Well, Hantra and his lovely wife drove over an hour to let me hear this comparison side-by-side... Thank you very much! My wife had someone to talk to instead of just think about how I could be doing 'other things' on her honey-do list.
We started by listening to the stock rig and letting H get a good idea of what's happening now... which I think is pretty darn good, definitely leagues beyond what it was a year ago. I am not using any electronic room correction.
The current rig:
TacT 2.0s preamp and dac with FULL Aberdeen modifications
McIntosh MC402 Amp (2x400)
Piega P5 Limited speakers
Audio PC
Analysis Plus Oval 12 digital cable
Straley's Reality Cable Interconnects (from pre to amp)
Black Sand Cable PC's
Running Springs Audio Haley power conditioner, on a dedicated line
Temporary items for comparison:
McIntosh C-2200 Tubed Preamp
Scott Nixon Tubed USB DAC, connected from Audio PC, then analog outs to C-2200 using DIY IC's. (Belden 8422/DH Labs termination) and BSC Chromium PC.
Stock Squeezebox 3
Sony 600 turntable
The room is 11w x 13d, bay windows on the end behind the speakers, listening position about 4-5' into the room from the back wall. There is roughly a 7' triangle between speakers and me.
After getting everything connected, warmed up, and we got a good dose of what the current system is doing..... we setup an A/B comparison of the Squeezebox digital out vs. the Audio PC digital out to the TacT.... Playing an old favorite or two, one being 'Over Now' on an 'MTV Unplugged' cd from Alice in Chains.
So, Audio PC vs. SB3 in digital out: Audio PC wins by a hair. There was just a bit more darkness in the background and the SB3 sounded a little thin overall in comparison. It surprised Hantra how close it was and I was reasonably impressed but I'd already done this comparison so I knew what to expect... but it was still a step back and I'd have to spend money to get the SB3 as good as the Audio PC.... new PS and digital out mods might be enough... but I don't know....
We then switched to the non-oversampling SN USB tube-DAC and the McIntosh preamp. Wow, that's different. The PRAT seemed to slow down a bit. I'm used to an immediacy and perfect timing with the TacT and I missed it now. However, I got used to the change and found myself listening to the music and not the gear. It wasn't quite as toe-tap inducing but the music had a more continuous sound to it with a nice sense of space... It was very analog? or even real sounding. When I go to a live show, this is really what it sounds like... and not like what I often *want* to hear... kind of hard to describe... But the best way I can put it is it sounded less digital.
This combo yielded a different presentation entirely than I'm 'used to'... When we switched back to the TacT/Audio PC combo, I got my PRAT back and found it more 'comfortable' since I've grown so accustomed to it... and I started noticing a couple of things; the soundstage/imaging and the actual sound of imstruments. We listened to a live recording of Bela Fleck and the banjo had a sort of nasal quality to it on the TacT and I switched it back to the SN DAC/Mc combo and that went away and I could hear the whole body of the instrument better... and it just sounded more like the instrument does in real life. I noticed the soundstage wasn't as neatly disected as the TacT though... but I could hear the instruments better. I had a hard time figuring out what I was hearing so we had to switch between rigs a few more times.
They definitely image differently from one another... and my guess is that the TacT is able to more neatly separate things than the SN DAC or Mc pre.. but the SN/Mc presentation images in a natural way, and the sense of presence of singers and instruments is presented very nicely... and the sound stage is more of a stage and less like a studio with rooms.... oh boy... I'm getting in knee-deep here... They imaged differently is the bottom line. Some ways were better than others... VERY hard to describe.
In the end, I could get used to either sound and enjoy it... however, the non-oversampling DAC removes some 'digital-ness' from the sound and I like it. Moving to the USB DAC/Mc rig does negatively impact the PRAT I love right now but it sounds more musical. This DAC is a huge leap from the original tube DAC I heard from SN when I first met Hantra. The original seemed to over-emphasize mids and wasn't nearly as resolving as this current one.
BTW, I could not run the digital out from the TacT to the USB DAC because well... it's USB... no coax input... that would've been interesting to hear, though.
Lastly, we started comparing vinyl to Audio PC since the Mc has a phonostage... but everything was cold... the cart, the table, the tubes in the pre had to be turned on, etc. So, initially it was a bit restricted/tight sounding but after the first side of the record, things started to relax.
Sometimes I thought vinyl was better, others the PC... It's a lot closer than you'd think with an audio PC... I've done this comparison before... But with the Non-oversampling DAC in the mix, it's even closer... with the PC taking the lead in some cases.
One other comparison we made during this was playing songs on a hard drive networked/shared on a different PC, at the other end of the house. Neither of us could detect ANY difference, blind or non-blind. That's good news because now I know I can put a smaller PC in that room and put a big server somewhere else.
It's a big change if I make this... lose my beloved TacT for a new pre (that needs break-in) and a new DAC... but in the end I found myself listening to the music more than the gear with the tube DAC and the Mc and not so much on what the gear was doing.... however, I LIKE listening to the gear...
That's what this hobby is! However, I could live with making the change to listening to music instead for a while....
Another factor is that I don't use the TacT for its biggest feature, the room correction... I'm sure there's someone out there that would love to have this feature... Before I went nuts fixing my room, adjusting my seating position, using lasers to get everything perfect, reading books on acoustics, etc... I could just push a button to fix things. But I went nuts.
So, that's that... Great time, great company, interesting comparison... I learned I like non-oversampling and that SN has got it right with his latest piece... and that the Mc is a nice pre with a bonus phonostage.
Thanks again, B.
-Carl
