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Playback Edelweiss in the house

So, after a long wait my Playback Edelweiss MPS-6 just arrived.  This unit is the DAC and SACD Player in one and I have had the Stream X added.  It is not Roon Ready at this time but the streaming function via MConnect Controller worked just fine.  

Build quality is obviously brilliant.  Nice chassis with simple, understated displays.  SACD controls are on the remote and the top edge of the DAC.  The remote is metal and well constructed.  

They say that it will take 500 hours to break-in.  Out of the box, this is clearly an elite DAC with what feels like unprecedented levels of detail in my system.  I am connected via Digital Coax from my Nucleus+ through a Chord 2Go/2Yu (K50 is on loan).  

The plan over the next 4 weeks is to keep it running most of the time and do a variety of tests once fully broken in and a few tests on the way.

One will be the standard five songs from the DAC Shootout connected via USB but I will also plan to put it through its paces as an SACD Player, Streamer and DAC with the K50 as the source.  

With less than an hour on it, all I can say is HOLY CRAP this thing sounds good.  

128x128verdantaudio

Showing 2 responses by metaldetektor

metaldetektor
147 posts
 

Interesting tweener price point. Hard to think of immediate competitors. Perhaps the streaming DAC Nagra (esp b/c of the Koch connection) is working on to replace their Classic DAC, though that won’t have the CD option.

Then there’s the EMM DV2 plus NS1 combination, another DSD conversion DAC. Although that nominally retails for over 30k, in real life many dealers discount it new for like 23k all in, so in the same price ballpark as this Playback unit when streaming is added.

metaldetektor
147 posts
 

Having not heard the Dream, I would have told you that the Edelweiss is the smoothest, most analog sounding DAC I have ever heard in my system.  No hard edges, no digital artifacts (or so I thought) just liquid, analog sound.

This is the limitation with superlatives...it's always in the context of what we've previously (and recently) had in our system (ideally). We think something is the best at whatever, and then something better comes along. Curious how the Nagra Tube DAC + separate PSU compares to the Dream DAC. Same digital designer (Koch), different power supply and analog output. I think it's amazing (as compared to the sound of live music) but...see limitation above.

By the way, not trying to be combative, just curious -- if the Dream is so good, why did the customer send it back? I assume it came down to a system matching preference.

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