This thread is just over one year old now, it has been a bit of a rocky road to be honest, in particular with the SOtM kit. From day one I could see (hear) that the SOtM kit was delivering clarity and detail that the old microRendu (or indeed AIR) could not quite achieve, but there was the flip side with the SOtM kit seaming to exaggerate a kind of digital harshness in the presence range. This harshness varied between recordings, but although the system was nominally sounding superb, there was something there, niggling away at me that somehow spoilt the enjoyment of the music. Interestingly, my system exhibits similar characteristics if I switch back to Roon AIR, I think the original pre Neo sMS-200 sounded bright and somehow hurtled this into my consciousness, but there is zero doubt in my mind that although the old D800 lacked the ultimate detail and resolution of the Pro, it was maybe the easier amp to live with when running through a variety of recordings of mixed quality. My aim all along was to somehow get the more relaxed nature of the D800 with the clearly superior performance of the Pro.
This weekend I finally think I have got there, but not for the reason I expected.
A little over a week ago my Paul Hynes SR4's arrived, not far off six months after ordering them in early October. (In fairness to Paul Hynes, it seems my order placement was spectacularly bad time in relation to problems he has had moving to a new facility, I suspect that someone ordering an SR4 now will get it rather faster) So last weekend I set up the SR4's on Saturday evening, and gave them a few hours to settle in before listening on Sunday. Initial impressions were positive. The most noticeable aspect was a little more body and impact in the bass, I was also hoping that the SR4's would help mitigate the slight but annoying "digital fog" I have been experiencing in the presence range of some recordings, but I can't say this aspect was improved much. I have been away from my system for most of last week, so the next listen was this Saturday. The SR4's have been powered up for a full week, so fully settled in I would say, I sat down for some critical listening, and broadly speaking reached the same conclusion as my quick listen a week ago. So a worthwhile addition, I definitely prefer the SR4's over the SOtM sPS-500, but it is a relatively modest incremental step, not a gamechanger. It is worth noting that the SR4's are quite nice things, they look and feel very solid and high quality in a way that the SOtM kit, for example, does not. Also, being adjustable for 4 different voltages and with a 2A output, they are very versatile. So if at some time in the future I sell the SOtM kit, I am sure that the SR4's will remain in my system somewhere, powering a new endpoint, the MC3+USB, an Ethernet switch, who knows, but I am sure I will be using them for many years. A good investment I would say. As an aside here, the SR4's do not come with mains power cords, and I have read reports that they benefit from power cords that actually cost more than the SR4's themselves. Mine are running on standard "kettle leads", I am not sure about the benefits of power cords, I am a little cynical but to be honest I have never tried comparing cords, so I am in no position to comment. I have noted the positive comments regarding the Audioquest NRG-Z3 and Shunyata Delta's recently, so this has lead me to thoughts of maybe treating the 1000Pro to some nice cords, and therefore passing down the Devialet supplied NRG-X3's to the SR4's. This is something for another day.
Last week SOtM released yet another firmware update for the sMS-200. Since the popularity of AudioLinux NUC's has increased, SOtM seem to be in a bit of an arms race to somehow get ahead with respect to sound quality. The results have been mixed, with the Roon and HQPlayer modes working OK, but other methods suffering stuttering and other issues. For me, the recent SOtM firmware V0.4.5X versions have offered a decent SQ hike, with 100% stability with HQPlayer upsampling to 24/192, so I have been more than happy. Yesterday afternoon I updated to the latest V0.4.57 version, which offers the option to select between 1000BASE-T and 100BASE-T Ethernet, with 100BASE-T supposedly offering better SQ. I selected the 100BASE-T option and sat down to listen to some familiar tracks. This was quite a moment, the change was transformational, that annoying presence range "digital fog" is gone, and even listening to some tracks that I am extremely familiar with I was noticing extra detail and content in the music, I was quite simply getting greater insight into the music. The detail thing is not the most important aspect though, I have been listening to all sorts of music today, and I am just simply enjoying the music now, the niggling digital glare issues have gone and I am left with something far more natural sounding. How is this even possible? When I have a bit more time (and can be bothered) I might try V0.4.57 back with 1000BASE-T, to see if it is the firmware or the 100BASE-T option that is making the difference. At the moment I am not bothered, things are sounding better than I have ever heard with the Pro, I do indeed seem to have achieved getting the hyper detail of the Pro with the more relaxed nature of the Expert. Right now I could not be happier.
This weekend I finally think I have got there, but not for the reason I expected.
A little over a week ago my Paul Hynes SR4's arrived, not far off six months after ordering them in early October. (In fairness to Paul Hynes, it seems my order placement was spectacularly bad time in relation to problems he has had moving to a new facility, I suspect that someone ordering an SR4 now will get it rather faster) So last weekend I set up the SR4's on Saturday evening, and gave them a few hours to settle in before listening on Sunday. Initial impressions were positive. The most noticeable aspect was a little more body and impact in the bass, I was also hoping that the SR4's would help mitigate the slight but annoying "digital fog" I have been experiencing in the presence range of some recordings, but I can't say this aspect was improved much. I have been away from my system for most of last week, so the next listen was this Saturday. The SR4's have been powered up for a full week, so fully settled in I would say, I sat down for some critical listening, and broadly speaking reached the same conclusion as my quick listen a week ago. So a worthwhile addition, I definitely prefer the SR4's over the SOtM sPS-500, but it is a relatively modest incremental step, not a gamechanger. It is worth noting that the SR4's are quite nice things, they look and feel very solid and high quality in a way that the SOtM kit, for example, does not. Also, being adjustable for 4 different voltages and with a 2A output, they are very versatile. So if at some time in the future I sell the SOtM kit, I am sure that the SR4's will remain in my system somewhere, powering a new endpoint, the MC3+USB, an Ethernet switch, who knows, but I am sure I will be using them for many years. A good investment I would say. As an aside here, the SR4's do not come with mains power cords, and I have read reports that they benefit from power cords that actually cost more than the SR4's themselves. Mine are running on standard "kettle leads", I am not sure about the benefits of power cords, I am a little cynical but to be honest I have never tried comparing cords, so I am in no position to comment. I have noted the positive comments regarding the Audioquest NRG-Z3 and Shunyata Delta's recently, so this has lead me to thoughts of maybe treating the 1000Pro to some nice cords, and therefore passing down the Devialet supplied NRG-X3's to the SR4's. This is something for another day.
Last week SOtM released yet another firmware update for the sMS-200. Since the popularity of AudioLinux NUC's has increased, SOtM seem to be in a bit of an arms race to somehow get ahead with respect to sound quality. The results have been mixed, with the Roon and HQPlayer modes working OK, but other methods suffering stuttering and other issues. For me, the recent SOtM firmware V0.4.5X versions have offered a decent SQ hike, with 100% stability with HQPlayer upsampling to 24/192, so I have been more than happy. Yesterday afternoon I updated to the latest V0.4.57 version, which offers the option to select between 1000BASE-T and 100BASE-T Ethernet, with 100BASE-T supposedly offering better SQ. I selected the 100BASE-T option and sat down to listen to some familiar tracks. This was quite a moment, the change was transformational, that annoying presence range "digital fog" is gone, and even listening to some tracks that I am extremely familiar with I was noticing extra detail and content in the music, I was quite simply getting greater insight into the music. The detail thing is not the most important aspect though, I have been listening to all sorts of music today, and I am just simply enjoying the music now, the niggling digital glare issues have gone and I am left with something far more natural sounding. How is this even possible? When I have a bit more time (and can be bothered) I might try V0.4.57 back with 1000BASE-T, to see if it is the firmware or the 100BASE-T option that is making the difference. At the moment I am not bothered, things are sounding better than I have ever heard with the Pro, I do indeed seem to have achieved getting the hyper detail of the Pro with the more relaxed nature of the Expert. Right now I could not be happier.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
