2. member-reviews
  3. 1212275915

Review: Playback Designs MPS-5 CD Player

Category: Digital

1st impressions of the Playback Designs MPS-5.

briefly; The MPS-5 plays redbook and SACD's; it can also be used as a DAC for a music server as well as as a transport. i do plan on getting into server based music and so i like that part. the MPS-5 is also set up so it's software is easily upgradable.

Playback Designs is a new company. this is their first product.

at 1:40pm PDT today the fedex driver pulled up and dropped off the box.

finally; after 5 weeks without.....I HAVE DIGITAL AGAIN.

mine is one of the first 2 units shipped, and the first to arrive. i had heard a prototype a few months back and made a decision to replace my EMM Labs SE Combo with this new product. i had not compared the my EMM Labs Signature directly to that prototype; but i did like some things i heard and made the change.

first; the packaging was perfect and easy to unpack; i was playing music in about 2 minutes after openning the box. the player itself is very handsome; fit and finish are impeccable, a beautiful aluminum case, brushed silver metal on top and black anodized on the bottom. the remote is similarly elegant, and feels very nice in your hand. large, easy to use buttons and it's back lit.

the EMM Labs never had this level of industrial design; but prior to that i owned the Linn CD-12 and before that the Levinson dac and transport. performance is my only criteria; but i also enjoy audio jewelry assuming it can deliver the sonic goods.

how does it sound?

my very first impression in the first 30 seconds was big and bold. the Playback Designs uses a transformer based power supply instead of the switching power supply of the EMM Labs SE Combo. i wonder if that is a factor here.

i must point out that my EMM Labs SE Combo was packed up and shipped to it's new owner in late April. so my aural memory of that is 5 weeks old. OTOH i owned EMM Labs for 5 years, and the SE for the last 2 years. so my sense of that is pretty good.

i'm hearing a sound that fills the soundstage to a greater degree, and the bass seems to have more authority.

beyond that initial impression; like any brand new digital player; the sound started off somewhat congested, sluggish and closed in. after about 45 minutes things started to open up a bit and i could hear farther into the soundstage. it's now been about 90 minutes of play and things are getting more interesting.

it's still somewhat closed in on top but i'm getting more lively micro-dynamics and a bit more transparency in the mids. the bass is getting cleaner and tighter, a few more hours and.......

i like where this is going.

anyway; i'll be breaking this baby in over the next week or so and will continue to offer impressions.

Associated gear
Click to view my Virtual System

Similar products
EMM Labs CDSD SE Transport, EMM Labs DAC6 SE
mikelavigne

Showing 15 responses by mikelavigne

mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
Dave, i'll be looking forward to both the beer and getting together. i'd also enjoy hearing about your impressions of the Playback Designs if you go that way.

i noticed on your system page that you are musician and do live recordings; i wonder if your Korg (a raw DSD recorder) might be able to play directly into the Playback Designs at full resolution? that would be very cool if it could be figured out.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
i did get some updated info from Jonathan as my son is putting together a music server for me and we are trying to figure out the best approach. i have not personally confirmed this info.

at this time the USB input will only accept 16/44.

the RCA input (S/PDIF) will accept up to 196/24 PCM. you would need an 1/8th inch RCA (mostly every PC outputs from this type interface) to to full-sized RCA digital cable.

the Toslink will also accept up to 196/24.

the MPS-5 will then convert (with zero jitter it is claimed) the digital source to analog simply by selecting that input with the remote.

the manual has some helpful tips on optimizing the digital output of your PC along with a source for a driver to configure your PC to input to the MPS-5.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
now at approx 4 hours and my whole digital reproduction reference is significantly changed.

my above comments related to the first couple of hours; as i studied the manual i had a very familiar disc playing on repeat, Burmeister II. i had heard how things were changing cut by cut. then i took some time to post my very 1st impressions.

45 minutes ago i started playing some of my best reference discs; and i must now state that i have never heard any digital that has this level of resolution, while having a wonderful combination of solidness and bass slam, and with a wonderful ease and naturalness. i hear far into musical textures, each musical line has it's own space and decay and transient events are superlative and unique in my digital experience.

i have heard a few digital masters played back and this tops my recollection of those experiences.

i will stop for now as where do i go from this.

anyone who has one of these on the way is going to go nuts when they hear it. i just called a couple of friends to see if i could get someone here to make sure i've not lost it. they didn't answer.

i could be mad.

stay tuned.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
ok here are links to pictures of the Playback Designs MPS-5. i had to use a 70mm--300mm VR lens for this as my shorter focal length lens is not yet here.....and i'm not much of a photographer to begin with.....so please be gentle.

the MPS-5

back of MPS-5

on the shelf turned on

the remote

the remote has a phase toggle and a dim button to turn the front panel lights off, the remote is also back lit.....very nice and feels comfortable in your hand. the buttons are big enough and well placed so i quickly got a feel for it.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
Radiohead; thanks for the kind comments......i try to keep pushing the envelope. you must have an excellent system considering your wise choices. :)

SACD's sound superb.......breathtaking.....more analog and with terific spacial definition. in the first second of sound you get that sense of space and foundation.

SACD is benefiting as much from the MPS-5 as redbook. all my comments go for both formats. today the player is sounding a bit more open and alive.....it now has about 25 hours on it.

earlier today a good friend brought his EMM Labs CDSD (with USB) and DAC6e over to compare. this is what i owned for three years and then replaced with the EMM Labs SE combo. so it did allow for a valuable reference.

i will wait to comment myself until he comments.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
above i mentioned that a friend had visited me this afternoon and would be commenting on our session. here is a link to those comments;

Ted Smith's impressions

i wish i could write like Ted.

I've known Ted since 2000; he is a frequent visitor to my room and one of my audio mentors. Ted is an SACD expert (he owns 4000 SACD's) and has a world class multi-channel setup. Ted has designed digital audio workstations among other technical talents. Ted is also a moderator and Board member at audiosylum.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
Radiohead,

regarding comparing the standard EMM with the SE version; two years ago i had the first SE version DAC6 and CDSD (the CDSD was the same as any with the USB input). when i first got the SE combo i still had the standard version for a couple of months. so i had lots of time to hear the differences. my friend Ted came over then also and we did the comparison.

there were differences; but they were subtle. the SE had a slightly lower noise floor, a bit blacker black. the SE version was somewhat more natural and had more ease. and the SE version separated instruments a bit better (likely related to the noise floor issue). some listeners did not easily hear the differences. i heard them and liked them. it was an upgrade. the DCC2 SE has the same exact circut boards as the DAC6 SE, it just only has two of them instead of 6.

anyway; if you are asking how much closer would the SE version have been to the Playback Designs than the standard version Ted brought over yesterday; i would say, almost no closer. the order of magnatude of difference between the standard/SE and the standard/Playback Designs is is huge. and it is huge in many, almost every, possible perameter.

the EMM Labs SE gear is still an excellent digital player that is competitive with all other digital out there except the Playback Designs. i expected to like the Playback Designs but until i heard this on Saturday i really had no idea that it would be this good.

when i write of extreme differences most times i pause and consider whether i really am confident of what i am writing before i hit 'submit'. this is not one of those times.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
Dave, thanks.

i don't personally know the digital design of the Playback Design MPS-5. the manual does specify which kind of discs it plays and i know DVD-A is not included. i have played redbook, both commercial and CDR's, without problems....also SACD's are fine.

i know that the DAC was custom designed and is unique to the Playback Design. how it handles DSD, whether it converts to PCM, whether it does DxD, or anything along those lines i have no idea. whatever the design; it works better than any other i have heard.

sorry i can't be of more help on this.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
Skull, thanks for adding your thoughts. if you recall other impressions, please share them.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
i did get some clarification;

the DAC in the Playback Designs has an open architecture; it can be 1 bit-5.6mhz or 32 bit-196mhz, 72 bit-496 mhz or anything they want it to be. thru the USB port the software can be updated to whatever they want.

algorithms can be updated.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
Dave,

from what i understand Playback Designs will not show at RMAF. maybe someone will bring one to use in their room.

i'll be there; it's my favorite show.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
hi Satyam,

i was working (actually my network engineer son) on putting together a music server to use thru the Playback Designs. we were considering the various sound cards and connection choices. it turns out that most of the connections have limitations that restrict them to redbook level data. previously i had mentioned that i was told that Toslink and ASEBU RCA could handle hirez downloads. upon further discussion with Playback Designs it appears that the ASEBU XLR connection is the one that has both the speed and the likely sound card support to handle hirez.

after some discussion, Playback Designs is working on some specific soundcard choices and writing drivers to make it all work. these things can be quick or they can be slow to happen. as i am not the one doing this i cannot say which way this will go. i will be waiting for Playback Designs to recommend a specific card and software choice.

if you are only interested in 16/44 downloads most anything will work fine right now thru any of the digital inputs. my interest is in hirez downloads. i am a disc in the hand guy for CD's.

specifically; the USB is only capable of 16/44.

as soon as i have information with more specifics i will post it.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
Satyam,

regarding a music server into the Playback Designs verses the transport....let's say we are talking redbook here. i read about how servers will out do transports; but i have yet to speak to anyone who has actually had that experience.

since the Playback Designs is able to eliminate jitter from the server based input; maybe it will be equal or better than the internal transport.

i know that there are some server based users who will be getting their Playback Designs any time now; possibly they can share their viewpoints on this issue.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
Dave,

my son and i have spoken about where the server should be. we have CAT-5 wired to both sides of my room in the barn as well as draft 802.11n WiFi in the barn and house. i also have a conduit from my listening room to the attic that my air line for my tt compressor runs thru. i could place the server directly above my room near my compressor and then run any special cable down to the MPS-5 (such as the ASEBU XLR which Andreas thinks might be ideal).

ideally; assuming no sonic penalty; i would have a 3 terabyte server in the house and just a tablet based control in my room in the barn. i am not personally familiar with the various interface choices and their limitations. which one's could handle hi-rez; who knows?

worst case; i would have a solid state memory hard drive/ fan-less power supply playback server sitting next to the MPS-5 in my room and download music from the 3-terabyte server into it as i need it. this would keep the interface as short as possible.

until we actually listen it is hard to say which approach will perform the best. unfortunately; my son's knowledge does not include any listening tests of network solutions.

until Andreas recommends a sound card and interface solution we are on hold.
mikelavigne OP
2,149 posts
 
Guido,

sorry for the delay in my response, it's been a busy busy time.

i'm am not that knowledgable about the challenges of the PC environment....but i am quite skeptical that any hard drive can compete with the best optical drives.....particularly after living with the Playback Designs.

there is another factor which affects how i feel on this subject; which i bring up at the risk of de-railing this thread. that is how the tourmaline hair dryer tweak affects any digital disc performance. i seriously doubt any sort of hard drive server based digital or even a 'so-called' Memory Player can compete.

anyway; the bar is set very high for server based digital to reach.

i do see many logistical reasons for using a music server and do plan to pursue this direction myself to see what is possible.
More to discover