Oh that’s you…I didn’t notice. I already read the review, thanks.
You didn’t hear more detailled top end information of the Mofi?
The Mofi doesn’t have the lush and in the room sax tone of the HDTT, but I heard more details otherwise, although I don’t like it too much generally.
You really listen with headphones only? I personally couldn’t judge a good part of important sound characteristics with them to be honest (have Stax, but not as good as yours), but some others maybe more in detail. I think I might prefer other recordings on headphones than on speakers…this might change quite something.
Edit: I’d be interested in better headphone experience and what’s possible and I’m very interested in your Bert van der Wolf interview I will read, as I’m a fan of his recordings. I’m also a fan of the Sono Luminus(Dorian sound you reviewed.
@jazznut, I used to listen to Avalon Acoustic Eidolons with Atma-Sphere MA-2 amplifiers. But this was when I had a dedicated listening room in our former house. We’re in an apartment now, so I’ve transitioned to headphones only. With the Stax 009S, one can tell a surprising amount about sound staging. Given all my past experience with excellent speakers, it’s easy to assess what’s happening in the recording. As Paul has commented several times in his YT videos, experience makes up for a lot.
And you have a hell of a DAC…nice…quite some money for a digital product…would need a stock TSS to compete. Would love to hear that with your headphones.
@jazznut, we love the MPD-8 DAC. Makes a huge difference in the quality of our playback. When we made the transition from vinyl to digital, we did so with a commitment to ourselves that ous digital front end would match the sonic capabilities of our former vinyl front end. Our second system has a much more “real world” DAC, a Teac 503. But we still hear the benefits of DSD256 on both.
@jazznut - I am, I am, I am, indeed. 'Course, I have to put up with acknowledging that she has better ears than I do. In under a minute, she will have heard in an audio component under audition (or in a system new to us) what I’m only hearing after 15 minutes.
@badbeef, it is a shame Andreas does not have more dealers in the U.S. who are able to demonstrate his products. But, that is the fate of so many high end manufacturers today. The local high end dealer has gone the way of the dodo bird. After living with the MPD-8 for three years now, I’ve got an article in progress that will talk about what we hear from it.
BTW, Bert designed the power supply in the MPD-8. I can’t hear it, of course, but that power supply (times 3 since it uses three separate power supplies to keep everything as isolated as possible) is one of the reasons I was interested in this DAC.
I see that Andreas is a believer in USB in his products. I know there’s different schools of thought about this interface. I for one like the interoperability.
Yes. Andreas is quite convinced USB is the best interface available for consumer products. Of course, he’s using a proprietary USB interface module inside his equipment to deal with issues of noise, timing, etc.
So out of curiosity, how many streamers or computers use I2S other than Apple products? I have no idea, just curious. And, yes, Andreas has told me he thinks USB is the best solution in the real world. He prefers his fiber optics solution, but, since that is proprietary, that is only between his own products.
I think this is the crux of it here. Back in the old days, ST glass was (arguably) the best solution, but it wasn’t a real world solution. Only a very few upper end devices used it. Galvanically isolated I2S may be the best solution nowadays, even if similarly it may not be a real world solution. But since when are audiophiles concerned about the real world intruding into the hobby?
Sometimes I think that the bias against USB got going due to its ubiquity. As a result, more devices were created for it to fix various issues that are simply inherent in getting digital audio from A to B. Regardless of the intermediary interface/cable between the internal I2S’s in components. So you’d go - damn, this USB gets better when you do X, Y or Z. So USB must suck!
For a long time, with many other means, the only option you had was getting a better version of that type of cable. If there had been all of the devices for the other interfaces that USB has, you’d understand/hear that they all have issues or can be improved upon. IMO.
