2. digital
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dCS Puccini Clock

I had yesterday the oportunity to hear for first time the Puccini clock.

I must admit that I was a little sceptical. The system consisted of:

Howland preamp HP-200 SE
Howland amp RADIA SE
Avalon Indra
Transparent power cleaner / station ?
I can't tell which cables

Well the effect is quite amazing and you can easily recognize it in a blind hearing. If I have to describe it I would say, you become aware of the hall / the space in which the recording has been done. The difference is very noticeable when you switch the clock off, suddenly the music sounds dryer, shorter and the space all around the whole music desapears.

I heard:
Luiz Bonfa plays and sing Bossa Nova (Verve)
Bruckner 4th by Jaap van Zweden (bad SACD & interpretation)
Bruckner 4th by Günter Wand (the last recording)
Ports of Call by Eiji Oue (Ref. Rec. bravo Prof. Johnson you are a great sound engeneer!)

One of these days I will take it home and have a test on my system ... and will make some blind hearing with my wife ;-)

I will report then about the experience.
clavil

Showing 4 responses by chadeffect

chadeffect
586 posts
 
Elgar,
it may be worth trying to find a later version of the DCS transport with firewire built in. I dont know which version of the Elgar dac you have, but if it has firewire then you are in good shape as the La scarla and Encore transports have the upsampler built in. So you can go straight from the transport using DSD to the dac via firewire. Much neater.
chadeffect
586 posts
 
Elgar,

BlackstonedeJd is right, If you are not using the firewire output from the transport you are only getting a small part of the DCS sound. The upsampling to DSD is far better than without. The digital output when compared with the firewire sounds less refined and not as sweet or extended in the highs.

The Scarlatti is a beast and a very fine player. In comparison with the Elgar/veron/La scarla it has more depth and width, with a warmer and sweeter presentation. It is not an CD8 which adds its own nice flavour to the prceedings. It steps very slightly into that direction when compared with the elgar dac etc, but is still on the neutral/cool side of warm. Its very heard to beat the Scarlatti although I have heard complaints from some people about it. It just has no sugar coating. Its real. I prefer this in a source myself. Let the music do the talking not the hifi. I have always found that I get bored of a systems color after a while, even if its nice to begin with.
chadeffect
586 posts
 
This is the first I have heard about this. I am not sure, but I believe the DSD license may have a part to play in the price.

There have been many people trying to block the ability to send hi rez digital outputs to external boxes in domestic equipment due to pirating. I am not saying that DCS are correct to charge for the upgrade, but may have a part to play and could be down to Sony and copyright law.

DCS are a great little company and I have both old and new DCS stacks. The Scarlatti is one of the finest digital playback systems I have ever heard. The Elgar plus/verona/ la scarla is no slouch either.

It is expensive, and there is no getting away from that, but I think it is more to do with the way the Hi fi distribution works with huge mark ups and not so much down to the cost of their manufacturing overheads.

It maybe worth a call to them. I have only ever had 1st class service from them.
chadeffect
586 posts
 
Hi Elgar,
see what DCS say, but I am sure just removing another set of cables and connections and another box will get you somewhere. Again it is a law of diminishing returns, so there may be a cheaper way to improve your sound.

Find a good firewire cable too. I know it sounds stupid, but I tried a few and while they should make no difference to the data, I found the shielded versions did help the soundstaging and the sound seemed cleaner. I am not sure if you need to go as far as the siltech FW cable though! That must be the most expensive FWcable on the planet. I know virtual dynamics were working on something, but it is not out yet. I use a modified pro cable that is for a Protools rig. It has a silver screen and ferrite rings at each end. A good cable for the clock seems to help too.

The other thing that is obvious but seems to effect the DCS a lot, is making sure the transport is completely flat, as if it were a turntable. This can make the DCS very clinical and lacking warmth and lower mid/bass support.
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