Hello Alex,
Sorry, I didn't know about your company and its works. I found your website and read some comments on the net. NWO-1 seems to be a great product. Will you be making it for European markets, too? 220V? Do you have any international distributors or do you sell direct? And the big question: What's the waiting time for NWO-1? |
I haven't read all the posts, but I heard Alex's system at Alphifi, and I am an analogphile. I'm not sure about how the presentation compares, but I am sure(I think), that the effect of listening to Alex's system was much greater than my system-digital warts and all. |
Muratc, it is not mods, it is re-design. I am just using the VRDS-NEO transport which happens to be light years advanced. :-)
"Wow, quite a few mods... Who does it?"
Me.
Regards,
Alex |
Wow, quite a few mods... Who does it? |
Muratc,
The re-engineered UX-1 has the following done to it so these are the differences with the original:
1. Heavily upgraded original power supply. Another (third) R-Core power transformer added with 16 additional linear power supplies/regulators.
2. Heavily upgraded and re-designed Digital Signal Processing board with completely new own designed Master Clock, signal routing, new passive components and new DSD to PCM converter working at 176.4KHz/24bit. The original uses older chip working at 88.2KHz/24bit DSD to PCM conversion. Please note that the DA Converter chips I am using are capable of direct DSD processing, but it did not bring as good results compared to DSD to PCM conversion, sorry to say.
3. World's first 211KHz/32bit Upsampling with second Master Clock. The DACs are “seeing” 211KHz/bit at all times regardless of what format is played.
4. Industry's first implementation of the flagship DAC chips by AKM of Japan. There are 10 DACs per channel for extremely low noise and distortions.
5. Unique Hybrid Attenuator with 0.5db step and remote control. This eliminates the need of a preamp if Digital is the only source.
6. Transformer coupled Class "A" tube output stage using the 6H30 super triodes. Custom output transformers made by Lundahl.
It is hard to explain what it does better than a standard UX-1. It is totally different in every respect; there is no sign of the original UX-1 sound. You really need to hear it in order to understand and believe what it is. This is the reason we have named it NWO-1.
Please note that although the Video capabilities are preserved, the Multichannel outputs are removed. It becomes Stereo only. Of course, the digital output can be connected to an external processor for Dolby and DTS decoding which ensures Multichannel DVD Video.
Regards,
Alex |
Alex,
Can you tell more about your "re-engineered" UX-1? What are the differences and what does it better than a standart UX-1? |
Bookner, Mikelavigne visited me at CES. I played the promised DVD-A made directly from $25K vinyl setup for him. He agreed that it was exactly as the vinyl was playing there with no sign of digital or negative artifacts.
I will soon take advantage of his generous invitation and visit him with my DVD-A recording suite and my Digital Front end. There will be two objectives:
1. To see if 96KHz/24bit recording out of his vinyl setup will sound the same on A-B test.
2. To see how his EMM Labs gear will do against my re-engineered Esoteric UX-1. Well, actually, I already know the answer to this question since we already had an A-B test with the latest EMM Labs gear and the UX-1 at a local audiophile's house last weekend.
Stay tuned!
Alex |
"The number of EMM dacs currently for sale on Audiogon (8?) might lead one to believe that it isn't "the best out there." IMO that is a somewhat far stretched assumption on your part. |
The number of EMM dacs currently for sale on Audiogon (8?) might lead one to believe that it isn't "the best out there." |
Soooo . . . Mikel and Alex . . . are you getting together? Some of us would love to learn of your impressions of each other's systems and front ends . . .
Thanks. |
|
Has anyone actually owned the DCC2 - CDSD combo and sold it to acquire a different digital front end? |
Brainwater...when u r ready please do post your impressions of Indra....would be very much interested to hear your observations...thanks. |
No bets necessary Dgad as it seems we all come out winners having these two in our hobby!! |
Brainwater, so well put. Are you a gambling man willing to take wagers?? Any odds makers / bookies out there? |
King Kong vs Godzilla. Man that would worth selling tickets too. Everyone knows ,respects and enjoys Mike and his enviable quest towards the sonic Garden of Eden . His words are stepping stones for so many of us to follow as he is humble , careful in his suggestions and ariculates his wisdom with authority . Many are getting to know the fire breathing Alex Peychev as he unleashes an all out assault on the limitations of digital.Getting to know him is a study in perserverance and dedication . His genius is apparent . Sticks or stones , swords or knives , I am there for this one. Even Russell Crowe would don a suit of armor to sideline referee this . I flew out last weekend to Alex s home in California from South Carolina to spend 72 non stop hours listening to his all proprietary system . He is relentless in his enthusiasm and confidence and what I witnessed with my own ears was worthy of a paradiam shift in my perception of digital. His system must he heard to be believed in my opinion .On the other hand I have not yet flown out to hear Mikes so I cant say but will make it a priority in 06 if he is willing. Having Alex make the trip to Mikes with the NWO-1 for direct comparison to Mikes SOTA would be worthy of everyones interest. Maybe after the show in 06 we can get the two giants of Audio into the ring !! |
Elberoth 2: sure thing, guess we just have different priorites in what we are looking for, or its matter of system matching.
Chrisla: Many say the Ayre needs a lot of break-in. |
Guidocorona..yup the UX-01 was broken, not so sure about the Ayre, though, it got better and better but still, just something very mechanical about it, which, in my experience is not like Ayre. My wonderful dealer, who did an "oops" when he sold me the UX-01, never got in another X-01 for me to try, so, oh well. It sure does look better than the Meitner in my opinion, but, gosh I just love the Meitner sound. Will try your recommendations on the shunyata.
Thanks |
Alex; you will be welcome here any time it might work out.
as far as your generous suggestion; unfortunately my current setup for vinyl utilizes a pre-production darTZeel preamp with only BNC outputs operational. therefore i have no way to input the phono signal into a CD burner from my phono stage/pre. even if your burner had a RIAA chip that would accept the direct signal from the tt; that would miss the 'magic' that the darTZeel phono/pre is doing.
my own dart pre is due 'yesterday' (the hope is before the new year); it will have multiple outputs that will work fine.
i have not burned CD's from Lp's in the past; what level of A to D is sufficient? and is that level resident in your burner?
i am currently in the market for a standalone CD burner (focused on improving redbook, not on burning CD's from Lp's......why would i want to dumb-down my Lp's anyway?) and have read all the current buzz on the Reality Check and other approaches as well as different CDR's. i am looking for some clarity on which direction is best and then plan to jump into that.
in any case; i'm not sure the timing for CES will work with this scheme......but i am game for it however soon it can be worked out.
i do look forward to hearing your latest at CES. |
MikeL, Thank you for the invitation! I've never heard your vinyl setup, but I am sure it is really great.
I am sorry to say, but it would be impossible to visit you before the CES show in January, so please accept my invitation and visit us at T.H.E Show.
Do you have any type of stand alone CD Recorder (Pioneer for example?) If you don't, I can send you mine and some black CD-R discs. Would you mind to record your best sounding vinyl directly from your phono stage to the CD Recorder and bring the CD-R to my room at T.H.E Show?
Regards,
Alex
|
"Well I had assumed that when you say "get out of the way of the music" you were referring to the invisibility of your speakers."
it is not possible to isolate issues to one factor.....and more than a few speakers 'disappear'. in addition there is more than one version of 'getting out of the way of the music'.....i'm sure many systems do that.
i'm referring to an overall ability of a 'system' to 'meld' together and allow the source and speakers to be optimized.....maximum info from the source....and the listener then recieves the 'whole'.
i am most definitly referring to more, better and closer......as opposed to different.
that is the beauty of my Colibri cartridge......it tells you so much that if the delivery system for that info is not 'just right' it sounds like garbage. there is no different...there is only right and wrong.
which is not to say that my or anyone's system is totally without colorations......but that they are fairly insignificant IMHO to my ears. |
Well I had assumed that when you say "get out of the way of the music" you were referring to the invisibility of your speakers. Anything else to me is a reflection on the improvement of a system as well set up speakers are indeed invisible and to me get out of the way of the music as you term it
How do you know that the new stands, new cables,new cartridge etc are not creating some sort of sonic signature that "is" in the way of the music and creating a coloration that is partial to "your" ears. I am just uncertain as to why you suggest that the additions you made have created a state of musical neutrality. How can you be so certain?
I feel this is a reasonable question that we all must ask of ourselves. I have said time and again that with any new piece of equipment one must ask himself whether he is hearing something better OR is he merely hearing something different. |
OB my friend;
sorry if my comment is not clear enough. i will try to expand on it.
when i say "vinyl continues to reveal more and more as the system gets more out of the way" i am describing my audio philosophy......which is......as one's system improves there is less and less between the content of the software (the music) and your listening experience.
in the last year i have changed everything in my system except my sources. when i first moved into my new room there were components that made their character and limitations known; you were here to listen at that time.
the speakers simply could not energize the room and low bass (under 40hz) was not evidant.
the new room was much more 'live'......as opposed to the slightly over-damped character of the old room. the Kharma Exquisites were still slightly soft on top and the tonal balance was not bad. but, the new VR9 speakers added even more high frequency energy. the additional bass energy of the new speakers combined with the additional high frequency energy really took the whole system out of balance. combine all that with my learning curve on all the adjustability of the speakers and i had taken 2 steps forward but one step back.
i was hearing way more information from my system but this additional info was causing problems.
my 3 year reference phono cartridge, the vdH Colibri, is the most explosive and life-like piece of audio gear i have ever heard. in my old room and old system; the Colibri was happy with the system. the 'old' system 'hid' the problems the new system exposed.
for a few months i was not sure what was causing what. did the Colibri have a problem? was it my phono stage or preamp? maybe the amps? i was not sure. maybe the room was too live......or i didn't have the speakers adjusted properly.
as i lived with the new speakers and tried to get the Colibri to blend into the new room and system i started to make some progress.
first, a friend brought over the Grand Prix amp stands.....WOW......everything got more natural, more detail, better more solid and articulate bass. i bought GP amp stands and racks......big improvement.
next, i bought some Jena Labs Fundamental 1 power cords for the subwoofer amps...WOW......the bass improved a ton in every way....tighter, deeper, and more articulate. in addition, the whole frequency range cleaned up.
i had been using both the Tenors and darTZeel amps with the Placette passive. i was still getting some edge with the Colibri. i finally assumed the issue was the Colibri and bought a Dynavector XV-1s to try. the edge went away but so did the vividness and dynamic explosiveness. i liked the XV-1s but missed the Colibri.
all along the digital had been 'happy'......there was no problem and i had felt that the emmlabs had somehow crept closer to the vinyl performance......especially with the XV-1s.
then the new battery powered darTZeel preamp arrived. this turned out to be the 'missing link'. to make a long story short; i was able to get the Colibri back into the system and now all that information that the Colibri had been killing me with became 'music'......the vinyl performance has leapt to a few levels beyond anything i have yet heard.
yes, the digital was also improved but not nearly to the degree. the potential of the vinyl format simply allows a much larger upside. if your vinyl system is capable of exposing enough information the comparison is no contest.
but to live at that level of information all must be right. when the rest of your system gets the hell out of the way......in other words......your speakers, amps, racks, cables, and room are synergistic, neutral and not limiting......then the most revealing vinyl components will reveal more musical information and deliver more musical satisfaction than any digital i have heard.
the improvements to my system did improve the digital; but the degree was considerably less and the final performance level was also less.
if you play around with vinyl for awhile at a fairly high level you will soon come to the conclusion that anything you do makes large differences.....sometimes amazingly large differences. why? IMHO it's because there simply is so much info in those grooves.
take 5 digital players at $5000 increments from $1000 to $26,000......the best one's at each price point. compare.
tweak them all. listen again.
do the same for vinyl.
at each commitment level for vinyl there will be clear improvements. and if you continue up the scale past $26k for vinyl there will continue to be clear improvements on up for awhile.
much past $10k all digital will be similar....and it will be more issues of difference as opposed to improvement. this is not a bad thing but speaks to limits of resolution.
as you continue to lower the noise floor of vinyl playback with more and more sophisticated gear more and more info is exposed. i don't think we are thru yet in this direction.
my digital and vinyl experience of the last 10 years is exactly that comparison.
i rest my case.
sorry to go on but the answer to your question is not simple. |
ok lets fix your misunderstanding ,with a book of the misunderstanding of life....only in hi-fi...
You guys should charge, for this is priceless |
Apologies for the typo Mike, yes I meant your SOTA--state of the art) analog rig.
As mentioned, I have no argument with the fact that you and your guests may find the SOTA to be superior to the EMM, and in fact I'd be interested in knowing more details of your comparative findings, e.g. ICs, PCS, and types of recordings used (redbook/SACD?), have you had many opportunities of comparing the same recording on vinyl and SACD ?
I have also no problem if you state that overall you truly prefer vinyl over digital and you find it more musical/satisfying, etc. . . That is a purely subjective statement, and therefore valid by definition.
The problem is rather in the generalization steps that lead you to make an unequivocal statement of superiority of one format over the other one--irrespective of direction I should add. My objection has nothing whatsoever to do with the music or the sound, but only with the process. You start with the postulation that (1) the EMM is the very best that digital has to offer, and (2) if SOTA is found to be superior to EMM, (3) SOTA must be superior to digital, and because (4) SOTA is the best of Vinyl. therefore (5) vinyl must be superior to digital.
The problem is in the postulation in statement 1, which to be valid must be held as a universally accepted truth--which in this particular case it is unfortunately not, as there does not appear to exist an objective unanimity on the subject.
Regardless, I'd love to listen to both your rigs some times, as I have not been fortunate enough to listen to either EMM nor SOTA! As for old Wittgenstein, I suspect he listened mostly to live music. There is a book called Wittgenstein's Vienna (or The Vienna Of Wittgenstein) which may shed some light on the subject. Have not read the book yet.
Guido |
Mike Lavigne you and I are friends. You make this statement over and over and I don't think that I am naieve when it comes to high end stereo but honestly I don't know what the heck you mean when you say it vinyl continues to reveal more and more as the system gets more out of the way. Please explain so that I can understand. |
I missed this thread for a few days. From my experience Mike is on the money. My analogue front end was always better than my Audio Aero. Unfortunately once my cartridge died I was without analogue for a while. I just listened to my Audio Aero and was basically unsatisfied. I then purchased my EMM setup. From memory, I was sure that my analogue would not equal the EMM setup. My previous cartridge, a Koestsu just didn't have the dynamics nor the extension to compete w. the EMM. I had to change phono preamps & cartridges which took a lot of time. Once my analogue system was put together w. now a VdH Condor & WN Audio phono section, my EMM setup was definitely still better sounding to me. But once my cartridge and phono stage began to break in everything changed. It became quickly aparent that analogue is better sounding in my system compared to my EMM setup. An analogue system that is compromised in any area will be bettered by the EMM setup. Especially in the bass and treble regions. In my system w. a Nottingham Hyperspace w. SME V & Condor I have incredible bass & midrange. My top end is just boardering excellent. In fact from the low end to the highs my analogue setup is equal to digital. In terms or musicality, image palpability, and harmonic integrity analogue is superior. Prior to my cartridge breaking in (still not done though 100%) we all felt the EMM was better. Once the Condor finally began to break in all my friends, only one of them an audiophile, the rest musicians prefered analogue to digital. When the LP was a poor recording obviously this was not the case. I don't know how anyone can conclude that any digital is better than vinyl unless they make the direct comparison in a system they are familiar with. That being said, I fully agree the EMM is good enough in most cases to abandon the pursuit of vinyl. The EMM gear is excellent and the sound is highly involving. I would easily accept the EMM setup as a parking place in terms of sources for most people. But my lowly analogue setup, not SOTA to all but for me in the ballpark, is better than SOTA digital of today. |
Yea, but Ludwig was using an old Garrard player in 1951 and you kept evolving until you reached the air bearing, linear track status for playback of your analog.
As memory serves, Ludwig was gone, long before (long gone?) the first Sony CD player ever hit the shelves.
Besides, I have it on good authority he did not cotton to the "Cool" Jazz movement, so I don't trust him. |
actually, as i was born in 1951......i may have been him in my past life. |
Guidocorona, I looked here: Epistemological stereoI see his opinions about life, religion and such, but cannot find a listing of his stereo system. Do you really believe this guy is a better expert on sound than Mike Lavigne? He died in 1951, so I have my suspicions, Mike still listens, every day. |
Guido;
"I am quite sure even old Ludwig Wittgenstein would find it problematic on purely logical or epistemological grounds."
if you're going to kick my ass please speak English.
:^)
but seriously......my comments about my SODA (i assume you mean SOTA--state of the art) vinyl setup performance being musically superior to digital is my perspective......my opinion......my feelings.
to be more specific; the emmlabs represents an acknowledged reference of the best digital performance. not to say there are not others; but for sure the emmlabs is in that very top level of digital performance.
if then, my vinyl setup consistently delivers a more satisfying musical performance then it is completely valid for me to say that. yes, i am specifically saying that at the very top of both formats vinyl is superior in reproducing music according to my and 100% of many others musical judgements visiting my room (25-30 listeners) in the recent months.
if we are judgeing the performance potential of two formats; and at least one setup represents the best of that format; and the other format is judged consistently better......then it is valid logically to say that one format is musically better. that is not the whole story; but it is not invalid.
now, this is only a subjective opinion shared by myself and other visitors to my room. and for sure; YMMV. certainly, there may be some/many that may not reach the same conclusion......which wouldn't invalidate their perspectives.
to call my perspective 'invalid' is quite pompous and unsupportable. this is not science but art which we are judging; which calls for subjective opinions; not scientific method.
have a nice day. |
Mike, I have no problem believing that your SODA may often appear to exceed the performance of the EMM. Unfortunately your generalization from this statement that analog is inherently superior to digital is invalid.
Similarly, if you had said that your EMM were better than your SODA, and thus concluded that digital were inherently superior to analog, that to would constitute an invalid induction. I am afraid that the entire broad argument of analog/vs digital superiority or viceversa is inherently specious and I am quite sure even old Ludwig Wittgenstein would find it problematic on purely logical or epistemological grounds. |
as my system includes both Oneobgyn's emmlabs gear and SOTA vinyl i do this comparison every day.
if comparing very good (top 30% of 6000 lps) vinyl (of the same recording) to the very best digital (redbook or SACD) the vinyl is at a higher level of musical performance.
weekly i have various audio friends over for this comparison. the result is ALWAYS the same.
the system is full range; the room is good; the associated gear is all competent.
another thing. as my system has improved over this last year the gap between vinyl and digital has increased. digital has a relative performance ceiling since resolution is limited; vinyl continues to reveal more and more as the system gets more out of the way.
anyone who needs convincing; just show up any Saturday afternoon about 4:00pm (Alex, come on up!....bring your new toy).
that said; the digital performance is staggeringly good and fully satisfying. i completely understand how one might feel that the top digital performance that they are hearing must be equal or better than where they feel vinyl is. all can say to those sensible people is......until you hear them side by side (as i do for about 4 hours daily)......you won't believe. |
Stan--trust me when I say that you won't embarrass me but it seems to me that in all of your posts you are giving the overall impression to the collective here that only you have the "golden ears" and that yours are the only ones to be trusted.I would beg to differ.
It would be a pleasure to host you for some listening fun. After all isn't this what the hobby is all about? |
Oh the "absolutes" that we are stuck on.Vinyl ,tubes and the whole analogue monologue. Invalidating the bites and bytes is not the solution here.This us and them is not about a hobby. You guys are just inventing arguments. There is no hobby in your souls. Frustrated humans we are...LOL |
Thank you JFZ. No I am only a concerned reader who gets amused by 'screechy' posts. Please do not leave these discussions. As you noticed, some of us are naturally emotional. You should read some of the 'nastygrams' that fly out of my fingers in the office every day. So, no big deal, Stan, Judy, and all, relax. . . and did you notice by the way? It's Friday already!!! |
Thanks Guidocorona. Are you a member of the board? I consider it a shame that a forum which (I ASSUME, albeit maybe incorrectly) was created for the sharing of ideas and experience is so often a place where people are simply negative and/or nasty to others. Lest anyone think I am singling someone out, by the way: I think it a shame that "Aplhifi" says something like "...let me re-assure you that your vinyl setup will be embarrassd on A-B test". As I said in another post recently: How could he possibly KNOW that unless he actually listens to the two set-ups in a controlled environment?
In any case, maybe I'm "beating my head against a wall" here, so I will consider decreasing or stopping my participation. Thanks again. If you ARE a moderator, I'd love to know what the forum's goals and guidelines are. |
Guido, Thanks for explaining adhominem. Here's some advice,
buttem outem.
Have a nice day. |
Guidocorona,
This appears to be an issue between posters other than yourself. I suggest you stay out of it. You are not a moderator and as such have no business asking somebody else to "avoid" anything. Thank you. |
Aplhifi
Measurements and numbers mean nothing. Have you ever heard a loudspeaker with a perfectly flat (on paper) frequency response? Sounds like sh** right?
Secondly if measurements are your criterion for superiority then solid state components would sound better than vacuum tubes right?
You should read Philip Richard Newell's "Studio Monitoring Design: a personal view" in which he states":
"The combination of(human) brain and ear have an awesome ability to resolve fine detail, orders of magnitude beyond our best measuring equipment"
Perhaps this will help you better understand that your measurements are basically meaningless. The ears are the only true measuring devices. |
Stan, that was 'ad hominem'. thus unwarranted. Please avoid. |
I don't want to embarrass the good doctor. People that spend exhorbitant amounts of money on bits and bytes have egos that won't allow them to really believe what they hear. Money can buy a nice car; it doesn’t mean you’re a good driver. Money can buy a nice house; it doesn’t mean you’re a good neighbor. Money can buy stylish eyeglasses; it doesn’t mean you have good eyes. Now here’s the point: Money can buy great audio components; it doesn’t mean you have a good ear. I hope that helps.
Secondly it would be fruitless to hear that system unless there was an analog source in it to definitively crush the EMM. And even then, egos get in the way. |
Elberoth2...well I guess we just disagree on what we respecitvely heard. (...) EMM to me has far more "openess" and sense of air around the instruments...and that is what I like about it. Henry, that is EXACTLY what I have said before: To my ears it is the EMM that was a resolution and openess champ. (...) The EMM was almost "too open" for it's own good, his midrange lacked body and texture compared to latest dCS offerings. :-) |
Stanhifi, the DACs in my "latest toy" see constant 5.4MHz bit rate regardless of the format played. The output of the DACs looks like a perfect analog wave form, even with 44.1KHz/16bit regular CD.
I am sure that you will not believe a word from what I say, but let me re-assure you that your vinyl setup will be embarrassed on A-B test. There is some audiophile Vinyl and also CD, SACD and DVD-A recorded from the same analog master. We can always use those for the test.
As suggested above, EMM Labs gear will also give you vinyl a REALLY hard time as it is, reportedly, very close sounding to almost $85K (or more) cost no object vinyl setup, especially with SACD.
I think it is time for you to audition before throwing out blind statements.
Regards,
Alex |
Hey Stan, why not take up Oneobgin's offer? It's your opportunity to prove you are not suffering from a little case of 'faith-based audiophilia!' |
Stan--I would be only too happy to take you up on your challenge. I agree that vinyl is wonderful however in my system with the CDSD and the DAC6e I would be only too happy to have you over for an audition to quash your bombasity :) . |
Unfortunately Lazarus a Teres 265 isn't a 340, an SME V isn't a Graham Phantom, and a Colibri isn't a Zyx UNIverse so I can understand why you like the EMM more than your vinyl stuff. Perhaps also you need to justify the cost of the EMM but my vinyl system will embarrass your digital system. Maybe you should consider a system upgrade and return to vinyl. |
stan - i had a Teres 265, SME V, Van den Hul Colibri combo, which was every bit as nice as your setup. (actually, nicer as i see it, as i prefer SME to Graham, and VdH to ZYX)
i sold it for EMMlabs gear, and guess what?
those bits sound better to my ears. the fact that you prefer the distortions of vinyl over the distortions of digital doesn't mean that they're better. they're better to you, perhaps, but your blanket statements are tiresome and flawed.
the fact that Alex's work has compared favorably to my beloved EMM gear (besting it by some accounts, although i'll have to hear it for myself to believe it) tells me that, as far as what's important to *me*, you're dead-ass wrong.
although, what's important to me shouldn't mean a damn thing to you at all. and i'm not gonna sit here and tell you that what you prefer in sound reproduction is wrong. please do the rest of us the same favor and end the condescention. |
Sorry Alex but in no way shape or form will your latest toy compete with my Teres/Graham/Zyx. Maybe in a few years you'll have a case. |
Jfz, this is correct for most of the posts around online forums. Please see your email.
Regards,
Alex |
