You can take this as far as you like (and believe me, I have). You could wheel out Lisa Batiashvili’s Shostakovich, or any number of performances of Joe Jackson’s ‘It’s Different For Girls’. You could compare Yepes and John Williams playing the Concierto De Aranjuez, or for a real laugh, you could compare Kevin Rowland singing ‘Respect’ to the seminal Aretha recording. But the results are going to be the same. Whatever the costs of going the filter-less route, musical coherence and expressive range aren’t amongst them. Yet, whilst the Konus DAC definitely gets the notes in the right place and at the right time, it’s not so clear on leading edge definition and duration – which again, you might reasonably expect.
One thing the Hyperion recording did reveal was an errant hot-spot in the treble. Occasionally set off by the piccolo’s upper registers, it added a piping loudness to notes that was echoed in a slight hardening in the extreme top of the violin’s upper register – and the Shostakovich does take the violin places it doesn’t often go. I couldn’t provoke the tendency with other recordings, try as I might – and I don’t hear it from this recording on other DACs/systems – so this is definitely an occasional (very occasional) rather than persistent issue. If you are auditioning the Digitale 2000, play a few discs with plenty of high-frequency energy and you’ll quickly discover whether they reveal an issue and whether that issue is likely to be a problem. For me, it was one disc and it really didn’t destroy my listening pleasure, but every one is different – and has a different collection of discs. Interestingly, the 47 Labs DACs came with stern warnings about the dangers of playing discs with pre-emphasis so maybe this reflects the absence of a brick wall filter and the possibility of high-frequency ringing in extreme circumstances? Either way, I repeat that it did nothing to ruin my enjoyment of what is already a pretty visceral recording.
I was in no way surprised to discover that the USB input can’t bear comparison with the S/PDIF. That’s pretty much par for the course. It did exhibit a greater sense of musical continuity and flow, a better grasp of rhythmic integrity than I’m used to from other basic (and not so basic) USB implementations. Switching to the USB input reduced performance in terms of overall dynamic range, musical substance, density and colour: Again, pretty much what I’d expect. Although the music didn’t have the same exceptional sense of fluid freedom, body and presence, this was still a far more rewarding listening experience than basic streaming normally delivers. Playing a locally stored 96/24 file (from the Roon Nucleus) of the Yepes/LSO, Giuliani, Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Villa-Lobos Guitar Concertos, the playing lacked Yepes’ normal grace, articulation and expressive range, the LSO sounding stilted and two-dimensional compared to the CD/SACD reproduction. But the Digitale 2000 still managed to capture the distinctive shape of the three very different pieces and the vitality in the playing, particularly the solo instrument. The fact that file replay can’t stand comparison with decent optical disc isn’t (or shouldn’t be) news and, in this respect the Konus isn’t a magic solution. It’s presentation of stored files or streamed material is way better than average, but being honest about it, that bar is set pretty low. Just for fun I hooked up the Digitale 2000 to the USB output of my Wadax Reference Server. Whilst it certainly improved things, it still lacked the core musicality that the full Wadax chain delivers (at a ruinous price, admittedly).
The truth and nothing but?
The Konus doesn’t paper over cracks in streamed sources, or spread Vaseline on the audio lens. The essential honesty that makes it genuinely impressive on disc replay tells you all too clearly that streaming still has a long way to go. Simple is as simple does and there’s nothing here to obscure the audio realities. If that sounds like damning with faint praise then you are mistaking my intention. Most streaming solutions at or near this price are frankly un-listenable. That isn’t the case here. Rather, the sheer musical authority of the S/PDIF input casts a long shadow across the USB’s performance. The Digitale 2000’s USB replay is more than capable when it comes to assessing recordings for possible future purchase, or performers/works for pre-concert familiarity (the principle use of streaming, in this house at least), but for serious musical enjoyment – and the little Konus really is outrageously enjoyable – it’s back to the good stuff.
