Please let me know your personal observations concerning the new Mt. Massive upgrade Vs. Antero 208 for the Direct Stream Dac MKII.
Thank you.
During our second listening session with Massive, things seemed inordinately “bright”, leading to fatigue.
Since then, I’ve been burning 24x7, but haven’t listened closely for any changes. If it remains bright, I may drop back to compare the two.
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Interesting because in my system Massive has been a bit more mellow, less bright, than previous firmwares.
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Could’ve just been us, our ears, on that night. We were pretty rowdy the night before, which can certainly affect things.
Or, it could be that we were hearing things we were not accustomed to hearing. Or, a noise reduction that brought out more detail in certain ranges.
Come to think of it, it could’ve been anything.
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I just installed Massive update too, and this update made more difference than any previous software updates (MK1 and MK2). Everything clears up! I believed I had made most improvement in lowering background noise to my system from the last few upgrades, but Massive does more. The midrange has really jumped out in a good way because it is not sounding forward, it just sounds more alive!
The scary thing is it will get better later because all software updates in my system took a few days to a few weeks to peak.
It does not make my system sound bright nor mellow, it just sounds more lifelike, so far!
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Systems,moods,and expectations can and do affect our audio listening experience…That’s why we have to give things time to settle in! Jumping to any conclusions to quickly harms the process…Enjoy the music!
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I hate thinking this new change is obvious and wonderful only to discover the burrito dinner had a peculiar effect.
I once added a piece of gear to my system and I thought I heard an immediate change. Turns out on the device there was a switch that had to be turned on for the new addition to work. It was off. When I turned it on I paid zero attention to any change. Not gonna go there. I was humbled.
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Am I the only one that strongly prefers the Antero 208 software vs the Massive ?
I have BHK 250, BHK preamp , PSAudio P20 power regenerator , Aurilic Aries G2.1 streamer,upgraded crossovers on my Tekton Moab Speakers and all acoustic Zen cables except the dragon going to the P20.
5 of us audiophiles listened repeatedly ( it wasn’t even close)
Is it synergy specific?
Could I have defective copy of the Massive software?
I’m confused…
Only some vocals in the massive version sounded slightly richer than Antero 208 otherwise Antero 208 was better in every way.
I absolutely “ love Antero 208”
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Quite possible.
I defer to Ted, but I’d say this is less likely.
Unfortunately, psychoacoustics exists and has a great impact on our brains.
I believe in the changes brought about by a good cable and excellent electronics but in the past, I enjoyed doing some, let’s call them, experiments.
I guested some friends and showed them how much better the sound of an expensive silver cable was compared to a cheap PC cable.
Well, I showed him the super high-end cable in its super cool packaging, and then the industrial-grade Chinese one.
As soon as we started listening everyone was enthusiastic with tears in their eyes.
The problem was that the expensive cable was still in the suitcase.
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There is a legend about a fella who was all about Expensive fuses. His friends tired of it. So one day they swapped all his expensive fuse with stock fuses. He invited them over for a listening session. An hour in they informed him of what they did.
I would have executed them on the spot. Hands off my gear lads!
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My own experience with orange, purple, and M-1 fuses has been the stock fuses sounded as good if not better after a couple of years living with expensive fuses.
I have yet to swap the two Masters in my system, and I probably never will. I can’t bare the pain to find out the potential truth.
Cables do make difference whenever I make a change.
I use the gloves I found in the P20 and the anti-static bracelet when I use the system.
My girlfriend is horrified and looks at me as if I were a Martian.
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Post some pictures of your Tinfoil hat?
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OMG 
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Vmax is working on an improved version of tinfoil hat. Unlike Master fuse controversy, Massive made so much improvement over Antero that I tend to think there are very few systems would not like it, but there’s one here🤔
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First you need a class A Tube amp with bias turned up all the way so it really cooks on idle and wire tube cage.
Then you let the hat cook off sitting on tubes.
Dump out the popcorn once it reaches your head size. Promptly fit to head and align wire handle i.e. snake oil antenna with center image.
Enjoy the incredible new soundstage while eating popcorn in you PS Audio white gloves.
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