[this is long and only sometimes on topic] I did some more-or-less double blind listening tests using a friend of mine who is a singer in a band (and used to be a choir boy!) as the "golden ears". We were comparing the Meridian 203 into the DAC1 vs the SB3 into the DAC1. Both signals then passed from the DAC1 to an EAR 864 preamp and then via balanced XLR to my ATC SCM50ASL active monitors. It is a very revealing setup.
We had a CD version of the track playing in the Meridian, synchronised, to within a fraction of a second, with the SB3 streaming the same track as a FLAC. The SB3 was connecting to the DAC1 through the optical in/out and the Meridian through the coaxial and also (as an alternative) to the preamp through the analogue - ie using the Meridian 206B's DAC. I was switching randomly between the Benchmark's inputs, to the extent that I did not know which he was listening to at any moment. Of course if I took the time to think about it I could have thought "switch is up = coax = CD player" (not even sure that is right!) but I didn't. My expectation bias was a hope that the SB3 would be exactly equal to the CD player as a transport, since I am committed to FLACing all my CDs. The result was interesting. With some tracks (eg. Norah Jones "Sunrise") my friend could tell with 100% accuracy which source was which running into the Benchmark, claiming that there was more HF extension with the CD transport. With other tracks (eg "Layla" from Clapton Unplugged) he was wrong roughly half the time. He was able to distinguish the Meridian DAC from the Benchmark 100% of the time on all tracks we tried (it's quite easy, to be honest). I was surprised at the result, since my experience with the Benchmark and the 5 digital transports I've used with it are that it is amazingly transport agnostic. So I started wondering whether the effect was down to the difference between the optical and coaxial inputs on the DAC1. I'm not really a cable believer when it comes to short digital interconnects into the DAC1 but these are different systems entirely so it seemed worth looking into. The coax cable I'm using is a Stereovox HDVX and the optical one is a cheap looking one that came with the CD player (which is OLD). So I tried a (sighted) comparison between the two inputs, with the SB3 connected to both simulataneously, listening through my Sennheiser HD600 headphones on the DAC1. I couldn't tell a difference. I then tried a comparison using my ATC monitors at a moderate volume - averaging around 75dBA on slow reading. This time I felt that there was a very slight difference between the coaxial and optical inputs to the DAC1 (all from the SB3). Using "Sunrise" as the test track again, the coaxial had just a little more airiness to it over the top of Norah's voice. Not actually at the vocal frequencies but more the effect you would get if you boosted the overall track EQ by a few dB at 4kHz to 6kHz say. But it was a very slight effect. Also, when the piano plays its little motif after the "Oooh, ooh,oohs" at 40s, there was more solidity to the piano sound through the coaxial connection. I spend quite a lot of time mixing music in a live context and have spent some time recently mixing and mastering the soundtrack for a live music DVD through the DAC1, ATCs and a PC-based music editing software. So I think my sense of hearing is moderately well trained. Even with all that I think I would have trouble distinguishing the coax vs optical inputs on the DAC1 reliably unless it was a track on which I had already done the test sighted in order to work out what the differences were in relation to that particular track. So my friend's ability to spot the SB3 vs Meridian transport difference is probably significant despite the connection difference - but I should probably get him in to try it with the connections the other way around. ANYWAY - to get more on topic - I also listened to Norah bloody Jones again (sorry, I may have now overdosed) to compare the analogue outs from the SB3 to the digital out via the SB3 (optical). There was, to my ears, a very obvious difference. The SB3, in comparison, sounded "shut in" - the imaging was smaller and less solid, the frequency extension at the low end was obviously lacking. It was not in any way unpleasant but just less vital or alive than the Benchmark and also less detailed. I even tried deliberately mismatching the levels so that the SB3 was 4 to 5 dB louder on average, and it still sounded worse in the same ways. In fact it was quite similar to the Meridian 2xx series DAC as found in my 206B (and incidentally in my golden-eared but thin-walleted friend's old 203 DAC). I suspect it is actually better than the old Meridian DACs but I have slightly lost the will to Norah any more. I may have to do that test at a later time with a different track... Sorry to ramble but someone may find it vaguely useful. This isn't meant to be in any way anti-SB3, by the way. I love my Squeezebox and intend to keep ripping through my CD collection. It's a great device, well implemented. Andrew -- Andrew B. ========================================================= SB3-> Benchmark DAC1 -> EAR864 valve pre -> ATC SCM50ASL active speakers... nice! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Andrew B.'s Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2619 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=19850 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
