccenter 151and ML 512 SACD player both have digital outputs. So you can demo/try various DACs using your existing system using these two devices as source. And see if you like the sonic upgrade/change or not.

Some people simply prefer R2R DACs as they have a unique sound signature. So that may be one direction you want to go. You can see I personally prefer Chord DACs which is another direction to go. Esoteric/Berkeley Alpha DAC probably is another direction to go if you want a top of the line delta-sigma DAC chip design. Emm Labs probably offers a top DSD DAC design. Linn/Mola Mola has a different DAC design and so does dCS using its own Ring DAC. These types of DACs all sound different and sometimes it comes down to personal preferences and system synergy which one you'd prefer. I don't think you have to listen to all of them. Just try to demo some and see if you prefer them over your Burmester. If you find one you love, then go for it. If not, just keep enjoying your Burmester.

Hi, you actually raise a good few points.

I actually love the Burmester user interface and I also love the sound as already detailed. I am indeed in no hurry to change this system.

Using my digital front-ends in order to demo new DACs in the future is the way that I would go. Ultimately I probably would not want to keep the Burmester 151 as just the digital front-end as for me that probably is too much invested but then again who knows, maybe the digital out is extremely good.

Thanks for the input and sometime in the future I will probably demo a few DACs to see how they sound and if I like their signature. I would then ask the dealer for a demo unit that I could use at home in my system to really evaluate the synergy and room characteristics etc. If the DAC then blows me away, job done. If not, then I will continue to enjoy my current system and leave it there.

all the best