“What I was hearing was a pure, unencumbered digital signal. This mighty task can be heard to its greatest degree in servers and DACs by legendary Brits, dCS. And, for about fifty grand. The Mk3 and Mytek DAC could not match the dense musical experiences the dCS products (with Rockport Atria II Loudspeakers—review forthcoming—and Audio Research amplification) have given me, but in the realm of diminishing returns, the 10K pair gave me quite sublime musical experiences. As such, jitter and noise are curtailed to a minute degree. Servers really are both the here and now and the future for the very best in digital audio playback helped in no small part by the ingenious use of ultra quiet power supplies. The Mk3 scores big on this; even better than my reference CORE. Detail and musicality were marginally better on the Innuos, a real plum as the CORE has quite remarkable qualities.
Qobuz and Tidal were deights, with Qobuz’ HiRes files and Tidal’s MQA support. Both sounded fantastic streaming on the Innuos.
Dynamics and immediacy from Dorati/Minneapolis/Mercury FLAC Beethoven Eroica was as impressive as I’ve heard. This recording always shocks me, not for the Fines’ recording and production, but for the superb performance by a 1960s provincial US orchestra (for more provincial surprises, read Jim Norris’ Steinberg/Pittsburgh Beethoven cycle review on DG).
Staying with classical, although not my favorite Mahler symphony, Klemperer’s EMI with the Philharmonia of the Fourth on Qobuz via 96kHz 24bit was stunning in its beauty and information retrieval. There’s a super tricky ensemble moment mvt 1, the rit leading into bar 4, especially for the clarinets. Invariably, it’s either muddy or too quiet. The 96 FLAC file made clear every note; it was almost as if you could see the clarinets looking up and trying to follow Klemperer’s very wobbly beat, but looking at the Leader (concertmaster) instead; the first violins will follow him rather than the conductor. In any case, I’ve never heard it as clean or clearer and in the most beautiful sound. Due, no doubt, to the bottomless noise floor and jet black backgrounds.”
Full review link here