Best Digital Gear 2011.

Frankly, I am a little surprised that after 2010, CAS based high end audio products some how, just stop coming on to the market place, instead all we got was disc based players which showcased CDs at their very best! What happened?

To me it's a bit of a dejavu feeling we got during the twilight days of vinyl, when the best advancing turn table designs only started to surface when dooms day was already pronounced, back then in the late 80's. Twenty years or so later vinyl is enjoying it's second spring, while the CD is now in it's last legs, How times have changed. Ultimately, should CAS make further in roads in to the audiophile world, or just slowly fade away like SACD and DVD-A is any one's guest today. One thing is for sure, with 32/384 music files on the horizon, it's only a matter of time when new hardware will be required to keep up.

In the mean time let the CD bask in glory of it's best play back equipment yet!



TAD D-600 CD/SACD player is a master stroke.

TAD D-600 CD/SACD player.

This is likely to be the Yamato battleship of CD players. The common storyline includes being the last pride of it's kind, where the Imperial Japanese Navy built the Yamato to be the end of all battleships, while realizing naval war fare was already shifting towards more agile and aggresive carrier based strategy. TAD also adopted this view when designing the D-600 CD/SACD player. However, unlike the Imperial Japanese Navy, they did not allow the disc spinner to be redundant in the advent of CAS digital source. Instead the TAD D-600 proved to be a perfect match for the Bryston BDP-1 playing hi-rez files to form an un-matched sonic synergy that's out of this world! Playing CDs and SACDs proved to be just as spectacular an event of musical enjoyment. Digital playback don't come much better than this, as it should, fully justifying it's asking price.




Playback Designs MPS-5 CD/SACD player is unique because it's designed to be fully up grade able which will ensure that it won't be obsolete in the near future.


Playback Designs MPS-5 CD/SACD player.

This is an interesting player because of it's modular structure and software based up grade able design. It would be a shame if it didn't sound good too. However, with it's latest power supply and firmware up grades, it does live up to expectations. Like the TAD mentioned above, it also allows connection to a digital media player like my Bryston BDP-1 to play hi rez music files. In this mode, the MPS-5 actually has the pizazz to rival the TAD master class, with it's phenomenally propulsive bass quality, low noise floor and transparency. There's a tendency to lose the last bit of "air" in a given recording compared to the TAD, but in the end, I guess one should choose it's own poison here.  However, it's when playing CDs and SACDs that the D-600 proved mostly superior, perhaps due to it's sturdier built in all aluminium transport mechanism. Having said that, I must put things in context that the fact the MPS-5 is mentioned here in this distinguished list means that it's playing at the very top level of digital playback.




Ayre DX-5 AV Engine is a do it all player, but excels particularly with CDs.

Ayre DX-5 AV Engine.

This Ayre reigned supreme, if only briefly, until the arrival of the two players mentioned above. Some have said that I was perhaps, a little harsh on the Ayre DX-5 AV Engine in my original review. Again in perspective, I found the DX-5 to show it's best with CD and Blu-ray replay. It sounded just as good too, when playing hi rez music files, via it's USB input, with signal fed by a purpose built for CAS windows OS based computer. The only reservation I had with this player is SACD playback, which is a little soft, not in volume, but rather a slight lack of drive and sense of drama, which it's otherwise a rather fine and natural sounding player. I am also not being fair to the Ayre perhaps, because ultimately, it's a whole more affordable than the other two stratospheric priced players mentioned above. Actually come to think of it, which other sub RM$40k player does it all(Audio & Video) with such high levels of competency?

Krell S-350a CD player sonically out performs it's price range by a mile. At one point, it had me wondering, why bother to spend more?

Krell S-350a CD player.

If one is contemplating on buying his last CD only player, my personal advise is why spend more? This sub RM$10k CD player can sound nearly as good as CDs are ever gonna get! It's well built and operates faultlessly too. It's sonic performance is clearly in the league of players costing 3-5 times more, if bench marked just a few years ago.  My digital source bargain of the year!

Here are a few other digital source components which I believe are worthy of my mention here in no particular order or ranking, though not formally reviewed by me personally, but heard else where.

1) Wadia 571 CD Transport, 931 Digital Controller and 922 Mono Decoding Computers combo.
2) DCS Pucini CD/SACD player and U-Clock combo.
3) Linn Klimax DS with Dinamik power supply upgrade.
4) Vitus Audio SCD-010 CD player.

That rounds up my Best Digital Gear 2011. Stay tuned for Best Amplifiers 2011, next!

Payback For Playback! Playback Designs MPS-5 CD/SACD Player.

The very smart looking two toned aluminium box of the Playback MPS-5. Note the ergonomically designed hand held remote with back lite. I just loved holding it for the sake of feeling it in my hands!

If there's ever a product that matches the cliche called "The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread?" this Playback Designs MPS-5 CD/SACD player is it! To find out why I would think of it this way? Read on........

If this player looks familiar to you.... then it's because we've covered this very exact one before, in one of our home visits called "Greatness In The Making"! Now our buddy Mark in his quest for greatness, has no choice but to take a temporary rest, as he moves his nest. While he has found a new nest capable of accommodating ever bigger speakers, it had to undergo some major face lift. Which is why, ever the generous person that he is, is allowing us to comb thru some of his toys. This is one of the first in which we'll write about, with his kind permission of course.

Playback Designs is the brain child of Andreas Koch, who had previously held designer positions with some of the most respectable digital audio brand names. The MPS-5 is the flagship product of his company. What makes the MPS-5 special is the upgrade programs on offer for dollar top ups, so that your brand new digital player purchased today, never gets left behind, as technology marches on, which is often the case. There have been so far algorithm and firmware up grades available on the software side, while new, beefier power supply and USB up grades are available on the hardware side of things.  Mark had just up graded his player to the latest spec, making his MPS-5 one of the first that I know of that is truly capable of native 24/384 sampling rates and also 6.1 MHz DSD when used through the USB-X box when playing files from a computer.

I had the re-fresh ed player straight back from the upgrade services. While on previous occasions, I thought the MPS-5 was a good CD/SACD player, it never really struck me like my favorite cuppa teh tarik(sweetened condensed milk tea, which is a Malaysian national beverage). However, the latest round of upgrades really had me convinced now that Playback is now a formidable high end digital contender!

Playing CDs and SACDs really digs out all the available information out of those shinny five inch disc. It's is naturally comparable to the TAD D-600(our current reference). The thing that immediately impressed me was that fierce and gutsy bass. Kick drums kick just a bit harder and bass lines just swells a little fuller, with the right amount of gutso too. Dynamics response of this player is a very strong point and playing hard rocking tracks never disappoints. Great sounding too are those Reference Recordings orchestral SACDs. The mids have just enough of warmth to portrayal of believable vocal. I must say though that the similarly priced Vitus SCD-010 does sound somewhat sweeter and sexier in this regards, especially when it comes to ladies like Stacy Kent. Is the Vitus more correct? I don't know, and only one can determine what's desirable for one's self. The highs of the MPS-5 is just very slightly truncated, again compared to the (nearly twice as expensive)TAD. I know it's not a fair comparison, but sonically, all these 3 players are so well positioned, the comparison just begs to be done, especially when we had all three rotating between us.


The modular internals of the Playback Designs MPS-5. It's got various digital inputs and outputs accessible via the back panel.


The MPS-5 possesses the darkest sound stage presentation, with laid back imaging and layers well separated. The TAD, on the contrary, gives a bit more "air" in it's presentation and is somewhat more revealing of the timbre plus harmonic textures of un-amplified string instruments, like piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass. Ditto for wood wind and horn sections, making it the most natural sounding of the 3 players. At this exalted level of playing playing field, I believe it's the little things like these that matters the most. The Vitus balances the other two players in between, by being the most forward imaging, yet without a hint of edginess.

However, it is when it comes to feeding hi-rez files in to the MPS-5, via my Bryston BDP-1, with the AES/EBU digital cable, made me realised just how much synergy this combo had, much like with case of the TAD too! Doing hi-rez music files via the Playback really made me forget about the comparo and just enjoyed the music. The Playback had a very analog sound to it with hi-rez materials, which relegated my analog front end to temporary dust magnet status. It practically matched the TAD blow for blow in this regards and that shows the DAC performance in the Playback to be of superior quality, as with the TAD. It is when I realised that the transport section of the TAD is the more capable of the two. It is rather unfortunate we did not get to do the hi-rez thing with the Vitus, due to time and scheduling constraints, because it would have been interesting.


Bryston BDP-1 and Playback Designs MPS-5, sonically match made in hi-rez heaven.


Make no mistake folks, we are playing at the pinnacle level of digital performance available today, now and a foresee able future.  I could really lived happily ever after with any one of the three digital players mentioned, especially with the TAD or Playback(if my budget doesn't go as far!), when pairing either of them with my Bryston BDP-1. For a brief month or so, I was in digital heaven. I've since being made to come back down to more earth bound performances.

Playback Designs is not available from any authorized dealers as yet in Malaysia. I hope some smart cookie of a dealer will be brave enough to bring it in to our shores, the horrific sticker price aside. However on the audio performance front, coming back to an answer for my opening question. The Playback MPS-5 is almost the best sounding digital player since the TAD D-600 left my room(just like the best thing since sliced bread!), and that's a very tall order indeed.

Lastly, I wish to thank Mark for sharing his exclusive toys with us. Stay tuned for more to come!