@pinwa Thank you very much for this musical reference. I bought downloads of both the regular Naacals and the Remixes! It is very much what I like. Vinzoo is similar, though Vinzoo is maybe a bit more on the techno side of world electronica.
Thanks also for speaking up!
In the timeframe you reference, I hear a clacking sound like from a slow-turning wood ratchet towards the left. It that the artifact you mean? I did not try going back from 233 to an earlier FPGA. But I did a bit of listening with and without BACCH on the MK2, as well as in my office using an ESS-chipped DAC. My takeaway was like for @vmax. I do not think it was lost by the MK2 on 233. Rather, particularly when the soundstage gets expanded in 3D, the sound just does not stand out as much as it does when located left on a 1D sonic line between the speakers.
But please do let me know if I did not identify the correct sound. I am glad to do more listening to this album. As well as to the remix!
I have noticed this on a few pieces with foot pedals on pianos. you hear them more clearly.
My father was a big Glenn Gould fan and used to say many did not like him due this humming and other noises he made. wonder what he would think of him on the MKII?
No. Since Vmax also mentioned a sound coming from the left I double checked my system and verified my channels are set up correctly. The sound I am referencing is more like a Marimba or possibly something scratching back and forth on a metal washboard but more like a Marimba or some kind of shaker to my ears and it comes from the upper right midway between the center and the far right. It is very recessed/low level with the Directstream running 233 but quite prominent on my other two DACs.
My impressions of the MKll with Mt. Massive
Before I begin I would like to address a question I posted here a few months ago. Some people feel that this DAC sounds better with a preamp than feeding a power amp directly. Some think this may be a noise related issue. My question was if there are issues using it with a passive preamp. Does the MKll see a load with a passive preamp with no buffer stage as one like feeding a power amp directly? Comparing my Freya preamp in both passive and buffer mode I can say, at least in my system, this is not a concern. No problems whatsoever feeding a passive preamp. In fact I experienced no noise or clicks or popping issues at any time. After reading about such problems that others had here I was expecting this DAC to be kind of a problem child but just listening to red book CDs and streaming with Qobuz the MKll has been stable and a pure joy to use.
I must admit that I have been living in the digital dark ages before acquiring my MKll. My most recent DAC was a Benchmark DAC One USB manufactured on 2007. So I really canât compare this new one with other more recent DACs with the exception of the DAC in my Eversolo Master edition that I bought last summer. What I can say is the love hate relationship with digital Iâve been living with for the last 40 years is over. All my problems with the digital format seem to have addressed and solved. Perfect sound forever? Sure seems like it. Though perfect sound until the next update is probably more like it. I could go on and on with sonic descriptions but most have been expressed before by people more eloquent than I so l will just hit a few highlights Iâve heard.
First thing I noticed was the MKll was a lot warmer than I was used to. With time I decided that the bass leanness I was used to was actually a coloration that was pandemic with older DACs. That leanness, particularly in the upper bass, was something that I always thought was a sonic characteristic of CDs ( along with cold dry midrange and highs) is not inherent to CDs but to the equipment played them. I have been compensating for this subconsciously with my room setup. I am getting something I would consider more natural bass now since I have readjusted my listening position.
Before I got my MKll I considered vinyl to be my best quality source by a small margin. I was looking forward to a comparison between several albums I own in both the CD and vinyl format. I chose three that I knew were excellent recordings. One was an older AAD CD (Paul Simons self titled album) one which was digitally remastered (ELO Out Of The Blue) and one an excellent modern digital recording (Nicolas Godin Concrete And Glass). Results were consistent. In each case I preferred the CD. I was shocked how colored the bass was with my vinyl setup. Detail was better top to bottom. Soundstage was deeper and slightly wider. Iâm sure that eventually I can find a vinyl album that I might prefer to the CD version but the takeaway was that digital is fully competitive here. Since adding the excellent Stellar Phono Preamp to my moving coil cartridge a few years back I really expected my vinyl playback chain to be more competitive. It was very satisfying be finally hear a ELO CD with actual bass content.
One more thing. I recently was streaming a piece when I experienced a shuttering sensation in the floor of my listening room. I thought a semi truck must be passing the house. But no, the next time I listened I heard the same kind of bass âroom lockâ. Just amazing!
Maybe I am missing something, but is it possible that you are referring to the wrong instrument? I listened to that segment, and I definitely hear a couple of different sounds that could be described as scratchy. One is definitely some sort of shaker being articulated rather rapidly similar to the one that shows up prominently at 3:33. Another is a much more subtle sound that I might describe as a sheet of paper being slid across a smooth surface. However, none of those are remotely like how I would describe a marimba, which is a percussive instrument similar to a xylophone. I wouldnât have thought that there was one in this recording. Maybe I am missing nuances, but I donât have a concept in my mind of how a marimba could possibly make a noise like a shaker or a wash board.
I donât mean to discount your experiences at all; I believe you are hearing what you are hearing. But I definitely dislike rolled off treble, am pretty sensitive to it, and I wouldnât have put that in my list of perceived characteristics of 233 relative to the beta release. Then again, audio is so insanely complex in both reproduction and auditory aspects that there must be some explanation for what you are hearingâperhaps beyond measurement, even. I like to point out to people that thereâs a reason why there are only a few top-notch TV manufacturers versus hundreds of audio outfits, and that nowhere in the world can you find a $250,000 55-inch TV. The intricacies of vision do not hold a candle to that of hearing, and likewise in the technology chain.
There is a 15 second Marimba sound clip here on wikipedia.
I do hear the resonant rings upper right channel and the clacking slats the wikipedia clip has. The left of center farther back clacking is the hammer blows on slats. The resosonant rings get disconnected and behind hammers strikes.
Too bad I donât have Tidal subscription anymore, and I really want to hear whatâs you all are hearing differently here. However, my Mk2 has transformer mod done so I may hear something else.
Again, I have not heard any shortcoming of Massive on Mk2 compared to previous FW, and Mk2 is a clear winner over my old Mk1 too.
How embarrassing. You are absolutely right. For some reason I have a picture in my mind of a Marimba being a gourd shaped instrument that is shaken but that is totally wrong. My apologies.
Ok I have a confession, I am a analog vinyl record guy, over 6K in records at least 40% audiophile.
I recently got tired of tube hiss in my BHK and Dan Wright modified Pioneer LX500. So i became a beta tester for the StellarGold Dac and Pre. I feel it was a equivalent sound change but better because no tube hiss/noise, and more blacker backgrounds.
So i bought a used PST, why not. Took it up another level or two.
I was so impressed i contacted James and asked about trading in the SGD for the MKII, no problem, i got it on Monday and let it run for a few days with all kinds of music.
Worked all day listening to my Octave recordings that I have on disc in the background, kept getting distracted. Stopped work and picked out an old test reference Cheskyâs Ultimate Demo Disc, holy crap Batman this is as good or better than my equivalent analog source DS Audio W3. Really blown away by the dynamics, depth, timbre, treble etc., you all know.
You mention tube hiss with the BHK Preamp. By any chance were you running 6 volt tubes with the 5 ma bias? I tried 6 volt tubes and agree with that issue. I have no issue with 12 volt tubes and 4ma bias.
I beta tested the SG Pre and SGD and had both the BHK Pre and DS MK2 in the mix to compare and contrast. I agree that the combo of the SG Pre and the MK2 gave the sound I was looking for in spades-dead quiet background, great presence, soundstage, and sense of realism for my music. Enjoyed reading your journey!
