First I am in no way a professional reviewer and this review is based on my installation of the DIP/upsampler combo used between my Marantz CD 4001 player and CI audio VDA 2 with power supply. I use a glass toslink cable between the CD player and upsampler combo. This device may or may not have the same effect used with other components, I can relay only what my experience has been.
- I purchased the unit from the Monarchy supplier (on thier web site) about one month ago...not knowing what (if any) effect it would have in my system (Odyssey Extreme Monos, Candela Pre and Lorelei speakers). Because I wasn't sure if I would like the DIP/Upsampler, I purchased an inexpensive Blue Jean digital coax to run to the CI audio DAC.
My first impressions without break in were mixed...
the unit is supposed to provide some gain through the signal path and I didn't notice any gain or much of a change to system sound when I first installed it.
After about 15 hours of break in things changed somewhat dramatically....again not a significant increase in gain but in the 96hz upsample option the soundstage on all recordings was significantly deeper and wider (I listen to a variety of music - female Jazz Vocals, bluegrass, rock and Jazz - Little Feat, Lyle Lovett, Raconteurs, Rickie Lee, Holy Cole ect), with more definition between instruments and more impact in the lower frequencies...bass was better defined and drums had better slam.
On the other hand the upper end was harsh on some recordings...especially older recordings, re-mastered Journey was shrill along with almost any I'll say pre- 1990 recorded disc that had not been re-mastered. By the 20 hour point I felt the unit had pretty much broken in...on older or poorer recordings by switching the front toggle to the 44.1 hz side the harsh high end was remedied, and the recording sounded better with the dither and jittter control the device provides, than without having the device in the signal path.
At this point I decided the unit was a keeper in my system
...new recordings on the 96 hz upsample option sounded overall much better, and any recording I didn't like in the upsampling mode was still improved in the 44hz mode ....
Soooo -
I had to know if the Blue Jean cable was limiting the upsamplers capability, after about 50 hours of burn in on the Dip/Upsampler I purchased a better coax cable, - the Granite Audio 420 coax..... to say things changed with the new cable is an understatement.
I installed the upgraded cable and initially noticed some of the harshness on the high-end was removed....as I let this cable break in, magic began to happen
..Granite provides a photo of the purchased cable signal under test after assembly - a flat 75 ohm line.
Apparently this is what the Dip/Upsampler needed because after about 10 hours of granite cable break in....the gain increased, soundstage got wider and definition between instruments significantly improved. What was most noticeable was improvement in lower end slam for lack of a better term. As the Granite cable broke in, emphasis between instruments and emphasis from soft to loud music passages became dramatic. Mid range on vocals became better defined and at the 20 hour point is downright eerie.
(I am always impressed with how the Odyssey Lorelies stand up to anything).
This device has transformed my system into something new..that is no exaggeration.
Drums on remastered warren Zevon's Excitable Boy "Veracruz" jumped out and startled me - overall musicality and timing seems greatly improved, front to back soundstage is deeper and more "there"...this is with the unit in the upsampling mode. The new cable allows the sound to be much more natural...I can go on and on. The only recording I have not liked in the upsampling mode so far is the Led Zepplin re-mastered two disc set...unnatural sounding in the high freqs but still sounded great in the normal sampling mode. I'm not sure the granite cable is fully broken in (I have about 25 hours on it) so that recording output could change as well..
This device has provided a
huge up-grade to my front end!!
For $399 plus shipping I am extremely happy with the dip/upsampler combo - it will stay in my system for a long time.
I would say for the price and return policy , anyone with a CD player in the catagory of my Marantz 5 disc changer, and CI VDA 2 DAC, looking to improve thier front end by providing a better signal to the DAC, may want to consider this as a possible upgrade.
Happy listening!
- Martin
