Bidat vs Perfect Wave vs Weiss and others


This is thread I started a while ago and promised in February i would start doing some real world comparative testing using the Bidat (Plus Mod) as the ref. The units under test are to include in no specific order the MSB Platinum Dac, the Weiss Minervera and the Playback Design player. I posted this under the follow-up of the original thread and it is there is you do a search under Digital for "ps audio perfect". I can't understand why it did not 'promote' to the top of the digital section as it did in the past whenever there was a new contribution, so I have started a new related thread with the first entry of my fun (and I hope edifying comparative experiences).
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Ok, I just got a broken in Weiss Minerva (several hundred hours at least). It has been in my system burning in for about 18 hours (18 hours since arriving in my home, time to come to thermal equilibrium). I have done some comparative listening to the Museatex Dcc-1 (a rarely known digital preamp 19 bit dual differential type) using glass Tos on both and then glass on the DCC1 vs a very expensive (can't name it yet as the manufacturer has not released it...sorry :( ) Firewire on the Weiss. I have a Mac Mini (2007 model) 2.0 ghz Core2Duo with 4Gig of ram running Leopard (although this model can only see 3.01 gig of that (I used 4gig as the memory transfer is optimized when the mem modules are the same). I also have a 1TB NAS (all over wifi). I am of course going to reserve final judement until a bit later.

I will be comparing the Museatex Bidat with the Plus Mod later this weekend. As a teaser, I will go on record and say that honestly at this point I don't agree with the stellar reviews concerning the Weiss Minerva.

It is resolute, almost technicolor but just to give you a short glimpse of what I am hearing, I could imagine a well healed vinyl person listening to Holly Cole on vinyl and then listening to the Weiss (playing the same in CD format) and saying "this is why I will never leave vinyl". Now that may sound harsh, but this is a hobby and I don't have a dog in the race, I am just reporting my ears findings.

I listened to a few high resolution files 176.4/24 and 96/24 but what I heard was a really clear highly resolved soul-less rendition of the music. It never ever made me smile or relax into the music the way the DCC-1/Bidat or even my former (when I actually spun cd's...wow time flies) stellar Dynavox Dynastation 2 (the finest CD player I have ever heard).

In a nutshell (at this point) it just sounds like digital and that aint good in my camp because I am not forgetting about the gear and just listening to the music. I don't like syrupy or dark, I have heard plenty of players try to use that trick to sound musical. No, I look for something that is more elusive and few their be that find that magical combination when forging through the nether regions of the digital domain. I will continue listening to see if the Weiss surprises me :)

More to come...
audiofun
Clarification: I wrote:

Sometimes there is a slight delay, (concerning the use of Pure Vinyl in memory mode)....

I was referring to the time between the start of the next song, NOT during song playback which would be totally unacceptable :)
Further use of the HiFace unit has proven insightful. While I think they have a potentially great product on their hands and I am glad it exists, it is simply not ready for the mac as yet...at least in MY case. While the popping has stopped for some reason...I have no idea, it is still not able to pass a bit perfect stream which may be why the built-in optical with a glass Tos still outperforms it :(

The Hiface sounds very very good until you goto the glass/Tos then you realize it is not as full sounding and ambient room information is not coming through with the same presence: this it where it appears to be faltering.

Now I realize I have to use two differing types of digital cable, but I can tell you that I have done comparative tests (exhaustive tests) between my FIM coax digital and my glass Tos using my standby shop queen modified Cambridge D500SE as a transport and the cables sound nearly indistinguishable.

For now I will let Pure Vinyl downsample my HRx recordings to 88.2 and use the built in output. I will continue to play with the Hiface but they really need to address the lack of its ability to pass a bit perfect signal in the mac world.
Thanks for the heads up. I was looking into the various versions just yesterday. If you are not archiving vinyl this would be the better (read) cheaper way to go. :)