Network infrastructure is all-important and, in this case, I decided to keep things at least close to ‘real world’, with a local network constructed around an Asus router equipped with an iFi supply, feeding a single Reiki Super Switch. I used Nordost Heimdall network cables as far as the switch and a Reiki RakuStream+ for the final link to the units. The network and server inputs to the router were equipped with Aardvark Elite inline ethernet filters and I also used the (remarkably effective) Telos Audio Macro G active noise reduction device. Listening was carried out by switching the network connection and output cables between the various streamer/DACs, ensuring a level playing field in terms of data path, as well as preventing them from upsetting each other.
Streaming DACs in action…
With three different products and both locally stored files and streaming sources to consider this could have been something of a nightmare scenario, with varied and confusing results. But as it transpired, the performance characteristics of all three units were easily established and remarkably consistent across different sources – although the relative performance of streaming versus file-replay did differ between the units.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, streamed sources revealed the differences between the three units most starkly. Although I listened to a huge range of music across all three DACs, a single example will serve to encapsulate their characteristics. I’ll use the Michael Kiwanuka track ‘Cold Little Heart’ (a 24/96 FLAC stream), notable for its complex, multi-layered production, studio effects and shifting density and dynamic range. The Studio Player delivered this familiar music with the atmosphere, gently building momentum, shifts in density and musically fluid articulation I’ve come to expect from the LP. Musically, the track’s structure was not just intact, but its sense instrumental identity, body and purpose were all present and correct, underlining the carefully crafted musical contrasts. The rich tonal colouring, dynamic graduation and meaty bass preserved the drama and emotional depth in the track, captured Kiwanuka’s deeply heartfelt vocal. It was a genuinely involving musical experience and, frankly, not one that I was expecting…
In contrast, the C1.2 offered greater transparency, instrumental focus and texture, but its tonal pallet was bleached in comparison to the Wadax, with a lighter, less substantial bottom end. As a result, it lacked the body, presence and musical substance of the Studio Player. More importantly, it lacked its easy, temporal articulation, sounding stilted and even a little uptight on what should be a sensuously fluid track. Although once again, detail and resolution were good, with a greater sense of transparency and depth to the soundfield for example, the different musical elements didn’t hang together as convincingly or possess the same level of musical and emotional impact. If that sounds a little fanciful, bear in mind that this is a song about his elder brother’s suicide and that should put the emotional element into context.
