[squashi]

Looking forward to your impressions! I listen to a whole lot of different genres, but one that stands out as the most important is choral and a capella music. So vocals are incredibly important to me. Curious to hear how you feel the Bravura compare.

Please do send some test tracks you think would represent the genre well! I'll make sure to compare to all my headphones, both A/B and long term listening comparisons!

 

[Aetherhole]

Please do send some test tracks you think would represent the genre well! I'll make sure to compare to all my headphones, both A/B and long term listening comparisons!

Sure!

A lot of numbers from the mens choral group Chanticleer are some of my favorites. They’re known for their “Biebl: Ave Maria.” That’s one song that I’m extremely familiar with and have sung numerous times.

Voces8 is another great mixed choral group that I love to listen to. From them, you could try — Whitacre: The Seal Lullaby“, ”Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium,” or “Runestad: Let my Love be Heard.” Really, you could pick anything from them.

Both of those are more live recording-style. If you are wanting some more modern a capella, I really like Voctave. This is studio recorded, so no hall/room acoustics. They do a lot of Disney covers. Their “Disney Love Medley” is one of my favorites. If it’s not too early for Christmas music (and it’s your thing, also), they also have some great ones like, “Mary Did You Know” or “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful.”

Those are some off the top of my head.

Of course, listen to what you’re familiar with, too, as I’m genuinely curious, how they will fare versus your LCD-5 or Susvara.

 

[TDHEAD]

I see a 19 page thread where multiple users shared their experience with either Bravura or Aperio. One (!!!) stated there was a technical issue with the demo unit he had the opportunity to listen to. And that's the foundation for your claim that Aperio in general is a faulty product not worth the money? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Just to add a voice. I have Aperio, not withstanding any component can have a unit issue. Mine is perfect and it was a demo unit purchase. Everyone will have their music preferences for sure. The Aperio is "Perfect" almost too perfect I would imagine for some, and that's fair enough. I myself lean towards a bit warmer sound so that is a consideration. That said with six decades of Audio hobby experience I can honestly say Aperio is the finest component I have ever heard as to its pure 100% presentation of the music. Closest to sitting in the studio with the musicians I have ever come and I have had numerous Sumit fi systems over the years

 

[BTD1]

Just to add a voice. I have Aperio, not withstanding any component can have a unit issue. Mine is perfect and it was a demo unit purchase. Everyone will have their music preferences for sure. The Aperio is "Perfect" almost too perfect I would imagine for some, and that's fair enough. I myself lean towards a bit warmer sound so that is a consideration. That said with six decades of Audio hobby experience I can honestly say Aperio is the finest component I have ever heard as to its pure 100% presentation of the music. Closest to sitting in the studio with the musicians I have ever come and I have had numerous Sumit fi systems over the years

I just want to point out that one of the great aspects of the Aperio is that if you want more warmth or any other modification of the sound you can always run an external DAC through it or, as I do, you can run it in analog mode connected to an amp/preamp with tone controls and modify the sound to your taste. It's thoroughly flexible. Of course, it sounds fantastic as is but tastes vary. The Aperio allows you to modify and tinker as much as you like, not to mention what can be achieved with skillful EQ.

 

[TDHEAD]

I just want to point out that one of the great aspects of the Aperio is that if you want more warmth or any other modification of the sound you can always run an external DAC through it or, as I do, you can run it in analog mode connected to an amp/preamp with tone controls and modify the sound to your taste. It's thoroughly flexible. Of course, it sounds fantastic as is but tastes vary. The Aperio allows you to modify and tinker as much as you like, not to mention what can be achieved with skillful EQ.

Hey, can you elaborate a bit. I am running a DCS Lina DAC. With all my years and systems I never really got around to EQ type tinkers. I use roon and Qobuz and really like my Lina DAC. Would you use Roon EQ?? Love to add some warmth to the "Classic Rock" stuff. My classical, Jazz ,Pop and Vocal is dead on. I find some classic rock stuff in comparison is not at the same performance level to my liking. Love your tweak thoughts?

 

[BTD1]

Under the MUSE menu in Roon, you can select parametric EQ settings. On that page you can get help on how to set a "Low Shelf" which will allow you to add in more bass warmth to your liking. Since this is all built into Roon, it couldn't be easier. For more detailed help, the Roon community forum is the place to go. I'm curious if you have run your Lina DAC through the Aperio and if so, what difference could you hear?

 

[TDHEAD]

Under the MUSE menu in Roon, you can select parametric EQ settings. On that page you can get help on how to set a "Low Shelf" which will allow you to add in more bass warmth to your liking. Since this is all built into Roon, it couldn't be easier. For more detailed help, the Roon community forum is the place to go. I'm curious if you have run your Lina DAC through the Aperio and if so, what difference could you hear?

You know I go back and forth. I first ran Aperio without my Lina Dac as after reading the extensive Aperio materials which really highlighted the "total integration" aspect of the design I felt it was best to experience it that way and was impressed to that point. Then I saw two you tube reviews from good reviewers , both of whom used an external DAC saying it brought Aperio to the next level. So I thought I'd try it. First off the DCS Lina DAC has several audio control settings , gain outputs and filters so I thought that would be useful. You probably know how it goes when you start chasing down critical listening tracks to support your preferences. I found on some track the stage widened and separation improved and a tad increase in detail perception (again on certain tracks) I was motivated to NOT use the external Lina DAC as I could then sell it and make use of the dollars. However as I am searching for some improvement in some of my more classic rock tracks I am reluctant to give up the Lina adjustments. I first started setting the Lina output a 2 volts with the Aperio set to High Gain. I found the volume to be too low. Currently I set the Lina DAC to 6 volts output and low gain on the Aperio as high gain on Aperio and 6 volts on Lina caused more "Clipping" indicators during more dynamic tracks. Again with most other music types I am perfectly satisfied with the performance signature. Aperio is Roon supported but not actually Roon ready so it does not self configure things like the proper volume controls etc???

 

[BTD1]

Ha! It's interesting that I probably read the same reviews you did talking about the effect of an external, high quality DAC on the Aperio sound. I am running a Mola Mola Tambaqui into the Aperio and I have experienced enhanced sound characteristics similar to what you described. The classical stuff I listen to doesn't have the wide dynamic swings so I haven't need to change the gain settings. The Roon EQ possibilities and the MMT DAC are enough for me. I'm perfectly happy for now, that is, until I read another reviewer who comes up with something new to try!

 

[TDHEAD]

Ha! It's interesting that I probably read the same reviews you did talking about the effect of an external, high quality DAC on the Aperio sound. I am running a Mola Mola Tambaqui into the Aperio and I have experienced enhanced sound characteristics similar to what you described. The classical stuff I listen to doesn't have the wide dynamic swings so I haven't need to change the gain settings. The Roon EQ possibilities and the MMT DAC are enough for me. I'm perfectly happy for now, that is, until I read another reviewer who comes up with something new to try!

Yes, the pleasure/curse of the hobby chasing the ultimate performance sound......... I appreciate you input, I will look into the muse in Roon. I have never touched it. Previous set up recently were LINA Stack, also Susvara and 1266 tc with HiFiman EF 1000 amp for Susvara . So I kind of never had to look into EQ until now.

 

[squashi]

Sure!

A lot of numbers from the mens choral group Chanticleer are some of my favorites. They’re known for their “Biebl: Ave Maria.” That’s one song that I’m extremely familiar with and have sung numerous times.

Voces8 is another great mixed choral group that I love to listen to. From them, you could try — Whitacre: The Seal Lullaby“, ”Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium,” or “Runestad: Let my Love be Heard.” Really, you could pick anything from them.

Both of those are more live recording-style. If you are wanting some more modern a capella, I really like Voctave. This is studio recorded, so no hall/room acoustics. They do a lot of Disney covers. Their “Disney Love Medley” is one of my favorites. If it’s not too early for Christmas music (and it’s your thing, also), they also have some great ones like, “Mary Did You Know” or “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful.”

Those are some off the top of my head.

Of course, listen to what you’re familiar with, too, as I’m genuinely curious, how they will fare versus your LCD-5 or Susvara.

Fantastic, always fun to discover more music! I'll go thru and add a few tracks onto my "testing" playlist. My process is to long term listen to the same ~20 "representative" songs (~12hrs a day while working), swapping headphones throughout the day. Then A/B headsets for those same songs to make sure my observations are accurate. Hopefully I'll have something close to a conclusion in a week or 2!

Will outline my chain in my review too, but please keep in mind my LCD-5/Susvara/Atrium/Utopia chain is: built in ROHM dac on dx320 (direct lineout via amp 12exn-s) -> iFi iCan Signature (~$2k amp). (I also use a $1k cable on LCD-5, but I'll also compare with a more standard cable) I will try many more amp/dacs in a meetup in a couple weeks, and will edit review if my chain withheld significant performance.

 

[Purzel]

I would love to hear some comparisons in progressive rock music. always wanted to know which headphones does it great.
good tracks are : Psychotic Waltz : Butterfly,
Long distance calling: Getaway,
Dream Theater: 6:00
Edge of Sanity: Crimson
and of course some opera would be nice too (Cavaleria Rusticana or Rigoletto would be awesome)
thanks for the great review again.

 

[Aetherhole]

Fantastic, always fun to discover more music! I'll go thru and add a few tracks onto my "testing" playlist. My process is to long term listen to the same ~20 "representative" songs (~12hrs a day while working), swapping headphones throughout the day. Then A/B headsets for those same songs to make sure my observations are accurate. Hopefully I'll have something close to a conclusion in a week or 2!

Will outline my chain in my review too, but please keep in mind my LCD-5/Susvara/Atrium/Utopia chain is: built in ROHM dac on dx320 (direct lineout via amp 12exn-s) -> iFi iCan Signature (~$2k amp). (I also use a $1k cable on LCD-5, but I'll also compare with a more standard cable) I will try many more amp/dacs in a meetup in a couple weeks, and will edit review if my chain withheld significant performance.

Awesome! I always love discovering new music, too. It’s not always my cup of tea, but usually I am quite receptive to them most of the time! And, expanding my horizon is always fun. I have so many “representative” tracks and made a playlist for Can Jam with a lot of them. That ended up being 135 tracks! It’s so hard to choose and of course I didn’t get to most of those.

 

[KrólArtur]

Which dac/streamer do you recommend for Bravura?

 

[Aetherhole]

I’ve been listening to a lot of orchestra and small ensemble string music today and am really loving string instrument reproduction on this system. Piccicatos and string bowing sounds are articulate without sounding artificial. It sounds rich and really well textured. This is fantastic.

 

[Aetherhole]

Which dac/streamer do you recommend for Bravura?

I’ll let someone maybe a bit wiser than me reply if there is a great solution, but as far as I’m concerned, it shouldn’t matter too much if you are just using a straight streamer/transport. The use of an external dac isn’t advised for the Bravura because it would have to do an AD conversion then back to a DA conversion before being output. That additional conversion could degrade the sound quality more than it helps (possibly).