EMM Labs CDSD / DCC2 - Initial Listening Session


With only 48 hours of burn-in on these pieces, this review is hardly definitive- but here goes...

I think old Ed (Meitner) has hit the cover off the ball with this, his latest offering in CD/SACD playback equipment. The following comments are based on comparisons to my previous front-end: Meitnerized Philips SACD 1000, Meitner DAC6, Meitner Switchman II and apply to both SACD & CD playback.

The CDSD & DCC2 - compared to the previous Meitner rig---

-Much deeper soundstage, much more layered, as well, width about the same.
-Hall ambiance retrieval is vastly superior.
-Tonal and timbral qualities are unsurpassed in any digital gear I've experienced. Piano reproduction is absolutely stunningly good!! Acoustic guitar has the string interaction/wooden resonance of the real thing.
-There is a "Bloom" to instuments, even voice, that seems typically absent in digital playback. This quality is very "Analog" like.
-So far, I sense not even a suggestion of stridency or digital fatigue- It is just not there. This new gear is just plain musical. That word is overused- but there is no other word to better describe the overall experience. There is a natural seamlessness and natural bloom to the music, as a whole, which reminds me of a live performance within a live venue. All of the elements of that live experience seem reproduced faithfully by the CDSD & DCC2. This is no small feat. In quantitative terms I'd say the new gear is 25%-35% better, in every listening category (it is about the same in soudstage width), than the earlier 3 piece set-up I had.

As the new gear continues to burn-in there will certainly be changes and refinements, probably for the better, which I will try to keep track of. But so far- Ooh, La, La!!!

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT:
Kharma Midi Grand
Tenor 300 HP
Jena Labs Pathfinder
Shunyata Anaconda VX & VX Alpha
fbhifi
Nope, I did each in separate stages. For whatever reason, the DCC2 is the cat's meow.
It would be a shame were the improvement to be in software as that was supposedly an easy update for EMM equipment. But maybe it is the built in preamp.
Some people will, however, prefer the DAC 6 separate and the Switchman. It's hard to put your finger on, but it may have a slightly richer presentation, less dry.
no doubt on the sound!!!
but can he not design some better looking gear this emm stuff look's like it out of some late 70's sci fi flick. (which I guess has it place).
Sorry I just had to say something about how it looks like a FORD TRUCK but performs like a PORSCHE.
Good review, Fbhifi. I, too, have the DCC2/CDSD combo, and my experience to this point mirrors yours. It is truly a benchmark in digital reproduction. Before I heard the EMM stuff, I was seriously considering going to vinyl; now I'm glad I didn't. Mind you, there are still fundamental differences between the two playback types, and many will stll prefer one or the other, but in MY mind the EMM gear renders the point moot.