Yep, it’s really good overall. Not going back.
My clarinet solo on my high school band CD, where I honk and squeak through a short solo,… through Sunlight, I sound pitch perfect without any mess-ups.
Thanks Ted!
I wish my trombone on our jr high record fared that well
I am not hearing any increased brightness at all. If anything, the improved clarity and reduced noise has reduced the stridency of the upper end of the frequency range. I know this because I can listen at higher volume levels that previously caused headaches that no longer do so. Nor am I hearing a more forward presentation.
What I am hearing is bass that is more defined but not any more or less powerful. It’s kind of like the difference between being in the same room as the source of the bass and the room next door. It’s as if a thin wall has been removed. I can hear the timbre of the bass source more accurately and clearly. It is less of a muddled mess.
Overall, what I am hearing is better instrument and voice separation along with better clarity and more detail but with a smoother and less digital presentation. It sounds more “real”. The sonic differences between Windom and Sunlight are not earth shattering. But, the improvements in Sunlight are a bigger step than what I heard in previous releases.
The above is true with a Class A/B KT88 tube amp that stays in Class A and a Class A solid state amp while using HQPlayer upsampling all DSD and PCM to DSD128. Being able to use HQPlayer to upsample all DSD and PCM to DSD256 takes the Windom to Sunlight improvements and makes them even better. I would say 40 to 50 percent better…
The day I installed Sunlight, I seemed to hear a brightness/harshness on the high end. However, after a couple of additional days, that seems to be gone. (burn-in, perhaps?) I had a neighbor over last night and we listened for about four hours, mostly to music that he and I were familiar with. One of the Qobuz playlists that we listened to was the PS Audio Reference playlist. It starts out with a great Norah Jones song, “Come Away With Me”, but a few songs later when Diana Krall comes along with “A Case of You”, I usually skip that song. Usually not worth listening to, just my opinion. This time I let it play through, it sounded really good, and I have to tell you, I actually kinda liked it! (so THAT should alone tell you what a difference Sunlight made in my system!)
I like that expression/observation.
Regards.
[raises hand]—Revel 228s here, and in the same camp as you right now with respect to Sunlight.
Something just seems “off”. I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is, but it just feels out of balance—like the soundstage is all mixed up/in weird places.
Granted I’ve only got < 12 hrs of burn in, so it may settle down after a bit more time or after my ears get accustomed to a different presentation.
If not, I know I always have the option of switching back to Windom (which was a perfect fit for my more forward/aggressive leaning system—so smooth and balanced throughout the spectrum).
Excellent song to hear the benefits of Sunlight: Fifty ways to leave your lover, live Central Park, 192/24. First and at the end the fast attack of the drums, then the clear voice of Paul where you can 100% follow the text, then the imaging and seperation at 3 min or so, the horns (although a bit sharp) and then the fast drums again. Never heard it like this, and maybe S&G did not either!
Sunlight reminds me of the May DAC I kept for three weeks and then sold.
Windom us going back on my Jr.
@aangen - What’s going on?
I couldn’t disagree more. I’m listening to a May DAC right now and Sunlight it’s not! I really doubt that you broke the unit in if you only kept it 3 weeks. You seem to be a contrarian about many things.
Ok, only a matter of time before you are told that “your components, speakers, room, cables, ears, shoe size are not up to the task of reproducing good sound”.
Sunlight is just more revealing of what’s in the recording. If the recording is good, it will sound even better with more information, but if the recording is bad it will sound even worst.
I have no dog in the fight but it seems to me some peeps like it and some don’t… Sunlight was freely given and can be freely rejected. No harm…no foul.
They (old geezers like me) say you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Shoes matter if your sneakers need toe-in to sound best! No pun intended.
You need a - between the toe and the in.
Ok could Al’s HyphenX class D Amps.
I am what I am. I call it as I see it. Who do you serve? I serve me.
Just not feeling it. I’ll jump back to Windom and see if that seems better or worse. I don’t want to feel this way, I want to be a proper fanboy and say that it changed everything and now I am FINALLY happy. But that isn’t how I feel. It’s not death, it isn’t suffering, it’s just a sound I feel I have heard better from the same gear.