Tír Na HiFi

The dcs really should be retested
Not its fault no one knew how to work it
Loads of people read forum reviews this certainly wouldn't have done it any favours

Definitely it needs to be retested. In fairness we gave it our honest to gods opinion on the day but it was mentioned a few times both here and on the pfm thread that it must have been a settings issue. That most certainly seems to be the case now.

Agreed, retest it.
Only one good thing comes out of this - expectation bias is an overstated B(ia)S

Any more details on how it sounded John? Is it a contender?

DaveF wrote:Any more details on how it sounded John? Is it a contender?

Dave, I'm afraid that all my good intentions of auditioning it here have amounted to nothing - I just didn't find the time (or maybe it's the inclination?).
Dropping it back to Cloney's tomorrow

Well, I'm certainly sorry I missed all this. The results are most interesting, although I'm honestly quite glad that the dCS test has been designated as "incomplete". Does that mean there'll be another shoot-out now?

I guess it's time for an update. I was away for a few days over the weekend so I havent had as much time as I wished but I've still had quite a bit of time with the Lampi and the Meitner thanks to the lads. Both remarkable pieces of gear and I'm including my Arcam CD23 in this as it's a super player.

The biggest lesson for me in all of the comparisons is that level matching is far more important that I realised. Even the smallest change on the volume control can change enough to give a false impression that one DAC is better or different than the other. Over the course of last week I took much more care to match the volumes with the loan of a sound meter. The phone simply wasnt repeatable enough and I found that that even very small changes in volume didnt really change the peak to peak or avg reading of the phone meter much, if at all. This most certainly led to some errors during the listening session over a week ago. In my opinion anyway, its pointless comparing components like DACs without the level matching.

For me, the conclusions that I came up with last week are a little different now after having spent much more time with all of the units. The Meitner/Lampi and Arcam are all much much closer than I would have thought. The Arcam being the biggest surprise as much of the time I just couldnt separate it from the Meitner. Perhaps the slightest extra detail from the Meitner in the odd track here and there but I really couldnt be sure.
The Lampi has just as much detail as the Meitner and Arcam but the difference here is that it's imaging and soundstaging is more diffuse and not as pinpoint as the other two. The Lampi has a bit less grip in the bass. This benefits some recordings but to the slight detriment of others. Where I think the Lampi shines is with stringed instruments in small chamber ensembles. It gave them that extra lushness and magic but really the difference is small but there nonetheless. Vocals are a tad more forward in the mix compared to the other two but that's the only difference I could detect when comparing the likes of Tom Waits, Cassandra Wilson, Ted Hawkins etc. With this material I would have given the edge to the Meitner a week ago but now I think that there is nothing in it.

Before I wrap up this waffling report there are just a few more asides

Transports
Couldn't detect any difference whatsoever between the Meridian and the Arcam and with the number of inputs on the Jadis I didnt have to go near the volume control so level matching was spot on. Wasnt convinced of transport differences before and Ive seen nothing here to change my mind. Perhaps they do differ, but the 3 DACs can handle the jitter leading to inaudible differences.

Interconnects
There was a difference heard during last weeks listening session between 2 pairs of interconnects. Some Nordost Heimdall and something else, I cant remember its name. Went back and did this test again but this time around I couldnt detect any differences. Perhaps it wasnt level matched properly last time. I keep meaning to go back and do a proper test again but I really cant be arsed changing things in and out constantly, it really does get tiresome after a while.

The dCS
Still need to see if I can get this back out on loan. No question that we didnt set it up properly last time which resulted in a very marked difference in its performance. I think this probably lead to a feeling at the time that DACs really could sound very very different from each other but since I've absolved the dCS from any wrong doing, I think now that DAC differences are smaller than first thought.

So.....The Lampi, Arcam or the Meitner?
This is a very difficult one to decide. I'd be happy with any of them to be honest but at this point I'd give the nod to the Lampi in a few recordings. For everything else, I just cant separate them. One thing I'd say is that if anyone is ever thinking of doing such comparisions is to make an effort to level match and be in a clear state of mind. I'd recommend a break of a day or so between each session. Too much Repetition, tiredness and incorrect level matching will just spoil and skew any results.

I've left the Hugo out of this as I only had that for a few hours. It's definitely in the mix with the rest of the contenders here so one to audition if you're in the hunt for a DAC.

The bigger decision for me is whether to pull the trigger on any of the above. I'd certainly rule out the purchase of a brand new Meitner since I couldnt separate it from the Arcam the majority of the time and it costs mega bucks. That more or less points back at the Lampi. Its either the Lampi or keep the Arcam and waste my money on a flashy new TT.

Based on your recent listening experiences, I'm confused why you are still thinking of a DAC change?

jkeny wrote:Based on your recent listening experiences, I'm confused why you are still thinking of a DAC change?

Well I'd give the edge to the Lampi on a few recordings, all classical, and since all of my classical listening is via CD this is why I'm leaning more towards the Lampi. Obviously I couldnt compare every classical CD I have but I'm suspecting that I'd probably still give the edge to the Lampi here. The Arcam technically is on loan still but I could probably have it for buttons.

Would you consider the valve amp/speaker combo to be a revealing system where it comes to details?