Another Review: Red Wine Audeze Edition v. Headroom/Wyred4Sound
There are lots of rational reasons I should not prefer the Audeze Edition over my existing reference DAC/amp combo (Headroom Blockhead (2005 modules, stepped attenuators) and Wyred4Sound DAC2). And yet I do. Why? Because against all odds, the AE delivers both more resolution and more vibrant presence over the LCD-2 headphones. It's a testament to system matching. Amazingly enough, I'm left with the conclusion that I'll be keeping the AE, but also that it's actually a good value for the money.
The System: My music lives on an iMac, all ripped to Apple Lossless. I rely on an Apple Airport Express to deliver the bits to the room where my headphone rig resides. The Airport Express' optical digital output is fed into a Genesis Digital Lens (if you don't believe jitter makes a difference, the transformation of the Airport Express will convince you). Digital lens connected via coaxial RCA to AE, and by AES/EBU to my Wyred4Sound. Other unequal variable was the ALO cable -- because the balance connector on the AE is different than on the Blockhead, I had to use the Audeze stock balanced cable on the Blockhead, rather than the AE's fancier ALO cable. Oh, and based on Skylab's review, I swapped out the AE's stock JJ tube for an early 70s NOS Mullard.
Impressions: First, the reasons I shouldn't like the AE. Number one: motorized potentiometer for volume control. Really? Why not a stepped attenuator? Do we really need remote control on a headphone amp that we're tethered do by a relatively short ALO cable? Number two: fixed line outputs. In my set up, variable line out would be much more convenient, letting me hook directly to an amp for a casual bedroom non-headphone solution (my Bel Canto DAC3.5vb will continue to do DAC/pre duties in my main system).
It took me about 3 hours of listening to sort out the ways the AE's sound beat out the Blockhead/W4S combo. Two tracks illustrated the difference. First, on the question of resolution, it was Tori Amos' voice-and-piano rendition of Leonard Cohen's classic, "Famous Blue Raincoat". About 3 and a half minutes into the song, Tori hums quietly over some pretty loud piano work. I've heard this track thousands of times, but it wasn't until the AE that I really appreciated how separately mic'd the voice and piano are. Over the Blockhead/W4S, I could obviously tell this wasn't a purist recording, but the AE really brought the differences in the mic work into stark relief.
On the issue of bloom and vibrance, it was the opening track of the new Feist album, Metals, entitled "The Bad in Each Other." It opens with a repeating drum thwack. Both set-ups delivered the initial impact well, but the trailing reverb was quite different, with the AE lending a bit more bloom and color to it. More of a sense of air and space around the drum. I'm not entirely sure that some of this may not be editorializing, but it made for reliably more engaging listening across a variety of music.
I'd say the Blockhead/W4S combo had the edge in the bass register, with more effortlessness and weight. But perhaps the best thing about the AE was the way it added some light to the dark sound of the LCD-2. Over the Blockhead, the LCD-2s sounded a bit closed in, by comparison to the AE. That's the benefit of system matching -- when designing the Blockhead, Tyll didn't have the LCD-2 in hand. But Vinnie did, and he did a marvelous job.
After I came to these conclusions, I decided to see whether giving the Blockhead/W4S combo some clean power makes a difference, so I hooked the entire system up to a PS Audio Power Plant Premier. Turns out, AC makes a difference, with the Blockhead/W4S now pulling closer to the AE (the same differences were still there, but less distinctly). But this is where I'd say the AE might be a bargain, since the Blockhead, W4S DAC2 and Power Plant together retailed new for much more than the AE.
But don't get me wrong -- the Blockhead and W4S DAC2 are great with the LCD-2, and cheaper. And it did take me 3 hours to really home in on the differences (unlike, say, the comparison I did a few months ago between Pass and Bel Canto amps in my main system -- there, the victor was obvious in 10 seconds). So these are both great rigs. But, in the end, I'm going to keep the AE.
