I recently compared my Grand Master to my previous setup Ortofon MA 90 and Tom Evans Groove+ SRX. The Grand Master sounds remarkably natural, at least to my ears, but with the amazingly black background. The unit has operated flawlessly. The EMM DS-EQ1 works superbly, is superbly built, relatively small footprint and not unreasonable in price but again just my two cents. The combination has renewed my interest in Vinyl remarkably.
DS Audio Grand Master + EMM Labs DS-EQ1
- Thread starter Ron Resnick
- Start date
David,
It truly is very interesting to me that you found the sound to be "natural." I found the sound to be very transparent; very quiet for vinyl replay; high in resolution; and detailed without in any way being bright or edgy or aggressive. (This is in contrast to a Lyra Atlas which, to my ears, achieves transparency and resolution and detail at the cost of edginess and aggressiveness.)
The only thing I wasn't sure about was whether it was just a little bit less full and rich -- just a little bit less meat on the bones up and down the frequency spectrum -- than what I am used to from an Opus 1 or a ZYX UNIverse Premium. In other words I just wasn't sure if the optical cartridge was sacrificing a little bit of natural warmth and "musicality" for that amazing transparency and resolution and natural detail and absence of noise.
PS: The limitation to the DS Audio or to the EMM decoder doesn't bother me, personally.
It truly is very interesting to me that you found the sound to be "natural." I found the sound to be very transparent; very quiet for vinyl replay; high in resolution; and detailed without in any way being bright or edgy or aggressive. (This is in contrast to a Lyra Atlas which, to my ears, achieves transparency and resolution and detail at the cost of edginess and aggressiveness.)
The only thing I wasn't sure about was whether it was just a little bit less full and rich -- just a little bit less meat on the bones up and down the frequency spectrum -- than what I am used to from an Opus 1 or a ZYX UNIverse Premium. In other words I just wasn't sure if the optical cartridge was sacrificing a little bit of natural warmth and "musicality" for that amazing transparency and resolution and natural detail and absence of noise.
PS: The limitation to the DS Audio or to the EMM decoder doesn't bother me, personally.
What are your opinions for the best tonearm to match with a DS Audio optical cartridge?
Have people had enough experience with DS Audio Grand Master optical cartridges to understand how they perform on pivoting tonearms versus linear tracking tonearms?
Which is the "magical" tonearm match?
Have people had enough experience with DS Audio Grand Master optical cartridges to understand how they perform on pivoting tonearms versus linear tracking tonearms?
Which is the "magical" tonearm match?
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Dear Ron,
There are different degrees of "natural" and "natural" and it's not only one flavor! The DS is flatter and not as rich sounding as the ZYX and has less character. I have to think about how it compares to the OPUS1 which is again very different from both but there's no mistaking that it's a Japanese cartridge.
david
My Grand Master is mounted on SAT tonearm. After some trial and error, I find Grand Master prefers medium to heavy arms. Although the weight of Grand Master is only 8 gram, its suspension is not tuned to light mass tonearm.
I have to add extra weight of the headshell of SAT to increase its effective mass in order to get a balanced presentation. With no extra weight, the bass is reduced, I end up adding 7 gram to the headshell to obtain a satisfactory result.
Thank you, David. I found the Grand Master + EMM to be unique (transparent, highly-resolving, extremely quiet, without edginess/fatigue), but I came away provisionally feeling that it is something that I could highly respect but not yet love. Yes, it was not as rich-sounding as I like.
If a digital-only audiophile were expanding to embrace vinyl I think the quietness of the Grand Master would make it a great choice sonically.
Can you tell me what is the difference between the standard RIAA equalization curve required for MM/MC (which I am very familiar with) and the equalization required for optical cartridges?
The output of an MM / MC cartridge is proportional to its speed, the output increases as the speed rises (= higher frequency). However, the optical cartridge has an amplitude proportional output that outputs flat from the low frequency to the high frequency (same as the old crystal type and capacitor type). How does that affect the EQ designed for optical cartridges?
The output of an MM / MC cartridge is proportional to its speed, the output increases as the speed rises (= higher frequency). However, the optical cartridge has an amplitude proportional output that outputs flat from the low frequency to the high frequency (same as the old crystal type and capacitor type). How does that affect the EQ designed for optical cartridges?
Optical cartridge phono equalizer circuit info
Click here for information on the phono equalizer circuit for optical cartridges. Please refer to the spec sheet of the photo detector used for the optical cartridge. HPI623(Grand Master,DS003) ? HPI2464(DS Master1,DS-W2,DS002,DS-E1) ?Interview from Japanese audio magazine. Answered by...
www.ds-audio-w.biz
Their web page has some circuit info. May be of interest to you. But I have no idea. Hope that helps
It is human behaviour to doubt a new technology, particularly when there is nothing wrong with MC cartridges.
DS Audio optical cartridge has its disadvantages, such as closed system and limited choice of equalisers. The irony is much of this criticism comes from someone using iPhone which itself is a closed system.
It is not a matter of closed or open, it is all about the sound. There is no doubt Grand Master is one of the best cartridges in the market. Ackcheng and I use Grand Master and other good MC cartridges, we are happy with both, but to be honest, the time I spend with Grand Master is significantly more than other MC cartridges, that speak for itself.
DS Audio optical cartridge has its disadvantages, such as closed system and limited choice of equalisers. The irony is much of this criticism comes from someone using iPhone which itself is a closed system.
It is not a matter of closed or open, it is all about the sound. There is no doubt Grand Master is one of the best cartridges in the market. Ackcheng and I use Grand Master and other good MC cartridges, we are happy with both, but to be honest, the time I spend with Grand Master is significantly more than other MC cartridges, that speak for itself.
TLi, the same criticism is made of the Soundsmith Straingauge cart that I use, with a single choice of energizer in place of phono that makes it also a closed system. However, if the sound of the DS is exemplary as the Straingauge is, then I believe this criticism is not a crucial one.
The DS and Straingauge should be judged on their own merits, not downplayed just because audiophiles are restricted from not having freedom to experiment w different phonos.
The DS and Straingauge should be judged on their own merits, not downplayed just because audiophiles are restricted from not having freedom to experiment w different phonos.
agree we need to focus on the sound and degree of our musical connection to judge any reproduction technology. and ROI, of course. not any dogma.
i'm stepping off the main stream and acquiring a field coil arm and field coil cartridge.....unheard. yes; field coil is considered sexy as a concept and used for vintage speaker drivers so gets a pass as somehow maybe being non musical. reports are positive with it. and the signal path for the cartridge is conventional so uses normal phono circuits.
i hope there is a DS Cartridge playing at Axpona to hear.
i'm stepping off the main stream and acquiring a field coil arm and field coil cartridge.....unheard. yes; field coil is considered sexy as a concept and used for vintage speaker drivers so gets a pass as somehow maybe being non musical. reports are positive with it. and the signal path for the cartridge is conventional so uses normal phono circuits.
i hope there is a DS Cartridge playing at Axpona to hear.
So a digital person stays away from vinyl because it is noisy, and will adapt if it's quieter? Doesn't make sense
Field Coil Loaded Tonearm
The FCL Tonearm is a unique, state of the art field coil loaded and stabilized unipivot tonearm
www.primarycontrol.nl
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