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
Tvad. If you're ever in the Palm Springs area you're welcome to come by for a listen. Right now my system is in some transition but should be ready in about 3 weeks.
Frank Gortz
Hifi nut, I hope you didn't run out and get the EMM based on all the hype. If you got that kinda money put it into a TT and you will get much better performance ;)
TBG: It's easy enough to affect a lofty sneer, thereby demonstrating your own superiority to other audiophiles. But what's wrong with a little enthusiasm, anyway? Tireguy is using a few terms that, for better or worse, are among those what we have to describe an evanescent quality. All he's guilty of, if he's guilty of anything, is ebullience. Since when is that a crime?
Gladstone, are you an English professor or just bombastic?

On previous posts that had to do with CDSD / DCC2 I tried to keep enthusiasm in check (I got slammed for it, but I expected that) in order to keep someone from ordering one based on hype instead of realizing that maybe it is not the be all, end all CD - DAC combo. And maybe some people will not like the sound. Most of the posts were that it was the best combo out there. Well, not everyone has the same tastes.

The TT comment was just a fun jab, hence the smiley face.

Rob
Given my other posts extolling the virtues of the Exemplar over the EMM, please don't assume that I am caught up in the rush to the DCC2/CDSD combo. I now am fairly confident that it is superior to the DAC6/Phillips sacd 1000 combo, which my Exemplar easily outperformed. So I will now have to give the DCC2 some leeway until I get to hear it.