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Bidat vs. Perfecwave MSB Playback Design

Ok, so here goes. I love my Museatex Bidat. It is not going ANYWHERE. The rub comes in that I want to be able to access high res files. All my files are on HDD in AIFF format. I am torn between the Playback Design dac, the Perfect Wave and the MSB Platinum Dac 3. The problem is I have never had a chance to hear, let alone compare any of the 3 high res capable dacs mentioned. I can not afford to purchase all 3 simultaneously to do a head to head comparison. I wanted to know if anyone has compared any of these dacs to a Bidat. The Bidat (currently and for the last 10 years) has been my reference digital source. I have noticed that when most people compare new dacs they will say things like "the bottom was so much tighter" or "everything is so trasnparent". The Bidat is just "Right"; anyone who has heard the unit will immediately know to what I am referring.
That certain unmistakable ineffiable quality which sounds like ral music; it makes you believe (even if temporarily) that Jane Monheit is in your living room singing directly to you. I have had Wadia and a slew of others and they are all fine machines, but I need the unit I am looking for to have that certain 'life' quality which makes you forget about all the reviews, what other people think and just reside in that special place in yourself where all is right.

Ok, now that I've waxed poetic, any opinions would be greatly apprecited :)

Thanks,

Don
PS>the Dynavox Dynastation II was the ONLY other digital source that I have owned or heard to compete with the Bidat bu alas it was a CD player only thus I got rid of it.
audiofun
vhiner
544 posts
 
Doug,

I and a number of people I know with $5,000 plus dacs, prefer a high quality preamp over even the best "attenuator" or digital volume control set ups out there. As for the rest of your post, I'm not sure what equipment you're referring to. HIgh quality tube preamps tend to ameliorate a number of digital's shortcomings as well, IMHO.
catastrofe
82 posts
 
I agree with Vhiner. I've tried running DAC to amp, and DAC to Lightspeed Attenuator to amp, and prefer the sound of a good tubed preamp in the chain.
doug2507
7 posts
 
Are both of you commenting with experience of the MSB volume control or different dac's?

My post refers directly to the MSB. Powerbase being its psu and sig dacs being the signature IV dac's.
rockitman's avatar
rockitman
417 posts
 
I think for $6k, the PS Audio Perfect Wave System (Trans and Dac) connected via I2S (HDMI cable) will be hard to beat. If your interested in a highly resolving dac that does cd's well in addition to hi rez (up to 24/192) files burned to DVD, look no further. The presentation of the music is relaxed and comforting. Very little listening fatigue for digital. Most on-line retailers have a return policy so no real risk to try other than paying shipping back to seller if it's not your cup of tea. It is also firmware upgradable, so as filter algorithm's improve, so will your DAC. PS Audio got this combo right.
bill_k
912 posts
 
The selectable filters in the PerfectWave DAC are part of the Wolfson DAC chipset being utilized. While the PWD's firmware can indeed be upgraded over time, I don't believe that the digital filter's algorithms can be changed by the firmware.
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