[size=xx-small] Quote:
Originally posted by Tomcat
sweetben,
I have recently bought a new CDP and I have found that I much prefer the sound of non-upsampling players to that of upsampling players. I have directly compared the Musical Fidelity A3.2 and the Audio Note CD2.1x, and to my ears is the Audio Note is miles ahead of the upsampling player in terms of musicality, rhythm and timbre. To my ears, the Musical fidelity was simply cold, sterile, unorganic and artificial. The idea behind the Audio Note player is that any signal processing, even that in the digital domain, will cause more problems than it solves. The Audio Note doesn't use up- or oversampling and has no digital filter, and it sounds so disarmingly musical, that I believe all upsamling technology to be seriously misguided. The CD2.1x retails for 1500 Dollars/Euros. |
[/size]I haven't heard an Audio Note DAC yet, but I have been around hi-fi for years, too, and know that I think the sound of modern "upsampling" DACs, at least as implemented by the Bel Canto DAC2 and MSB GoldLINK III, is a very good thing for redbook CD. I haven't heard the A3.2 by Musical Fidelity, but the Bel Canto DAC2 and MSB GoldLINK III (which sound different, but have some common sonic traits typically associated with "upsampling") sound anything but cold, sterile, unorganic and artificial to me.
My comments here aren't necessarily intended to disagree with Tomcat (whose opinion I respect), but merely another illustration of the age-old nature of hi-fi -- the we-all-hear-things-differently thing that any longtime (and even not-so-longtime) audio enthusiast is certainly familiar with. I have a feeling Tomcat would find my rig too lean and analytical, and Vertigo-1 would find it too forgiving. I would
guess that I
might find Tomcat's rig (based on his strong liking of the DT-770) a bit too bloated and forgiving, and Vertigo-1's a little too analytical (I say
guess and
might because, though I've heard some of the individual components these guys own, it's still pure supposition, as I've not heard either of their completed rigs, and base my comments primarily on preferences we've expressed over the years as longtime headphone hi-fi community participants).
These preferences obviously extend beyond this community, existing also in other communities, and in the professional publications/websites, too. Sam Tellig of
Stereophile digs the MSB and Musical Fidelity gear, as does Kalman Rubinson and Michael Fremer. Srajan Ebaen (6moons.com) and Marc Mickelson (SoundStage.com) are pretty big on the Bel Canto DAC2. John Sunier of EnjoyTheMusic.com also gave high marks to the Bel Canto DAC2; Steven Rochlin of EnjoyTheMusic.com really liked the Audio Note stuff, and did not like the GoldLINK at all (which I -- and I'm no pro -- happen to like a lot). And so on.
sweetben, if you haven't figured it out by now, all this rambling by me is intended only to say that I'm a fan of the upsampling DACs I've heard so far, and would encourage you to give some of them (and the Audio Note stuff if you can) a listen; and, Tomcat, I'll try to give Audio Note and 47 Laboratory digital gear a listen some time down the road.
