07-Sep-2014, 08:00
Divasson - would have to check with Guillaume, I wasn't in the same room as the Mac and didn't see! I did detect differences though, which might just prove I have an over-active imagination... I've called it integer mode below as I though that's what was changed but I could be wrong on this.
OK, first up was the Aries with an Entreq Apollo USB cable plus Apollo earth drain. Now this was a fair bit better than with XLR. Plus points are more dynamic, great separation/soundstage - really wide. Lovely and crisp. Downsides are still a sense of compression - midrange is wonderful but bass in particular seems a bit lacking. The soundstage rather oddly I found wide but not high! That's probably a load of old rubbish but it's almost like the soundstage was compressed at top and bottom literally like the frequency range. It's still a bit uninvolving to listen to and things got hard to follow on complex parts. I am nit-picking here - overall it is good, but the uninvolving part puts me off. It might only just take a firmware update to fix these things. The Moon MiND in comparison has less detail, less impressive soundstage, but just seems more enjoyable to listen to for me. Which really pains me to say as I'm a detail/soundstage freak.
Audivarna Plus from Mac (wireless, integer mode on, not from iTunes (I think)) - wow, this is good. Even more dynamic than the Aries though not by much. Slightly better depth than Aries? I'm not hearing the harshness/brightness I heard last week with the AIR solutions in particular (my ears seemed to really be emphasising brightness last weekend). It's really good, but perhaps still a tiny bit uninvolving and lacking in soul. OK, still a bit 'digital' sounding - don't like that phrase very much.
Audivarna Plus - as above but integer mode not set. Now I felt this was a bit brighter, more 'digital' and slightly more unpleasant. We disagreed on this one a bit as I don't think G detected any meaningful difference. In hindsight if the setting has no effect in this situation then it proves my imagination is trumping reality
totaldac d1-server and Entreq Apollo XLR. Again, this is the real deal. Much more analogue sounding - I could actually be listening to a turntable here, I'm not sure I could tell. It's really easy to folow individual instrument lines - they don't 'smear' into one or the brain doesn't get distracted by lead instruments to the detriment of lesser ones. You can really feel the interplay between musicians. I feel there's more air and reverb going on too - the musicians are in a real physical space. The same (very) complex parts where the Aries got a bit lost are almost unrecognisable here - still easy to follow. The Entreq XLR is excellent too - just as good as the Transparent Reference XL we used last week - I'm not sure I could tell a difference, and not far off £1k cheaper?
Damn it, wish I could afford the totaldac! I'm probably going to stick with jRiver/AIR for the time being but the Aries has potential. It does some things well - soundstage, crispness, separation of instruments, but that lacking top and bottom and especially the inability to really draw you into the music leaves me cold. I really hope they can address this. Also don't forget this is on G's system which is incredibly revealing and merciless of sources. My system is a lot more compromised (small room, poor acoustic treatment, speakers too close to the wall) and it may even sound rather good there.
OK, first up was the Aries with an Entreq Apollo USB cable plus Apollo earth drain. Now this was a fair bit better than with XLR. Plus points are more dynamic, great separation/soundstage - really wide. Lovely and crisp. Downsides are still a sense of compression - midrange is wonderful but bass in particular seems a bit lacking. The soundstage rather oddly I found wide but not high! That's probably a load of old rubbish but it's almost like the soundstage was compressed at top and bottom literally like the frequency range. It's still a bit uninvolving to listen to and things got hard to follow on complex parts. I am nit-picking here - overall it is good, but the uninvolving part puts me off. It might only just take a firmware update to fix these things. The Moon MiND in comparison has less detail, less impressive soundstage, but just seems more enjoyable to listen to for me. Which really pains me to say as I'm a detail/soundstage freak.
Audivarna Plus from Mac (wireless, integer mode on, not from iTunes (I think)) - wow, this is good. Even more dynamic than the Aries though not by much. Slightly better depth than Aries? I'm not hearing the harshness/brightness I heard last week with the AIR solutions in particular (my ears seemed to really be emphasising brightness last weekend). It's really good, but perhaps still a tiny bit uninvolving and lacking in soul. OK, still a bit 'digital' sounding - don't like that phrase very much.
Audivarna Plus - as above but integer mode not set. Now I felt this was a bit brighter, more 'digital' and slightly more unpleasant. We disagreed on this one a bit as I don't think G detected any meaningful difference. In hindsight if the setting has no effect in this situation then it proves my imagination is trumping reality
totaldac d1-server and Entreq Apollo XLR. Again, this is the real deal. Much more analogue sounding - I could actually be listening to a turntable here, I'm not sure I could tell. It's really easy to folow individual instrument lines - they don't 'smear' into one or the brain doesn't get distracted by lead instruments to the detriment of lesser ones. You can really feel the interplay between musicians. I feel there's more air and reverb going on too - the musicians are in a real physical space. The same (very) complex parts where the Aries got a bit lost are almost unrecognisable here - still easy to follow. The Entreq XLR is excellent too - just as good as the Transparent Reference XL we used last week - I'm not sure I could tell a difference, and not far off £1k cheaper?
Damn it, wish I could afford the totaldac! I'm probably going to stick with jRiver/AIR for the time being but the Aries has potential. It does some things well - soundstage, crispness, separation of instruments, but that lacking top and bottom and especially the inability to really draw you into the music leaves me cold. I really hope they can address this. Also don't forget this is on G's system which is incredibly revealing and merciless of sources. My system is a lot more compromised (small room, poor acoustic treatment, speakers too close to the wall) and it may even sound rather good there.
