DS Audio Grand Master + EMM Labs DS-EQ1

[Ron Resnick]

I had a revelatory vinyl experience tonight. I visited my friend in Long Beach who owns the Wilson Audio XVX speaker system. He played for me several hours of his musical selections, as well as three of my standard test tracks:

“Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley, Grace (Columbia)

“Send in the Clowns" by Bill Henderson, Live at the Times (Jazz Planet Records/Classic Records) (played three times)

”I've Got the Music in Me" by Thelma Houston, I've Got the Music in Me (Sheffield Lab 2)

Instead of his usual Lyra or Proteus or Dynavector cartridge on the Air Line tonearm of his Kuzma XL DC he spun my vinyl using the DS Audio Grand Master optical cartridge and the EMM DS-EQ1 phono stage/analog optical decoder.

Tonight changed my understanding and view of phono cartridges.

Initial impressions:

1) To my ears this system achieves the transparency of a Lyra Atlas and a Dynavector and a van den Hul Colibri without, for me, the generally analytical, clinical, fatiguing or aggressive sound, or the high frequency emphasis, of those cartridges.

2) Despite the greatest transparency or at least equal to the greatest transparency I have heard from any cartridge, there was no exaggerated sibilance.

3) The cartridge exhibits a sound which is transparent and very dynamic, but which also somehow sounds unhurried and unforced -- not frenetic, like I always find the Lyra Atlas to sound.

4) There was a delicacy to the sound which I associate with linear-tracking tone arms, but this may be because the cartridge was riding on a linear-tracking tonearm.

5) At first I thought this cartridge tends to suppress the sounds of clicks and pops and vinyl record surface noise. Then I realized it is not suppressing anything. It simply does not accentuate ticks and pops and surface noise compared, in my opinion, to moving coil cartridges.

6) Y'all are going to misinterpret this analogy, but once you hear this cartridge you will understand what I am talking about here. This cartridge makes vinyl playback sound a little bit like the best digital playback. By suppressing ticks and pops and vinyl surface noise, the cartridge appears to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the reproduced sound.

7) The deliberations and decisions we are accustomed to forging to balance resolution and transparency with musicality and naturalness and non-fatiguing sound are, to me, now largely moot. One no longer has to suffer an analytical or a fatiguing sound to achieve state-of-the-art transparency.

8) This cartridge, like the Grado Epoch3, lays bare the reality of the rising high-end frequency response of most moving coil cartridges.

9) This cartridge and decoder system moves vinyl play back closer to the sound of analog tape.

10) I think this cartridge merges the most desirable sonic attributes of the Lyra Atlas and the van den Hul Colibri genre of cartridges with the Air Tight Opus and PC-1 Supreme and My Sonic Labs genre of cartridges. If one wants something of the conscientiously low frequency centered (Grado Epoch3) or warmer or more romantic variety (Koetsu) or a vintage sound (SPU) then one may want a second cartridge.

11) I will not miss the variability and uncertainty of adjustable cartridge loading. No futzing is possible with a DS Audio cartridge.

12) I can understand somebody wanting a warmer, richer, bourbon-y, Shindo-type sound for cold evenings and hot jazz, or just for a different presentation of, or perspective on, the music.

13) I think this optical technology moves vinyl playback to the next stage of its evolution.

For my Bergmann Odin tonearm I will no longer be purchasing an Air Tight Opus 1. I will be purchasing a DS Audio Grand Master.

I can only hope that Jim White of Aesthetix hears the extent to which this optical cartridge moves vinyl playback to the next stage of its evolution, and decides to design an optical decoder of his own to accompany the Io Eclipse.

I do not know Ed Meitner. Friends and clients of Ed Meitner should contact him and learn why he decided to back very seriously the DS audio technology and cartridges -- and report back to us here at WBF.

 

[hb22]

Yes , very nice

 

[gajgmusic]

I would echo your thoughts completely. Honestly I thought I was done with any new vinyl gear but I heard the Grand Master and thought it was better than any source I have ever heard.
I suspect EMMs interest in the optical cartridge is because of how remarkable the technology is, and their what they thought they could do with it. I have been listening to the Emm DS-EQ1 Optical Equalizer and it is amazing. It would be great if other manufactures made preamps for the technology but I am delighted with the DS-EQ1.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you for reporting your experience.

I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really want Jim White to design a tube optical decoder!

Do you know how the decoder works? How are the light pulses from the diodes amplified purely in the analog domain? I guess the output of a photo-sensitive light-emitting diode is naturally analog.

 

[gajgmusic]

As I understand it yes, but I can look into it.

 

[Solypsa]

Awesome to hear of your excitment about your listening experience and the music! That of course is what this is all about...

I would think the pop and tick supression is a part of the decoder / preamp vs the cart itself however this is just a guess. Is the decoding process purely analog or is there a digital component?

Of course a true analog laser disc technology ( which was most certainly thought of for music and which was briefly developed for cinema ) would have likely been better but alas this is where we are.

For those that use the DS cart(s) and other top traditional carts on a daily basis : is there a tradeoff? ( other than the above described cooler presentation vis a vis Grado and Koetsu which could be more a house sound issue versus a technology limitation...)

 

[Ron Resnick]

I am told there is no digital component at all. If there were, then I would not be excited.

 

[Addicted to hifi]

Just had a read of the hifi news review of ds audio grand master and ken Kessler says could be the finest cartridge he’s ever heard.

 

[gds7368]

I assume you all read this month's glowing DS Audio Grandmaster review in Absolute Sound? Very informative and enlightening!

 

[Ron Resnick]

I assume you all read this month's glowing DS Audio Grandmaster review in Absolute Sound? Very informative and enlightening!

Actually, no. I have not seen that yet.

Did Jacob write that review?

 

[Ron Resnick]

This is how Jonathan Valin explained the operation of the cartridge in the absolute sound on August 13, 2020:

First, to make this clear from the start, an optical cartridge is a completely analog device. There is nothing digital about it. Like mm’s and mc’s, it reads the information stored in record grooves by means of the mechanical vibrations of a stylus. But where mm and mc cartridges produce tiny voltages by transmitting those vibrations to a magnet or a coil, which subsequently vibrates within a magnetic field in sympathy with the stylus, DS audio optical cartridges do not transmit vibrations to relatively massive moving objects situated at the far end of a cantilever. Instead, they generate signals by capturing changes in brightness, using an internal LED as a fixed light source, internal photoelectric diodes (photo cells) as receptors, and a very thin opaque plate (a mere 100 microns thick) mounted directly behind the stylus as the vibrating system. (See the illo on the following page.) Moving up and down and side to side in tandem with the motion of the stylus to which it is attached, this tiny plate intermittently blocks the light from the LED that is hitting the photo receptors for the left and right channels, generating variable voltages in the photoelectric diodes by varying the amount of light and shade they see.

Because mm’s and mc’s generate electricity by cutting through a fixed magnetic field, magnetic resistance always occurs whenever the magnet or coil vibrates. Since an optical cartridge only reads changes in brightness, no magnetic resistance is generated when its stylus vibrates. Since there is no magnetic resistance, the tip of the stylus can move more smoothly in the groove, without the impediment of a counterforce. This elimination of reciprocal magnetic resistance to stylus movement, says DS Audio, is the primary advantage of optical cartridge technology, although the elimination of the moving mass of coils and magnets is a second, large, closely related one.

A third is what DS Audio claims is a superior mechanical/electrical interface. Conventional moving-coil or moving-magnet cartridges read the velocity of a stylus’ vibrations; so the strength of their output signal depends on how fast the stylus moves. The Master1, on the other hand, reads the amplitude of a stylus’ vibrations; so the strength of its output signal depends on how far the stylus moves. According to DS, this is significant because velocity-proportional devices move faster at higher frequencies, thus making the voltage of those frequencies disproportionately strong (and that of the slower-vibrating bass notes relatively weak). Although the RIAA circuits in phonostages are intended to invert this accentuation of the treble and reduction of the bass, and loading mc cartridges down can further dampen this treble pre-emphasis, it is a fact that mc’s, in particular, are relatively “bright” by nature. Thanks to its amplitude-proportional technology, the Master1’s electrical output is not frequency dependent, at least according to DS Audio. Thus it does not exaggerate the treble or reduce the bass, making equalization relatively simple and extending linear low-end response to well below what mm and mc’s are typically capable of. (In theory an optical cartridge can detect signals as low as 1Hz.)

The equalization and amplification of the cartridge’s electrical signal are taken care of by the Master1 EQ, which also supplies the voltage to power the cartridge’s internal LED and photoelectric sensors, feeding current to the cartridge through the ground legs of the interconnects running between the tonearm and the processor, and receiving the output from the Master1 (a robust50mV) via the interconnect’s positive legs.

 

[Ron Resnick]

And this was Jonathan's "Conclusion":

The Master1 cartridge and Master1 EQ are simply outstanding products, setting new benchmarks for vinyl playback in several areas (mechanical silence, neutral midband voicing, and midrange-to-low-bass realism). Even where they aren’t setting standards, they are now competitive with the finest coils and magnets. Perhaps the best part of all is DS Audio products still have room to grow: in trackability, in soundstaging, in upper midrange and treble flatness, in overall warmth. Remember, the optical cartridge with internal LED and photo sensors is a relatively new thing. That the folks at DS Audio are taking the perfection of this idea seriously is shown by the remarkable sonic progress they’ve made from the W1 Night Rider to the DS-002 to the Master1. I know this much: If I were in the market for a new phono cartridge and I had the money, the Master1 system would be at the very top of my short list of must-hears. Go listen for yourself, and discover not just a new cartridge but a new phonographic paradigm.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And keep in mind that Jonathan was reviewing the predecessor cartridge, inferior to the new third generation one I heard last Friday!

(Believe me, I would greatly have preferred to not like this darn thing I heard last Friday! Last Friday's experience totally upset my cartridge/tonearm combination apple cart; occasions new component decisions; causes me to question whether I now need a three box Io Eclipse festooned with tubes; and requires me to figure out where in my limited rack space to put another box!)

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ron, I know it's not the DS, but my Straingauge is such a darned relief with it's simple energizer box and zero adjustments. Simple slot-out/in stylus change when necessary, job done. This DS is similarly child-friendly Lol.

 

[jeff1225]

I’m obviously skeptical of anything that “suppresses” anything on a record. Do you know how this is achieved?

If you have pops and clicks you need to either clean the record or obtain a better copy.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Any device that suppresses Harry Styles' vocals is just fine with me.

 

[gds7368]

Actually, no. I have not seen that yet.

Did Jacob write that review?

July/August 2021 issue, pages 62-68
Article by Jonathan Valin

 

[Ron Resnick]

I’m obviously skeptical of anything that “suppresses” anything on a record. Do you know how this is achieved?

If you have pops and clicks you need to either clean the record or obtain a better copy.

Your implication is correct -- "suppresses" is the wrong word. Nothing is supressed. It simply does not accentuate ticks and pops and surface noise compared, in my opinion, to moving coil cartridges. As I told Jim and Peter today, I hope you, and they, are able to hear this thing -- and sooner rather than later.

PS: I corrected this in my opening post.

 

[Ron Resnick]

July/August 2021 issue, pages 62-68
Article by Jonathan Valin

Thank you.

 

[jeff1225]

Your implication is correct -- "suppresses" is the wrong word. Nothing is supressed. It simply does not accentuate ticks and pops and surface noise compared, in my opinion, to moving coil cartridges. As I told Jim and Peter today, I hope you, and they, are able to hear this thing -- and sooner rather than later.

Excellent.

 

[jeff1225]

Ron,
Do you have to purchase the equalizer to make the cartridge work? So it the combo $52,000?