Playing with the amplifiers, the impact was similar if not to the same degree as with the L1 and P1, more akin to the results on the X1s. Stability, bass clarity and dynamic impact were all lifted. The pizzicato bass notes on the Tallis were more planted, with a greater sense of pluck and release and more air and space around them – all of which led to a greater sense of musical integration, an increased presence to their part in the musical conversation.
Of course, the real significance here isn’t the sonic refinement(s) that the USB Control delivered, but the musical insight that it brought to the listening experience, making a disc that might easily have been shuffled to the bottom of the pile one that’s been worth repeated re-listening. The Howells Concerto is a beautiful piece as is the Delius Late Swallows. If your goal is musical access, the USB Control is a shoo-in, simply by making the music you play more intelligible and communicative. You’ll be able to play more material to better effect – which is pretty much what a hi-fi system is all about. Those wed to the PRAT school of ‘drive on and don’t spare the horses’ music making might well cavil at a perceived slowing of tempo. But more space around notes, more definition of the space between notes is actually the opposite, nailing down the tempo rather than pushing it along with leading edge emphasis and chopped tails. This is music breathing rather than panting. In some ways it reminds me of the old retail trick of running a favoured record player very slightly fast. It sounds impressive – to start with: but listen longer and fatigue sets in. What the USB Control does is allow the amplifiers to relax and express, especially when it comes to the interplay between instruments and voices.
Interestingly, while its impact on the analogue components was in the realms of dimensionality, presence, immediacy and timing, in the case of the digital pieces, it was more about layers of information and overall organisation. The two are clearly related, but they’re also quite distinct. On top of which the benefits easily outweigh/justify the price being asked. The USB Control might not look like much, but this is one audio book that shouldn’t be judged by its cover.
Moving outside the CH family…
CH Precision are far from the only people whose products employ software and use firmware ports to keep it up to date. If the USB Control could do this to the CH Precision components, what might it do elsewhere? The Wadax Reference pieces are a case in point. I tried the USB Control in both the Wadax Atlantis Reference Transport and also the Reference DAC’s two different USB update ports. The problem was, using the USB Control in the Wadax meant removing it from the L1, so there was a swings and roundabouts element to this exercise. Even so, the benefits were still readily apparent. The most effective usage was either in the Transport or Service Port 2 on the DAC. Service Port 3 was brilliant in terms of focus, texture and transparency, but robbed the sound of bass weight and depth. In contrast, Service Port 2 offered a similar tonal, textural and organisational improvement to the firmware update port on the C1.2, albeit to not quite the same degree – although arguably the Wadax has less headroom for improvement in these areas. What did make a seriously big difference was using the USB Control in its intended role, in the unused USB input of the ref DAC. There the results were spectacular, bringing the same sense of presence and immediacy that I’d got with the firmware update port on the L1 – which kind of suggests that the USB Control works in its primary role just as well as it does in the redundant firmware port that litter so many modern products. I’ve yet to try it in a network-connected Roon Nucleus, but I bet the results would be equally impressive.
