One aspect of the recording is the post-production work, the grafting on of layers of incidental noises and textures, fragments of radio, bits of static, the run-out groove on a record. Listen to the album on a higher resolution platform, like the D1.5 replaying the SACD layer and those embellishments take on a fascination all of their own, adding air and separation to go with the intra-instrumental space that the SACD layer also brings. But at what cost? The D1.5 does an excellent job with SACD – way better than most – but it still lacks the infectious musical enthusiasm, the sense of involvement that comes from the Konus DAC. Hmmm… definite food for thought.
Part of that vocal and instrumental substance is down to the Digitale 2000’s tonal and spectral balance. The DAC has a slightly pear-shaped presentation, with a warm and weighty bottom end that certainly fills out the mid-band but does little to disguise the lack of air that comes with the slightly shut in nature of the top end. Which is – if you look at the wider context – pretty much to be expected. The whole point of over-sampling and filters is to extend the high-frequency performance, while if you look elsewhere in the Konus range you’ll find the Essence single-driver loudspeakers with their necessarily limited low-end weight and bandwidth. Fortunately, Konus don’t let the bottom-end tailoring get out of proportion or allow it to introduce steps in the range. Instead, it’s a subtle, broadband shelf that it’s easy (and musically rewarding) to work with. If you put the Digitale 2000 in your system and it sounds inviting but warm and a bit wooly, compared to your previous digital replay, it’s probably time to nudge your speakers forward slightly. Do that and you’ll hear the bass become propulsive and the music come to life. On the other hand, if you don’t bother, you’ll be left wondering what the fuss is all about. Which would be a shame because this DAC has some real musical merit.
Hidden costs, hidden virtues…
The more you listen to (and the more time you spend enjoying) the Konus DAC, the more you start to consider what price you are paying for that musical substance and integrity – and the musical and financial gains you make by accepting it. To what extent does the rhythmic authority, natural tonality and dynamic coherence trump the lack of resolution and absolute dynamic range? At what point does it start to impede musical insight more than it enables musical connection? The answer to that is going to be listener and programme dependent, but let’s examine the question anyway.
Much of the beauty and fascination of classical music lies in comparing and contrasting different performances of the same piece, either from the same performers at different stages in their career (the various Karajan/Beethoven or Berglund/Sibelius symphonic cycles spring to mind) or more likely, entirely different performers approaching the same work(s). Examples are legion but the one I chose for this exercise looks at two very different performances of the Shostakovich 1st Violin Concerto, with Midori, Abbado and the Berliner Philharmoniker (Sony 88843045052-21 from the Claudio Abbado Complete recordings box-set) and Ibragimova/Jurowski and the State Academic Orchestra of Russia (Hyperion CDA68313). Both violinists are better known for smaller scale works and while Abbado and the BPO offer a polished accompaniment to Midori’s technical and note perfect rendition, it’s hard to escape the feeling that it’s all a bit academic, an intellectual work out rather than a passionate exposition. It’s hard to conceive of a wider contrast to Ibragimova’s intense, passionate, angst-ridden and tortured intensity, dramatically reinforced by Jurowski, who always seems to step up on Russian repertoire. The Digitale 2000 does nothing to diminish the differences here. Jurowski’s bold flourishes and full-blooded dynamic contrasts deliver full value, an expansive soundstage adding to the scale and impact. But it is the solo instrument that really sparkles, especially in the dauntingly difficult passacaglia, with its chopped rhythms and fragmented phrases. The Konus DAC manages to bring flow and continuity to the performance, delivering a coherent line through the most fragmented and angular passages. It’s a mightily impressive performance that all but the very best (and most expensive) DACs would struggle to match, a living breathing example of less being musically more? Certainly, there’s no expressive compression here. You can hear the virtues in the Midori/Abbado reading: they just can’t survive the comparison with the dynamic intent and emotional intensity that Ibragimova and Jurowski conjure from the score.
