Sidebar 2: Contacts
P.W.B. Electronics, 2 Northbrook Croft, Hill View Mount, Leeds LS7 4QZ, England, UK. Web: www.pwbelectronics.co.uk
Speakers Corner HiFi GmbH, Starkenbrook 4, 24214 Gettorf, Germany. Tel: (49) (0)4346-601999. Fax: (49) (0)4346-601998. Web: www.speakerscornerrecords.com
It's common knowledge that manufacturers tune the sound of each DAC model. There are the facts of product design and marketing: inputs, outputs, case materials, price points. After that, what's left are the trade-offs of different circuit designs and filter options, which are chosen with care—each has a subtle yet telling effect on a DAC's sound. Most designers try to go from bits to analog with minimal deviation from perfect. But when you look at the measurements and listen closely, you realize that perfect is elusive. One has to make choices.
The last Peachtree Audio product I reviewed…
Next I sorted through some recent discs from Jah Wobble, who's been drifting from one Asian culture to another, adding his trademark dubby bass guitar and clever editing. His most recent disc focuses on Japan, but for my R2D4 I ended up choosing Molam Dub (CD, 30 Hertz HZCD12), an album from a decade back based on field recordings from Laos. The mix gets very dense in spots, and it was in untangling this record's details that the DACiT suffered a bit in direct comparison with my reference Benchmark USB DAC. The DACiT's saving grace, though, was its sheer musicality, which made listening…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Single-box digital-to-analog converter. Formats supported: all PCM-output audio codecs (AIFF, WAV, MP3, etc.). Digital inputs: Supports up to 24-bit/96kHz (but not 24/88 via USB input), and up to 24/192 (but not 24/88 or 24/176 via optical. Analog output jacks: left/right RCA. Output impedance: 200 ohms (unbalanced). Maximum output voltage: 2V RMS. Signal/noise: 120dB, A-weighted. Ground isolation: transformer-coupled inputs. USB isolation: galvanic. External power supply: 100–240V, 50–60Hz, 9V–1A. Power requirement: 1W.
Dimensions: 6.5" (165mm…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD) running OS 10.6.7, iTunes 10.2.2, Amarra Computer Music Player 2.2, Songbird 1.9.3, and XLD; Oppo BDP-83 universal Blu-ray player; Meridian Sooloos Music Server (Control 15, TwinStore x3); Apple iPod Touch 1G; Benchmark DAC1 USB, Peachtree Audio iDac.
Preamplifier: Marantz AV7005 in Pure Direct Mode.
Power Amplifier: Classé CAM 350 monoblocks (2).
Loudspeakers: MartinLogan Prodigy, MartinLogan Descent subwoofers (2).
Cables: USB: Cardas Clear. S/PDIF…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system to measure the Peachtree DACiT (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"); for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain.
The Peachtree uses the popular Cirrus Logic 8416 S/PDIF receiver chip. The coaxial S/PDIF input successfully locked to datastreams with sample rates ranging from 44.1 to 192kHz. The TosLink input would not lock to datastreams with sample rates greater than 96kHz; this is normal behavior, however, as the…
Somebody asked me for 10 albums, so here are 101:
Oneohtrix Point Never: Returnal
Zola Jesus: The Spoils
Nicolas Jaar: Space is Only Noise
James Blake: James Blake
Drake: Take Care
Zomby: Dedication
Mark McGuire: Living with Yourself
Demdike Stare: Tryptych
Kendrick Lamar: Section.80
Inga Copeland and Dean Blunt: Black is Beautiful
Four Tet: There Is Love in You
Christian Fennesz: Endless Summer
Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto: Summvs
Sonny Sharrock: Ask the Ages
Archie Shepp: Blasé
Pharoah Sanders:…
Many if not most of the world’s most admired albums attained their fame slowly. In the case of Exile on Main Street which was released forty years ago on May 12, 1972, it took years for its ragged, bluesy charms to percolate into the collective psyche and eventually emerge as if not the best, then one of the contenders in the Stones catalog. The debate over an alternative champ has raged for years. Let It Bleed? Some Girls? Sticky Fingers? Beggar’s Banquet? Aftermath? Worthy choices all but when it comes to revelatory experiences, genuine five star records that changed the world, the apex of…
Around the turn of the century, a review of the latest hair-raisingly expensive turntable would often begin with a soothing chant that, yes, the RotorGazmoTron XT-35000 is a tad pricey, but it will be the last piece of analog gear you ever buy—so go ahead, take the plunge. A dozen years later, pressing plants are stamping out LPs 'round the clock, and new high-end turntables are rolling off production lines at a respectable clip. So who knows whether today's Cassandras might be equally premature in bewailing the death of the Compact Disc? Which is to say that I can't in good conscience urge…
The Cipher's way with bass tones was particularly impressive. Thunderous bass has always been one of Krell's specialties, but that's not all I'm talking about here. I'm talking about the details, the melody, even the delicacies of a double bass. On "Mood Indigo," from the Duke's Masterpieces by Ellington (Columbia/Legacy CK 87043, CD), I could hear every pluck of Wendell Marshall's bass, the value of each note, and the shifts in his cadence, even when the full orchestra blares forth. This isn't mere detail for detail's sake; it's crucial to the rhythm—the "mood indigo," if you will, of the…
