30-Aug-2014, 00:05
(29-Aug-2014, 19:38)GuillaumeB Wrote: Did a little bit of experimenting with playing tracks off a USB stick, sounded equally good although didn't do any direct A/B comparisons with the NAS.
When Rufus is here tomorrow we'll look at this a bit more closely.
I did go back to A+/AIR though... and went backwards and forwards a few times.
AIR is excellent, no doubt about it. But the totaldac is bringing something extra, I'm convinced of this. The timbre of instruments seem a bit more real/live and there is a quietness (ultra black backgrounds)to the presentation which encourages the micro dynamics. It shouts a bit less at you and draws you in a bit more. I suppose the tones just feel right. The positioning of instruments seems more resolved too. There is some additional definition too, in surprising places.
Anyway I could go on and on. It's terribly subjective I know and for many AIR will be perfect, and for good reason! I thought it was pretty excellent coming from the MiND. I just think the totaldac is doing something else and it's rather special.
Guillaume
Boys and their toys btw : Are there any woman on this forum ? I thought there was a gender-gap in IT, but based on observations in this forum, HiFi is obviously worse.
On a serious note : I would really appreciate it if you could compare the sound of dedicated off-the-shelf PC/Jriver config with the Aries and the Totaldac Server.