[arnaud]

EMM Labs / Playback Designs fans have seen this? http://www.meitner.com/

This MA-1 sounds quite interesting. The ecterior design is rather boring but the inside pics are impressive...

Anyone with more info, please share!

 

[Mossback]

you mean like this;
 
http://www.playbackdesigns.com/mpd3.html
 
or this;
 
http://www.playbackdesigns.com/mps3.html
 
the MPD-3 Dac and MPS-3 CD player are both reasonably priced, and both can play 24/384 PCM or 6.1Mhz DSD over USB from either a Mac or PC.
 
i'm a Playback Designs MPS-5 owner, and have been for 4 years.

 

[some1x]

I am considering either the MA1 or MPD-3. Pretty much same price and feature set.
It would be nice to have a dealer with both of them on demo somewhere in New York. 

 

[Mossback]

Quote:

I am considering either the MA1 or MPD-3. Pretty much same price and feature set.
It would be nice to have a dealer with both of them on demo somewhere in New York. 

there is a Playback Designs dealer in the NYC area with product to hear. if they don't have the MPD-3 in stock it's on the way. contact Playback Designs thru their web site and they will provide contact information.
 
regarding comparable 'feature set' with either the MA1 or MPD-3 just reading the info, the big difference is that the MA1 does not appear to be able to do 24/384 PCM or 6.1Mhz DSD over USB. which right now today may not be a big deal. but these higher rez formats are out there now and will become more 'out there'. also the Playback Designs uses a programable dac which allows user upgrades as they happen. after 4 years of Playback Design ownership, i can tell you that is a valuable aspect to any digital product these days. my 4 year old unit will be upgradable with the USB interface with these high rez formats, and i have recieved a number of software performance upgrades over the last 4 years.
 
finally, i wonder why the MA1 is labeled a 'Meitner' and not EMM Labs? is this now a different company? how might that affect customers going forward?
 

 

[harrypt]

I had the EMM Labs cd player in my house and was quite sad to see it go.  Unfortunately I couldn't swing the price, especially given the limited feature set, i.e. no digital inputs for a computer front end.
 
But since the Playback Designs was designed by the same designer, I've been anxiously awaiting their less expensive model.  It was showed at and due out shortly after CES but was delayed.  Is it beyond vaporware yet and has anyone heard it?

 

[DaveBSC]

The Meitner does seem very interesting and is definitely a DAC to watch, especially given the reputation that the EMM DAC has. As for the Playback Designs, the super rez is neat, but MSB DACs can do that too. Where's the source material? Particularly with DSD over USB. That's awesome, but where do you get a DSD recording outside of an SACD?

 

[Mossback]

 
Quote:

The Meitner does seem very interesting and is definitely a DAC to watch, especially given the reputation that the EMM DAC has. As for the Playback Designs, the super rez is neat, but MSB DACs can do that too. Where's the source material? Particularly with DSD over USB. That's awesome, but where do you get a DSD recording outside of an SACD?

if you've ever heard native 2xDSD (6.1Mhz DSD) from a Korg MR-1000 where it's either been used to record a live mic feed or direct from analog 15ips master tape, you would have heard the ultimate digital format. i have a number of times. it's the only digital format that actually challenges analog tape or vinyl at the highest level.
 
the problem has been that even though the Korg is not that expensive (around $2k) how does 'everyman' have an opportunity to record directly or get access to master tapes?  so it's not been any sort of consumer format. with the Playback Designs that has now changed. there is already delivery systems for hi-rez downloads. a very good friend of mine does a significant portion of hirez downloads in the USA for multiple record labels. he already has 24/384khz PCM and 6.1Mhz DSD files for many of these recordings. it's really just a matter of the labels deciding to offer them. and that will be happening very soon.
 
the bottom line; for the digital audio lover aspiring to the highest fidelity spending north of $5k on a server dac right now it would be a mistake to not have this feature set in any product they buy.
 
btw, MSB might be able to do beyond 24/192khz PCM, but i don't think they can do DSD at 2.6Mhz or 6.1Mhz. and while 24/384khz PCM is better than 24/192, there is a significant gap in performance to even 2.6Mhz DSD, and 6.1Mhz is in another world.
 

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

if you've ever heard native 2xDSD (6.1Mhz DSD) from a Korg MR-1000 where it's either been used to record a live mic feed or direct from analog 15ips master tape, you would have heard the ultimate digital format. i have a number of times. it's the only digital format that actually challenges analog tape or vinyl at the highest level.
 
btw, MSB might be able to do beyond 24/192khz PCM, but i don't think they can do DSD at 2.6Mhz or 6.1Mhz. and while 24/384khz PCM is better than 24/192, there is a significant gap in performance to even 2.6Mhz DSD, and 6.1Mhz is in another world.
 

 
I have to wonder about what 24/384 really does besides create humongous file sizes. I can see the argument for 24/88.2 and 24/176.4, which both have the ability to reproduce frequencies far outside of the normal hearing range, and also support massive dynamic range. That's something that 16/44 can't do. What does 384 get you beyond that? DSD on the other hand is different. I've seen the arguments about why pulse density modulation is better than pulse code, and being able to play a file on the computer in DSD, and have the DAC convert it to analog with no PCM inolved is really exciting. As long as the CD sticks around most recordings will likely continue with PCM, but once it finally kicks the bucket, there's no good reason not to switch.
 
 

 

[Mossback]

Quote:

 
I have to wonder about what 24/384 really does besides create humongous file sizes. I can see the argument for 24/88.2 and 24/176.4, which both have the ability to reproduce frequencies far outside of the normal hearing range, and also support massive dynamic range. That's something that 16/44 can't do. What does 384 get you beyond that? DSD on the other hand is different. I've seen the arguments about why pulse density modulation is better than pulse code, and being able to play a file on the computer in DSD, and have the DAC convert it to analog with no PCM inolved is really exciting. As long as the CD sticks around most recordings will likely continue with PCM, but once it finally kicks the bucket, there's no good reason not to switch.
 
 

you are missing a very large point here, even though there is a good amount of contemporary music that is digitally recorded, much of the music we listen to is analog sourced. and imagine potentially hearing all analog sourced music in 'near master tape' fidelity with digital conveinience. i don't want to take shots at music recorded in the last 25 years, but from my perspective much of it is forgetable. OTOH my favorite music comes from Jazz/Blues, Pop/Rock and Classical from the 50's, 60's and 70's.....it's all analog sourced. PCM has never done it justice at any resolution. 6.1Mhz DSD would be a revelation and reasonably accessable to anyone.
 
i'm not that excited about the 24/384khz PCM, but it does sound clearly better than 24/176 or 24/192, and the file size issue will receed in our rear view mirror soon enough.
 
i'm a big RTR tape guy. i have a couple of master recorders, and about 100 15ips master tapes. whenever i have visitors they go nuts over the sound of those tapes, but the task of getting set up with a good quality RTR machine and then finding good master dubs is daunting to many of them. if they could get much of the what's there with a digital format they'd be stoked.
 
 
 

 

[some1x]

Have one coming in 

 

[some1x]

Arrived!
 
 

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

Arrived!

Nice! Looking forward to your impressions.
 

 

[customcoco]

Quote:

Have one coming in 

you spent 6K$ on dac

 

[canuck525]

  I am also very interested in hearing more about this dac.

 

[brat]

silence.....