I continue to be thrilled by the music produced by the Vekian Opus combo in the past few days since it was delivered on Sunday....the combo definitely requires warming up, especially the DAC. With Opus, the soundstage is much more open and engulfing unleashing more spatial resolutions.
I listened to the CD by Mutter playing Mendelssohn on a live recording in Leipzig on Opus, the performance is just phenomenal full of emotions and passions. Music flows out rather than 'being displayed'...here I want to use this to describe the coherence of the musical flow is so tight that it doesn't sound like a digital display with a high flickering rate. Perhaps this is another way to contrast between analog playback and digital playback. It is achieved by the new algorithm in the DA conversion as well as the noise reduction in picking up the signal and throughout the signal transmission path. I am deeply impressed by the wide margin of improvements made in all fronts from the Signature version. That substantiates my earlier vote to Opus for the Product of the year 2011 !!
It is always good to see more diversed musical interest in this group. It is too predominantly a circle of classical fans chasing the stardom of old masters. And this is good and I respect old musicians all the time.
But the world is moving forward, not backward. There are new artists that deserve encouragement. There are new musical ideas. It is a matter of acceptance and embracement. New intrepretation of old master works is always welcome in my opinion.
On Masaharu Fukayama's OLDIES album, I would recommend track 2 "Fight" originally by 中島美雪 and Track 14 "Odekoni Kiss" originally by 遠藤賢司. This track is very touching. Masaharu is playing harmonica (wore on his neck) and singing at the same time. A very simple song but difficult to articulate the delicate feelings. I did not understand the lyrics but the musical communication touched me so much that I asked a Japanese friend of mine to do a complete translation. The interplay of vocal and harmonica is very well arranged. It seems the harmonica session reflects some of the singer's feeling that can't be expressed by words. But I feel it is a literal extension of the lyrics. Recording quality is good, a complete live band is playing at the back.
I am glad English teacher brings this one. Strongly recommend.
Frankly speaking, when Jim told me he was going to ship me a device called "ABC" last week. I wasn't too particularly fonded because I am not a computer audiophile. I only know it is an interface for computer audio. With it, I was told Opus DAC can now decode hi rez files direcly from computer.
But when Mike Stahl told me that he hasn't seen a more perfect waveform from the Opus suite upon using the ABC between the OPUS CDT and the OPUS DAC, my interest grows exponentially for only 1 reason: Mike Stahl and Jim Aud are both serious guy. The AE community met them in person last year when they presented the OPUS. We were all impressed by Mike's technical competence. And many voted the OPUS as product of the year in 2011.
The ABC is an simple device powered by BATTERY. Good news is that no power cord is required. It is light. There are a few digital inputs including I2S and USB. How to connect the ABC in between the Opus CDT and the DAC? You need two HDMI cables. That's why I borrowed Silent Wire HDMI from cassph yesterday. The 1st HDMI goes from the transport to the I2S input of ABC, and the 2nd HDMI goes from the I2S output of the ABC to the OPUS DAC. As simple as ABC.
Then I turned on the unit at the back. I spent 60 minutes with my reference CDs. The conclusion is that: Mike never disappoints us. His description of "hasn't seen such a perfect analog waveform" is verified by what I heard. The last bits of digital sounds at some transition notes are now gone for smoothness.
I don't exactly know what it does but I speculate the Opus DAC now is working in real time with a battery powered clock inside the ABC.
Opus owners, please feel free to pay AE1 a visit. In the perfect state, such improvement is not marginal. Because I cannot take it off now.
I like this "ABC" for one simple reason. After living with CDs for 30 years or so, the presence of digtial glare is completely gone - I cannot recognize digital sound anymore on all of my reference recordings. Notable improvement on top of the OPUS is not an easy job but the ABC makes it as easy as ABC. And I have not even used any boutique HDMI cable, just the grabbed the one from my DVD player. Good job, Mike!
During the audition in AE1 today, I experienced the power of ABC+Analog Domain Artermis power amp+the new Zanden Mk3 phono (with true balanced input). It was a very entertaining and mind opening 3-hours session with PT, both of us feel the session was well spent and very educational. ABC transforms the digital source to a more 'analog' like signal in a sense that the digital harshness introduced the noise the clocking is seemingly removed leaving behind an utterly smooth and lyrical musical landscape with distinctive contours. The focus and control on the stability of the images dispersed in a slightest way without the ABC.
The only reservation I have on ABC is the chasis of it is too light and it should be vulnerable to mechanical vibration thus affecting the signal transmission. Yet, the argument is, it is already taking Opus to another level, can it be better? I believe so, but not at this cheap price definitely.
One more thing I need to emphasise....the Tidal Impulse amp just blow away the existing power amp driving the T1 subwoofer . For those who have been in AE1, the subwoofer plays a pivotal role and the Impulse amp is the last piece of he puzzle. Only if pt is crazy enough to put a pair of Artemis in that position would I see the performance will further be exploit. I will get an Impulse for sure to mate with the Agoria in the future....
Marvel, I found the improvement contributed by the ABC to the Opus suite is tremendous. It is not about ABAB comparison where we can say here is better and there is smoother. The immense value emerges during extended listening session. It is just no way you can go back without ABC. It seems to me the battery powered clock has rendered a magical touch on the delivery of rhythm. The musical sense is much more easier to be ignited.
The voltage of the battery is limited to 5v and my 'conventional wisdom' on a battery driven device is that when the battery is running out, the performance would be degraded. I was suggesting to PT if a more powerful/steady battery can be used instead but due to the interface requirement with Mac, it is 5v.
Yes, on prolonged listening, disconnecting the ABC would not be tolerable, I agree entirely.
Comments
I listened to the CD by Mutter playing Mendelssohn on a live recording in Leipzig on Opus, the performance is just phenomenal full of emotions and passions. Music flows out rather than 'being displayed'...here I want to use this to describe the coherence of the musical flow is so tight that it doesn't sound like a digital display with a high flickering rate. Perhaps this is another way to contrast between analog playback and digital playback. It is achieved by the new algorithm in the DA conversion as well as the noise reduction in picking up the signal and throughout the signal transmission path. I am deeply impressed by the wide margin of improvements made in all fronts from the Signature version. That substantiates my earlier vote to Opus for the Product of the year 2011 !!
Great Job Dear Mike and your team !!
Marvel
But the world is moving forward, not backward. There are new artists that deserve encouragement. There are new musical ideas. It is a matter of acceptance and embracement. New intrepretation of old master works is always welcome in my opinion.
On Masaharu Fukayama's OLDIES album, I would recommend track 2 "Fight" originally by 中島美雪 and Track 14 "Odekoni Kiss" originally by 遠藤賢司. This track is very touching. Masaharu is playing harmonica (wore on his neck) and singing at the same time. A very simple song but difficult to articulate the delicate feelings. I did not understand the lyrics but the musical communication touched me so much that I asked a Japanese friend of mine to do a complete translation. The interplay of vocal and harmonica is very well arranged. It seems the harmonica session reflects some of the singer's feeling that can't be expressed by words. But I feel it is a literal extension of the lyrics. Recording quality is good, a complete live band is playing at the back.
I am glad English teacher brings this one. Strongly recommend.
聞說你今天到AE1一游, 有什麼得著可分享下? 和AE2又有什麼反差?
But when Mike Stahl told me that he hasn't seen a more perfect waveform from the Opus suite upon using the ABC between the OPUS CDT and the OPUS DAC, my interest grows exponentially for only 1 reason: Mike Stahl and Jim Aud are both serious guy. The AE community met them in person last year when they presented the OPUS. We were all impressed by Mike's technical competence. And many voted the OPUS as product of the year in 2011.
The ABC is an simple device powered by BATTERY. Good news is that no power cord is required. It is light. There are a few digital inputs including I2S and USB. How to connect the ABC in between the Opus CDT and the DAC? You need two HDMI cables. That's why I borrowed Silent Wire HDMI from cassph yesterday. The 1st HDMI goes from the transport to the I2S input of ABC, and the 2nd HDMI goes from the I2S output of the ABC to the OPUS DAC. As simple as ABC.
Then I turned on the unit at the back. I spent 60 minutes with my reference CDs. The conclusion is that: Mike never disappoints us. His description of "hasn't seen such a perfect analog waveform" is verified by what I heard. The last bits of digital sounds at some transition notes are now gone for smoothness.
I don't exactly know what it does but I speculate the Opus DAC now is working in real time with a battery powered clock inside the ABC.
Opus owners, please feel free to pay AE1 a visit. In the perfect state, such improvement is not marginal. Because I cannot take it off now.
ABC有I2S, RCA, BNC 和XLR output. Input 有 USB, I2S. 但I2S介面和Zanden不同, 所以Zanden用不了. 我用Macbook直出ABC 的USB input, 然後XLR output到Neodio 的XLR digital input. 非常精彩, 完全抹走了電腦的衰聲問題.
但Macbook上的USB頭有可能唔夠power drive, 所以有時要把其他USB device unplug, 再到System Preference menu, 選擇Sound, Click on Sound Output, 你就選Stahltek便可!
記得用Neodio XLR digital input時, 切不要同時用RCA digital input, 這樣會冇聲的.
ABC係堅野! AE一直不搞CAS是有原因, 呢件终於夠班啦!
The only reservation I have on ABC is the chasis of it is too light and it should be vulnerable to mechanical vibration thus affecting the signal transmission. Yet, the argument is, it is already taking Opus to another level, can it be better? I believe so, but not at this cheap price definitely.
Yes, on prolonged listening, disconnecting the ABC would not be tolerable, I agree entirely.