How to remove harshness from my digital gear

"Mapman,

do you mean your mkII's face "out" rather than the usual midfield "in" setup?

If so, by about how much (how many degrees angle)?"

No they are angled slightly in, but located fairly far apart (9' or so in a 12'X12' room, and only 4 feet or so in front of my listening position on a couch close to rear wall. Tweeters are aimed well to the outside of my ears. Actual placement and orientation will vary per room, but having the tweeters not fire directly at you might be of benefit with some Dynaudios I have found. This produces a large soundstage with excellent imaging in my room. It's not a nearfield type setup like might also be used in similar tight quarters. It's an easy tweak to try before changing anything. I have found ways to make various gear combos, even all SS ones, work very well using this technique.

Also agree that getting a handle on jitter is important, but knowing how much of a problem that really is up front is not easily determined. reclockers and playing with digital cable lengths can only help, the question will be more how much in any particular case.

BTW I have other speakers (OHMs) running in other rooms through in wall speaker wiring from the same rig as the Dyns. Plus I've swapped speakers in different rooms from time to time. I believe the attributes the OP describes can be common with some Dynaudio speakers. Mine are definitely not as laid back as many. S

o getting a handle on the setup with those is definitley the first step IMHO before changing or adding anything. IT makes all the difference between audio nirvana Dynaudio is capable of delivering and a much compromised listening experience.

My setup with the Dynaudios in that small room is definitely one that demands your attention and then keeps you sucked in for the duration.

What most people think is digital harshness is usually something else in the system. No harshness from my Audio Research CD player. I stopped trying to mix and match transport, DAC and cable long ago and I am much happier.

Personally, I have not found digital harshness to be a problem with most any digital gear I have acquired in recent years, even with Japanese brands like Marantz or Denon. Using a player takes some of the guesswork out but my opinion is that most cases of digital brightness or harshness these days is due to other factors, not the digital itself. DIfferent digital gear will sound different on a revealing system, but I have not heard any sound inherently bright or harsh in my system for many years. There has always been a way to make it work, usually having to do with synergy of gear overall and room acoustics. Nothing uniqque to digital there! Its just the details of setup that might be needed to make the digital sound good may not be the same as with phono, for example, unless both sources are put together in a manner where both tend to sound inherently similar to start with.

Most of the problem is related to the CD. Stock off the shelf CDs almost always sound harsh, tinny, thin, generic, boomy, grainy, two dimensional, distorted, uninvolving, boring and metallic.

Even with an analog front end, there is such a thing as a harsh cartridge. Analog or digital, start at the very source of the sound and go from there by isolating and substituting until you have identified the harsh contribution to your sound.

Enjoy the music.