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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
dcstep
1,518 posts
 
Mike, I'd never say "never."

I think that all the components are there, but yet to be put together correctly. yes, optical readers have finally gotten very good, but flash hard drives have much potential.

Dave
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Thank you Mike, I agree with you. I may consider a hard drive music server system in the future for pure convenience. As for its preported audio superiority. . . it is a perfectly good theory. . . and therefore can, at least in principle, be proven, or found to be flawed, provided we keep a reasonably open mind on the subjectd. Guido
nikki
57 posts
 
I was asked a question on my thread, so I thought I would post my response here as well ... FWIW.

-----------------

I'm not sure if I can add anything more meaningful to what has already been said about the PD player.

Construction wise, the player seems to be built like a tank. It doesn't have any funny quirks and noises that are associated with EMM. It reads discs extremely quickly and has been performing without any glitches. I have to admit that the styling isn't all that remarkable (I prefer the looks of the EMM, which isn't saying too much), but it does look better in person than any pictures that have been posted - no big deal for me. The display is easy to read and provides meaningful information. I suppose only time will tell, but the build quality gives me a lot of confidence.

The thing about the PD that I noticed when I first plugged it in was that this sound had a tremendous sense of ease about it - and not in a rolled off boring sort of way. It just sounds more real - more liquid. After about 5 hours of burn-in, it started to open up and you could tell that there is something special about this player. It has all the details and dynamics of the EMM, but the sound is not forced at you - music just flows in a very natural way. One of my favorite discs right now is Katie Melua - Piece by Piece. I have never heard her guitar and voice sound so smooth and real. It exceeds the EMM in the way it extracts subtle nuances and inner detail, but not in a over-hyped and exagerated way. Digital isn't supposed to sound this way.

The PD player has a deeper soundstage. Images float more realistically in space and have a sense of larger/fuller dimension about them. The illusion of Katie being in my room is greater; you can almost reach out and grab her - hmmm :).

The PD excels in the bass region. A lot more foundation, digs deeper with greater authority and punch. The EMM sounds thin in comparison.

It took my player about 150 hours to really open up. The mids started out congested when compared to the EMM, but that criticism has totally disappeared now.

The EMM is still an incredible player, but compared to the PD, it sounds more digital and less refined. I was contemplating upgrading my EMM to SE, but when I started reading all the positive comments, the current introductory pricing and knowing this player was a fresh design from the former partner at EMMLabs, it was really hard to pass up. Jonathan Tinn was also a pleasure to deal with. -- I'm very glad I took that leap of faith.
dcstep
1,518 posts
 
As for build quality, I've got a Rowland amp to compare it to, which is made out of billet aircraft aluminum with a beautiful milled faceplate, machined buttons, etc.

OTOH, my PD is not quite up to that level. It's just a smidge down. If the Rowland is 100th percentile (I think it is) then the PD is 90+th percentile. The chassis is solid and attractive. If were to judge purely on chassis, then the top Ayre is one of the few that competes with Rowland (I think their chassis are made by the same machine works). The Emm is certainly not in the very top league as the Rowland either. Looking at pictures of the DCS, it seems comparable to the PD. The Chord is so different looking that I can't tell much from the pictures.

So, focusing only on the chassis, the PD is not quite as good as it gets, but it's reasonable close. Given what Rowland has to say about RFI/EMI and how the chassis can mitigate that, I can say that I'd rather have an even heavier Rowland-like chassis, but the plate of the PD is reasonably thick and surely Andreas was fully aware of the digital RFI/EMI issues and addressed those, given the beautiful resulting sound as evidence.

BTW, I do go balanced into my Rowland from the PD, but I used it for a few days with unbalanced ICs while waiting on my new Analysis Plus balanced ICs. When I switched from AP unbalanced to AP balanced I heard no apparent difference; however, I must say, I wasn't really thinking in terms of A-B comparison at the time. Certainly no change jumped out at me. So, I think that the PD will work well in an unbalanced system.

Dave
badwisdom
145 posts
 
Hey everyone,

have just bought a MPS-5. Was very intrigued by the approach taken by Playback Designs and ive always been a sucker for original and innovative audio .

Ive been listening for just under 50 hours, so its a bit early for a definitive opinion and im going to wait a few weeks to get rid of new buyer enthusiasm which kinda always taints one's objectivity.

Lets just say that it's the most organic and classy sounding player i've ever own (previous players include Audio Aero, Accuphase, Wadia). I listen to a variety of musical genres, from classical to hard rock: everything ive thrown at it was a revelation. Im very bad at analogies and i find them overused, but i'll still do it: it was like listening to music coated with honey without the syrup.
Although it's a bit thin and closed in, this is normal for a brand new unit. Its supposed to go 3D at around 200 hours (wow, cant wait for that).

I cant believe there's 300 hours of break in to go which should make this player even better !!

Important note for all you MPS-5 potential buyers out there: ive seen reviews saying this unit is quiet operation, it is NOT. It makes a very audible motor and spinning noise when starting and stopping tracks. It is less audible when playing, but its still more noisy than most CD players out there. So if you're sitting right next to your rig, this might be a problem.

Cheers
Xavier
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