Mark,
Thank you for being the first to burn it in! Should I call you 'Guinea pig #1?'
I'm listening with the same gear as I mentioned in my previous post. Both the DAC and HPA-1 have been on continuously for ~24 hours, so they're nicely warmed up. The volume setting is at ~9:30. I'm listening to
Yo Yo Ma plays Ennio Morricone. It's one of my favorite CDs. I really enjoy listening to cello music, and I like Yo Yo Ma.
Gabriel's Oboe just started...nice..cello and piano duet...The piano is so clear and distinct. How much of this is the DAC and how much is the amp?
[Perhaps, this weekend, I'll take my amp downstairs and connect my SW1X DAC III to it for a short comparison. That DAC can run circles around my Tranquility DAC.]
Now playing Mark Knopfler's
Irish Love. Acoustic steel string guitar...nice...mellow...just what I need after the last few weeks! Next up:
Marina by Skip Ewing & Billy Joe Walker Jr....Now:
Beni Beni by Niyaz. Niyaz is a Turkish group. I can't understand a word of it, but I love this song. Now I'm listening to
Where Do The Children Play? by Cat Stevens. Now:
Fields of Gold by Eva Cassidy....heavenly...I love this song. The "s" sounds at the end of words are clear without sibilance. Inferior systems or speakers impart a harsh "SSSS" sound that pushes me away. This combination of gear pulls me in.
Wow. My wife hasn't come up once to distract me or to tell me to do something...
[If you know her phone number, don't call to ask her to bother me!]
Deborah's Theme by Chris Botti....clear; no sibilance. Sometimes, trumpet and/or sax can mess with my ears. This is smooth. Now to find some sax music. Oops. I stumbled upon
Astral Weeks by Van Morrison while I look for sax music. This is so cool. Guitar on the right, flute on the left, Morrison and rhythm guitar in the center.
I've already noticed that bad/flat/uninspiring recordings don't sound very good. That's not a negative. It's the same situation I experience in my main system. The better the recording, the better it sounds. I think I'll try a couple songs I love to listen to on my car radio, but can't bear listening to on my main system.
I'm really enjoying this.
More later...
