18-Feb-2018, 16:37
I thought I would attempt to nudge this thread back to its core SQ topic. I had a little free time today so I tried a little SQ trial with the CI board. I set up a playlist on iTunes (running on a PC) and tried a direct head to head of CI board AirPlay versus Shairport (AirPlay Emulator that runs on Sonore products) mR / Mutec MC3+USB. So same computer, same music player software, same network, just a different way of delivering AirPlay to the Devialet.
A slightly strange result. CI AirPlay nominally sounds great, but there was something slightly disconcerting about the sound, although everything sounds crisp and much as it should, it somehow not that pleasant after a while, the words harsh and digital hash come to mind. Another thing, something a little odd was happening to the accuracy in sound staging, it was a little messy, with vocals that normally come from slightly to the right, sounding less clearly positioned and coming more from the right, I even did a quick left / right channel check to make sure the channels had not somehow been transposed, which they had not. Strange that I felt the need to check though! Versus the mR/Mutec, the treble was noticeably brighter too, a bit like the treble had been turned up +4dB or something. Overall, listening via Sharport / mR / Mutec was a far more pleasant experience.
That said, CI AirPlay was not all bad, the bass accuracy was excellent and dynamics were good, in fact so good some bass heavy sections of music actually sounded better via CI AirPlay than they did on the Shareport driven mR / Mutec. Bass accuracy is often equated to lack of jitter, so maybe those alleged clocks in the CI board are working their magic somewhere. It is certainly curious to me that this particular aspect of AirPlay's sonic presentation appeared to be absolutely top class.
A real mixed bag!
A slightly strange result. CI AirPlay nominally sounds great, but there was something slightly disconcerting about the sound, although everything sounds crisp and much as it should, it somehow not that pleasant after a while, the words harsh and digital hash come to mind. Another thing, something a little odd was happening to the accuracy in sound staging, it was a little messy, with vocals that normally come from slightly to the right, sounding less clearly positioned and coming more from the right, I even did a quick left / right channel check to make sure the channels had not somehow been transposed, which they had not. Strange that I felt the need to check though! Versus the mR/Mutec, the treble was noticeably brighter too, a bit like the treble had been turned up +4dB or something. Overall, listening via Sharport / mR / Mutec was a far more pleasant experience.
That said, CI AirPlay was not all bad, the bass accuracy was excellent and dynamics were good, in fact so good some bass heavy sections of music actually sounded better via CI AirPlay than they did on the Shareport driven mR / Mutec. Bass accuracy is often equated to lack of jitter, so maybe those alleged clocks in the CI board are working their magic somewhere. It is certainly curious to me that this particular aspect of AirPlay's sonic presentation appeared to be absolutely top class.
A real mixed bag!
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
