Thread: Dcs P8i MKII

Posts: 48
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Post by jazz1 July 1, 2012 (21 of 48)
Nagraboy said:

I think it's very questionable to judge the sound of a source component in the context of hearing a demo of speakers you'd never heard before, possibly in an unfamiliar room. There's simply no way to tell whether the aspects of the sound you didn't like we're down to the speakers and room or not. Considering speakers have far more distortion than digital sources - many orders of magnitude more - and rooms tend to distort the bass by maybe upto 40% or more, surely you can't make any kind of useful judgement in that context? A different speaker could have produced a totally different sound, one you might have enjoyed - would you be then praising the dCS and Playback Designs machines?

You can only judge a piece of electronics in a familiar room and system, all else is guesswork IMO. It's unfortunate that you haven't been able to demo these machines at home, where you'd be able to get a true picture of their performance. I hope you can get the chance one day, because in my system the dCS is really shining.

The cold sound of the DCS was judged versus the turntable which BTW sounded marvelous. But I still agree with you that a home demo is the ultimate.
One must also remember that synergy between all the different pieces of equipment is also critical.

Post by Buizesmurf July 1, 2012 (22 of 48)
I choose my Dcs because i like his sound.Very natural,detail.Think the Dcs are best without a pre,thats how i use the most moments.As couter for the analitic sound off the Dcs i have tube amp,s.Single ended 2x211.I do also bi-amping.And for the lowest octaves i use sub modules from Hypex.Because the P8i have 2x analog outputs complete seperate,i do not need splitters.Streaming and homecinema i use oppo 93 and the dcs as a dac.Then there is a masterclock input also,what i use for a "grimm" masterclock.Even the oppo i can slave to the "grimm" and then to the dcs,just 2 pairs interconnect,simple.With minimal signalpads its sound just great for me.......

Post by Nagraboy July 1, 2012 (23 of 48)
jazz1 said:

The cold sound of the DCS was judged versus the turntable which BTW sounded marvelous. But I still agree with you that a home demo is the ultimate.
One must also remember that synergy between all the different pieces of equipment is also critical.

Well, a turntable like the Continuum playing a vinyl LP is an heroic anachronism with masses of distortion compared with a modern digital source. Perhaps this distortion added to the speakers/room distortion produced a pleasing effect for you, which is a fair preference, albeit less accurate overall.

I think 'synergy' is way overestimated as a factor in good sound reproduction. Beyond basic electrical compatibility like not using 4wpc SET amps with low-sensitivity, hard to drive pro-monitors, the whole idea is largely marketing driven. Most solid-state amplifiers and digital sources have very low distortion and are widely compatible with each other. The speakers really make the difference though because they all have much more distortion than any CD player available. Choose the right speakers for you and your room and most electronics will do a perfectly good job. The very best digital sources make a good situation even better.

Post by jazz1 July 1, 2012 (24 of 48)
Nagraboy said:

Well, a turntable like the Continuum playing a vinyl LP is an heroic anachronism with masses of distortion compared with a modern digital source. Perhaps this distortion added to the speakers/room distortion produced a pleasing effect for you, which is a fair preference, albeit less accurate overall.

I think 'synergy' is way overestimated as a factor in good sound reproduction. Beyond basic electrical compatibility like not using 4wpc SET amps with low-sensitivity, hard to drive pro-monitors, the whole idea is largely marketing driven. Most solid-state amplifiers and digital sources have very low distortion and are widely compatible with each other. The speakers really make the difference though because they all have much more distortion than any CD player available. Choose the right speakers for you and your room and most electronics will do a perfectly good job. The very best digital sources make a good situation even better.

I wished that the secret of good sound was as simple as that, there is so many factors influencing a system and finding one that satisfy our personal tastes.
I have tried many suppose to be great amplifiers and did not like the majority of them. Sure they have fantastic specs, low distortion etc, but can still sound unmusical.

Post by rammiepie July 1, 2012 (25 of 48)
jazz1 said:

I wished that the secret of good sound was as simple as that, there is so many factors influencing a system and finding one that satisfy our personal tastes.
I have tried many suppose to be great amplifiers and did not like the majority of them. Sure they have fantastic specs, low distortion etc, but can still sound unmusical.

Lest we forget, jazz1, the listening room is a component as well and some rooms do NOT lend themselves to audio reproduction.

If a great amp doesn't send chills up your spine did you ever consider using room enhancement devices.

Over and above digital eq from one's pre/pro, they (room enhancements) can help alleviate the anomalies in one's listening environment.

It does take money and a lot of experimentation but the rewards can be justified.

Post by jazz1 July 1, 2012 (26 of 48)
rammiepie said:



If a great amp doesn't send chills up your spine did you ever consider using room enhancement devices.

Over and above digital eq from one's pre/pro, they (room enhancements) can help alleviate the anomalies in one's listening environment.

It does take money and a lot of experimentation but the rewards can be justified.

I do have a good room and my current amp of 5 years not been dethroned yet.
But from these experiences I am reluctant to purchase a top end (15k+)
SACD player not having it in my system first, unfortunately due to my location this is virtually impossible.

Post by Buizesmurf May 18, 2013 (27 of 48)
Now togheter with a masterclock from Grimm.As masterclock and for oppo blue ray player as slave.....

Post by Buizesmurf September 1, 2014 (28 of 48)
Verdi-Purcell-Delius combo now took the p8i place.Still with the Grimm master clock.
And yes its a great upgrade in sound,but more complex in using......
Now also extern digital signal can be upsample to DSD,special for watching video big step forwards.....

Post by Buizesmurf September 2, 2014 (29 of 48)
have somebody expierence with firewire 1394 cables on dCS systems here?

Post by Claude July 20, 2015 (30 of 48)
dCS announced their new Rossini player + DAC in May. They are supposed to replace the Puccini line (SACD/CD player/DAC + external clock).

The Rossini DAC (£15.000) is in fact a DAC and a streamer, it also plays files from a network.

The Rossini Player (£18.000) adds a disc drive. But it only supports CD, not SACD. What a disappointment!

I think SACD support would be more important than CD support, because a CD can be ripped and many collectors now prefer to play the files instead of the disc. But with SACD, a drive is the only way to play it (PS3 ripping notwithstanding, which most people can't do)

http://www.soundstageglobal.com/index.php/shows-events/high-end-2015-munich-germany/184-high-end-2015-features/576-state-of-the-art-digital-from-dcs-and-msb-technology

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