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EMM Labs CDSD / DCC2 - Initial Listening Session

With only 48 hours of burn-in on these pieces, this review is hardly definitive- but here goes...

I think old Ed (Meitner) has hit the cover off the ball with this, his latest offering in CD/SACD playback equipment. The following comments are based on comparisons to my previous front-end: Meitnerized Philips SACD 1000, Meitner DAC6, Meitner Switchman II and apply to both SACD & CD playback.

The CDSD & DCC2 - compared to the previous Meitner rig---

-Much deeper soundstage, much more layered, as well, width about the same.
-Hall ambiance retrieval is vastly superior.
-Tonal and timbral qualities are unsurpassed in any digital gear I've experienced. Piano reproduction is absolutely stunningly good!! Acoustic guitar has the string interaction/wooden resonance of the real thing.
-There is a "Bloom" to instuments, even voice, that seems typically absent in digital playback. This quality is very "Analog" like.
-So far, I sense not even a suggestion of stridency or digital fatigue- It is just not there. This new gear is just plain musical. That word is overused- but there is no other word to better describe the overall experience. There is a natural seamlessness and natural bloom to the music, as a whole, which reminds me of a live performance within a live venue. All of the elements of that live experience seem reproduced faithfully by the CDSD & DCC2. This is no small feat. In quantitative terms I'd say the new gear is 25%-35% better, in every listening category (it is about the same in soudstage width), than the earlier 3 piece set-up I had.

As the new gear continues to burn-in there will certainly be changes and refinements, probably for the better, which I will try to keep track of. But so far- Ooh, La, La!!!

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT:
Kharma Midi Grand
Tenor 300 HP
Jena Labs Pathfinder
Shunyata Anaconda VX & VX Alpha
fbhifi
ceol
13 posts
 
Yes the DCC2 does sound better than the DAC6 / Switchman primarily due to its simpler / shorter signal path...

Remember the DCC2 is essentially two channels of the Studio DAC6 packaged with two channels of the studio switchman packaged in one chassis for two channel audiophiles.

BUT look closer...you dont just eliminate an interconnect with the DCC2...compare the signal paths:

DAC6/SWITCHMAN:

DAC6 DAC OUTPUT - DAC6 OUTPUT BUFFER - INTERCONNECT - SWITCHMAN INPUT BUFFER - GAIN CONTROL - SWITCHMAN OUTPUT BUFFER - INTERCONNECT TO AMPS.

DCC2:

DCC2 DAC OUTPUT - GAIN CONTROL - DCC2 OUTPUT BUFFER - INTERCONNECT TO AMPS.

The DCC2 eliminates TWO BUFFER STAGES and an INTERCONNECT .. and surely a short PCB trace to get the signal from the DAC to the Gain control is a lot better than any interconnect !!

Remember, less is more in the analog domain...the best results are acheived by the shortest / simplest signal path.

Yours in Music

Ceol

P.S. I own a CDSD & DCC2 and am supremely happy.

tbg
5,263 posts
 
Good points, Ceol. Is there a DCC6 coming? On another thread there is obviously pressure on moders to do 6 channel mods on players, not that I have any interest.
hifinut
6 posts
 
Hi
I just got my DCC2 about 9 days ago. The remote was not functioning well and I was told that I will have to replace the microchip in the sensor. I have yet to pass the judgement as I compare it to my Audio Aero Capitole II. The soundstage sounds constricted, the mids are very dry. It sounds thin almost too perfectly sterile. I console myself that about 20 hours is still within breaking period. I certainly do not have the glowing experience of the other owners. I am running Meitner transport via Harmonic Tech digilink Platinum into EMM. EMM is connected via Jena Labs Symphony to Edge NL10 amp and via Kimbers bifocal XL to Kharma Midigrands. Any thoughts?
tireguy
1,964 posts
 
Hifinut- Try using the supplied digital cables(they should have come with the transport) and see what you think. Out of the box my DCC2/meitner transport combo outperformed my audio aero capitole mkII, the improvements were painfully obvious after the first song I listened to. In fact it was more like the first note I heard, there was a level of resolution and detail that I have never heard with digital. My soundstage has become HUGE, larger then with any other source I've used- and while I wouldn't call the mids lush they are, from all of my experience, not dry either more like accurate to the original recording.

Good luck getting everything straightened out, your in for a treat when you figure out what ever is causing the problem!
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