Listening on La Scalas with Erhard Audio Aretha Preamp, Velodyne ULD-15 sub, Oliver Sayers Korneff Clone SET 45. Speaker cables are Audioquest type 5 and all interconnects made by me with Blue Jean cable and WTB locking RCAs. (Still need to hook up Lii Audio F-15 in open baffle for a listen)
DAC: Abbas 4.0 Gold with Kondo output stage, PCM 58p with Abbas USB to Spdif Converter (I did have to run USB from my laptop to use this converter, which is not ideal. The converter didn’t want to work with the RPi4).
My thoughts:
-Soundstage has much more room in it than Audio GD (PCM1704) and SW1X(PCM 56), where there is more space between instruments spanning the full 12ft wall that the speakers are in front of.
-It centers the vocals really really well, provides depth of soundstage, enhances mouth sounds. In some recordings hearing the artist approach the microphone and inhale before singing which all adds up to it sounding real.
-Instruments sound real: Picking on the guitar, violins/cello notes slice through the air and sound like they’re right next to me, kick drum hits, tom hits, all of it sounds real.
-Lots of decay in cymbals and other instruments. Some song endings feeling like the heart has stopped beating as the song wanes away and dies.
-Power, it has this force to it where the music in some instances feel like it hits you and you jump a little in your chair.
-Refines bass and enhance it in some songs, where I have dialed my subwoofer down.
-The overall sound is very pleasing, not shouty or hard.
-Some recordings make my room feel alive, as if the speakers are putting out music in a way that my speakers are dancing or there is movement within the music that is flowing around the room.
-Ruthless with source material. If it's poorly produced or mastered, you can tell.
-I would also categorize this DAC on the less warm side of romantic. It’s not as romantic in its warmth, its romantic in its accuracy if that makes sense? Which makes it feel real in a very different way than the SW1X
- There are moments when I look around the room as if someone was in the room with me, which is a very interesting feeling and reaction to the music.
Cons:
-Still a little bit of sibilance, no matter which DAC I've listened to, it just doesn't seem to get rid of sibilance, but this one has the least of it that I've heard. This is regardless of it being Redbook, High Res, old or new recordings, although I will say recordings like Muddy Waters: My Captain have less sibilance than something that is new and has been digitally mastered.
-Seems to take about 45-60min to fully warm up and start flowing the music.
Abbas vs SW1X:
Where the SW1X differs is creating a smaller bubble of a soundstage from which the music flowed out into the room. Instead of the rectangular, larger soundstage of the 4.0. The SW1X, seemed to create this bubble of sound in the middle of the wall that the music flowed out from. Which created this feeling of warmness, it had less musical separation, but made it feel very real in a much different way.
Each time I listened to the Abbas, I just feel addicted to the music. Many of the nights listening for 2+ hours.
At this point “different” is really the best word I can use. Not better, not worse. Solidly different than the SW1X. Which is interesting given how they're related.
If we're just talking dollars and cents. To me there doesn't seem to be a reason to spend an additional $2k on the SW1X. Where the SW1X was $6k new and the Abbas 4.0 was $4k new.
Vs Vinyl:
As I did some back and forth listening between vinyl and digital, I find that the mediums are still pretty different, but each have their own appeal and that actually might be just fine. I think that while someone who prefers vinyl would argue that it’s the exact reproduction of the signal that the artists produced, I keep wondering if the reason it’s so appealing is because it’s not perfect. Where digital is much more "perfect" or is trying to be and that becomes a hard thing for our senses to adjust to and experience making digital feel hard around the edges etc.. Even a live concert isn't perfect, and I again think that is a reason its enjoyable.
Merely an opinion, observation and thinking out loud here for reflection. I don't want to get into the big ole Digital vs Vinyl debate.
Both the Abbas and the SW1X help the music feel less perfect, which funny enough is what Peter at Audio Note said they have been doing with their DACs for years, and consequently why people feel the music is real.
I think I was chasing that exact vinyl reproduction's and I'm coming to the conclusion that might not be the correct goal. Maybe good for the DAC manufactures, but not the best long term solution for enjoying the tunes. That goal might just be trying to get to Eden when it doesn't exits. There is no place of pure audio nirvana, instead there are the limits of the physical world which includes compromise, with each medium having its own.