Because my two reference DACs, dCS's Rossini DAC/Clock combo and EMM Labs' DV2 integrated DAC, have very different sonic presentations that evoke different emotional responses, I used both in this review. For the Rossini, I chose Map 1, 2V output, and the recommended filters for each resolution; for the DV2, output was set to high. Both DACs' volume controls were turned all the way up to get them out of the way. A Nordost Valhalla 2 USB cable carried signal from the Roon Nucleus+ to the DACs; from there, I went balanced Odin 2 to the N11, then balanced out to my D'Agostino Progression monoblocks.
Tuning up
If you haven't read the sidebar yet, please do, because it will shed light on what follows. While assembling my reference system, I've discovered that the options available to me for fine-tuning sonics involve switching between different-sounding 1) gray and silver balls in the Grand Prix Apex feet that support my rack, 2) cables, and 3) equipment supports. I can only switch the balls in the footers of a 200lb double rack loaded with heavy equipment if I hire weightlifters from my gym to help me out; evaluating on the spot and making further switches is quite chancy. Switching cabling can produce profound sonic changes that make it difficult to figure out what is causing what and require me to start from scratch to establish a new sonic baseline. Hence, when new equipment comes my way, it's most practical to switch footers until I find the combination that works best.
Before the review began, I had Nordost Sort Kones (mostly Titanium) under most front-end equipment and noise/power products, and Ansuz Darkz T2S resonance support feet with optional Titanium balls under the HDPlex linear power supply, Roon Nucleus+ music server, and D'Agostino Progression monoblocks. As for what I tried once I began listening closely to the N11's interaction with my reference system, it's time to get . . .
Taking the stage
As I began listening, I kept in mind a recent email from Ned Kuehn, whom I met at the 2019 Florida Audio Expo. Kuehn, who played in both band and orchestra in his youth, wrote that he'd recently tried the Benchmark LA4 preamplifier and discovered that its "detail, depth, decay, and dimensions" transported him to the recording venue and bettered what he heard when he relied exclusively on the dCS Vivaldi DAC's volume control. Kuehn's email inspired some of the dialogue with Reis that appears in the sidebar; it also impelled me to investigate in what ways the MBL N11 might alter and improve the sound delivered by the volume controls in the dCS Rossini and EMM Labs DV2 DACs. Using the Rossini DAC/Clock and the N11 to listen to one of the more challenging test tracks in my collection—challenging for listener and system—the first movement from the San Francisco Symphony's digital-only release of 12-tone master Alban Berg's Three Pieces for Orchestra (24/192 WAV, SFS Media SFS0070), the N11 lent a subtle warm-and-velvety cushion to the sound. This effect proved to be consistent no matter the source material. On Marianne Crebassa and Fazil Say's recording of Debussy's Chansons de Bilitis from the album Secrets (24/96 WAV, Erato 564483), the N11 brought out the warm core of every note.
Turning to one of the many fascinating albums I've had neither time nor space to review, Clytemnestra (24/96 FLAC/Qobuz, BIS-2408) from soprano Ruby Hughes and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Jac van Steen, I was first seduced more by the colors of voice and orchestra than by Hughes's overwrought performance of Mahler's Rückert-Lieder. In that music, Hughes touched me less than Janet Baker, Kathleen Ferrier, and Jamie Barton do in theirs. But in Hughes's performance of Berg's Altenberg-Lieder, the beauty of music and sound, the plethora of colors, and the fullness of the bass drum won me over. The N11 brought me to the heart of the musical experience and enabled me to hear the subtle differences of interpretation, dynamics, and color that are the portals to the truth behind the notes.
Clytemnestra was the first disc I used to experiment with the N11's Unity Gain setting. The experience certainly changed when Unity Gain was engaged—the soundstage moved farther back and, while perspective was clarified, it felt as though the sound was less open and had lost a bit in transparency and bass. When I removed the preamp from the chain and relied exclusively on the Rossini's volume control, the recording felt more open and expansive. Was the perspective conveyed by the N11's Unity Gain setting actually more true to the source, and had I just become accustomed to what the Rossini produced on its own? That seems to be the implication of Jürgen Reis's comments in the sidebar. More experimentation was in order.
Sticking with classical vocals, I turned to hi-rez files of a recording I'd recently reviewed for the print edition, Ludwig Von Beethoven: Lieder Songs, from baritone Matthias Goerne and pianist Jan Lisiecki (24/96 WAV, DG 4838351). The N11's sound with Unity Gain turned off was just wonderful—open, warm, and extremely transparent, with a sparkle to the piano that contrasted with Goerne's magnificent voice and made me want to listen more and more. The N11 clarified subtle tonal differences and the myriad overtones and undertones of Goerne's voice while rendering the piano more lustrous. What was even more significant to me than the N11's touch of warmth, sweetness, and velvety polish was how it pulled me deeper into the performance.
Once again, though, the switch to Unity Gain seemed to make Goerne a little less accessible, as though he was standing behind a thin translucent screen.
After indulging in the extended love scene from Verdi's Otello, on the new recording from tenor Jonas Kaufmann, soprano Federica Lombardi, and the Orchestra and Chorus of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia conducted by Antonio Pappano (24/96 WAV, Sony 611967), I listened only to material from the great big wonderful nonclassical world.
Gazing at choices in "Records to Die For," from Stereophile's February 2020 issue, and reviews in a number of issues, I noticed "Naima (Take 1)" from John Coltrane's new 1964 recording, Blue World (24/192 WAV)—thanks to the folks at Universal Music Group for this one—"They Say It's Wonderful" from John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (24/48 MQA/Tidal), "I Could Write a Book" from Sonny Rollins's Our Man in Jazz (16/44.1 FLAC/ Tidal), and the title tracks from John Paul White's "The Hurting Kind" (24/96 FLAC/Qobuz), The Brandt Bauer Frick Ensemble's Mr. Machine (16/44.1 FLAC/Qobuz), and Sun Ra's Sun Song (16/44.1 FLAC/Tidal). (The musical interest of the Sun Ra easily trumps its sonics.) Into the mix I threw a fascinating, exceptionally haunting, airy, and revealing new-music track from a choral recording by Morten Lindberg: Kristin Bolstad's "Mellom skyrene," performed by Stemmeklang on Tomba sonora (2L-155, 24/352.8 MQA/ Tidal). I also indulged in audio engineer Jim Anderson's recent gift of the hi-rez version of Patricia Barber's Higher (24/352.8 WAV, AS0171), the CD version of which was our "Recording of the Month" for September 2019.
Listening to these tracks over and over, as I switched back and forth between the Rossini solo and Rossini plus N11, confirmed several things. While the N11 is extremely revealing of subtle details and brings a lovely, glowing sweetness to recordings I find seductive and ideal for long-term listening without fatigue, its Unity Gain feature, with this DAC, reduced color saturation, richness, and transparency—unless I switched footers under the Roon Nucleus+ server/ streamer and the HDPlex linear power supply. Indeed, even after trying some of the eight types of footers available to me—I didn't bother with footers that I knew wouldn't work—I could never get the sound precisely right.
The last act
With a knowing nod to Captain Picard, the time had come to engage the very different-sounding EMM Labs DV2. In my system, this DAC may tone down treble brilliance and sound less open, but it delivers stronger, tighter, more awesome lower midrange and bass. With only a little tweaking of footers—I switched to Nordost Titanium Sort Kones under the HDPlex LPS that powers my Roon Nucleus+ music server/streamer, external USB hub, and the final Sonore optical Module—MBL's N11 preamp seemed an ideal match. Engaging Unity Gain provided the best bass control I'd ever heard from my system, save when I used the far more expensive D'Agostino Momentum HD preamp ($40,000), which in my opinion deserves a Product of the Year award. The N11's Unity Gain also toned down the noisy top ends of some recordings, making for easier listening. Tonalities were spot on, the range of colors varied and intriguing, and the listening experience a joy. "God, does the N11 help a lot," I scribbled in my notes, as listening was unfortunately coming to an end. Sorry for the very late walk, doggies, but Daddy has work to do.
A day later, during one of the check-in calls that so many of us have been making during the COVID-19 pandemic, a long-ago neighbor from East Oakland mentioned her fondness for Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." After finding a hi-rez remastering of Led Zeppelin IV (24/96 MQA/Tidal), I marveled at how the DV2/N11 combo enabled me to feel how tactile the guitar sounded and clarified the textures of overlapping instruments. "Just perfect," I wrote in my notes, after I had turned my phone toward the Wilson Alexia 2 loudspeakers in a vain attempt to transmit a fraction of what I was hearing. "I've never heard Led Zeppelin sound this good at audio shows. The drum entrances are so exciting, and the music sounds really fabulous when everything gets going."
That led me to turn to the 2011 remaster of another classic, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (16/44.1 FLAC/Tidal or Qobuz). Yet again, I fell in the love with the N11's warm smile, which in this case was enhanced by Unity Gain's smooth-and-warm presentation, superbly controlled bass, and low-range clarity. While I'm not convinced that there's a bright side to everything, the N11 shone a light during the dark days of the pandemic and delivered week upon week of listening pleasure.
The ovation
As a preamp designed and tuned to mate perfectly with other MBL Noble Line products, the NI1 preamp's intrinsic sonic signature brought a velvety smooth, subtly warm, and immensely pleasurable finish to the sound of both my reference DACs and made listening a joy. It proved a better fit for one DAC than the other.
The N11 preamp's Unity Gain feature affords it a flexibility and potentially perfect synergy that many other preamps lack. In my system, however, its effects were DAC and setup dependent. With one DAC, it left me wondering if it was moving me closer to or farther from what recording engineers and artists hoped I would hear; with the other, it left me wondering if it was exactly what I had needed all along to achieve ideal system synergy.
The N11 could very well be a performance you never want to end. It's a looker, for sure, one whose presence in my system I already miss.
If you haven't read the sidebar yet, please do, because it will shed light on what follows. While assembling my reference system, I've discovered that the options available to me for fine-tuning sonics involve switching between different-sounding 1) gray and silver balls in the Grand Prix Apex feet that support my rack, 2) cables, and 3) equipment supports. I can only switch the balls in the footers of a 200lb double rack loaded with heavy equipment if I hire weightlifters from my gym to help me out; evaluating on the spot and making further switches is quite chancy. Switching cabling can produce profound sonic changes that make it difficult to figure out what is causing what and require me to start from scratch to establish a new sonic baseline. Hence, when new equipment comes my way, it's most practical to switch footers until I find the combination that works best.
As I began listening, I kept in mind a recent email from Ned Kuehn, whom I met at the 2019 Florida Audio Expo. Kuehn, who played in both band and orchestra in his youth, wrote that he'd recently tried the Benchmark LA4 preamplifier and discovered that its "detail, depth, decay, and dimensions" transported him to the recording venue and bettered what he heard when he relied exclusively on the dCS Vivaldi DAC's volume control. Kuehn's email inspired some of the dialogue with Reis that appears in the sidebar; it also impelled me to investigate in what ways the MBL N11 might alter and improve the sound delivered by the volume controls in the dCS Rossini and EMM Labs DV2 DACs. Using the Rossini DAC/Clock and the N11 to listen to one of the more challenging test tracks in my collection—challenging for listener and system—the first movement from the San Francisco Symphony's digital-only release of 12-tone master Alban Berg's Three Pieces for Orchestra (24/192 WAV, SFS Media SFS0070), the N11 lent a subtle warm-and-velvety cushion to the sound. This effect proved to be consistent no matter the source material. On Marianne Crebassa and Fazil Say's recording of Debussy's Chansons de Bilitis from the album Secrets (24/96 WAV, Erato 564483), the N11 brought out the warm core of every note.
Clytemnestra was the first disc I used to experiment with the N11's Unity Gain setting. The experience certainly changed when Unity Gain was engaged—the soundstage moved farther back and, while perspective was clarified, it felt as though the sound was less open and had lost a bit in transparency and bass. When I removed the preamp from the chain and relied exclusively on the Rossini's volume control, the recording felt more open and expansive. Was the perspective conveyed by the N11's Unity Gain setting actually more true to the source, and had I just become accustomed to what the Rossini produced on its own? That seems to be the implication of Jürgen Reis's comments in the sidebar. More experimentation was in order.
Sticking with classical vocals, I turned to hi-rez files of a recording I'd recently reviewed for the print edition, Ludwig Von Beethoven: Lieder Songs, from baritone Matthias Goerne and pianist Jan Lisiecki (24/96 WAV, DG 4838351). The N11's sound with Unity Gain turned off was just wonderful—open, warm, and extremely transparent, with a sparkle to the piano that contrasted with Goerne's magnificent voice and made me want to listen more and more. The N11 clarified subtle tonal differences and the myriad overtones and undertones of Goerne's voice while rendering the piano more lustrous. What was even more significant to me than the N11's touch of warmth, sweetness, and velvety polish was how it pulled me deeper into the performance.
Listening to these tracks over and over, as I switched back and forth between the Rossini solo and Rossini plus N11, confirmed several things. While the N11 is extremely revealing of subtle details and brings a lovely, glowing sweetness to recordings I find seductive and ideal for long-term listening without fatigue, its Unity Gain feature, with this DAC, reduced color saturation, richness, and transparency—unless I switched footers under the Roon Nucleus+ server/ streamer and the HDPlex linear power supply. Indeed, even after trying some of the eight types of footers available to me—I didn't bother with footers that I knew wouldn't work—I could never get the sound precisely right.
The last actWith a knowing nod to Captain Picard, the time had come to engage the very different-sounding EMM Labs DV2. In my system, this DAC may tone down treble brilliance and sound less open, but it delivers stronger, tighter, more awesome lower midrange and bass. With only a little tweaking of footers—I switched to Nordost Titanium Sort Kones under the HDPlex LPS that powers my Roon Nucleus+ music server/streamer, external USB hub, and the final Sonore optical Module—MBL's N11 preamp seemed an ideal match. Engaging Unity Gain provided the best bass control I'd ever heard from my system, save when I used the far more expensive D'Agostino Momentum HD preamp ($40,000), which in my opinion deserves a Product of the Year award. The N11's Unity Gain also toned down the noisy top ends of some recordings, making for easier listening. Tonalities were spot on, the range of colors varied and intriguing, and the listening experience a joy. "God, does the N11 help a lot," I scribbled in my notes, as listening was unfortunately coming to an end. Sorry for the very late walk, doggies, but Daddy has work to do.
As a preamp designed and tuned to mate perfectly with other MBL Noble Line products, the NI1 preamp's intrinsic sonic signature brought a velvety smooth, subtly warm, and immensely pleasurable finish to the sound of both my reference DACs and made listening a joy. It proved a better fit for one DAC than the other.
