Well, I have now spent a few hours listening to a quite a mix of music, comparing:
FLAC>Foobar 0.8.3 (no DSP's)>ASIO>0404 USB>switch>CK2III>HD600's
to.........
Marantz SA8001>passive device to match levels>switch>CK2III>HD600's
A level matching device is required as the fixed Marantz output is about 0.3Vrms higher on a full-scale signal than that of the 0404 USB (with output level set to max on its main output control.) To match the levels, I used a DIY passive preamp with a "home theater passthrough". It uses a Caddock TF020 resistor in series between the input and the output and a Noble pot in a shunt-to-ground configuration on the "controlled" side of a DPST switch, with a straight in feed from the rear "passthrough" jacks to the other side of the DPST.
I played a 1 kHz/0dBFS tone on a test CD in the Marantz and adjusted the voltage at the output of the passive to 1.95 Vrms with the pot on the "controlled" side of the passive. I played a FLAC of that same tone through the 0404 USB and adjusted the voltage to 1.95 Vrms with the 0404 USB's main output control knob feeding the 0404 USB via the "passthrough" jacks.
OK, I'll admit that the Marantz has a bit more in the path, but just about as little as possible and certainly the best I can do with the gear at hand. Cabling was a mix of Blue Jeans/Canare RCAP's (Marantz side) and homebrew Mogami starquad with Neutrik RCA and TS connectors (to accommodate the 0404 USB's output configuration.)
Yesterday, I posted in another thread that my initial impressions of the two were that if the Marantz scored a 94, I'd give the 0404 USB an 89....before doing this more critical, level-matched comparison.
My updated conclusion is this: if the Marantz still gets a 94, the 0404 USB gets a 93. Honestly!
I almost hate to admit it, but even when comparing some Telarc SACD layers playing in the SA8001 versus the CD layers ripped to my hard drive, there is an amazingly small difference between the two units.
The Marantz has a very slightly sweeter and more extended top end, and only the slightest bit more "air" around instruments. There is no difference in bass response, transients, or any other area that one might consider in the "big impact" category. No significant detail is missing in the 0404 USB's output, it's just that the Marantz has the slightest bit more natural character in the fine detail. Gotta admit it....... I just know that there is no way that I could identify one or the other immediately if someone else were to do the switching.
All I'm waiting on now are a few more SACD's to arrive to see if I can detect anything more substantial than what I have already. But at this point, I am fairly certain that I don't "need" the SA8001 as much I thought I did yesterday!
Caveats: I'm a few months shy of 50, and my last hearing test did show a bit of loss in one ear in the 4 kHz to 8 kHz range. I do suffer from a bit of tinnitus (my high school years......bad Realistic headphones, a bargain basement Radio Shack stereo, coupled with 4 years of Stones, Sabbath, BOC, and Zeppelin at unhealthy levels will do that to you!) So take my impressions with a grain of salt, as it were, given my "condition".....but I do go to live classical events regularly and know what real music sounds like!
As much as I want to think the Marantz should be substantially better, I just can't hear enough of a difference to convince myself right now that it is meaningfully better.
FLAC>Foobar 0.8.3 (no DSP's)>ASIO>0404 USB>switch>CK2III>HD600's
to.........
Marantz SA8001>passive device to match levels>switch>CK2III>HD600's
A level matching device is required as the fixed Marantz output is about 0.3Vrms higher on a full-scale signal than that of the 0404 USB (with output level set to max on its main output control.) To match the levels, I used a DIY passive preamp with a "home theater passthrough". It uses a Caddock TF020 resistor in series between the input and the output and a Noble pot in a shunt-to-ground configuration on the "controlled" side of a DPST switch, with a straight in feed from the rear "passthrough" jacks to the other side of the DPST.
I played a 1 kHz/0dBFS tone on a test CD in the Marantz and adjusted the voltage at the output of the passive to 1.95 Vrms with the pot on the "controlled" side of the passive. I played a FLAC of that same tone through the 0404 USB and adjusted the voltage to 1.95 Vrms with the 0404 USB's main output control knob feeding the 0404 USB via the "passthrough" jacks.
OK, I'll admit that the Marantz has a bit more in the path, but just about as little as possible and certainly the best I can do with the gear at hand. Cabling was a mix of Blue Jeans/Canare RCAP's (Marantz side) and homebrew Mogami starquad with Neutrik RCA and TS connectors (to accommodate the 0404 USB's output configuration.)
Yesterday, I posted in another thread that my initial impressions of the two were that if the Marantz scored a 94, I'd give the 0404 USB an 89....before doing this more critical, level-matched comparison.
My updated conclusion is this: if the Marantz still gets a 94, the 0404 USB gets a 93. Honestly!
I almost hate to admit it, but even when comparing some Telarc SACD layers playing in the SA8001 versus the CD layers ripped to my hard drive, there is an amazingly small difference between the two units.
The Marantz has a very slightly sweeter and more extended top end, and only the slightest bit more "air" around instruments. There is no difference in bass response, transients, or any other area that one might consider in the "big impact" category. No significant detail is missing in the 0404 USB's output, it's just that the Marantz has the slightest bit more natural character in the fine detail. Gotta admit it....... I just know that there is no way that I could identify one or the other immediately if someone else were to do the switching.
All I'm waiting on now are a few more SACD's to arrive to see if I can detect anything more substantial than what I have already. But at this point, I am fairly certain that I don't "need" the SA8001 as much I thought I did yesterday!
Caveats: I'm a few months shy of 50, and my last hearing test did show a bit of loss in one ear in the 4 kHz to 8 kHz range. I do suffer from a bit of tinnitus (my high school years......bad Realistic headphones, a bargain basement Radio Shack stereo, coupled with 4 years of Stones, Sabbath, BOC, and Zeppelin at unhealthy levels will do that to you!) So take my impressions with a grain of salt, as it were, given my "condition".....but I do go to live classical events regularly and know what real music sounds like!
As much as I want to think the Marantz should be substantially better, I just can't hear enough of a difference to convince myself right now that it is meaningfully better.
