Emm labs DA2 v2 upgrade
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Review: EMM Labs NS1 Streamer, October 27, 2022, by Michael Lavorgna.
"During its stay, the NS1 played in a few different systems but it mainly sent its digital audio out to either the EMM Labs DA2 V2 Reference Stereo DAC using the Optilink interface and the totaldac d1-tube DAC/Streamer via a length of AudioQuest Diamond AES cable. ... The improvements brought by the EMM Labs NS1 Streamer were consistent and more and less obvious depending on the music in play and the gear used for comparison. The totaldac d1-tube DAC/Streamer has, as its name says, a streamer built in, a cost-saving approach as compared to buying totaldac’s better sounding separates. I know the totaldac separates sound better because I owned them for years and I recently compared my d1-tube DAC/Streamer to a higher end totaldac + streamer, just for fun, and the separates were obviously and notably better, providing a richer and more engaging view into music. This was also the case when I substituted the NS1 for the totaldac’s internal streamer. ... The improvements brought by the EMM Labs NS1 to Lucrecia Dalt’s simply stunning new album ¡Ay! (review) were obvious and immediately recognizable because they made this wonderfully rich music sound even richer, with horns sounding more horn-like, double bass taking on fuller voice and body, electronic elements were portrayed with greater nuance and micro detail making them less like sound effects and more like alien forms of voice, while the sound image was much more vast and distinct in terms of all of the parts that make up the whole. Or to put it another way, this music sounded more like all of the things responsible for making it in a more believable place, allowing thoughts and concerns about reproduction to fade, replaced by the meaning, message(s), and movements of ¡Ay!. When you spend more than a decade listening to music on the hifi full time, for a living, carefully comparing and contrasting differences both obvious and subtle, changes such as these brought by the NS1 are smile-inducing because they make the job of reviewing the endless pleasure palace it should be. ... With the NS1 directing the bits to the EMM Labs DA2 V2 Reference Stereo DAC, Dry Cleaning’s in-Barn presence took on a tantalizingly touchy feel. With the review PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Tube Integrated Amplifier (more info) driving the DeVore Fidelity O/96, even with eyes wide open in broad daylight, the sound image overwhelmed my senses, bringing Dry Cleaning into the Barn with stunning realness, freely flowing without even a hint of distracting reproductive artifacts. ... While I can cite examples of how the NS1 changed the presentation of some recordings to the point where certain instruments shifted their relative position in space while becoming more easy to define, spending too much time proving this point is really belaboring a smaller, less significant piece of the bigger picture. I dredge all of this up to emphasize that the EMM Labs NS1 is an important piece of the overall digital replay puzzle that does its job exceedingly well, which is to get out of the way, allowing music to shine through the chain of reproduction. Let me be perfectly short and sweet—the EMM Labs NS1 is among the finest network player/streamers I’ve had the pleasure to live with. If you’re looking for a hardware streaming solution that does its job without adding a voice of its own, allowing digital music to breathe, bloom, and blossom to its full communicative and emotive potential, take a serious look at and listen to the EMM Labs NS1 Streamer."
"During its stay, the NS1 played in a few different systems but it mainly sent its digital audio out to either the EMM Labs DA2 V2 Reference Stereo DAC using the Optilink interface and the totaldac d1-tube DAC/Streamer via a length of AudioQuest Diamond AES cable. ... The improvements brought by the EMM Labs NS1 Streamer were consistent and more and less obvious depending on the music in play and the gear used for comparison. The totaldac d1-tube DAC/Streamer has, as its name says, a streamer built in, a cost-saving approach as compared to buying totaldac’s better sounding separates. I know the totaldac separates sound better because I owned them for years and I recently compared my d1-tube DAC/Streamer to a higher end totaldac + streamer, just for fun, and the separates were obviously and notably better, providing a richer and more engaging view into music. This was also the case when I substituted the NS1 for the totaldac’s internal streamer. ... The improvements brought by the EMM Labs NS1 to Lucrecia Dalt’s simply stunning new album ¡Ay! (review) were obvious and immediately recognizable because they made this wonderfully rich music sound even richer, with horns sounding more horn-like, double bass taking on fuller voice and body, electronic elements were portrayed with greater nuance and micro detail making them less like sound effects and more like alien forms of voice, while the sound image was much more vast and distinct in terms of all of the parts that make up the whole. Or to put it another way, this music sounded more like all of the things responsible for making it in a more believable place, allowing thoughts and concerns about reproduction to fade, replaced by the meaning, message(s), and movements of ¡Ay!. When you spend more than a decade listening to music on the hifi full time, for a living, carefully comparing and contrasting differences both obvious and subtle, changes such as these brought by the NS1 are smile-inducing because they make the job of reviewing the endless pleasure palace it should be. ... With the NS1 directing the bits to the EMM Labs DA2 V2 Reference Stereo DAC, Dry Cleaning’s in-Barn presence took on a tantalizingly touchy feel. With the review PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Tube Integrated Amplifier (more info) driving the DeVore Fidelity O/96, even with eyes wide open in broad daylight, the sound image overwhelmed my senses, bringing Dry Cleaning into the Barn with stunning realness, freely flowing without even a hint of distracting reproductive artifacts. ... While I can cite examples of how the NS1 changed the presentation of some recordings to the point where certain instruments shifted their relative position in space while becoming more easy to define, spending too much time proving this point is really belaboring a smaller, less significant piece of the bigger picture. I dredge all of this up to emphasize that the EMM Labs NS1 is an important piece of the overall digital replay puzzle that does its job exceedingly well, which is to get out of the way, allowing music to shine through the chain of reproduction. Let me be perfectly short and sweet—the EMM Labs NS1 is among the finest network player/streamers I’ve had the pleasure to live with. If you’re looking for a hardware streaming solution that does its job without adding a voice of its own, allowing digital music to breathe, bloom, and blossom to its full communicative and emotive potential, take a serious look at and listen to the EMM Labs NS1 Streamer."
Marten Parker Trio Diamond Edition Floorstanding Speaker Review: An amazing ability to separate each of the instruments and vocals in the soundscape. Review by Tom Lyle (Enjoy the Music.com November 2022). He writes in part:
An EMM Labs DA2 digital-to-analog converter is at the heart of the system's digital front-end. The primary source is a computer-based music server, with its USB output connected to the USB input of the EMM DA2 converter with a Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 USB cable. I use the open-source Foobar 2000 or JRiver Media Center software to play files stored on hard drives connected to the computer. I also have subscriptions to TIDAL and Qobuz streaming services. ...
I listened to Shostakovich's Violin Concerto with Hugo Wolf conducting the Oslo Philharmonic with famed violinist Hilary Hahn as the soloist, released in 2002 from a DSD file from an SACD. ... Yes, Hillary Hahn's violin was very likely spot mic'd and was upfront sounding, but the sound quality of this high-resolution recording kicked butt. The Marten Parker Trio Diamond Edition reproduced this concerto as if this pair of speakers was custom-built for the job. ...
The Marten speakers let me hear all the instruments in the decently sized orchestra with an exact amount of lifelike detail, with an extraordinary ability to separate the instruments and the orchestra's sections into discrete areas of a large, drawn-to-scale soundstage. Of course, many of the positive traits I heard were due to the good musical signals the speakers were being fed. The Marten Parker Trio Diamond Edition's ability to transparently interpret this signal made it easy for me to imagine that my system had become a sonic time machine.
Hillary Hahn's violin was mic'ed closely, which allowed me to revel in her perfect intonation and emotional reading of this concerto. I could picture a cloud of rosin rising from her station, her sound opening like a blooming flower. The sound of her playing this very Shostakovich-like score enveloped me. The orchestra supporting her was spread wall-to-wall, with horns and percussion positioned behind the speakers. ...
No speakers I know of can realistically replicate a lifelike sound of a full orchestra with a soloist playing at a concert hall with a 50-foot proscenium. But some speakers can sonically reproduce the gestalt of a full orchestra playing in a concert hall, and the Marten Parker Trio Diamond Edition is one of them.
Kudos must go to this speaker's glistening Diamond tweeter. It contributed mightily to the crispest, tightest trebles I've ever heard. It contributed mightily to the exemplary sound of the speaker's highest frequencies. The Violin Concerto gave me the impression that the high frequencies reached an infinite level.
An EMM Labs DA2 digital-to-analog converter is at the heart of the system's digital front-end. The primary source is a computer-based music server, with its USB output connected to the USB input of the EMM DA2 converter with a Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 USB cable. I use the open-source Foobar 2000 or JRiver Media Center software to play files stored on hard drives connected to the computer. I also have subscriptions to TIDAL and Qobuz streaming services. ...
I listened to Shostakovich's Violin Concerto with Hugo Wolf conducting the Oslo Philharmonic with famed violinist Hilary Hahn as the soloist, released in 2002 from a DSD file from an SACD. ... Yes, Hillary Hahn's violin was very likely spot mic'd and was upfront sounding, but the sound quality of this high-resolution recording kicked butt. The Marten Parker Trio Diamond Edition reproduced this concerto as if this pair of speakers was custom-built for the job. ...
The Marten speakers let me hear all the instruments in the decently sized orchestra with an exact amount of lifelike detail, with an extraordinary ability to separate the instruments and the orchestra's sections into discrete areas of a large, drawn-to-scale soundstage. Of course, many of the positive traits I heard were due to the good musical signals the speakers were being fed. The Marten Parker Trio Diamond Edition's ability to transparently interpret this signal made it easy for me to imagine that my system had become a sonic time machine.
Hillary Hahn's violin was mic'ed closely, which allowed me to revel in her perfect intonation and emotional reading of this concerto. I could picture a cloud of rosin rising from her station, her sound opening like a blooming flower. The sound of her playing this very Shostakovich-like score enveloped me. The orchestra supporting her was spread wall-to-wall, with horns and percussion positioned behind the speakers. ...
No speakers I know of can realistically replicate a lifelike sound of a full orchestra with a soloist playing at a concert hall with a 50-foot proscenium. But some speakers can sonically reproduce the gestalt of a full orchestra playing in a concert hall, and the Marten Parker Trio Diamond Edition is one of them.
Kudos must go to this speaker's glistening Diamond tweeter. It contributed mightily to the crispest, tightest trebles I've ever heard. It contributed mightily to the exemplary sound of the speaker's highest frequencies. The Violin Concerto gave me the impression that the high frequencies reached an infinite level.
Prokofiev Symphony No. 5, Russian National Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski (Catalogue No: PTC5186083 Label: Pentatone SACD)
The performance was refreshing, purposeful, detailed, precise, and incisive. The recording is excellent -clear, rich (especially the double basses), detailed, dynamic, spacious, and with good separation of instruments. Also, all instruments have equal presence.Review : PrimaLuna Evo 300 Hybrid Tube Integrated Amplifier, November 1, 2022, by Michael Lavorgna, a former reviewer at Stereophile. He writes in part:
"I have a big soft spot for pianist Mal Waldron. His album The Quest from 1962 remains a favorite for its quiet searching off-kilter beauty. San Francisco based Tompkins Square has just given us more Mal in the form of Searching in Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert, 1 hour and 44 minutes of previously unreleased live music recorded at the “Five Days of Jazz” series in Grenoble, France on March 23, 1978. Listening to solo piano on the hifi can tell us a lot—a lot about the performer, the quality of the recording, and the quality of our hifi. With this system, DeVore O/96/EVO 300 fronted by the stunning EMM Labs NS1 Streamer/DA2 DAC, Waldron’s communion with the keyboard filled the Barn with a rock solid singing sound that captured every last ounce of nuance, drive, body, dynamics, heart and soul of this soul stirring performance."
"I have a big soft spot for pianist Mal Waldron. His album The Quest from 1962 remains a favorite for its quiet searching off-kilter beauty. San Francisco based Tompkins Square has just given us more Mal in the form of Searching in Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert, 1 hour and 44 minutes of previously unreleased live music recorded at the “Five Days of Jazz” series in Grenoble, France on March 23, 1978. Listening to solo piano on the hifi can tell us a lot—a lot about the performer, the quality of the recording, and the quality of our hifi. With this system, DeVore O/96/EVO 300 fronted by the stunning EMM Labs NS1 Streamer/DA2 DAC, Waldron’s communion with the keyboard filled the Barn with a rock solid singing sound that captured every last ounce of nuance, drive, body, dynamics, heart and soul of this soul stirring performance."
Review: EMM Labs DA2 V2 Reference Stereo DAC (Twittering Machines, November 3, 2022), by Michael Lavorgna, a past Stereophile reviewer.
"The EMM Labs DA2 V2 DAC paired with the EMM Labs NS1 Streamer (review) felt custom made for my musical preferences, getting the balancing act just right between resolution and body, making digitally stored music feel human, again. ... The DA2 offers a host of digital inputs including EMM’s proprietary Optilink interface, which I used throughout this review along with the EMM Labs NS1 Streamer (review). To my mind, they are to be considered permanent partners seeing as they were literally made for one another. I used Roon to control playback and connected the DA2 to a few different amps with a pair of AudioQuest FireBird RCAs.The DA2 got an extensive workout during its Barn stay. Beginning with the Big System (review) where it was partnered with all EMM Labs electronics driving the Credo Cinema LTM Speakers, ... Let's start with a standout quality—the DA2 delivers bass that’s plump, rich and ripe ready for picking like a Roxbury Russet in late September. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard better from digital. Whether we’re talking about fat acoustic bass, slappy electronic boogie bass, or Barn shaking electronic nearly subsonic rumble, the DA2 gets every aspect of these distinct sounds so right, I nearly laughed out loud listening to familiar tracks sounding reinvented and more fully fleshed out down low than I’m accustomed to. This kind of difference is obvious and infectious, something I’ll surely miss when it is gone along with the DA2’s return to its maker. Delicate acoustic music sounded as plucky and delightful as I’ve heard, with acoustic guitar sounds glistening off its strings just like real life. I’ve got a few Barn guitars, 2x acoustic and 1x electric, that I play (poorly) so I’m reminded of what different guitars sound like whenever the feeling moves me. So when I say that the DA2 gets the sound of an acoustic guitar right, I’m speaking from a real life regularly heard reference. When the sounds of instruments startle with live-like realness, music reproduction morphs into a direct experiencing of the music and performers at hand. No barriers, no distractions, just a mainline to the heart of the matter which is all I want from a hifi. The DA2 also gets the space of the recording damn near perfect (perfection is overrated), turning the Barn into an intimate studio setting, massive cathedral, bedroom, barroom, ballroom, stadium, and more, turning my space into the recorded space like some architectural magician. From the crazily long reverb trails on Fritz Hauser’s Solo Drumming recorded in the Martin-Gropius-Bau’s glass roofed massive courtyard, to the hotel room intimacy of Springsteen’s Nebraska, the place of the recording took up residence in Barn, effortlessly moving walls and ceiling to fit the recording. Nice. Digital reproduction can have a hard time with sweet and sour, the subtle tonal shadings that give things their unique voice (otherwise known as harmonic structure). Whether we’re focused on Adrianne Lenker’s “music for indigo” from instrumentals and its acoustic guitar mixed with the natural sounds around her, to Anohni’s trembling vocals on “One Dove” from Antony and The Johnsons The Crying Light, to Frances-Marie Uitti’s cello on Giacinto Scelsi Natura Renovatur, I was served a rich palette of flavors that felt fully formed and fleshed out. To my way of experiencing, getting the voice of things right gets us a long way to real emotional connection, which is exactly where I want to be. The Rolling Stones “Lady Jane” from Flowers offers a lovely bouquet of sounds with distinct voices and the DA2 gave as rich and distinctive a rendering as I’ve had the pleasure to hear in Barn. Part and parcel of an engaging experience that transcends reproduction is an appropriate sense of scale. It’s the little things presented as such and in relation to bigger things that creates a sense of drama in music reproduction and once again the EMM Labs DA2 worked as sonic excavator from micro to macro in perfect, OK damn near perfect, proportion. Hauschka’s “I Can’t Express My Deep Love” from What If pairs prepared and player pianos with electronics (Roland Jupiter 4 synthesizer and an Eventide H3000 Harmonizer) in a vast space and the DA2 presented this wonderful assortment of sounds, from tiny blips to clustered chords with amazing dexterity. Balkan: Honey and Blood from Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI is a deep dish of music belonging to many living traditions that make up the vast mosaic of musical cultures of the Balkan peoples and their Gypsy and Sephardic diasporas. As wide an array of sounds and textures as you’re likely to hear in one helping, the DA2 conveyed the mosaic of textures, tones, and movements from the tiniest pluck to swarm of strings with balletic grace. Stunning."
Pyotr Ilych TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 Samuel BARBER Violin Concerto, Op. 14, Johan Dalene (violin)
Norrköping Symphony Orchestra/Daniel Blendulf BIS SACD 2440
Johan Delene (still a teenager when these concertos were recorded) is an extremely brilliant, virtuosic violinist. He is able to produce beautiful, heartbreaking, rich, sweet, articulate and extremely dynamic sound. Dalene's vitality/spontaneity, superb intonation and exultant phrasing/super-subtle shadings give me goosebumps! His violin here has clarity and detail, transient speed and lifelike presence. Play very loud. ((Listening Volume: -18 dB of maximum volume)
Edvard GRIEG Incidental Music to Peer Gynt, Op 23 Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 16 Lise Davidsen, Ann-Helen Moen, Victoria Nava (sopranos), Johannes Weisser (baritone), Håkon Høgemo (Hardanger Fiddle), Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano) Bergen Pikekor; Bergen Guttekor; Edvard Grieg Ungdomskor; Edvard Grieg Kor; Bergen Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra/Edward Gardner (CHANDOS CHSA 5190 SACD)
Wow, a disc to die for! Top-notch performances and recordings. Yearningly beautiful, and heartfelt, spot-on instrumental texture/timbre, amazing true-to-life dynamics and impact (e.g. the whacking of the timpani on track 4), full, rich and awesome low bass (e.g. the double basses, bass drum), lifelike transient speed from the percussion instruments, lushness from the strings and the sound-scape beautifully lit in a gorgeous reverberant hall.
Tchaikovsky Treasures Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35 Pas de deux from Swan Lake Lensky’s Aria from Eugene Onegin Letter Scene from Eugene Onegin Sérénade mélancolique, op. 26 Valse Scherzo, op. 34 Guy Braunstein (violin), BBC Symphony Orchestra/Kirill Karabits (PENTATONE PTC 5186747 SACD)
Hi guys,
Listen to this collection of yearningly beautiful works by Tchaikovsky and excellently performed by Guy Braunstein (violin) and the BBC Symphony. The orchestra sounded rich and resonant due in part to the pleasant bloom of the hall. Braunstein's violin sounded real, weepingly tender. The soundstage is huge and the sound is immersive which provides lifelike three-dimensional sound experience.
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 Christina Landshamer (soprano); Jennifer Johnson Cano (mezzo-soprano); Werner Güra (tenor); Shenyang (bass-baritone) Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck REFERENCE RECORDINGS FR-741 SACD
Wow, this recording can reproduce the power of a full orchestra playing in a concert hall! The swift tempos throughout all four movements in this recording are thrilling. Honeck instructed his timpanist to use hard sticks and the result was electrifying! The fortissimos are awesome and scary. Orchestra texture/color was rich and utterly transparent.
Need help regarding my new music server hookup via USB cable.
On the Aurender N30 music server software settings, when I click on the DSD (Dop/Native DSD) it says -
"The DAC connected has been detected to not support Native DSD"
I thought the DV2 accepts DSD?
Thanks for any guidance!
On the Aurender N30 music server software settings, when I click on the DSD (Dop/Native DSD) it says -
"The DAC connected has been detected to not support Native DSD"
I thought the DV2 accepts DSD?
Thanks for any guidance!
Followup from Aurender -
The Aurender outputs DSD in DoP by default. So, just leave that "Use Native DSD" option switched off and you're good to go. If the DAC doesn't support "native" DSD input, then the app won't even let you switch that option on. So, based on the DAC's specs and what you're describing, everything sounds normal and expected. Simply leave the Native DSD option switched off.
By the way, there's nothing wrong with DoP. In fact, it's the industry standard and it is a lossless DSD transmission - at no point is the audio signal actually transcoded or altered in any way except for the container format that it delivers to the DAC.
We're here to help with any other questions moving forward.
The Aurender outputs DSD in DoP by default. So, just leave that "Use Native DSD" option switched off and you're good to go. If the DAC doesn't support "native" DSD input, then the app won't even let you switch that option on. So, based on the DAC's specs and what you're describing, everything sounds normal and expected. Simply leave the Native DSD option switched off.
By the way, there's nothing wrong with DoP. In fact, it's the industry standard and it is a lossless DSD transmission - at no point is the audio signal actually transcoded or altered in any way except for the container format that it delivers to the DAC.
We're here to help with any other questions moving forward.
Sergei Rachmaninov The Isle of the Dead, Op. 29 Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14 Symphony No. 3, Op. 44 Sinfonia of London/John Wilson
CHANDOS CHSA5297 SACD
Wow, a record to die for. Via the EMM Labs DV2 / Constellation Centaur / Magico M2/ Magico Q-Sub 15 / Ansuz Acoustic Supreme and D-TC2 signal cables/ Ansuz Acoustic D-TC2 PowerBox (grounding)/ Shunyata Sigma power cables/conditioners, the sound is awesome. This is the most dynamic, passionate, alive sounding, refined, romantic, flowing, effortless, grainless, utterly transparent and 3-dimensional Rachmaninov Symphony No. 3 on record! The soundstage is huge and deep. Instrumental colors/timbre/texture was spot-on. Most recommended.
Alexander Scriabin The Poem of Ecstasy; Piano Sonata No. 5; Prometheus Yevgeny Sudbin (piano); Singapore Youth Choir and SSO Chorus; Singapore Symphony Orchestra/Lan Shui BIS-2362 (SACD)
Wow, state of the art sound and a most atmospheric, intoxicating, brilliant, mystical and thrilling performances!
With regard to the Poem of Ecstasy, Stephen Greenbank of musicweb-international.com says: "Lan Shui’s well-paced and idiomatically contoured performance taps into the mood, primeval urgency and atmosphere to perfection. He draws beautifully atmospheric playing from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, revealing the multi-coloured sound world and impressionistic wash of this captivating score." And regarding Prometheus, he says: "Shui directs a performance with a firm destination in mind. He coaxes striking contrasts between peppery dissonances and passages of striking beauty. Sudbin excels at every turn, with radiant and glowing contributions from the well-rehearsed Singapore Symphony Chorus and Singapore Youth Choir."
Bruckner Symphony No. 9, Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra Channel Classics SACD CCSSA42822 (DSD256)
Bruckner Symphony No. 9 is an unfinished symphony, but still a very powerful and visionary piece. Here, the tempos are clearly faster than the norm, but played with great precision and clarity. Fischer approach is fluid, delicate, lyrical, and majestic. The Adagio is heartbreaking. The sound quality of this recording is state-of-art - transparent and atmospheric. The double basses have great weight and power and go deep.
Philippe Rogier: Music from the Missae Sex. His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts & Magnificat, Philip Cave (director). Linn Records SACD CKD 387
This is a superb disc (lush textures and colours) and the voices from the Magnificat and His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts are gorgeous.
Carl NIELSEN Violin Concerto Op. 33 Jean SIBELIUS Violin Concerto in D minor Op. 47 Johan Dalene (violin) Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra/John Storgårds
BIS BIS2620 SACD
This is one of the best if not the best Nielsen Violin Concerto on record. Dalene's Stradivarius sounded so sweet, pure, delicate and heartbreaking here! There was lots of air and space around the violin and it sounded so real and so present! Dalene's execution was top-notch, extraordinary, highly affecting, virtuosic, dreamy and lyrical. By the way, he won the Nielsen Violin Competition in 2019!
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy
Ning Feng, violin
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Yang Yang Channel Classics CCS SA 34913 SACD
This Max Bruch Scottish Fantasy is for the romantic! Via the EMM Labs DV2 DAC, Ning Feng's 1721 Stradivari violin here sounded so delicate, poetic, affecting, pure, sweet, and heartbreaking. There is a lot of air and space around the violin and it sounded alive, immediate.
Henry Purcell: Twelve Sonatas in Three Parts Retrospect Trio SACD. Linn Records CKD 374.
This is one of the most realistic sounding recordings of string instruments. These performances are first-rate, dazzling and entrancing. The sound is exquisite! There is plenty of air and space between instruments and the recording space is ideally resonant. The violins and bass viol (closer to double bass) sounded real. The timbre of the violins and the bass viol was spot-on. The sounds of the three instruments sounded highly dynamic, pure and grainless. The bass viol has great power, weight, and body and is 3-dimensional and resonant.
Hi, Ian.
It’s a bit of a compromise here. The NS1 can only send up to DSD64 to DA2 via the optical link. But it is the best way to feed the DA2. Zenith can send up to DSD512 or even 1024 I guess, but the USB output is noisy. So what is the proper way to use the full potential of the DA2 and not being limited in PCM(DXD) and DSD ratio. USB to AES/SPDIF reclockers can’t help. May be the antipodes S20 with I2S output, but the DA2 does not have the proper input. So it’s only the USB to USB reclocker like Phoenix, but as I understood you’ve tried it and it was not that good?
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