The past 2 weeks have been very educational and I must say a lot of fun for me as it has rekindled a lot of enjoyment in the digital side of my system. I have always enjoyed my Playback Designs MPS-5 notwithstanding the knowledge that it is not a current DAC. However with the addition of Andreas USB X, then the USB X-ll and now the USB X-lll box I have been able to play DSD128 and now DSD 256 files. The USB Xlll box also has a separate power supply which makes me wonder if a lot of the improvements I have been hearing has been have been as a result of this separate power supply.
Also I had been perusing the PD website to be certain I had the current firmware I was interested to see that Andreas was offering an upgrade to the MPS-5 as described here....
This hardware upgrade replaces most of the clock generator circuitry on the digital board of the MPS-5 and MPD-5 products with new technology that offers much improved clock jitter performance. When combined with a software upgrade to version 027 or newer it will offer dramatic improvements in sonic performance, sound stage accuracy, low and high frequency consistency. Please inquire with your dealer for more details and how to get your product updated.
I sent my unit back to Andreas and within a week it was back in my hands with not only that upgrade but also all new caps. Spent 4 days running signal through the unit but what I'm hearing is a slightly more forward presentation with some added clarity. I had asked Andreas if he was using a femto clock but his comment was the femto was passe and he was using MEMS. I know this caused some discussion in another thread which I went back to Andreas and asked. He had absolutely no hesitation in his decision to use he MEMS. Honestly if Andreas feels good about his decision who am I to question especially since I've known him for the past 15 years.
If for no other reason my plan on keeping the MPS-5 was as an SACD player. I have been searching alternatives in a new DAC as well as a server and have been most interested in Mike L's recent experience with Ed Hsu and SGM/Formula but for now I have found some new excitement on the digital side of my system. I have however been playing only vinyl and tape over 90% of the time. Over these past 7-10 days I've been almost all digital.
For the record I have been using what I have thought to be well built and sturdy USB cable....The Wire World Platinum Starlight 7 in a 1.5 meter length. I have a modest NAS library of ~7TB's which I stream "wireless" to my Mac laptop and then out via this Wire World cable to the USB Xlll box which then attaches via an optical glass cable to the MPS-5.
To me I have always found the top end of the playback of these digital files to be somewhat bright on the top end yet overall recessed. I felt that I was in center rear orchestra seats as I was always leaning forward to get the feeling I was listening closer.It was as if there was something between me and the music. It was very pleasant but nothing that has rocked my boat to the point that I was playing more digital until recently.........
Most of you know that I have drunk the Master Built cable Kool Aid. There was a member here who posted recently that once you hear Ultra you cannot ever go back. For my ears and my system I have found the Master Built Ultra cable far superior to anything I have personally ever used or heard in other systems. What I love about it, is the fact that it is so neutral but yet you are hearing more information to the point that I am having to turn down the gain because the Ultra cable gave a feeling of a louder signal even though my preamp was set to the usual position. People have asked me to describe what I hear with this cable and the best way I can describe it, is with the following analogy.......we all have 16 x 9 widescreen 1080P TV's i am sure which if we here to see only this we would be eternally happy......but then along comes 4K and even though we still have the same 16 x 9 screen there is now 4 times the pixels and hence more information. This is what I hear with this cable. The picture is the same but I am hearing so much more clearly. What matters most for me is timber and this cable is so natural from top to bottom that I am always shaking my head in disbelief.
Having said that I have honestly never believed there would be an audible difference in USB cables. I had been reading reports out of Germany the buzz on the MB USB cable but Reference Series that was garnering huge excitement. I asked how could there be a difference if this is a cable that transmits 0's and 1's?
I started the following thread here on WBF.....
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...ound-Different&p=447978&viewfull=1#post447978
Over the past 5 days I have come to the conclusion that (for my ears and my system) there is not only an audible difference but that the difference is so noticeable that I would bet everyone could pick this USB cable over my Wire World cable 10/10 times
Now all of this for you pseudoscientists reading need to know that this was all done sighted by me and the final arbiter was my ears. So go ahead and hit me with the usual expectation bias argument and the lack of ABX studies etc, etc, etc. I don't give a crap about any of that and set out in the following way
I played my MPS-5 non stop for 3 days until I was confident that most discernible change had been made
Once done, I began listening to my digital library via the Wire World USB cable as described
Once I was comfortable with listening to many files that I know very well I disconnected the Wire World cable and inserted the MB Ultra USB cable a procedure that took less than 10 seconds. No changes were made to the gain control. My immediate thought in listening now with the ULTRA USB cable was everything sounded mediocre. It was 2 dimensional, and very polite. There was nothing that I could say with any certainty that this cable was better than the Wire World cable that I had just removed. I remembered that Leif told me that this was a brand new cable and had never had signal run through it. So before I threw up the white flag and say "bogus" I went downstairs foe the next 4 hours and watched television as I ran signal through the Ultra USB cable upstairs. After dinner I decided to listen again to prove what I thought, that there would be no difference in USB cables. All I can say was I completely wrong. I hate to use the old cliches but I have to say that whatever I had thought was present always with the Wire World cable was now gone with this MB Ultra cable. I felt so much closer to the music. The layer that was between me and the music was now gone. I was now sitting in row 3 center orchestra. The soundstage now was so much larger and so much more 'natural'. The clarity was so much better and once again I was hearing words in songs that were so much more discernible than with the Wire World cable. I was also having to turn down the gain control because the music sounded so much louder with this cable. The resonance in the strings brought goosebumps and made the hair on my arms stand up. The timber in the instruments was remarkable.In spite fall of this there was nothing that stood out. There was no top end brightness or bottom end bloat but rather top to bottom gorgeous music that got me involved from start to finish and with no fatigue. One album I played was Flamingo Fever in 24/192 and I have never heard it as I did today. Everything I threw at it I was smiling and tapping my toes.
Of course I was excited but to further the test of such a nature I felt I had to do an A/B/A test and yesterday after listening to the USB Ultra cable I once again was able to pause the music, mute the volume and change back to the Wire World Cable all in under 10 seconds and began listening. I'll be darned but I was back in the rear orchestra leaning forward again with the feeling that the same layer was again between my ears and the music. I played this for several hours and for the past day I have been doing now A/B/A tests with each file I play. On each occasion the MB Ultra USB cable has excited my auditory nerve to the point that I did not feel I was listening to the digital that I have known. Certainly I have not heard many of the excellent USB cables that are discussed here at WBF but for those of you who are going "balls out" with your digital system I have to suggest that one audition this Master Built Ultra USB cable before you make any comments here. Simply put you must try it in your system but be warned that once you hear it, it will be very difficult to part with. The cable does not come inexpensive as it has an
MSRP of $12K for the first 1.5 meter and $1400 per each additional half meter.
Yes that is an unbelievable amount of money but all I can say is that once again I am perplexed by what this cable can do nor do I have any idea how except Leif has suggested that the MB engineers have found some very unique way of isolating the data from the power. Suffice it to say that whatever and however they did it, the sound is so much better than the Wire World cable that there is no way I personally can go back. In Germany the exciting reports are coming with the use of the Reference Series USB cable so this is IMO and for my ears and my system a total game changer. I have found myself immersed in the sound and can't stop listening as this one cable has brought me so much closer to the music
Finally before all the arguments start I can only say that I am aware of all the standard arguments that will be made I say get a loaner in your system and do the evaluation and then come back here and let's talk. For me this is a remarkable cable and everyone should hear it before they speculate and comment. Please bear in mind that I am not a reviewer nor do I profess to be. Rather these are my thoughts in my system and with my ears which I have trusted all the years I have been in this hobby
