Best Digital Source That Money Can Buy?

first; i must re-form the question to be; "your preferred digital source regardless of price".

the word 'best' infers both that you've heard them all in a very familiar system and taken the time to compare them 'all' directly to one another. neither of which are very realistic for digital players. 'best' also infers some universal standard which does not exist.

all that said; my preferred digital source is the Playback Designs MPS-5. it is a one-box CD/SACD player which also can be used as a stand-alone DAC for a server based system.

i not only prefer the MPS-5 to any other consumer digital source i have heard; but also to a few hirez (up to 386/32) pro audio mastering sources that have recently been in my system. the best thing i can say about the MPS-5 is that it has taken digital a large step toward the performance of my Rockport Sirius III turntable; closer by a good margin than any other digital i have heard. these comments refer to both CD and SACD performance.

the MPS-5 has a vanishingly low noise floor, amazing level of detail, excellent micro and macro dynamics, is tonally rich yet naturally neutral, and is very non-digital sounding. it has no color of it's own and i particularly like that it does not have that occasional upper mids glare that so many other digital players have. it soundstages more like analog than other digital in terms of rendering ambient information and filling a room with energy.....it's not flat sounding.

it sounds like music.

it's also set up to be used as a DAC for a PC server based source.....and it's DAC is programmable.....the MPS-5 does not use any off-the-shelf DAC.....it is unique to the MPS-5. it also uses one of the Esoteric transport drives. i've had mine for almost 2 months now and have yet to find something i don't like about it.

my opinion based on my experience with other digital i have heard is that the MPS-5 might be on another level compared to anything out there. but as i said; i have not had everything in my system to compare.

ranking other digital sources is as problematic as choosing a 'best'. i'll leave a ranking to others.

Guido, sorry for the lateness of my response, i had earlier missed your question.

yes; my MPS-5 has completed break-in.....about 2 to 3 weeks ago. i got it in early June, played it continually for 100 hours and it was very good. then over a 4 week time-frame i played it continually when i was at home so another 200-300 hours. since mid July i have not noticed any further change/improvement.

so 400-500 hours total......after about 150 hours you are 95% there.

i will be watching for the results of the mid-September digital comparison in Austin.

Cappuccio, congrats on the Burmester 069, i read Valin's review in Absolute Sound.....very nice.

i will look forward to getting a chance to hear the 069 for myself.....hopefully at RMAF or CES.

you can purchase a pretty good tt for $65k.

sorry....i could not resist. ;)

JB0194, you mention that you agree with Newly.....

are you saying that you think that the DCS Puccini is 'best' compared to the others that Newly mentioned.....which infers he has compared these units?

Without any doubt the best today available digital front is dCS Scarlatti, forget Payback designs, EMM labs, Zanden and others toys, I dont own it, but if one day I have the money..., and sorry I have one EMM labs combo that is vey good

or that you really like the Puccini and prefer it to others you have heard?

these are two quite different things to say. i am still waiting for Newly to answer DCstep's question about whether Newly has actually compared the Puccini to those he mentions or is he just guessing.....specifically has he compared the Puccini to the Playback Designs (which has only been on the market since mid-June).

btw; the Puccini may be best but i have not done any comparisons to venture an opinion about that.

Mrtennis; a friend did recently take delivery of his Playback Designs, a few weeks later he sold his AMR-77. i believe his AMR was not the very latest version.

we discussed his opinion but as it is second hand info i don't think i should post it.

Mr. Tennis, rather than post hearsay, i'll e-mail you his e-mail address and you can ask him directly. we did not discuss any tube rolling or different AMR set-up choices. he typically calls me on the phone and it may take awhile to find his e-mail address.

i will e-mail this to you later today.