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Playback Designs Owners & Discussion Thread

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bhobba Grand Champion

bhobba

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Hi Bill. Have you any idea how the Audio gd dacs fit in with your ranking system? I'm asking as a fellow SNAer who came around for a listen to the PDX tells me good things are mentioned in regards to the Audio gds in various forums. I apologise if you have posted elsewhere about any experiences with the Audio gd and I've missed it

Bee200sx made the correct call on the NFB 3.1 - and the Off-Ramp for some reason didn't seem to make a big difference - you could clearly hear when it was used but it wasn't as pronounced as with the other DAC's. I have heard the Ref 5 and preferred the PDX and Metrum - they had greater speed to my ears. I have not heard the Ref 7.

Thanks

Bill

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alistairm
alistairm

I had the chance to have a listen to the PDX level 2 with upgraded caps this morning. It certainly has "wow" factor. And it's a very, very capable DAC. Incredibly control, wonderful soundstage and g

alistairm
alistairm

Please note I DID NOT describe it as bright.

sir sanders zingmore
sir sanders zingmore

Nothing is better than the PDX. Didn't you know that

kdoot Veteran

kdoot

Posted
Posted

There's not a whole lot of detailed information online about the Playback Designs products, but what's there is extremely interesting. Can I please join in a listening session sometime?

Zammo: have heard some of the MSB stuff. My first impression some time ago was not favourable, but more recently I heard what is said to be the same unit now with many more hours on it and an updated firmware (one of the strengths of the MSB approach is its field-upgradable nature). This time around it put on an impressive performance albeit with a technical glitch that allegedly hampered it quite a bit. The sound was authoritative, with all the hallmarks of excellent power supply and transparent output stages. If you've got that kind of money, they're worth having a listen to.

bhobba Grand Champion

bhobba

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How about the MSB range of DACS. Any of you guys heard them in comparison?

Owned an MSB Link DAC about 10 years ago - not good - not good at all - its bass was wrong - way wrong. I have heard their more upmarket stuff recently and that issue has been fixed but is not my cup of tea - it was better than my WFS - but would want to be for the price. My opinion is its a personal preference sort of thing - if you are interested in it see if you can wrangle some kind of demo. Indeed one of their DAC's, I forget which one, vies with the likes of DCS as the best DAC on the planet but, like the DCS etc, opinion varies on its sound.

Thanks

Bill

Edited by bhobba
bhobba Grand Champion

bhobba

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There's not a whole lot of detailed information online about the Playback Designs products, but what's there is extremely interesting. Can I please join in a listening session sometime?

Of course you can. A number of prople have contacted me about hearing it - including Mike and you are more than welcome at any one of those sessions of which I am sure there will be a few.

Anyone else is welcome as well and I will be happy to send it down to JD for review but from past discussions it may be outside the price range he is interested in reviewing stuff.

Thanks

Bill

Edited by bhobba

bhobba Grand Champion

bhobba

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Bill which Playback are you buying? The MPD3 or 5?

MPD-3. Jeff has the 5 so we can have a real good comparison. Sorry - but didn't want to spend $17K and the scuttlebutt is its pretty close anyway - but of course we will find out.

Thanks

Bill

Nikola krivorov Rookie

Nikola krivorov

Posted
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Oh, how I wish I could be there... But I am half way around the Globe... The Playback Designs stuff is the most intersting thing to happen in years, apart from the Light harmonic DaVinci DAC that has everything I could dream about - Nos like the Metrum, 32/384, USB... If someone can make that shoot out happen I am ready to travel for two days anywhere on the planet ;)

Willco Champion

Willco

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How about the MSB range of DACS. Any of you guys heard them in comparison?

Yoh Z,

I've heard the PLaybacks on 3 Occasions and with Evolution Acoustics/Dartzeel setups and it has been superb--which is more than I can say for the MSB stuff--it's just too clinical and brittle--maybe too much of a good thing-which annoys on extended listening-- Heavens I went back to the room I pictured twice to see if I was mistaken in my opinion of the apparent harshness from the Harbeths--and one things for sure Harbeths showed the fatiguing quality of the front end.

Sorry Vince your products get the thumbs down in my book.

YVMV

Willco

IMG_1504RET.jpg

Audiomarketplace Enthusiast

Audiomarketplace

Posted
Posted

Hi Will,

I agree, the modified Harbeth’s would not be my choice either for pairing with the MSB gear, particularly from an aesthetic point of view (but of course that is up to personal taste) :-)

That pic you posted looks like it was from the MSB room at CES 2011? I believe MSB ran with Harbeths at shows for a number of years, I did ask them once why exactly that was and they surprisingly answered that "it worked well for them" because people were shocked at the shows how good their MSB front end made relatively "inexpensive and average speakers" sound. I think they have moved onto bigger and better things though, did you get a chance to visit them again at CES this year? They ran with YG Acoustics and got some very favorable comments in the media as well as winning best sounding room in the Volent room with a full MSB front end. (http://stereotimes.com/CES2012j.shtml)

I think also that CES2011 was the first show they released the Universal Media Transport (UMT). They soon after brought out a pro-I2S add-on card for the DAC4 which isolates ground noise and removes hashness. This is really a "fix" for the UMT so make of that what you will, but I have one in my system here now and it makes a big difference. I used to think the DATA4 player was a better transport than the UMT, but now running with the ground isolated input board I can't tell the difference. There are also some recent firmware updates that I've applied which IMHO made a nice improvement also.

Anyway, not making excuses Will, I just wanted to say that perhaps it's time to come over for a listen to the refined product and see if your opinion changes like it did for others ? You're welcome to come for a listen and you have an open invite, as you know.

Bill, sorry to take your thread a little off topic. At least we're still on the topic of DAC's though, and I am sure you will agree with your experience in DACs and connection methods that ground noise can play a big part.

Cheers,

Anthony

Sir Rab of Everest Veteran

Sir Rab of Everest

Posted
Posted

Keith_W had one of the playback designs sacd players when i visited him after the Melbourne audio show. His system was very impressive and produced the best orchestral reproduction i have ever heard.

As much as i love my Level 2 PDX, surely the playback designs should be substantially better at $17k!?

jrisles Veteran

jrisles

Posted
Posted
Keith_W had one of the playback designs sacd players when i visited him after the Melbourne audio show. His system was very impressive and produced the best orchestral reproduction i have ever heard.

As much as i love my Level 2 PDX, surely the playback designs should be substantially better at $17k!?

It is not a $17k comparison given that the PDX does not have a built in transport the comparison is with a $13K DAC (MPD-5) or a $6.5K DAC (MPD-3) as the case maybe. And yes you would expect it to be better .. not too sure how one qualifies "substantially". In this game and every other .. it is never a linear translation.

Incremental improvements do come at a pretty big cost.

Sir Rab of Everest Veteran

Sir Rab of Everest

Posted
Posted
Nothing is better than the PDX. Didn't you know that ;)

Silly me, i forgot. Too much time away from SNA.

It is not a $17k comparison given that the PDX does not have a built in transport the comparison is with a $13K DAC (MPD-5) or a $6.5K DAC (MPD-3)

Ah, good point, i was overlooking that, but still...

not too sure how one qualifies "substantially". Incremental improvements do come at a pretty big cost.

That is true, but even $6.5k is a lotta moola, and certainly beyond my means...

Lenehan Audio Experienced

Lenehan Audio

Posted
Posted
Keith_W had one of the playback designs sacd players when i visited him after the Melbourne audio show. His system was very impressive and produced the best orchestral reproduction i have ever heard.

As much as i love my Level 2 PDX, surely the playback designs should be substantially better at $17k!?

Hi Rab cant wait to get that DAC at my factory for a decent controlled run against the PDX. My bet is on the PDX simple as that ! but I wouldn't be surprised if we got whipped I'm not going to be cocky about this cause I could have egg on my face.

To keep us all honest I've invited Kdoot,Rawl99,Bhobba,Doggiehowser and any other member that wishes to be here. One caveat though for any member that wishes to attend ,there will be no talking at all when music is playing ! absolutely not a whisper, this will NOT be a social event. Four people only can listen at once.

We may also have an AMR DP-777 on hand for comparison as well.

I believe March the 9th was being considered but I will be at the Sydney Audio Society on the 11th so wont be able to be here. I'm thinking maybe the weekend after if jriles is available ?

There's no doubt that digital audio is getting exciting and starting to sound incredibly good ! I'm getting a bit nervous so I'm ordering in a pair of Amperex 7308's as a backup ! yikes. Regards Mike Lenehan LenehanAudio

bhobba Grand Champion

bhobba

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To keep us all honest I've invited Kdoot,Rawl99,Bhobba,Doggiehowser and any other member that wishes to be here.

I would love to be there but like Mike I am heading elsewhere about that time - going down to Canberra to help a friend set up his home theater system - ML3 Reference for the fronts and ML2 Reference for the rears, a PDX, and taking my Metrum and Off-Ramp down as well as a KT88 SET I had specially made. We will be having a get together for people to come on over and listen once set up.

But once I get my Playback Designs I will most definitely be organizing similar get together's.

Thanks

Bill

Edited by bhobba
bhobba Grand Champion

bhobba

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Playback designs is the best DAC I have heard. Simply superb.
Nothing is better than the PDX. Didn't you know that ;)

As Arte Johnson playing the German soldier would say: "Verrrry interesting, but....'

Thanks

Bill

O.Sydney Experienced

O.Sydney

Posted
Posted
Sorry O.Sydney that was a typeO it's the sydneyaudioclub Regards Mike Lenehan
Yea. Since I will be in Canberra then I may be able to make it down there myself with my mate from Canberra.

Thanks

Bill

Excited to read Mike is coming down, but great if we get two Queenslanders for the price of one ;)

First thing in the morning I must 'check' work schedule so I'm in Sydney for this meet !

Once I find out more from either Mike or the http://www.sydneyaudioclub.org.au/ I'll start a fresh thread

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