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Hi-Fi+ visits the Schiit Show

There are perhaps no bigger fans of feisty, puckish humour in all of high-end audio than Jason Stoddard and Mike Moffat, co-founders of the Valencia, California-based firm Schiit Audio. Yes, that really is the company’s name, and yes, its founders are fully (indeed gleefully) aware of all the slightly off-colour plays on words the company name invites. But frankly, they don’t care one bit if the name Schiit Audio violates most of the highbrow norms and conventions of high-end audio, since their view is that much of the industry A) takes itself way too seriously, B) spends too much time cultivating its image and not enough time cultivating sound quality and value, and C) has forgotten how to enjoy a hearty laugh from time to time.

Rather than putting on aristocratic airs—as, quite frankly, many manufacturers tend to do—Schiit Audio instead maintains a laser beam-like focus on four things:

· Rock-solid audio engineering,

· Excellence in sound quality,

· Build quality (all Schiit Audio products are built in the US), and

· Value for money.

In truth, both Stoddard and Moffat have impeccable high-end audio credentials; Stoddard was formerly the VP of Engineering for the late, lamented high-end firm Sumo Electronics, while Moffat was the founder father of the legendary Theta Digital. Frankly, both of those firms were known for very high-performance products that carried correspondingly steep price tags. Having tried the premium-priced approach at their previous companies, Stoddard and Moffat have taken a completely different tack with Schiit Audio, vowing to offer technically advanced, musically accomplished, and extremely well-made audio components that are, by design, also affordable. The underlying Schiit Audio philosophy—one Hi-Fi+ heartily endorses—is that high-end audio can and should be a sport to be played and enjoyed by almost anyone who loves music—and especially by young people.

Schiit’s significance in headphonista circles is very well known and the show was visited by many industry luminaries as Warren Chi from CanJam:

Given its performance and value orientated mission, Schiit Audio has chosen to target many of its products toward users of top-tier high-end headphones, earphones, and CIEMs, which are rightly thought to be the music delivery vehicles of choice for a new generation of music lovers. Thus far, Schiit’s highest performance models are the Ragnarok ($1,699), which is a combination balanced headphone amplifier/60Wpc integrated amplifier and the distinctive Yggdrasil multibit DAC ($2,299), which was at the time of its release billed as “the world’s only closed-form multibit DAC.”

(Just in case you are wondering, the Schiit folks are really big on giving their products semi-unpronounceable names drawn from Norse mythology.)

While Ragnarok and Yggdrasil are obviously not low-priced (or even mid-priced) products, they both offer levels of sonic performance that flat out demand comparison with the very best components in their respective classes—even those that carry cost-no-object price tags. Even so, Stoddard and Moffat have felt the nagging concern that Ragnarok and Yggdrasil might be—despite their self-evident sonic excellence and arguably high value for money—still too high priced to be affordable for some of the customers Schiit Audio would most like to attract.

Taking this ‘problem’ as a design challenge go the Schiit team has been hard at work creating two new products, the Mjolnir 2 balanced output headphone amplifier and the Gungnir Multibit DAC, that stand as highly competent and highly musical ‘junior’ versions of the mighty Ragnarok and Yggdrasil, but that sell for a fraction of the prices of their more costly big brothers. Both products made their worldwide debuts a special, two-day audio event called ‘The Schiit Show”, which was held in Marina del Rey, California this past weekend. Naturally, Hi-Fi+ was invited and delighted to attend. Here’s what we learned.

The Mjolnir 2 is a fully balanced headphone amplifier that, get this, can be either valve-powered ($849), solid-state powered ($909), or both ($929). The part we didn’t see coming, however, is that the core amplifier for all three Mjolnir 2 versions remains exactly the same. About now you might well be thinking, “that poor Martens chap must have gone off his nut, since everyone knows you can’t plug solid state devices into valve sockets,” but as it turns out in the Mjolnir 2 you can.

Thanks to the fertile imagination of Jason Stoddard, Schiit Audio has created what it call its LISST module (for Linear Integrated Solid-State Tube), which is a small, solid-state amplification module housed in a metallic grey cylindrical enclosure that has valve-type socket pins protruding from its bottom end. In short, the LISST is a true solid-state valve surrogate that incorporates a dual gain-stage, solid-state amplification module that conforms, says Schiit, “to 6922 pinout(s), pins 4/5 unconnected, (where) pin 9 assumes a ground connection.”

Schiit concedes that solid-state tube replacements “aren’t a new idea,” but emphasises that its LISST module makes no attempt to emulate the sound of any particular valve or of valves in general. Rather, says Schiit, the LISST has a sound all its own that offers lower distortion than valves, though with a “similar overall profile” to valves. The upshot is that Mjolnir 2 owners can, if they wish, switch back and forth between the amplifier’s standard 6BZ7 valves and LISST modules, simply by unplugging the one and re-plugging the others. A very cool idea, no?

Schiit says the Mjolnir 2 uses the firm’s “exclusive, inherently balanced and differential CrossFET topology—the only circlotron-style topology in a headphone amplifier (well, except for the Ragnarok).” A custom 4-gang RK27 ALPS volume pot is used to control volume. All in all, Schiit says the Mjolnir 2 delivers “end game performance for a mid-level price”—a bold claim that several good listening sessions at the Schiit Show strongly tended to confirm.

The Mjolnir 2 provides single-ended and balanced analogue inputs switchable via a front panel control, and both balanced and single-end headphone outputs. The Mjolnir 2 is fitted with a gain switch so that it can be configured with a low gain setting for use with CIEMs or with a higher gain setting in order to drive today’s more power hungry full-size headphones. Better still, the Mjolnir 2 provides both balanced and single-ended preamp outputs for purposes of driving power amps or powered monitors. Power output is a stonking 8 Wpc into a 32Ohm load or 425mWpc into a 600 Ohm load.

How does the Mjolnir 2 sound? The answer is that the LISST-equipped version is cut from very similar sonic cloth to the Ragnarok, meaning that it sounds fast, powerful, accurate, and full of resolution and detail. In fact, if you came upon the Mjolnir 2 in isolation and did not have a Ragnarok on hand for comparison, you might quite rightly think it to be one of the best (and most keenly priced) solid state headphone amp you had ever encountered. Even if you do have a Ragnarok on hand, as we did at the Schiit Show, you will find that while the Ragnarok is plainly the superior amp, the Mjolnir 2 come surprisingly close to its bigger brother but at a dramatically lower price.

The valve-equipped Mjolnir 2 is also a delight, though its sonic signature—as you might expect—is noticeably different to that of the solid-state version. In broad strokes, I found the valve-equipped Mjolnir 2 to emphasize harmonic richness or fullness in the music more so than the solid-state version, while drawing the leading edges of transient sounds just a little less sharply than the solid-state model. Which Mjolnir 2 version one might prefer can and in my case did vary from headphone to headphone and, for that matter, from album to album. For this very reason, my opinion is that the smart move might be to order up the combo valve + LISST version of the amp so that you can switch back and forth as the mood strike you.

Now we come to the Gungnir multibit DAC, which is very clearly patterned after the architecture of the flagship Yggdrasil. Unlike the overwhelming majority of DACs on the market today, the Yggdrasil and now the Gungnir Multibit are both pointedly not traditional delta-sigma designs. Instead, Schiit audio emphasises, Yggdrasil and Gungnir Multibit have both “thrown out delta-sigma D/A’s and traditional digital filters” in order to provide “precision multibit ladder DACs” that operate in conjunction a specially designed digital filter that provides a “true closed-form solution”. Rather than deal with what designer Mike Moffat terms the “guesswork of delta-sigma,” both the Yggdrasil and Gungnir Multibit use a filter that “retains all the original samples, performing a true interpolation.” Schiit Audio also stresses that the digital filter used in its multibit DACs “gives you the best of both NOS (all original samples retained) and upsampling (easier filtering of out-of-band noise) designs.”

Gungnir Multibit uses four Analog Devices AD5781BRUZ DACs (two per channel in a hardware balanced configuration), plus a dedicated Analog Devices SHARC DSP processor, which is used to implement Schiit Audio’s signature closed-form digital filter. The combination is said to yield 19-bits of effective resolution. The DAC provides four digital inputs (AES/EBU via XLR connector, BNC SP/DIF, Optical SP/DIF, and USB), plus three analogue outputs (two single-ended and one balanced output). To drive those outputs, the Gungnir Multibit provides “fully discrete JFET buffers for balanced outputs and discrete JFET summing stages for single-ended out, direct coupled throughout.” Schiit Audio’s clever Adapticlock circuit handles clock management duties. Finally, the Gungnir Multibit provides a two-transformer power supply (one for digital circuitry and the other for analogue circuitry) with eight stages of regulation.

By comparison, the Yggdrasil uses four of Analog Devices AD5791BRUZ DACs, a more elaborate and even lower noise power supply, and is said to yield 21-bits of effective resolution.

In actual practice, I felt the sonic ‘family resemblance’ between the Gungnir Multibit and the Yggdrasil was unmistakable; both DACs have an almost effortless ability to dig way, way down deep into the interiors of recordings to tease out subtle textural, transient, or reverberant details in the music. With both designs, there is this uncanny quality of self-assuredness that is very appealing. If the DACs could speak for themselves (and in a sense they can), they might be saying, “I’m not estimating what’s on the record; I’m simply reading and analysing the musical data with great precision and then telling you what’s down in there for you to enjoy.” That approach certainly works for me.

When absolute push comes to shove, the Yggdrasil can be—at least on some recordings—a smidgeon more revealing, detailed, and nuanced than the Gungnir Multibit, but this does not change the fact the Gungnir Multibit A) sounds an awful lot like its big brother, and B) is plainly ready to take on all comers in or near its price class. In fact, I consider the Gungnir Multibit to be proof positive that Mike Moffat knows how to fit about 20 pounds of digital audio technology into a 10-pound bag and to do so at a sensible price.

Perhaps the only thing that might impede audiophiles from considering the Yggdrasil and Gungnir Multibit would be the fact that both DACs are PCM-only designs that support maximum resolutions of 24/192 (in other words, no DSD and no DXD playback). However, if you simply tear up all the specifications sheets and just listen carefully to the Gungnir Multibit (or Yggdrasil), my bet is that you’ll soon forget all about those DSD/DXD ‘omissions’ and just let yourself be carried away by the music.

To sum up, let me say that the sounds I heard at the Schiit Show were very impressive and left me wanting to hear more. If the name of Schiit Audio has made you nervous in the past or has led you to question the seriousness of the company, let me simply suggest that perhaps it’s time to set aside snooty high-end preconceptions and biases and just listen to the music—preferably with a dash of feisty, good-natured humour thrown in. Schiit Audio is emphatically for real.

Remembering Dieter

From a technical standpoint, the image at the front of this piece is not my best work. It’s badly lit, the composition is all over the place, it’s cropped off at the knee, and more. It’s not a ‘keeper’. Except it was one of the last photographs I took of Dieter Burmester, who passed away on August 15 following a short illness. That wry smile says it all – it’s Dieter doing the things he loved.

In the course of being an audio writer in the high-end field, you meet a lot of manufacturers. Most have a unique combination of passion for music and sharp business acumen needed to make a success in the audio industry. And that makes for some big characters. But few characters were as big as Dieter Burmester, a man who was always larger than life, always excited by the next thing, always charismatic. It was never a handshake with Dieter, always a hug like you were a long-lost family member. He must have met thousands of people in his time – from audio enthusiasts, to distributors, to press, to owners – and all of them will remember him for his warmth and sheer enthusiasm.

Starting in the late 1970s, Dieter Burmester created one of the most recognisable brands in high-end audio, and with it a reputation for quality of sound, build, and service that created a loyal following. At a time when high-end audio was extremely insular, Burmester helped put international high-end audio on the world stage. At the time of his passing, the company that bears his name has more than 60 staff members in its Berlin office, exports to virtually every country where people listen to music, and has recently appeared in the cabins of top-class Mercedes Benz and Porsche cars.

But Dieter was more than just a CEO. His first musical experiences as bassist and guitar player in the 1960s were formative, and his collection of guitars and basses collected over 50 years of passionate playing is formidable. He wasn’t just a keen collector, but a keen musician, still playing until the end. His impromptu gig at the Burmester HQ in October last year wasn’t a one-off; staff members would know Dieter was in the factory, because they’d hear guitar playing coming from his office.

Dieter Burmester was also an audio enthusiast with vision, embracing multichannel, streaming, Bluetooth audio, and high-performance in-car audio with gusto. His passing, however, does not leave Burmester rudderless. His passion lives on in the team he created.

One gets to a point in life where you stop going to so many weddings and christenings, and start attending more of those events at the other end of life’s story. This one, though, has touched those of us who met the man more deeply than most, it seems. ‘He will be sorely missed’ sounds so trite and impersonal.

I’ll miss Dieter. I really will. I might not miss him trying to blow my eardrums out in demonstrating how powerful his new Mercedes system sounds, but I’ll miss his enthusiasm, and his passion.

From the Burmester press release:

Berlin, August 18, 2015. It is with great sadness but also a deep sense of gratitude for all of his achievements, Burmester Audiosysteme GmbH announces the unexpected death of the company founder and CEO Dieter Burmester. Dieter passed away after a short but severe illness in Berlin-Zehlendorf on August 15, 2015. Dieter Burmester was the founder and CEO of the company until his death.

Dieter Burmester’s mission had always been to create the perfect blend of musical sound, technological innovation and timeless design. Today, the brand Burmester has a global reputation for uncompromising sound and craftsmanship. Dieter Burmester was born in 1946. As a musician and engineer he embodies these ideals together with his team.

Ten years ago, Burmester accepted the challenge to implement the experience of high end sound into the automobile. Following the successful debut in the Bugatti Veyron Burmester now also offers high end sound for premium cars from Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.

Dieter Burmester was an internationally accepted and well-known pioneer of the high end industry. Many of his legendary audio components have turned into icons of the high end world.

His passion for music and the reproduction of music at the highest levels of quality had lead him to continuously break new ground. His creative energy and his captivating enthusiasm inspired him to develop and realize extraordinary projects.

Passing on his profound knowledge and his personal art of hearing to the team at Burmester Audio was a matter of the heart for Dieter Burmester. We thank Dieter for his decades of inspiration and knowledge and driven attention to detail. Together with his wife Marianne Burmester the team at Burmester will continue to run the company as he would have wished.

PS Audio PerfectWave disc transport/DirectStream DAC (with Pikes Peak OS)

Not so long ago the Boulder, Colorado-based firm PS Audio touted its PCM-focused PerfectWave DAC and matching PerfectWave Transport as its premier digital audio products, but all that changed with the arrival of the firm’s DSD-centric DirectStream DAC (£5,250, or £5,550, with PS Audio’s optional PerfectWave Bridge module installed).

In the years following the PerfectWave DAC’s release, PS Audio President Paul McGowan was approached by DAC designer Ted Smith. Smith (who has since become a key member of the PS Audio engineering team) suggested a superior-sounding DAC based on a DSD (Direct Stream Digital) rather than a PCM platform. Once McGowan, along with some trusted cohorts from the Pro Audio/Recording Studio world, had a chance to hear Smith’s proof-of-concept DAC circuits in action, the sonic results spoke for themselves, leading PS Audio to embark upon development of the DirectStream DAC. Another key member of the PS Audio team is legendary high-end audio designer Arnie Nudell (creator of, among other things, the classic Infinity IRS loudspeaker); Nudell’s expert ears are used to vet new PS Audio design concepts, subsequent product and firmware revisions, and so on.

The operating principles of the DirectStream DAC are fairly easy to grasp. All incoming PCM digital audio data is first converted to DSD format and then upsampled to 10x the standard DSD rate; similarly, all DSD digital audio files are likewise upsampled to the 10x DSD rate. Then, the 10x DSD digital audio data is converted back down to the double DSD rate for playback. Handling all of this up- and down-conversion is what PS Audio calls its ‘DSD Engine’, which uses an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) as its core processor. No off-the-shelf DAC chips are used in the design.

To drive the outputs of the DAC, PS Audio employs high-speed, fully balanced video switching amplifiers whose outputs are routed through an extremely high quality, wide bandwidth audio transformer that serves, says PS Audio, to provide “both galvanic isolation from the outside world as well as low pass filtering.”

All of the above takes place within an extremely low-jitter (and relatively jitter insensitive) environment made possible by the firm’s decision to use one single master clock for the entire DAC—a clock that, according to PS Audio, is “designed to subtend all possible combinations of sub-clocks, from 44.1, 88.2, 48, 96 (kHz), etc. in order to eliminate the need for multiple clocks…” The clock deliberately does not use “classic edge detection techniques on the digital input data,” but rather uses “a proprietary method of extremely fast sample-and-recognise technology” that is said to minimise sonic degradation related to “cables, jitter, and the quality of the incoming data source.” Moreover, PS Audio has taken special care to avoid noise transfer between sections within the DAC, while paying extremely close attention to circuit board trace layouts to minimise both noise and potential jitter issues.

While this technical description sounds promising, one key question remains: why go with a DSD-centric DAC in the first place? The answer is a multi-faceted one, but let me attempt, here, to synopsise a mini-White Paper PS Audio has provided on the subject. The designers chose DSD as the core platform for this DAC with several thoughts in mind. First, DSD is simple to convert to analogue, requiring only a low-pass filter. Second, DSD is inherently linear and all bits in a DSD stream have the same weight, meaning, says PS Audio’s White Paper, “a single-bit error anywhere is barely measurable let alone audible” (something that is not always true with conventional PCM playback). Third, DSD soft clips when overdriven, meaning that a DSD-based DAC should theoretically behave more like analogue magnetic tape, where “signals which exceed the nominal full scale value only get slightly compressed if at all.”

The DirectStream DAC provides a card slot for an optional Network Bridge module, plus a range of digital inputs including AES/EBU (via XLR), coaxial and TOSlink S/PDIF, I²S, and USB. Two methods of control are provided: a full-colour touchscreen display and a convenient, handheld remote. Many different display views are possible, but the standard one shows the DAC input selected, the sampling rate and bit-depth of the file in play, and the absolute phase setting chosen (the DirectStream DAC allows switching of absolute phase, which makes a significant difference on some recordings).

If the optional Network Bridge is installed, the DirectStream DAC will automatically access the Internet to look up album art and metadata for the files being played and then store that data on an included SD memory card. Thereafter, the display will show the appropriate album art and metadata whenever the file is played. The display screen also will temporarily show volume and/or channel balance settings whenever users adjust either parameter. Although the DAC can be set to provide fixed, line-level outputs, PS Audio strongly recommends using the DAC’s variable level analogue outputs (either balanced or single-ended) to drive power amplifiers directly, arguing that there is nothing quite like the sonic transparency and purity that results. Consequently, I ran the DAC directly into my reference monoblock amps.

According to its specifications, the DirectStream DAC can handle PCM files at up to 192kHz/24-bit resolutions, but I got a pleasant surprise when I discovered the DAC could happily play the 352.8kHz/24-bit DXD files I had on hand (and it sounded terrific doing so!). The DAC also is rated to handle DSD64 and DSD128 files, which it does with the greatest of ease (but note: it cannot play ‘quad speed’ DSD256 files).

In the title of this article, I mentioned that our review sample of the DirectStream DAC had PS Audio’s latest Pikes Peak ‘OS’ or ‘operating system’ installed. I used that phrasing because PS Audio describes its elaborate control firmware for this DAC as being not unlike a full-fledged computer operating system, owing to the extreme volume and complexity of the code involved. To date, there have been three operating system updates for the DAC – all free of charge – and according to Paul McGowan (and others in the PS Audio user community), the Pikes Peak OS represents a bigger sonic step forward than any of the previous upgrades.

The DirectStream DAC is one of the most analogue-like digital audio products I’ve yet heard. By this I mean that its sound reminds me of a very high-quality analogue reel-to-reel tape deck, but of course without any tape hiss at all. In practical terms this means that when playing well-recorded material, the DAC can and does present plenty of inner detail and dynamic nuance, while also serving up remarkably three-dimensional soundstages, yet it does so without ever sounding as if it is working hard. On the contrary, the DAC consistently conveys a sense of relaxed and unstrained smoothness coupled with full-bodied dynamics that—exactly as PS Audio promised—refuse to veer into raw-edged overload. Perhaps a good word to describe the DirectStream DAC’s sound, then, would be ‘graciousness’, in the fullest and most deeply resonant senses of that word.

Put on truly well recorded material, such as the Nidaros Cathedral Girl’s Choir & TrondhiemSolistene performance of Kim André Arnesen’s ‘Magnificat’ [2L music Blu-ray/hybrid SACD] and listen to the way the PS Audio delineates, yet refrains from clinically dissecting, the elements of the music. The DAC effortlessly captures the high, pure, multi-layered and achingly beautiful voices of the girl’s choir. Similarly, it beautifully renders the tonality of the accompanying strings; reproduces the deep, powerful, yet very taut voice of the pipe organ; and above all captures the remarkable depth, width, and reverberant qualities of the Nidaros Cathedral itself. In short, the DirectStream DAC serves up glorious musical realism, in a disarmingly casual and almost self-effacing way.

Given the DirectStream DAC’s internal architecture, you might think it would give ‘preferential treatment’ to DSD material and indeed it does sound quite masterful when playing DSD files. But the real magic of this DAC may centre on its handling of PCM material—material the DAC gives greater smoothness, fluidity, dimensionality, and elegance than it might otherwise have had. I don’t mean to suggest by this that traditional PCM playback methods cannot or do not sound perfectly good in their own right, because they certainly can and do. But if PCM playback has an identifiable ‘failure mode’ it might be that PCM files can at times sound a bit flat and 2-dimensional, while exhibiting subtly edgy and/or mechanical qualities that tend to hold the listener at arm’s length from the music. While I would not tell you that the DirectStream DAC makes these problems disappear with a wave of its magic DSD-processing wand, I will tell you that it makes these sorts of playback problems better—and sometimes eliminates them almost completely.

To see what I mean by those comments, try putting on the Civil Wars’ Barton Hollow CD [Sensibility] and listen closely to the upper register of Joy Williams’ voice. My past experience has been that, on this generally well-recorded album, the top of Williams’ range can—at full song—exhibit faint but audible traces of strain and momentary patches of a subtly grating, rough-textured quality (it doesn’t happen often, but it’s annoying and musically disturbing when it does). Through the PS Audio DAC, however, the performance envelope of the album seems almost to stretch out, allowing room for Williams’ voice to soar up high and at elevated levels, but without being marred by audible stress, strain, or bursts of break-up. This is precisely the sort of sonic forward progress you can expect to hear over and over again with the DirectStream DAC.

Because the DAC is very quiet and does a great job of retrieving low-level details—especially small, evanescent spatial cues—it can take ordinarily flat-sounding recordings and suddenly give them a heightened sense of body, shape, and depth. This quality of three-dimensionality, along with the DAC’s delightful (albeit improbable) marriage of high resolution and unforced graciousness, is what really defines the sound of the DirectStream DAC for me.

Having praised the DAC for its resolution, smoothness, three-dimensionality, and grace, you might draw the inference that it is highly forgiving of imperfect recordings, but in my experience that really wasn’t the case. The DirectStream DAC will improve what it can about mediocre recordings, but it nevertheless exposes them for exactly what they are. What is more, because the DAC tends to clean up whatever it can in so-so recordings, those sonic problems that can’t be ameliorated tend to stand out in even sharper relief. While the DirectStream DAC can make good, very good, and great recordings sound better than ever, it cannot and does not compensate for poor or mediocre recordings. In the end, the sonic truth will out.

PS Audio’s DirectStream DAC turns the established order of things in the PCM-centric digital audio world upside down and it sounds all the better for it. I have greatly enjoyed my time with the DirectStream DAC, in no small part because it has demonstrated the sonic benefits of a fundamentally different—and perhaps fundamentally superior—method of playing both PCM and DSD digital audio files. For this reason alone I would encourage readers considering DACs in this price range to give the DirectStream DAC a very careful listen. If your reactions are anything like mine, you may find yourself won over by the fresh musical insights this DAC makes possible, even on recordings you once thought you knew well.

PS Audio PerfectWave Transport

As mentioned above, the PerfectWave ‘Memory Player Transport was originally conceived as the companion to the original PerfectWave DAC—the precursor to the DirectStream DAC reviewed here. Interestingly, though, all three components share a common physical form factor and were designed so that they can be stack atop one another.

The PerfectWave Transport comes from an era when computer-based music servers were not as common as they are today, and when DSD digital audio files were rarely if ever discussed. What PS Audio sought to create was a CD/DVD disc reader/transport that anticipated the sonic benefits of contemporary music servers.

To this end, the key idea behind the PerfectWave Transport was that it would not play digital audio data directly from discs, but rather from a 64MB buffer, which PS Audio termed a ‘Digital Lens’. PS Audio states, “It is the fact that you are listening to the stored version of what’s on the disc that helps the music sound so lifelike and spacious.”

Thanks to this buffer memory, the PerfectWave Transport’s DVD disc drive mechanism has ample time to use what PS Audio describes as “a multiple read technique, which reads the data on the disc until it’s verified as bit perfect.” What is more, the digital audio data is fed into the Digital Lens with, “no clock information attached to (the files).” Instead, the output of the Lens is, “forwarded to the PWT output though a fixed high‑precision, low-jitter asynchronous clock.”

As a result, the sound quality associated with playback of data from the PerfectWave Transport is fully competitive with that of playback from a well-sorted modern day, PC-based music server. In fact, if anything, the PWT might enjoy a very narrow edge in terms of resolution of low-level musical information. The PWT can read CDs or DVDs on which PCM-format digital audio data (at resolutions up to 192/24) has been stored; the PWT does not, however, play Blu-ray, DVD-Audio, or SACD discs. Even so, the PerfectWave Transport makes a worthy companion to the DirectStream DAC—especially for listeners with very large CD collections.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

PS Audio PerfectWave Memory Player Transport

Type: Solid-state CD transport with memory playback
Disc Types: CD, DVD-ROM with WAV-encoded PCM digital audio files at up to 192/24 resolutions, or DoP-encoded DSD files (note: does not play DVDs, DVD-Audio discs, or SACD discs)
Internal storage: 64MB ‘Digital Lens’
Digital outputs: TOSLink, coaxial S/PDIF, AES/EBU, and I²S
User interface: PS Audio remote control plus on-board full-colour touchscreen controls
Dimensions (HxWxD): 10 × 42 × 36cm
Weight: Approximately 12.2 kg
Available finishes: Silver or black
Price: £2,999
PS Audio DirectStream DAC
Type: Solid-state PCM, DXD, and DSD-compatible DAC
Digital Inputs: Two I²S, coaxial S/PDIF, TOSLink optical, AES/EBU, USB, and Network bridge slot
Supported Formats: PCM: 44.1kHZ–192kHz, 16–24 bit. DSD: DSD64 and 128
Analogue Outputs: Single-ended (unbalanced) via stereo RCA connectors, balanced stereo analogue via dual 3-pin XLR connectors
Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz ± 0.25dB
Distortion (THD + Noise @ 1kHz, full scale): <0.03%
Output voltage: Two user selectable settings:
Low output setting: 1.41 Vrms (+5dBV)/3.15
High output setting: 2.81 Vrms (+8dBV)/5.3Vrms (+12dBV)
User Interface: PS Audio remote control plus on-board full-colour touchscreen controls.
Dimensions (H×W×D): 10 × 42 × 36cm
Weight: 13.5 kg
Available finishes: Silver or black
Price: £5,250, or £5,550 with optional Network Bridge module installed

Manufacturer: PS Audio

URL: www.psaudio.com

UK Distributor: Signature Audio Systems

Tel: +44(0)7738 007776

URL: www.signaturesystems.co.uk

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Zanden Audio Systems Model 8120 power amplifier

All should be right with the world: I’m looking at (and listening to) a stereo amplifier sporting four KT-120 output tubes and delivering 100 watts per channel. This is a topology that delivers the fluidity and dynamic integrity that mark out the better tube designs, combined with enough power to handle real-world loudspeaker loads. And the 8120 is a Zanden amplifier, too: its cuboid form factor, and frosted acrylic front and rear panels, are both understated and ineffably stylish. Has there ever been a more attractive amplifier?

However, lingering on the horizon is a dark smudge that I just can’t ignore: with a single pair of push-pull power pentodes (or kinkless tetrodes) per channel, amps generally manage to present their considerable musical merits in cost-effective packages. They deliver a real musical bang for your bucks. Except that, as beautiful, as capable, and as flawless as this amplifier undoubtedly is, the one thing that the Zanden 8120 definitely is not, is affordable. At £19,900, you’ll do well to find another tube amp that charges this kind of money for 100, non-triode watts.

Sometimes though, no matter how familiar the ingredients might seem, great products invariably deliver more than the sum total of their parts. The Zanden is a case in point. First, at over 45kgs, the 8120 is no lightweight. Now, lift the lid – necessary to insert the four ECC82s and four KT-120s – and the amplifier’s unusual, boxy shape starts to make sense, the tube bases being mounted on a stepped steel chassis perched atop a solid block of electrical hardware. No wonder the 8120 seems so dense – there’s virtually no air inside.

Despite its conventional topology, with a phase splitter feeding a gain stage that’s directly coupled to the output tubes, the sheer bulk gives you some idea of just how much hardware has gone into the power supply, which features film-caps throughout and multiple stages of choke regulation. In addition, considerable effort has been expended on shielding the signal path, while Zanden also makes use of a high-tech, high-frequency absorbent material to further protect the audio signal from external interference. Standard inputs are single-ended RCAs, although you can specify balanced XLR’s as a £995 cost option. The output stage employs a factory set bias voltage, which guarantees maximum power output, but also means that – unlike some superficially similar amps – you cannot substitute ‘equivalent’ tubes, such as KT88s or 6550s. Finally, the 8120 is also available with source switching and a volume control, in the shape of the 6000 integrated amp.

Zanden’s products have always had an uncanny ability to fasten onto the message, the core, the attractive quality that makes great music so compelling. The CD players do it with digital and the phono stages most definitely do it with analogue – both bringing a natural immediacy, presence, and directness to proceedings. More recently, the 3100 line-stage has exhibited a similarly direct connection to the performance, but at least as far as Zanden’s amplification goes, the 8120 takes things to a whole new level, not that you are necessarily going to appreciate that from the word go. One of the things that makes all those classic push-pull stereo amps so appealing is their sense of purpose, the way they drive the performance forward, pulling you in, and carrying you with it. Put on the Zanden and it sounds almost reticent with none of that cock-sure punch or urgency that you might expect. Instead it sounds relaxed, unforced, almost limpid, with an unflustered air of calm composure. There is nothing overt or obviously impressive about the performance of the 8120, nothing to point a finger at or hang its character on. In fact, its most remarkable feature is its total lack of remarkable features.

Let’s start with its imaging: at first, it’s easy to assume that this Zanden amp is recessed or laid back, but what soon becomes apparent is that what you are hearing is a soundstage that’s not just set beyond and away from the speakers, it’s all back there together. Nothing steps forward or suddenly emerges from a drive unit to disturb the spatial continuity, an intrusion that you only really notice once it has been removed. Normally, we compensate for such aberrations, but the 8120 totally eliminates the need. Its sense of locational order and its ability to create a single coherent acoustic space is exceptional. Instruments stay planted in space, defined in all three dimensions, with no tendency to rise or step forward with pitch or level. Yet at the same time that presentation is utterly natural and unexaggerated; there’s nothing that screams, “Just look at this soundstage!” Instead, you find yourself taking it for granted – right up to the point where you listen to a different amp that can’t match the 8120’s spatial aplomb – and which suddenly sounds horribly contrived and false as a result. If you want the perfect example of the Zanden’s natural perspective and spatial stability, look no further than Barbirolli’s EMI/Hallé recording of the Karelia Suite and the way that the whole spread of brass instruments manages to stay, not just precisely located across the rear of the stage, but also at exactly the same height. Now try that with a few other amplifiers…

This quality of natural expression extends into every aspect of the 8120’s presentation. It might lack the obvious appeal of those amps you assume to be its peer group, yet at the same time it is seductively listenable, engaging, and astonishingly satisfying. Far from lacking drama or excitement, what you’re hearing here is the reverse of what you might well expect. Rather than driving the signal, imposing its will on proceedings, it’s the signal that’s driving the amp. The Zanden enjoys a rare agility when it comes to tracking the musical demands presented at its inputs, responding to rather than limiting or ‘managing’ their twists and turns. Instead it allows them free rein, both in terms of tempo and dynamic range: strings soar, brass punches, voices are free to growl, grate, purr, or pierce. Percussion can be truly explosive – but at the same time it has texture and subtlety, whether it’s the low rumblings of a timp filling out murmuring strings or the subtle insistence of the brushwork anchoring an extended, meandering Coltrane solo. Changes in tempo are clearly apparent, as are rhythmic patterns, while contrasts in tonal shading or musical mood are effective without being broad-brushed in bold. The musicians and the music are given their own voice. Instead, rather than any diminution of expressive range or compression of shade, what’s missing is the edge and glare, the subtle hardening on transients, and the clipped harmonics that so often pass for speed and excitement. Music through the Zanden seems neither fast nor slow – it just seems right, whether it’s Art Pepper’s measured, grindingly dirty groove of ‘Las Cuevas De Mario’ or the jaunty, up-beat ‘Smack Up’ (from the Boplicity album of the same name).

The Zanden’s grasp of pace and tempo is remarkable – and utterly effortless. It lays bare the evolution in Berglund’s readings of the Sibelius symphonies, his shift from textural and tonal contrasts to a more dynamic and dramatic presentation. At no time are you left wondering why his later readings, which are so much bolder, are also less enjoyable. While the 8120’s spatial coherence, rhythmic flexibility, and unconstrained dynamics are the most apparent markers of this amplifier’s special musical abilities, it is its sheer, unobstructive musical fluency that really sets it apart: the innate sense of balance that binds those special, individual attributes into a single whole that manages to make such perfect musical sense.

We are collectively so used to the ‘language’ of audio amplification, that if it’s absent then we miss its accent, just as if you habitually take sugar in your tea, you are instantly aware, almost before the drink reaches your lips, if that sweetened taste sensation isn’t there. This Zanden allows us – or more properly, invites us – to enjoy a paradigm shift. Instead of viewing the recording through the lens of the system playing it, this amp advances the perspective, revealing the music through the window of the recording. It removes the means of (re)production from the process, eliminating so many of the intrusive mechanisms that so often bracket audio performance that we’ve almost come to rely on as way markers. For any audiophile who hears live, acoustic music on a regular basis, the 8120 will come as both a shock to the system and a strangely familiar experience. But once you recognise what it’s doing and reset the filter of your expectations… boy, are you going to love this amp!

Does that mean that the Zanden doesn’t ‘do’ rock music? Well, yes and no. Yes, it absolutely does ‘do’ rock: just listen to the insistent urgency it brings to John Cougar Mellencamp’s ‘Paper In Fire’ [The Lonesome Jubilee, Mercury], or the effortless way in which it sorts out and propels the loose-hipped and disjointed rhythms of Talking Heads’ ‘Born Under Punches’ [Remain In Light, Sire], to appreciate how its agility and unfettered dynamic response brings this music to life. No, it doesn’t have the edge and glare that you’ll be used to, probably leading you to advance the volume control, in search of those familiar failings.

Which brings us to, not so much the 8120’s failings as the edge of its envelope. As astonishingly musically adept as this amplifier is, it isn’t perfect. Its deepest bass doesn’t have the absolute air, transparency and authority of a pair of Karan monos and, although it’s undoubtedly quick, it doesn’t have the sudden dynamic response of the Siltech SAGA. But both those options are going to cost a lot more than the Zanden, so the modest shortfall is more than acceptable. What those amps also offer is power – and lots of it. The 8120 generates 100, very musical watts – but 100 watts is still only 100 watts, which means that you need to choose your speakers with that in mind, rather than simply assuming that because the Zanden is a pricey piece it will drive anything. Having said that, this amp is hardly limp of wrist and it will drive most real world speakers with a grace and authority that will surprise and delight. I used both the Focal Scala Utopia V2 and the diminutive but awkward B&W 805D2 during the review, both with conspicuous success – just so long as I didn’t allow the amplifier’s lack of additive ‘drama’ to lure me into listening at louder than usual levels. It might seem obvious, but the trick here is to listen to how loud the music is, rather than how loud it sounds. It’s an issue that is compounded by the amp’s essential honesty: it let’s you hear the dynamic range that’s on the recording – which is great if it’s a good recording, but not so great if it’s a compressed and muffled ‘radio mix’. We already know that the 8120 will play loud with grace and some considerable enthusiasm. Just don’t expect it to play REALLY LOUD with the same aplomb – or inject a sense of life and dynamics where there aren’t any.

Few amplifiers in my experience are as adept as the Zanden 8120 when it comes to performing the sonic disappearing act that makes long term listening so rewarding. How does this Zanden amp sound? Not the way you expect it to. It’s clean, modern lines bely its natural, warm, fluid, expressive character: its push-pull output stage isn’t reflected in a rigid, overly tight grip on musical proceedings, a lack of air, or any stripping of harmonics: its single pairs of output devices certainly contribute to its rhythmic and dynamic coherence, but its 100 watt rated output isn’t the impediment to dynamic range or musical authority you might expect. In fact, it’s the temporal, spatial, and dynamic coherence, the sense of natural tonality, natural perspective and stable presentation that help make the music made by the Zanden so special. SET aficionados will glory in its rich tonal palette and relaxed sense of musical flow, push-pull devotees will love its control and transparency, focus and organization – while solid-state advocates will be disconcerted and besotted in equal measure. They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this is definitely one beautiful looking and sounding amplifier. But there’s none of the louche, in your face brashness of a Scarlet Johansson here: nor the painfully thin, overly earnest awkwardness of an Anne Hathaway: and you can forget about the hard, brassy exterior of Angelina or the calculating, emotional constipation of Nicole. This is a beauty that embodies hidden depths, a quality that’s a cut above the norm. If this amp were a movie star, it would be Ingrid Bergman: subtle, under-stated, elegant, and classy – definitely a keeper.

Technical Specifications

Type: Stereo power amp with push-pull output stage.
Tube Complement: 4x 12AU7/ECC82, 4x KT-120
Inputs: 1pr single-ended RCA, 1pr balanced XLR (optional)
Input Impedance: 100kOhms (RCA), 7kOhms (XLR)
Rated Output: 100 watts/channel
Dimensions (W×H×D): 426 × 316 × 379mm
Weight: 46.2kg
Price: £19,900 with RCA input

UK Distributor: Audiofreaks

Tel: +44(0)208 948 4153

URL: www.audiofreaks.co.uk

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TAD D1000 CD/SACD player

Why would anyone buy a disc player in 2015? Because the market for CD/SACD players is far from dead, especially at audio’s higher end. But, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for smaller companies to find decent OEM transport mechanisms, so the number of new players is diminishing. TAD – Technical Audio Devices laboratories – is not affected by the present disc-transport hardscrabble, because TAD remains under the auspices of Pioneer Electronics. The fact that the migration away from disc-based music replay has not gained anything like the same traction in Japan as it has in Europe or the US only helps to make a strong case for a new, high-performance, CD/SACD player like the D1000.

There are still a number of extremely high-grade disc spinners made in Japan. We still see Accuphase, Esoteric, Luxman, and TAD, but there are others that are seldom seen beyond Asia. It’s a mark of just how seriously disc-based replay is taken in Japan that the D1000 is TAD’s ‘entry-level’ player, despite being built to a standard that most Western audio brands would happily put at the top of their tree.

TAD has recognised the changes in the international market though, by producing a similar DA1000 digital converter, which is essentially a D1000 without the transport mechanism (a lot of the main components – including clock, converter, power supply, and chassis – are common to both designs). The two are not entirely identical; the D1000 retains the CD/SACD transport part, while the DA1000 features a linear volume control, for direct connection to a power amp, and a headphone amplifier (the next batch of D1000s will feature a volume control, too). Right now though, we are still in a world that would consider the DA1000 to be a D1000 without the SACD/CD player section, rather than looking at the D1000 as a DA1000 with added disc transport. That may seem like a semantic distinction, but it’s an extremely important one. It means that currently, the CD/SACD transport mechanism is not vestigial, and the polycarbonate disc is not considered ‘legacy’ by TAD.

TAD prides itself on extreme clock accuracy on all its digital devices, and the D1000 features a custom-designed UPCG (Ultra-Precision Crystal Generator), suggested to lower the C/N (carrier/noise) ratio from ‘around -50dB’ in conventional players to –100dB. This suggestion of a clock improving the noise in a system at first appears to be a very different suggested aim compared to the normal jitter-lowering ideas found in other systems, but in effect this points to the same issue from a different direction. TAD opts for a high-precision oscillator because of its comparatively long working life and start-up speed.

This clock is coupled to a pair of Burr‑Brown PCM1794A DAC chips in balanced arrangement, which output to TAD’s own custom I/V (current-to-voltage) conversion circuit. This custom circuit exists because every I/V conversion system is effectively a trade-off between noise and slew-rate, and TAD felt all off-the-shelf compromises were making that trade in the wrong direction. The use of a PCM1794A means SACD and DSD signals are not native, however. I’m not convinced this is wrong on moral grounds and, in listening, this conversion did not ‘hobble’ DSD or SACD replay in the slightest.

The shared parts between player and DAC also mean a truly first-rate USB input. This is obviously vital for the DAC, but is increasingly important for the player as an increasing amount of high-resolution audio is only available through downloads. The USB input (somewhat pompously called the ‘Asynchronous USB Communication Engine’) is a completely isolated circuit board in its own right, capable of handling up to 32bit/384kHz PCM and 5.6MHz DSD audio files, if your computer is up to the task. A 2.5GHz Intel i7‑equipped Apple MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM running the latest version of Audirvana Plus was up to the task: currently, Windows users should be able to achieve the same performance with a similarly ‘nails hard’ PC with the appropriate drivers and programs.

The other shared parts are the massive power supply (with a toroidal linear power supply for the analogue bits, a separate feed for the digital domain), and a powerfully built chassis designed to minimise vibration. This chassis is a 8mm thick aluminium design with a very low centre of gravity. Subsystems – such as that aforementioned power supply block, and the transport mechanism – have the potential for introducing vibration or resonance, and TAD mounts these individually and separately to the chassis, using different tools for each job, such as a brass bass plate for the power supply.

The disc mechanism itself is made from aluminium, and is black anodised in the sections where reflections from laser scatter could be an issue. It’s a low vibration system from first principles (even before being mounted to a solid chassis) right down to the servo mechanism. This shouldn’t comes as a great surprise, given TAD’s Pioneer connection – the company has long known how to make a high-grade disc transport; just look to the Elite range for examples. The whole device sits on adjustable feet, and the player comes with a thin bar-like remote control: no cheap plastic giveaway here.

Our sample was the UK demonstrator, so any discussions of run in of new models would be guesswork: our one arrived with more than enough miles on the clock to gauge that. We’d class it a ‘top shelf’ device in more than one sense – it’s the kind of product that deserves to be shown off, it’s large enough that it might not easily slot into some of the smaller rack systems, and perhaps most importantly the orange LED indicators are positioned below the transport mechanism, so it’s best viewed straight on rather than looking down on the player.

All of this heavyweight build and fine internal architecture is great, but how does it sound? In a word – captivating! This is the kind of player that makes you realise how good digital audio can be, and makes you also realise why so many people remain ‘unconvinced’ by digital – it’s because they simply haven’t heard digital of this calibre.

Don’t take this to mean the D1000 is some kind of analogue-simulator, trading the insight and detail of digital for a faux turntable-like warmth. This is digital, just the best of digital. It has all the high-frequency extension and clarity of good digital audio, but without the glare and ‘over-sharpened photo’ effect that sometimes brings. This becomes especially noticeable on SACD: ‘Der Hölle Rache’ from Mozart’s ‘Die Zauberflöte’ [Diana Damrau/Jér´mie Rhorer/Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, Erato, from The Perfect Sound SACD from the 2014 Hong Kong High-End AV Show] should be extended, dynamic, and bold in the treble, as befits the Queen of the Night’s ultimate temper tantrum. Typical CD/SACD replay will pitch that into hardness and brashness, and the usual compensating audio presentation will make it sound like almost saccharine and blunted. On the D1000, we get all of the energy, all of the rage, and none of the impediments.

What you’ll hear irrespective of file format is unforced, but uncompromised detail from the D1000. This is not simply insightful, and not the same thing you get from most digital systems. In base audio terms, the D1000 sound is typified by a big, taut bass, an open midrange, lots of inner detail, plenty of instrument articulation and clarity, oodles of dynamic range, and a huge soundstage with excellent solidity of instruments within that 3D image. But it’s a lot more than that; there’s cohesiveness to the sound that transcends the normal coherence of an instrument across its frequency range. It’s the sense of musicians interacting with one another, whether that’s on a fairly basic four-four level (such as Meg and Jack White playing ‘Seven Nation Army’ [Elephant, XL Records]) or a more rhythmically-challenging jazz set (such as the 7/4, 7/8 time switching ‘Optimism’ from the Vijay Iyer trio’s 2012 hit Accelerando [ACT]), or the interplay of the Eroica Trio interpreting Brahms’s ‘Hungarian Dance’ [EMI]. You get all the usual leading edge detail, the musicians breathing, the sense of space around the instruments where relevant, but you also get that sense of real people playing together in real time. That is something precious few replay systems do well, and the D1000 makes you realise just how rare and valuable that ability really is.

It would be easy to lump the TAD D1000 in with an all-TAD system, and almost overlook it as a worthwhile standalone front-end in its own right. Easy, but stupid. If CD and SACD are ‘going away’ (they aren’t), then we’ve been saving the best ‘til last, and the D1000 is easily one of the best CD and SACD players on the planet right now. Very highly recommended.

Technical Specifications

Compatible Discs: Super Audio CD, CD, CD‑R, CD‑RW
Digital inputs: XLR × 1, Coaxial × 2, Optical × 1, USB (Standard B type) × 1
Supported sampling frequencies: 44.1kHz–96kHz (optical); 44.1kHz–192kHz (XLR/coaxial); 44.1kHz–384kHz (USB, PCM); 2.8MHz, 5.6MHz (DSD)
USB operating environment: USB 2.0 high speed
Digital outputs: XLR × 1, Coaxial × 1
Analogue outputs: Balanced stereo XLR, single-ended stereo RCA
Frequency Response: 10Hz-40kHz –1dB (fs 88.2kHz and beyond)
10Hz–20kHz –1dB (fs 44.1kHz)
Signal/Noise ratio: 115dB
THD+N: Not specified
Dimensions: (W×H×D): 44×15×40.6cm
Weight: 18.5kg
Price: £14,995

Manufactured by: Technical Audio Design laboratories

URL: www.tad‑labs.com

Distributed by: Nu Nu Distribution

URL: www.nunudistribution.co.uk

Tel: +44(0)203 544 2338

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Transfiguration Proteus MC cartridge

Cartridges are an essential and subtle part of the vinyl replay chain, yet many consider them to be the most significant, the part that makes the most difference. This isn’t really the case: turntables and tonearms arguably have more of a bearing (no pun intended) on the absolute resolution of a record player, but cartridges usually have the most obvious tonal character. In the case of moving coils, this is because they are typically hand-made, using materials that are sensitive to variations in temperature and humidity, and because enthusiasts seem to like certain characteristics in their vinyl front ends. All of which is fine if you are trying to create a specific sound, but ‘character’ in audio hardware is effectively a barrier between the listener and the recording. High fidelity is all about breaking down that barrier. This is an ethos that Seiji Yoshioka, the man behind Transfiguration, seems to understand better than many in the small world of cartridge builders.

Yoshioka-san’s company is called Immutable Music. ‘Immutable’ means ‘unchanging’, but given the steady evolution of Transfiguration cartridges, it seems inappropriate. Yoshioka-san has been making ring magnet-based MCs since the early 1990s and, while they have remained similar in appearance, the underlying coil and magnet assembly design has been substantially revised and refined. When Yoshioka-san started building cartridges, the ring magnet was a new thing: it is less so now, but the way he uses it produces some specs that are still out of the ordinary. Internal impedance, for instance, is a mere one Ohm: a state of affairs that reflects what must be the bare minimum of coil windings in high purity silver wire, and returns a low, but manageable, 0.2mV output.

The Proteus is the top model in a small but conservatively formed range of MCs. It looks like the next model down, the Phoenix S, but looks are misleading. Although both have a boron cantilever and diamond tip, the one in the Proteus is higher quality; the core is 3S µ-metal, rather than Phoenix S’s permalloy, and the lead-out wires are glued down to reduce vibration. Also, the connector pins are rhodium-plated, rather than gold, and a different damper material is used.

Installing and setting up the Proteus is straightforward, except for the fact that its cantilever is very short and a long way from the front of the aluminium body. This makes it hard to see, but a Petzl head torch makes installation easier, and the threaded inserts are a real boon if you are used to nut and bolt fixings. I started out by installing the Proteus in an SME V arm onboard the Model 20/3 turntable from the same company. If only all arms were this easy to set up!

I gave the Proteus a few hours run-in before listening, and then put on Patricia Barber’s Modern Cool [Premonition], where the track ‘Company’ grabbed me and wouldn’t let go; it was the scale, dynamics, and textures that did it. I don’t think this track has ever sounded more real and vivid. The double bass has so much timbral resonance, and the trumpet so much expression, it’s uncanny, and the voice has a presence in the room that makes it seem real. The Proteus produces a lot of extremely coherent and solid energy in a fashion that seems entirely without character. This much is not immediately obvious, but unveils itself over time, because each record you play uncovers so many of disc’s own idiosyncrasies.

One of my favourite recordings of recent times is Mike Valentine’s direct-to-disc cut of ‘The Four Seasons’ [Interpreti Veneziani, Chasing The Dragon]. You are always aware that it’s played on original instruments, but never have those instruments displayed so much depth of tone and character. It’s a crude and colourful sound by the standards of modern strings, but no less enjoyable as a result. These instruments are equally adept at portraying the gusts and swells of ‘Autumn’, that’s for sure, because dynamics are outstanding with the Proteus. As is detail retrieval – it’s so easy to follow different instruments and voices; for instance, on Leo Kottke’s ‘The Other Day (near Santa Cruz)’ [Great Big Boy, Private Music] there are bells, percussion, two guitars, and voice. These are rendered as a group of instruments playing perfectly in time yet available for individual attention should you wish to focus in that way: apparently “there are no chicks in Santa Cruz”, by the way.

For contrast, I installed the Proteus in another remarkable turntable, the Rega RP10. This brought the music further into the room and presented it with a degree of stereo solidity that is rare. Now, it was the voices of the Grateful Dead singing ‘Crazy Fingers’ [Blues for Allah, Audio Fidelity] that provided the distraction. Nowhere was this more apparent than on the chorus, where you could distinguish multiple voices and the high degree to which they harmonise. The transparency, the resolution, and natural unforced nature of this cartridge made it quite difficult to take off a good slab of vinyl, too. This happened with Tom Wait’s Swordfishtrombones [Island]; I put on the title track and couldn’t take the LP off until the last refrain of that side. This album is remarkably well recorded for its genre and era (1983); the vibes, piano, congas, and ultimately the voice are superbly reproduced. There is so much life, nuance, and depth here that your appreciation for the composition and playing is effectively doubled. This repeated itself with virtually every album that I played: check out the horn arrangements on Joni Mitchell’s ‘The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines’ [Mingus, Asylum], because it turns out Jaco Pastorius wasn’t only a bass god. Who knew?

That Transfiguration makes neutral, transparent cartridges is firmly established, but in achieving this, Yoshioka-san also transforms a vinyl groove into the most effective means of reproducing a musical signal. The Transfiguration Proteus is as good a conduit to the language of music as anyone needs, and is way better than most I have ever heard.

Technical Specifications

Type: Low output moving coil phono cartridge.

Stylus/Cantilever: PA (3×30µm) diamond stylus with 0.3mm boron cantilever

Tracking Force: 1.7g – 2.2g optimum 2.0g

Load: >10 Ohms

Compliance: 13 × 10–6cm/dyne.

Output (at 1 kHz @ 3.45cm/s): 0.2 mv

Weight: 7.8g (without stylus cover)

Price: £3,299

Manufacturer: Immutable Music Inc

Distributor: Decent Audio

Tel: 05602 054669

URL: www.decentaudio.co.uk

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RHA announces the S500i, an ultra-compact in-ear headphone

Following the successful launch of the new flagship T20 in-ear headphone earlier this year, award-winning headphone manufacturer RHA has announced a new entry-level proposition, the S500i.

The new in-ear headphone will feature an ultra-compact design in aluminium, made possible by a specially engineered micro dynamic driver. The 140.1 model driver promises faithful listening experiences, having been engineered to deliver vibrant, immersive and detailed sound reproduction.

“The S500i is for those seeking an affordable, compact in-ear headphone that doesn’t sacrifice sound or build quality,” explained Lewis Heath, Product Director at RHA. “By developing a micro dynamic driver that can offer exciting, full range sound reproduction and using aluminium alloy housings, we’ve been able to make the product incredibly small and lightweight and therefore comfortable for any size or shape of ear. I’m excited for people to experience it at IFA in Berlin this year.”

In addition to offering a three-button remote and microphone for use with compatible Apple devices, the S500i’s 1.35m cable also features a two part material design; the upper half using a traditional TPE finish while the lower half featuring a tangle-resistant, fabric braided outer. Accessories include seven pairs of silicone ear tips in a variety of designs and sizes with holder, a fabric carry pouch and clothing clip.

The S500i in-ear headphone carries a three year manufacturer’s warranty and will be exclusively available through the Apple Store Network from October 2015. The S500, a version of the product without remote and microphone, will be available from all sales channels later in 2015.

S500i at IFA 2015

The S500i will be exclusively unveiled at Europe’s biggest consumer electronics trade show, IFA, in Berlin, Germany next month. Attendees can visit Halle 1.2, stand 102 from 4-9 September 2015 to audition RHA’s latest product.

MSRP

£39.95 / $49.95 / €49.95

Product Specifications:

Driver: Micro dynamic (140.1)
Frequency range: 16-22,000 Hz
Impedance: 16 ohm
Rated / max power: 1mw/5mw
Sensitivity: 100dB
Cable length: 1.35m

Further information & images:

www.rha.co.uk
www.facebook.com/rhaaudio
www.twitter.com/rha
www.rhamedia.info

MrSpeakers – Introducing ETHER C, Our New Closed-Back Flagship

Breaking new ground in closed headphone performance and comfort

ETHER C is the latest addition to our award-winning ETHER headphone line. Using advanced carbon fiber ear cups, ETHER C delivers an exceptionally “open” headphone sound while weighing in only 0.6 oz (~15gr) more than our ETHER open back headphone.

Which ETHER?
Both ETHERs share the same V-Planar driver, but the tuning is different, and of course ETHER C is closed. If your application requires isolation, such as for travel or times when you don’t want to disturb people with music or be disturbed by external noise, ETHER C is the easy choice.

Sonically, both headphones are voiced to be as close to neutral as we can, but there are differences:

MrSpeakers will be showing ETHER and ETHER C at the following shows, CanJams and meets. We look forward to seeing you there!

ETHER C has deeper, faster bass for EDM and other bass heavy music (it’s not a traditional “bass head” phone but it delivers the goods)
ETHER has a warmer upper bass-lower midrange well suited to classical, jazz and much pop/rock, delivering a more “intimate” feel than ETHER C on vocal-oriented music
ETHER offers a slightly larger soundstage while ETHER C resolves placement and “volume” a bit more accurately
With extra isolation, ETHER C can be more resolving of micro details and ambience cues, and it offers a slightly smoother and more detailed treble
- August 29-30, CanJam London
- September 26, Nashville Head-Fi meet
- September 26-27, CanJam Germany
- October 2-4, CanJam at RMAF
- October 24-25, Tokyo Fujiya AVIC headphone show

Burson Audio Launches Supreme Sound Audio Website for DIY and OEM Products And Introducing the SS Lycan (Headphone amp, Preamp and Op-Amp Test Bench, 3 in 1)

The Lycan has roughly the same footprint as a smartphone, it comes fully assembled and ready to play. Despite its small size it’s built to the same exacting standards as all Supreme Sound and Burson Audio products.

Pure Class A, fully discrete, and outputting 2.2 Watts per channel into 16ohm, the Lycan’s headphone amplifier powers any headphones with ease. The preamp section is nicely detailed and quite suitable for powered amplifiers or active speakers.

The Lycan Op-Amp Headphone amp and Preamp is shipping early September at $249USD with a NE5532 IC op-amps and $299USD with SSA op-amps.

If you preorder and place a deposit, Supreme Sound Audio will take $50USD off when the unit is ready to ship. The offer ends the 1st of September, 2015 and limited to the first 100 units only.

http://www.ssaudio.com.au/lycan-op-amp-test-bench/

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iFi Audio Retro complete system

A spin-off from the well-regarded British high‑end audio company Abbingdon Music Research, in a few short years iFi has earned a reputation for building affordable, palm‑sized components whose room-filling sound belies their modest size. Given this, perhaps the last thing we might have expected would be something like the firm’s new Retro music system—a system that is thoroughly contemporary yet conceived as a fond homage to an earlier period in the evolution of high‑end audio.

At the heart of the system is the Retro Stereo 50, a full‑sized valve-powered headphone amp/integrated amp with a built‑in MM/MC phonostage, plus a high-resolution, multi‑input, PCM/DXD/DSD‑capable DAC. The Retro Stereo 50 is the first integrated amp iFi has ever offered. Apropos its name, the Retro Stereo 50 features a golden-hued faceplate whose appearance reminds us of classic Marantz integrated amps from the past. Adding to the retro theme, the Stereo 50 comes housed in an old-school-style cabinet artfully fashioned from laminated slabs of bamboo.

The Retro system also marks iFi’s entry into another new product category: namely, mini-monitor-type loudspeakers. That’s right: the Retro system comes with a pair of small, stand-mount, iFi‑designed mini-monitors called the Retro LS3.5s, which are, in spirit if not in terms of actual frequency response curves, a modern-day take on the concept of the classic BBC LS3/5a monitors of yesteryear.

The LS3.5s are a two-way design with slot-loaded, P.G.A.H. Voigt-tuned enclosures. The speaker features wide-bandwidth, 115mm, lightweight treated paper-cone mid-bass drivers that operate as full-range transducers whose output is supplemented by a 28mm silk-dome ‘super tweeter’. The enclosures of the LS3.5s are, like the case of the Retro Stereo 50, made of laminated bamboo, meaning that the Retro system’s amp and speakers make for a very handsome trio indeed. The total price of the system is $1,999 in the US or £1,650 in the UK.

The Retro Stereo 50 amplifier is based on a quartet of EL84x valves and a pair ECF82 valves and is specified to provide ‘music’ power output of ‘25W + 25W’, the majority of which, says iFi, results from Class A operation. The term ‘music power output’ indicates that iFi uses a somewhat uncommon method of measuring and rating the Retro Stereo 50’s power output. Rather that testing the amplifier as it drives load resistors on a test bench, iFi instead connects the Retro Stereo 50 to the LS3.5 speakers, plays music through the system at the highest levels possible without inducing audible distortion, then tracks the amplifier’s actual voltage swings via a recording oscilloscope. Using this data, iFi calculates an estimated power output figure for the amplifier under real-world music playback conditions. Bandwidth is an impressive 10Hz – 60kHz, while distortion—as valve-type amplifiers go—is comparatively low: < 0.2% @ 2.83v.1W.

The Retro Stereo 50 headphone amplifier section is capable of a stout 7,000mW of output, making this hands down the most powerful headphone amp iFi Audio offers and one of the higher powered headphone amps available on today’s market. The amp offers a ‘Turbo’ output optimised for normal and/or power hungry full-size headphones, and a ‘Normal” output optimised for high-sensitivity headphones, earphones, or CIEMs.

The integrated amp is fitted with precision ‘studio grade’ bass and treble controls that offer ± 8dB of emphasis or de‑emphasis at 100Hz or 10kHz, respectively. Tone control settings are precise and repeatable thanks to click-indexed control knobs that offer ten boost and ten cut settings each. Alternatively, users can remove the tone controls from the signal path by engaging a ‘Direct Input’ switch. In addition to tone controls, the Retro Stereo 50 also provides two other ‘analogue sound processing’ circuits: namely, the firm’s 3D Holographic sound and XBass low-frequency enhancement systems.

The 3D Holographic system was initially developed for use with headphones, but iFi has since gone on to create a speaker-optimised version of the circuit. The Retro Stereo 50 actually includes both versions of the circuit, engaging the headphone version when headphones are connected, but engaging the speaker version of the circuit whenever headphones are not present. iFi recommends using the lower of its two 3D Holographic enhancement settings for ‘Normal Use’ when driving the LS3.5s, but recommends the higher-level 3D Holographic setting when the speakers are closely spaced (that is, less than 1.5M apart). Purists can, if they wish, switch off the 3D Holographic circuit altogether.

The XBass system, too, was initially created for use with headphones, but the circuit has also proven beneficial for use with small mini-monitors that might benefit from low frequency enhancement. In fact, the Retro system manual states that, “the iFi Retro LS3.5 speakers are designed with the XBass function of the Retro Stereo 50 as part of (their) overall frequency response…” Thus, iFi recommends applying the lower of its two XBass settings for ‘Normal Use’ with the LS3.5s, and the higher of the Xbass settings whenever the LS3.5s are stand-mounted. The XBass circuit can, of course, be disengaged at the flick of a switch.

The Retro Stereo 50’s phonostage is based on iFi’s successful Micro iPhono phonostage and offers three gain settings: 38, 50, and 62 dB. Moreover, by applying specific settings of the Retro Stereo 50’s click-incremented tone controls, the phono section can dial up any of six possible phono EQ curves: RIAA, CCIR/Teldec, Columbia, Decca, DMM, and EMI (options rarely offered in integrated amps or phonostages at this price point).

The Retro Stereo 50’s DAC section is based upon iFi’s Micro iDSD DAC, but with a few minor changes, one of which involves the addition of an aptX Bluetooth connectivity option. Like the Micro iDSD, the Retro Stereo 50 DAC can decode PCM and DXD files at resolutions up to 32‑bit/768kHz, and can also decode DSD 64, 128, 256, and 512 files. Some might argue these ultra high‑res capabilities are probably of more theoretical than practical benefit, since there are few (if any) commercial sources for 768kHz PCM or DSD 256/512 digital audio files. Nevertheless, it’s comforting to know the Retro Stereo 50 is ready for whatever high-resolution developments the future might hold.

The DAC section provides multiple digital filter settings that, in the Retro Stereo 50, are automatically selected in response to the playback contexts at hand. For example, if the Retro Stereo 50 is fed PCM files with sampling rates between 44.1 – 192kHz it will automatically apply a minimum phase/minimum ringing digital filter; however, for PCM files with sampling rates at or above 352kHZ a ‘Bit-Perfect’ filter will be applied. Similarly, a ‘pure analogue, no-ringing filter’ is engaged whenever DXD/DXDx2 or DSD files are played. iFi says these filters reduce listener fatigue while addressing “the perception of digital audio as ‘aggressive’ (owing to) the high-frequency ringing and distortion inherent to all standard digital filters and most digital playback systems.”

Last but not least, the system comes with a minimalist remote volume control, plus a surprisingly complete set of accessory cables and adapters. Literally everything you need to go from zero to a fully operational music system is contained within the system’s two shipping cartons.

The Retro Stereo 50 is a very fine and highly versatile headphone amplifier, phonostage, and DAC. After all, how many amps can you name that have sufficient power to drive any dynamic-type headphone you could name, are quiet enough for use with sensitive earphones and CIEMs, include hyper-flexible high-resolution DACs, and phonostages that can support MM and MC cartridges and almost any phono EQ curve imaginable? In terms of versatility, the Retro Stereo 50 is without equal and it offers headphonistas a sound that is refined, highly expressive, and very muscular (but never ‘muscle-bound’).

iFi components have traditionally opted for a sound that conveys natural, ‘organic’ warmth and that also focuses upon the over-arching sweep and flow of the music. In other words, iFi components take a ‘music first’ approach to sound that stands in sharp contrast to those products that relentlessly pursue ever-increasing levels of detail and definition at the expense of all else. iFi components, much like AMR’s upper-tier products, are all about revealing the coherent musical whole—not a spectacular, but ultimately disjointed-sounding collection of musical pieces and parts

Even so, I found that the Retro Stereo 50 stretches the traditional iFi performance envelope in several important areas—in the process providing a more satisfying and complete musical experience. While not ‘analytical’, the Retro Stereo 50 does a better and more capable job of resolving fine, low-level details and sonic textures than any other iFi components I’ve encountered to date. I found the Retro Stereo 50 not only revealed more layers of valuable low-level information than previous iFi models did, but it also captured a wealth of previously obscured reverberant and spatial cues in recordings with the result that the sound became markedly more coherent and three-dimensional. These jumps in performance were discernible both through high-quality headphones and through the LS3.5 monitors.

iFi components have long been famous for ‘punching above their weight class’, but I discovered that in a qualitative sense, the Retro Stereo 50 also raises the bar for iFi amplifier performance. I say this because the Stereo 50 exhibits certain exuberant qualities of fluidity and quicksilver grace as it plays, so that dynamic contrasts and shadings stand out in sharp, crisp relief, yet at the same time—and somewhat paradoxically—the amp sounds remarkably relaxed and at ease with itself. iFi says the Retro Stereo 50’s circuit topology was inspired by classic valve-powered designs from Leak and others and it may be that the old masters knew a thing or two about capturing the essence of the music that we all would do well to remember. In any event, the Retro Stereo 50 offers more dynamic clout than any sane headphone listener could ever want, and also delivers ample power for purposes of driving the LS3.5 mini-monitors (assuming you don’t try to play the little fellows at head-banger volume levels in a large room).

I did not have a chance to try the amp with speakers other than iFi’s own, since many of the other speakers I have on hand (e.g., Magnepan 3.7i’s) are terribly power-hungry and thus not a good match for the Retro Stereo 50. But even though the Retro Stereo 50 is not the most powerful general purpose integrated amplifier around, nor is it likely to wow enthusiasts with its test-bench prowess, it is wonderfully well-suited for its dual roles as a high-end headphone amp/DAC and as the ideal companion power plant for use with iFi’s purpose-built LS3.5s.

To hear some of the qualities I’ve just mentioned, try listening to the Retro Stereo 50 on Marilyn Mazur’s lavishly textured percussion opus Elixir [ECM] through a set of superb (but tricky-to-drive) headphones such as the Abyss AB‑1266 planar magnetic headphones. What you’ll hear is some of the most richly detailed, harmonically convincing, and dynamically explosive percussion-centred jazz around, played with consummate ease, expressiveness, power, and grace.

Similarly, put on most any recording known for its inherent three-dimensionality, such as Christopher Roberts’ otherworldly, Asian-influenced Last Cicada Singing [Cold Blue] and listen through the Retro systems LS3.5 mini-monitors. What you’ll hear is a huge (and hugely compelling) 3D soundstage that effectively makes the rear wall of the listening room melt away, leaving in its place the believable acoustics of the recording venue itself. Granted, other top class systems can also perform this sort of 3D disappearing act, but how many of them cost comfortably less than £2,000—amp, DAC, phonostage, speakers, and even cables included?

iFi isn’t kidding around when it says the LS3.5 were voiced with the assumption that the amplifier’s XBass system would be used to enhance (and balance) the speaker’s low‑frequency output. Run the speakers without XBass support and they will tend to sound thin, lightly balanced, and lacking in foundational bass weight and warmth. But switch on the appropriate XBass setting for your speaker placement scenario and the sound immediately becomes better balanced, more fully ‘grounded’, and blessed with a just-right amount of engaging warmth. While the LS3.5s will never set any records for deep bass extension (nor would the original BBC LS3/5a’s have done), the bass they do produce is taut, agile, and offers quite good pitch definition. The only thing you’ll need to remember is that you really must use iFi’s XBass system as recommended in the manual in order to make the magic happen with these speakers.

Two other beguiling aspects of the LS3.5s involve their unforced sonic purity and delicacy. I attribute these qualities in large part to iFi’s choice to run the LS3.5’s 4.5‑inch wideband driver as a more or less full-range transducer, with the 1.1‑inch silk-dome tweeter rolled in via a first order crossover very high up, so as to act as a super-tweeter. These design decisions mean several things. First, just one drive unit handles the bulk of the music (including fundamentals, plus most partials and harmonics), with no crossover network (or other drive units) getting in the way. Second, this configuration makes for an inherently phase coherent loudspeaker, which helps reinforce timbral purity and the overall sense of focus. Third, iFi has done its homework with its silk-dome tweeter, which sounds very fast, yet also uncannily smooth and delicate. This makes for a scenario where the tweeter is there when you need it (and beautifully so), but that otherwise stays out of the way.

Some readers have already asked if iFi will sell the Retro Stereo 50 as a standalone amp/DAC/phonostage for those who do not require loudspeakers. In the US, at least, iFi will offer the Retro Stereo 50 for $1,495 and the LS3.5s monitors for $795/pair, for those who wish to purchase the components separately. Obviously, though, the complete system’s bundled price affords buyers considerable savings.

The more I used the Retro system, the better I liked it. In small-to-mid-size rooms it produced a pure, beautifully focussed, and intensely three-dimensional sound that would do many a costly and complex high-end system proud. But happily the Retro system isn’t absurdly costly nor is it complex; in fact, it offers what DaVinci might have called the ‘sophistication of simplicity’. Bring the Retro system home and, within minutes, you can be enjoying refined and engaging sound through the system’s speakers or through your choice of high-performance headphones.

Technical Specifications

iFi Retro LS3.5 mini-monitors

Type: 2‑way, two-driver stand-mount monitor with P.G.A.H. Voigt-tuned enclosure with rear firing slot port

Driver complement: One 115mm wide bandwidth paper‑coned quasi-full-range driver, one 28mm waveguide-loaded, silk dome ‘super tweeter’

Accessories: Rubber anti-slip mats, silicon rubber decoupling feet, two sets of removable grilles (beige and black), silver-plated OFHC copper speaker cables with Teflon insulators

Frequency response: 59Hz – 20kHz

Crossover frequency: The wide-bandwidth driver operates full-range (from approximately 59Hz to 8kHz) and thus requires no crossover; the super tweeter rolls in at approximately 10kHz via first-order crossover

Impedance: 4 Ohms

Sensitivity: 90dB/2.83V/1M

Dimensions (HxWxD): 268 × 146 × 226mm

Weight: 3.5kg/each

Finishes: Laminated natural bamboo

Price: $795/pair if purchased separately; special bundled pricing if purchased as part of the iFi Retro system

iFi Retro Stereo 50 headphone amp/integrated amp/phonostage/DAC

Type: A valve-powered headphone amp, integrated amp, phonostage, and high-res DAC

Valve Complement: 2 × ECF82, 4 × EL84x

Accessories: Rubber anti-slip mats, USB cable, two stereo analogue signal cables (one with RCA jack, one with 3.5mm mini-jacks), coaxial/optical mini-jack-type digital audio adapter), screw-on Bluetooth antenna, power cord and low-noise wall‑wart-type power module

Analogue inputs: One MM/MC phono input (via RCA jacks – also user-configurable as a general purpose single‑ended analogue input), up three single-ended line-level inputs (via RCA jacks or 3.5mm jack)

Digital inputs: One S/PDIF (configurable as either a coaxial or optical input), one USB port, aptX Bluetooth

Analogue outputs: One ‘Normal’ headphone output (via 3.5mm jack), one ‘Turbo’ headphone output (via 6.35mm jack), 4 – 16 Ohm-compatible stereo speaker taps

Supported sample rates:

• Coaxial and optical S/PDIF: 16‑bit, 24‑bit — 192kHz

• USB: 16‑bit, 24‑bit, 32‑bit — 768kHz, 2xDXD, DSD512

Analogue Signal Processing: Studio-grade tone controls, 3D Holographic sound, XBass low-frequency enhancement system

Headphone Amplifier Power Output: Up to 7,000mW

Integrated Amplifier Power Output: >25 Wpc “music power” into the LS3.5’s 4 Ohm load

Bandwidth: 10Hz – 60kHz (frequency response, 10Hz – 80kHz)

Distortion: < 0.2% (@2.83V/1W)

Signal to Noise Ratio:

• Amplifier: >101dB

• MM Phonostage: >90dB

• MC Phonostage: >80dB

DAC Dynamic Range: >113dB

Phonostage Gain: 38, 50, or 62dB

RIAA Accuracy: <0.5dB

Phono EQ Curves: RIAA, CCIR 56/Teldec, Columbia, Decca (FFSS), RIAA (DMM), EMI.

Dimensions (H×W×D): 146 × 268 × 226mm

Weight: 5.8kg

Price: $1,495 if purchased separately; special bundled pricing if purchased as part of the iFi Retro system

iFi Retro System comprising the Retro Stereo 50 amp/DAC and Retro LS3.5 mini-monitors

Price: £1,650, or $1,999 US

Manufacturer Information: iFi Audio

URL: www.ifi‑audio.com

Distributed in the UK by: Select Audio

URL: www.selectaudio.co.uk

Tel: +44(0)1900 601954

Distributed in the US by: Avatar Acoustics

URL: www.avataracoustics.com

Tel: 1 (678) 817-0573

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Exogal Comet DAC and power supply

Watch this space! Before long, the Exogal name will be springing up time and again, in the systems of music lovers and audiophiles who know their way around good sound. The Comet DAC is the first shot from this bold ‘new’ brand, combining digital converter with an output stage of the sort of quality and drive to make it a viable digital hub/preamplifier in its own right. There’s a matching power amp to follow. This could be the start of something truly special.

What’s with the ‘air bunnies’ around the word ‘new’ in the last paragraph? Exogal may be a new player in the game, but it has some very wise heads on those young shoulders. One of those heads is Jim Kinne, and his audio hits include Wadia’s highly respected 27 Decoding Computer. The Comet is in essence the distillation of a career (or three) designing ultra-high performance audio devices.

Exogal – like Wadia before it and Chord Electronics today – eschews standard DAC technology, instead using an FGPA (field gate programmable array) for the conversion process. Six of them in fact, each acting as stereo DAC chips for the balanced, single-ended, and headphone circuits as standard.

This array of FGPAs is inherently ‘open ended’. It’s less of a DAC design set in stone, more of a digital platform capable of significant upgrades through firmware. While nothing is ever entirely ‘future-proofed’, this inherently upgradable design means your Comet DAC is less likely than most to fall obsolete. Any prospective change is just lines of code: even if tomorrow we end up listening to multichannel music, with those six fully programmable DACs in tow, the task is not beyond the Exogal’s reach. We shouldn’t play down the amount of work required to write that putative code, but for the end user, it offers some guarantee against your Comet being Last Year’s Big Thing.

The other great advantage to a fully programmable array is this allows for custom filter options, and the Comet offers one linear, two minimum phase, and one spline filter. These options are best accessed using the smartphone or tablet app, rather than the teeny tiny remote supplied with the Comet.

Where the Exogal really moves into ‘tomorrow’ technology is it has a pair of line-level phono inputs, which pass through a custom 24/96 A/D conversion, which is upsampled to 24/384 for internal use. This turns the Exogal into a digital hub.

I was never lucky enough to spend enough time with the Wadia 27, but what little time I spent with it left its mark. It was one of the most natural, unforced, exciting, and detailed converters money could buy, and even today its performance would be hard to replicate. Except the Exogal Comet does just that. It doesn’t serve up a clone of the Wadia 27 sound, but it has that same sense of music unconstrained by the electronics being played, especially in soundstage terms. You get a sense of why that ‘holographic soundstaging’ cliché exists when you hear something like ‘Church’ from Lyle Lovett’s Joshua Judges Ruth [MCA]; those handclaps and voices from the choir really do appear in a three-dimensional space in front of the listener, whatever the system.

The Exogal’s strongest suit perhaps is that it isn’t the most immediately revealing revelation. If that sounds like a contradiction in terms, it’s simply that a lot of audio seems to be initially impressive, where the Exogal slowly, but inexorably, convinces you of just how damn good it is. Some will never get this, because they want the ten-second ‘wow!’ demonstration. Others will realise music is about more than just being impressive and discover their music holds deeper joys. I played ‘The Pull’ from Richmond Fontaine’s excellent We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River [Décor] and felt wrist-slittingly ‘uplifted’ rather than blown away by the sound, which is precisely how you should feel when listening to this track. High-res is great through the Comet (it will happily play 32/384 and DSD128) but it isn’t mandatory, because you find yourself drawn to the music rather than the sound it makes. You can do that to almost any genre or style of music: I even ploughed through some truly wonderful – but horribly recorded – 1970s Ethopian jazz-funk by Mulatu Astatke (‘Yègelié Tezeta’ on Ethiopiques Vol 4 [Buda]) and the Exogal simply got out of the way to let the groove play on. It also did the same through the digitised line input,

Add the separate power supply, and the difference is immediately justified in the listening. The bass becomes more solid, more authoritative, more ‘real’, and the stereo image extends even further from the boxes. It’s not a vast change – certainly nothing like the difference between most DACs and the Comet, but it just makes the Comet more ‘Comet-y’. Put simply, it’s a ‘no going back’ upgrade.

There is one mark against the Exogal – the display. Smack in the middle of the front panel is a little silver square, that most people think is some kind of logo, or maybe some sort of power indicator. Look closer: it’s the lone display for source and volume level. This is elegant and discreet, yes, but silver text against a sliver background is not high on the readability stakes. If the Comet is used as a DAC only, this is not really an issue, but if the Comet really does take over the role of digital ‘hub’, this needs to be more clearly marked. It’s a measure of how good the Comet really is, though, that I’d be willing to put up with this display without turning a hair.

We aren’t in the comparison review business, but there’s something going on here that’s worth commenting upon. Right now, the best DAC I know of is, on balance, the Nagra HD DAC: there are probably better ones, but the few I can think of are so expensive they cost about as much as funding a good ol’ 1980s South American insurrection. But the HD DAC is not exactly cheap: I’m still clinging to the review sample, but the excuses are wearing thin, and I know sooner or later, I’ll either have to man up and buy it (thoroughly Ron Jeremy-ing my bank balance in the process) or find something similar for considerably less money. The Exogal Comet (especially with optional PSU) comes close. Possibly ‘close enough’ close.

While we’re talking of things beyond the Exogal’s purview, using it with the masterful Melco N1Z music player is, quite simply, the cheapest way into digital’s Premier League. This is a combination that can stand shoulder to shoulder with digital’s giants like complete multi-box players from dCS, CH Precision, Esoteric, Metronome, and Nagra. I can’t speak to Meitner, MSB, Playback, ReQuest, Soulution, or Weiss, because I’ve not spent that much time with these player systems (and my experience with Esoteric is somewhat behind the curve), but it’s immaterial. The point is, the Melco/Exogal combination has the audio chops to have a dog in the big digital fight, at a price most of these big-ticket contenders might set aside for packing cases. OK, so ultimately, these top-tier players are not ousted by the Exogal, but it puts up one hell of a fight. Where it loses this fight is in bass depth and intensity, and dynamic shading. Reaching for Peter Hurford’s organ (snurk, snurk) the sheer scale of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue (BWV 548) in D Minor [Decca] is foreshortened slightly on the Exogal next to the really big guns. Also, the headphone output tends to sound harsh at moderate to loud levels, even on comparatively efficient Sennheiser HD25-IIs. But, try to find a more complete and more intrinsically ‘right’ sounding digital hub for the same money. It’s almost impossible.

We keep banging on about the revolution that is taking place in home audio, and the Exogal Comet is that revolution’s agent provocateur. It isn’t the first device that replaces source component, converter, and preamp for a digital generation, but it is the first that makes that move so cogent and does so without any real compromise. If this is the shape of the future, it comes highly recommended.

Technical Specifications

Comet DAC

Digital Inputs: AES/EBU on XLR, SPDIF on 75Ohm BNC, Toslink, USB-B, Analog on isolated RCA

Analog Outputs: One Pair Balanced (XLR), One Pair Unbalanced (RCA)

Sample rates supported: 16bit / 32kHz–24bit / 96kHz (optical); 16bit / 32kHz–24bit / 192kHz (AES/EBU, coaxial), 16bit / 32kHz–32bit / 384kHz, DSD64, DSD128 (USB)

Frequency Response: Not specified

S/N ratio: Not specified

THD+N: Not specified

Dimensions (H×W×D): 4.76 × 19.0 × 29.2 cm

Weight: 4.2 kg

Finish: Clear (Silver) or Black Anodized Aluminum

Price: £2,100

Optional PSU

Input Voltage: 85 VAC to 264 VAC

DC Cord Length: 1.5m

Dimensions (H×W×D): 15.24 × 16.5 × 5.72cm)

Weight: 0.91 kg

Finish: Black

Price: £550

Manufactured by: Exogal

URL: www.exogal.com

Distributed by: Kog Audio

URL: www.kogaudio.com

Tel: +44 (0)24 7722 0650

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ENIGMAcoustics Mythology M1 standmount loudspeaker

When it comes to supertweeters, normally a brand starts with complete loudspeakers and builds up the registers from there. ENIGMAcoustics instead first burst onto the audio stage with its Sopranino supertweeter, and from there looked down into the regular loudspeaker world with its Mythology M1 standmount. The M1 was designed from the outset to work with the company’s unique, self-biased electrostatic supertweeter, which sits atop the two-way box.

The Mythology’s main cabinet is a rear-ported rectangular box, sporting a custom-made 178mm polypropylene bass driver (with a 50mm voice coil) coupled to a 34mm silk dome tweeter. These sit in a laminated thin-walled birch wood cabinet, reinforced with toughened glass top and bottom. Because of the dimensions, the appearance of the gently curved matt black aluminium front baffle, and the single column stand it rests upon, the main cabinet looks similar to a Magico Q1. However, on closer investigation, this is a little like saying George Clooney looks like Karl Marx because they both have beards.

ENIGMAcoustics goes down the custom drivers route because it can guarantee tight tolerance of drive units, down to within 1dB of a reference driver. And it also means the tweeter (larger than the standard one-inch soft dome) can be used across a far wider frequency range than usual. This took some considerable research to get right, but it has very obvious benefits; it’s not only an extremely efficient design, but it works down into the midrange, meaning the crossover point between treble and bass unit is down at 1.1kHz. Thus, practically everything from 1kHz-20kHz is covered by the same drive unit, which significantly improves phase characteristics and linearity across the mids and upper registers in the process.

The combination of drive units and comparatively wide baffle means the M1’s off-axis performance is extremely good. Because the tweeter takes on such a starring role in the midrange, the bass driver doesn’t get to exhibit the darker side of a cone’s performance at higher frequencies, and there is little ‘beaming’. Audiophiles, especially those who listen alone in the sweet spot with free-space loudspeaker designs, often dismiss this off-axis performance. However, even under those conditions, the effect of poor off-axis performance on the information you receive from first reflections can negatively influence the speaker system’s performance, and should always be a key indicator of good loudspeaker design.

The two drive units are paired with relatively complex crossover network, which is both unusual and more complex to design than the more common first-order crossover typically found in this style of ported two-way. Specifically, it uses a third-order network for the bass-treble integration and a second-order network for the bass roll-off. This not only controls the slope of the bass roll-off significantly better than simply relying on the natural mechanics of the drive unit, it provides greater time alignment, and better phase coherence across the full frequency range. This is not the kind of network ‘dashed off’ in an afternoon, but more the result of painstaking analysis and listening, and as a consequence the network bristles with audiophile Big Names, like Solen, Mundorf, and WBT.

As discussed, the Sopranino supertweeter is pivotal to the design (our own Jimmy Hughes was seriously impressed by the passive electrostatic Sopranino supertweeter, when he reviewed it for Hi-Fi+ way back in issue 98.), and this is one loudspeaker where reading the manual is important in getting the tonal balance just right. Not only does the supertweeter allow for gain and crossover, but there are positioning indicators that recommend you move the Sopranino slightly forward and back to balance the speaker. This is at once frustrating and fascinating, because the output of the supertweeter is mild, but its impact is wild.

To onlookers, this may seem like audio homeopathy – a dose of nothing doing nothing to the sound – and, in fairness, it takes some time both to tune the supertweeter to the room and attune yourself to the subtleties of that tuning process. In other words, be prepared to follow the instructions to the letter, then repeat the process once more a few days or even weeks later when you have become more used to what the entire loudspeaker system is doing. Then, and only then, should you go ‘off piste’ with the manual. For the system, room, position, and my personal listening, setting the Sopranino to ‘flat’ gain (as opposed to -3dB) and ‘high’ (12kHz crossover), with the supertweeter back a couple of notches on from the front baffle elicited the best response.

This experimentation process is worth doing because it essentially removes a considerable amount of the influence of the room from the loudspeaker’s performance. It’s as if the high-frequencies ‘flood’ stray first reflections and especially residual flutter echoes, allowing the loudspeaker to be itself. It won’t make a bad room good, and it doesn’t obviate the need for good room treatment, but it does help bring out the best in a good room, and give the loudspeakers ‘proper’ a better foundation. There’s another significant benefit too; you can use this to subtly tweak the soundstaging in the room, making the sound more forward or recessed to taste. This is not homeopathy nor is it radically changing the tonal balance of the loudspeaker; this is just seasoning to taste.

The complete Mythology M1 system is therefore relatively unfussed by room size, working well both in surprisingly large and surprisingly small rooms. The same could not be said of matching the M1 to partnering electronics – the M1’s tweeter may be efficient, but at 85dB, this is not an especially sensitive loudspeaker, and its four-ohm nominal load is possibly not entirely benign, especially in the upper registers. This was not a loudspeaker that sat entirely comfortably with tube amplifiers, the resulting sound too ‘soft’ in the treble. On the other hand, a good ‘grippy’ solid-state design brought it to life.

The unexpected aspect of the M1’s performance is the amount of bass it delivers. We Brits know our way around a two-way standmount, but they all tend to be a little lightweight when it comes to delivering a full-scale orchestral ‘thwack’. We have come to think that ‘good’, but the M1 – coupled with a beefy power amp – begs to differ. It packs a surprising punch, evidenced by the closing passages of Mahler’s Eighth [Solti, Decca]. This is basically an excuse to throw an orchestra, a choir, and an organ at the listener, and the M1 aces this in the way only big floorstanders can. Floors shake, teeth rattle, squishy internal body parts move around… lovely!

With this mail’d fist comes the velvet glove. For all that force of bass, this is a remarkably subtle loudspeaker too. It’s extremely natural sounding, almost to the point of hiding its light under a supertweeter. As you might expect from one drive unit covering most of the mid and treble, it’s extremely coherent, expressive, and articulate – Martha Wainwright’s ‘Can You Believe It’ from Come Home To Mama [V2] demonstrates this perfectly as her voice can be hard to distinguish clearly at times, and the M1 simply opens out this shut-in mix. And, perhaps best of all, the treble stays just the right side of rolled off, a distinct improvement from the often bright, stinging sound of audio systems.

If there is a criticism of the Mythology M1 it’s that this subtlety may be lost on many people, although that feels like criticising an honest design for being too honest. Nevertheless, we have become so used to loudspeakers that try to impress that when we encounter one that doesn’t, we don’t question ourselves – we question the loudspeaker. Instead, think of this as like one of those basically honest, but bass-light, BBC-derived designs, just one that has been given a bass transplant.

The ENIGMAcoustics Mythology M1 needs careful partnering and careful installation if it is to give of its best. Fail to follow these rules, and you will wonder what all the fuss is about. But, if you get it right, you get a different loudspeaker, one that truly delivers the goods. This is a very big, very good loudspeaker hiding inside a relatively small loudspeaker, and it needs that supertweeter and a big amp to realise this. This is a deft, precise, and powerful loudspeaker, and that’s a combination we should all strive for.

Technical Specifications

Type: Two-way, rear-ported standmount with freestanding passive electrostatic supertweeter

Drive units: 1x 38mm soft dome tweeter, 1x 178mm polypropylene bass cone

Frequency range: 40Hz–40kHz (w/Sopranino)

Sensitivity: 85dB (2.83V/1m)

Recommended amplifier power: 50–200Wpc

Nominal impedance: 4 ohms

Finishes: Black lacquer, birdseye maple, red makassar

Dimensions (W×H×D): 23 × 38 × 35.6cm (speaker only)

Weight: 19 kg (speaker); 20 kg (stand); 2.7 kg (super‑tweeter)

Price: £14,690 w/stands; £13,690 w/o stands

Manufactured by: ENIGMAcoustics

URL: enigmacoustics.com

Distributed by: Select Audio

URL: www.selectaudio.co.uk

TEL: +44(0)1900 601954

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: PS Audio

UK Distributor: Signature Audio Systems

Technical Specifications

UK Distributor: Audiofreaks

Technical Specifications

Manufactured by: Technical Audio Design laboratories

Distributed by: Nu Nu Distribution

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