The banker tale II

Where was I. O ya, the air conditioning being his wisest upgrade.

DAC is making a strong comeback with the emerging of CAS. On the top echelon, you have dCS, Emm Labs, Zanden, Reimyo, MSB, Weiss and etc. These represent the best DACs in the world, with rave reviews praising them to the sky.

What the heck is Behringer Ultramatch Pro SRC2496 ? Probably the cheapest no brainer DAC. The banker was quick to hop on the CAS bandwagon. He bought AC Ryan media streamer and borrowed a SRC2496. The smell and the look of SRC2496, unmistakably pro sound, feature packs with an array of crazy light indicators.

SRC2496 is a DAC and ADC in a single unit, capable of 24 bits and 96kHz sample rate. Data conversation is via AKM4393 that can be replaced with AKM4396, a higher model. A single chip does not determine the sound but the implementation.

Under the hood, the circuit board hardly occupied 30% of the chassis. SRC2496 does not install confidence, I'm afraid. And that is how modern DACs are made today. Flimsy chassis and cost cutting measures everywhere in tandem with better marketability, everybody is happy.

Reality check: DACs have made a drastic progress in the past 5 years. To be on par with modern DACs, they may even better than at least 3-4 folds the price of yesteryear machines. SRC2496 on 24 bit sounds bigger than Link III. My grief with SRC2496, over the top highs, a little grainy and a little short on timbre. I look for the analogue-ness. SRC2496 is very detailed, dynamic and big sound.

Died due to venom, Marantz upgrade

As I upgraded the servo clock, I informed the banker that there is a good condition Marantz CD94 MkII up for sale. The banker chanced upon a Marantz CD94 MkII. Having me to thank, no, not even a cup of coffee! The DIY guru AB against it to his fully modded CD94MkII, the banker and I were floored. The difference was day and night. What I hear was a revitalized CD94 MkII with a much bigger headroom, the timing was more precise and presentation was cleaner. Timbre remained intact and the texture was smoother. Dynamic was walloping and decisive. The downside, the restricted bandwidth stops me from converting. My DIY63 gives more extension and vastly retains the lovely analogue sound. That's why Audio Note, a company big on tone still a bit conservative on modern DA chips. The modded CD94 MkII volume was louder. The venom was just too strong, switching back to stock CD94 MkII, the thrill is gone.

The venom consists of the 1PPM clock at servo and DAC, non-oversampling, outboard independent power supplies to reduce current corruption. There and then, the banker has had his road map out in a blink. He would proceed with the total CD94Mk II upgrade with his fat bonus, coming in at 3rd quarter of the year. It is like getting married again?

A Canton proverb says 好婆守不到寡 loosely translates to "A bitch could not stay true to the marriage". A great itch at the back side, the banker asked me if it is worthwhile to buy a Sonic Frontier Jitterbug. The unit came up two weeks later after he bought CD94MkII. Deep down he had his mind made regardless what I say. He just wanted a cohesive opinion. Now I understand "shopping spree" spell, once you start going, hard to stop.

The banker is on a roll now. I could not stop a runaway banker now. The three-month spending spree had changed his sonic fabric that he did not think the current result is achievable without the upgrade. Indeed, the improvements with the Jitterbug was audible even with SRC2496. Jitterbug has smoothened the sonic texture. Cleaner and clearer presentation. Dynamic and timing improved. Little incremental improvements will eventually mark a significant improvement.

Digital cable, speaker cable, rewire the power line, Power Bank, tweaking, new speakers etc. Now, he starts talking now. His system has humbled him. The banker had changed not only his system but his character as well. As he continues to improve he knows that there is a lot to learn. He used to say the boldest words, now soft-spoken and humble. He now knows who is talking nonsense and reject Singkalinology.

However, the banker failed to see that his speakers are the weakest link in his system and he would attain a notable improvement if you change his speakers. I'd like him putting his priorities right. Bookshelf speakers could not fill a moderate room. This is a typical audiophile mistake. Big room small speaker and vice versa.

A huge percentage of audiophiles failed to optimize their system, no stats, just based on the visits I made. The speakers do not sing to their capability as they could. It is either mismatch, underpowered, wrong cabling and etc. And sometimes, ego is the stumbling block. Best that if you have a musician friend to come over and listen. Hey! Even Franco Serblin invites Andrea Bocelli for tuning too.