The first post I ever made in the forum was about the noise from my PSA Mk2 DAC, which also didn’t measure very well. Apparently nor does the DSD DAC or the SGCD.
I’ve heard the Rossini and Vivaldi quite a lot as they are standard demo gear at my dealer. In a really exceptional system, usually with Wilson speakers, the dCS units can provide a transparency to the sound that is really quite extraordinary. If the rest of your system is that good, dCS is a no-brainer. For most people I suspect their systems may not resolve the difference.
There is no simple answer to the tech. The dCS Ring DAC was first released around 30 years ago and has been under constant development ever since by quite a large team. It is probably way ahead of anything else out there and pioneered virtually every element of HD audio.
I have borrowed recently a Hugo TT2 from my dealer for week-end listening, and it is truly an amazing DAC: pinpoint image accuracy and completely silent background.
Really? I find the Hugo TT2, and any other DAC from Chord that is not a Dave, to be way overpriced and boring to listen to. I really like the Dave but not enough to come close to buying one. It’s just overpriced…
The general discussion was turning around some background noise (hiss) being present in the DSD Sr. and how wonderful the dCS DACs are transparent and resolving (and silent).
All I said is that, in terms of silence, the Hugo TT2 is excellent (pinpoint image accuracy and completely silent background) and, I would add, does not cost any near what a dCS DAC costs.
That is all.
But, you bring in the point of the TT2 being overpriced and boring: for the pricing, I cannot comment because it also packs of lot technology.
But as far as boring, I would agree.
In fact, I remember when I was listening to the TT2 that what I noticed is how all musicians appeared polite: the restitution of the musicians was perfect, detailed, but it seemed to lack emotions, as if perfect machine were playing music. The TT2 appeared to me as lacking soul, while the DSD Sr. provides details (not as clearly as the TT2 in my opinion), but it most especially brings emotions and soul: the music is more enjoyable with the DSD Sr.
So, as I said, my previous post was focusing on the pinpoint image accuracy and completely silent background of the TT2, nothing else.
If you start discussing about emotion and soul, then the DSD Sr. wins (in my opinion).
I many ways it is an amazing ADC, but not perfect like many things in life.
For now, I believe that the DSD Sr. still has the upper hand.
I did not mean at the time to provide a complete personal evaluation of the TT2, so I can understand your reaction.
Sorry for the confusion - my bad.
I had DS Sr and nDac in my system almost for 3 years. Brought nDac in 2010 and DS Sr in 2014.
Eventually I sold nDac as I stopped listening to it after I brought DS Sr.
nDac was superb. But DS Sr has certain easy flow of sound to my ears (I say more analog like sound) that made me eventually settle for DS.
To me (though it may be now old in terms of h/w) DS Sr has gone so much of upgrade over last 6 yeras or so that every $ I spent was well recovered by now. I can happily live with it for another few years.
I had auditioned DCS Bartok in my home and compared with DS Sr. Was a no brainer to realize that DS Sr (at half of Bartok’s price point) is a killer piece of kit nothing to be less proud of.
But Rossini is in different league all together. Heard it in dealer’s setup though without being able to do AB comparison. May be if I ever had enough money to splurge I may go for it.
Doing a home demo of Rossini player to compare the same with DSS. Was not impressed with Bartok last time wrt DSS.
But Rossini is really a piece of art. However it is 4 times the cost of DSS. But in any case DSS is giving a tough competition given its price point.
Few quick observations -
Rossini’s noise floor is almost 0. Even if I crank the volume to above 90%. But DSS has noise starting 70% and above which one can hear at 6 ft distance. As I understand that is by design of DSS.
The depth of sound stage in case of Rossini is almost twice. Especially at higher volume one can almost feel the real 3D distance between the instruments in more than 2 layers.
Rossini is not analytical at all. Thats what Bartok was falling short when I last time compared it with DSS. Rossini is as engaging as DSS with little more clarity and defined sound than DSS.
Bass is more firm in Rossini. But sometimes little overpowering. I like that though.
Vocal wise I think DSS is probably still slightly better in terms of representing timbre of the voice of the performer (for the kind of music I listen to - mainly Indian songs which are primarily vocal oriented). But Rossini’s overall presentation is surely better.
Well, I like the DSS better. I have the MSB select II and would never choose the DCS. I feel You have to go to the MSB to surpass the DSS. Call me crazy. I know someone will.
This is interesting. I never heard sources being so different (projecting) or better/worse in this regard, just speakers or amps.if at all in such dimensions.
Did you use the same streamer/disc drive for both?
May be I was over excited to pinpoint it as exactly ‘twice’ or so. But there is surely noticeable improvement in sound stage depth.
However, not with all recordings/tracks (after my prolonged listening). Also only with increase in the volume (relative across tracks). It seems to me that more space/air across various instruments and vocals creates that sense of illusion of lesser/higher depth in sound stage.
Came across this comparison of the DS with the dCS Rossini and a cheaper Gold Note DAC in Stereophile
I think it pretty much sums up what I feel to be the shortcomings of the DS with Windom in the bold (my emphasis) part.
Hopefully, the next firmware update improves on this.
Enter the PS Audio DirectStream DAC with Bridge II
Sometimes, when you evaluate several products at the same time, music devolves into a sequence of sound bites and emotions are buried under checklists. Hence my gratitude when Editor Jim Austin wrote, in response to my request for a deadline extension, “Do keep in mind that comparisons aren’t really the point. Just tell readers what the experience was like, or, as [the late Art Dudley] used to say, ‘Tell us what it sounds like.’”
Following multiple back and forths, I wrote, then scrapped, a conclusion for this review: “I’d love to put the DS-10/PSU-10 EVO up against some somewhat higher-priced DACs, including PS Audio’s DirectStream DAC ($5999) with Bridge II Network Audio Card ($899).” I took a break and gave my friend Peter Schwartzman a call. He said, “Wanna borrow my DirectStream DAC? It has the Bridge installed so you can input signal through both USB and Ethernet.”
I searched my brain for the perfect complex piece of music that would invite repeated listening. What better choice, in a year celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, than Masaaki Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan’s period-instrument recording of Beethoven Symphony No.9, Op.125, “Choral” (24/96 FLAC, BIS 2451)? I only used its first two movements—I’m waiting until I submit this review to play the rest—but since each is 14:13, I had plenty of time to settle in and see where the music led me.
Initially, I was blown away by the drive and brilliance of the DirectStream DAC (which was running the Windom OS), on tutti (everyone at once) passages. But when the line passed to solo instruments, they sounded smaller, dryer, and more separate from the larger orchestral fabric. Was this because I was listening to players who usually perform Bach, where the emphasis is often on intimacy rather than bombast? While the apocalyptic start to Beethoven’s journey to universal oneness got my heart beating, I also found myself strangely unsettled by what I heard.
With the Rossini DAC/Clock, the contrast could not have been greater. The orchestra moved back in what felt like a naturally resonant hall, and newfound air around individual instruments transformed those passages from anemic to fascinating. I especially loved how, in the second movement, Beethoven passes the line from one instrument to the other, as if emphasizing how each is a part of a collective whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. The presentation felt more organic and refined, with a natural balance between the octaves that encouraged me to listen louder than with the treble-prominent DirectStream DAC. It made me want to see my way forward from Beethoven’s initial militance and flashes of pain to the deliverance that was to follow.
As for the intrepid DS-10/PSU-10 EVO combo, lines were a bit smudged and less differentiated than through the other units. Colors were less saturated, and soundstage boundaries nowhere near as refined as with the dCS gear. However, solo instrumental passages were better integrated into the musical whole than through the PS Audio. The dCS Rossini DAC/Clock may have produced the most organic, refined, dynamic-yet-relaxed presentation of the three, but when it came to musical enjoyment, Gold Note’s DS-10/PSU-10 EVO wasn’t far behind. Both beckoned me to the “Ode to Joy” yet to come.