Haha, serve you right then!! and yes probably quilty as charged re the fanboy thing but I am fickle and will change allegiance at the drop of a hat if I hear better. I am not a fanboy through better or worse. Hence why I am waiting to test the forthcoming Chord digital amps against my valve amps. The valves will go if the digital amps are better.
Anyway, my little adventure and invitation to take my Blu2 Dave into the heart of a PSAudioshrine was prompted by me collecting a PS Audio P10 mains regenerator. Having had the P10 in my system for 3 days now I am already won over by it's ability to keep my mains voltage within spitting distance of 235 or even 240v. It appears that my valves think that 253v day in and day out it just a bit too juicy. The bias on the valves now stays within spec, indeed one valve that simply would not bias at all is now tamed, the mains transformers do not buzz, the clicks on the mains have gone. That's enough for me. I'm keeping the P10. I have not even bothered yet to see if the sound is different and I will have my cynical hat on when doing that. I bought the P10 at a good price and my willingness to keep for the reasons stated above is based on that price and not the full retail price which in the UK is just shy of £5,000.
But back to the DACs and Transports. This is not a review, it is just a few observations having had the delight of listening to both DACs and Transports on a side by side basis.
In the UK the prices between the two brands are not the same but they are near enough that a buyer for one may well eye up the other before making a purchase.
PS Audio DirectStream CD/DVD Transport £6,000, PS Audio DirectStream Dac £5,500. Total £11,500.
Chord Blu2 £7,995, Chord Dave £8499. Total £16,494.
Having wired up my Bku2 Dave to the house system it was time to get my eye in for the expected change of sound due to the amplifiers and speakers. Amplifiers were PS Audio Pre and Power amps, speakers were the 48” tall Triton Two towers with a built-in powered subwoofer.
Tracks listened to were :-
Agnes Obel - 'Red Virgin Soil'. This is a very short track but it is repetitive and enables one to focus on how the plucked notes are reproduced.
Gustav Holst - 'The Planets', Track 1 - Mars. This is a wonderful Decca recording from 1987 with Charles Dutroit conducting the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal. My aim here was to be able to identify individual instruments and their placing on the sound stage even in midst of the thunderous crescendo passages.
Béla Fleck - 'Flight of the Cosmic Hippo'. This one was included for a bit of fun. There are bass notes that can overtake on some systems.
Agnes Obel was first through the Chord Blu2 Dave. My initial impression was that it sounded pretty much the way it does as home despite the different amplifiers and speakers. I have noticed this before and when
@Malcyg came to my house he also commented that there were more similarities than differences to the sound of his and my systems with their Blu2Daves. The track sounded just as good as I am used to. I often use this short track to compare components and it is interesting how the way the stings are plucked can sound different. The Blu2 seems to excel with the attack part of the note as well as the decay.
On to the Holst and time to turn up the volume. This is just glorious music through the Blu2Dave. Again sounding pretty much the way it does at home. I have always liked the Dave's ability to keep the detail of the music when there is lots going on. This is particularly true on this track and the Blu2 Dave combination is glorious. Even in the parts where all hell is let loose there is still absolute detail. A main reason that I sold my Bricasti M1 SE was it's inability to pull off this trick. There was a slight tendency with the M1 for the music to become a bit of a 'wall of sound' in loud and complicated orchestral passages. Not so here with the Blu2Dave.
The Flight of the Cosmic Hippo is just pure fun and not to be taken too seriously.I wasn't sure whether there was more bass than with my Spendors and if so whether I thought it was better or not.
The Chord kit was was then swopped over to the PS Audio Transport and DAC. After now having listening to this combination there is no doubt in my mind that the PS Audio DAC and Transport are absolutely at the top of their game. At this level I would say it is necessary for a much more extended listening than the brief time I had available but I can certainly see why the PS Audio DAC has a dedicated following, especially with the new Redcloud software. And yet, especially during the Holst, my mind would drift back to how it sounded with Blu2Dave. I found myself thinking that the DirectStream was losing important detail in the crescendo passages. I also think that with the Blu2Dave I was more inclined just to immerse myself in the music where with the DirectStream it felt more as if the music flowed over me without touching my soul. Flowery language perhaps but these are both very fine DACs and I think it is at that subtle level that one will prefer either the Chord or the PS Audio.
I am not going to, indeed I cannot, say that one is better than the other. Having listened to both I prefer the Blu2 Dave. But that might be because it is familiar, it might even be a hefty dose of expectation bias. Hence my caution in pronouncing an absolute verdict.
But the story does not end there.
We then got talking about different recordings and my hosts brought out a DVD audio recording 'Audiophile Jazz Prologue III'. Now this where it gets really unfair because the PS Audio transport will accept DVD as well as CDs but the Blu2 will only play CDs. The Carole King track 'You've Got A Friend' started playing on the DVD and was simply stunning on the DirectStream DAC. This Kent Poon 'Audiophile Jazz Prologue III' contains a CD version as well as the DVD so we were able to compare the CD version through the DirectStream. When I say compare I have to admit there was very little that was similar to compare. The CD was a very poor second place in terms of enjoyment, detail, and sheer depth of musical tone. On the DVD version the double bass really sounded like a double bass and the whole track was a joy to listen to.
And unfortunately that is where it had to end. Very sadly my time had run out and I had to pack up and return home. Also, there was no opportunity to compare the DVD through the Blu2 because Blu2 cannot play DVDs.
On the way home I was left wondering how Blu2 would have coped with the CD version of 'You've Got A Friend'. Would it have got near to the hi res DVD version?
If I had a library full of similar quality DVD audio discs then I would be very happy indeed to have the DirectStream transport and DAC. That music and reproduction was some of the very best that I have heard anywhere. Full stop. On the other hand we have to live with what we have and in real life Redbook CDs are plentiful and cheap whereas Hi Res DVDs are not plentiful and are not cheap.
The only real conclusion I have from my afternoon of fun is that my knowledgeable hosts were generous with their time and hospitality and as often happens we had some good banter talking about hi fi and music. Please don't take any of the above too seriously
