Topic: COMPARISON sd722 vs oade acm marantz671

[sygdwm]

I liked both c and d equally for each of their own reasons FWIW. One or the other didnt really jump out at me. in samples a and b, I like a batter. b had too much of a high-end presence for my tastes

keep 'em coming, this is good info for folks in the market for these boxes. also, posting your playback lineage wouldnt hurt fellas.

[dennisrtyler]

wow...i immediately noticed b & d as my favorites, soundstage and depth are fantastic.
playback=cheap cans+laptop and it's still a no brainer for me.

[thegreatgumbino]

Good comp.  Thanks.  +T 

I ran the Stock/JW mod 460's > M148 for a while & feel like I have a pretty good handle on how they sound.  That being said, I liked 'A' & 'C'. 

edit: to remove spoilers.

[sygdwm]

thanks for the response. again can we refrain from giving the answers for now. just refer to the files as a-d. there may be some that havent listened yet or havent read the text file. i will post which is which once more have given a listen.

[Mike R.]

Between C and D, I'm thinking I have a slight preference for D.  Seems smoother -- but maybe that means extreme highs rolled off some.  I also think they're more similar than they are different.  Wasn't a blind test in my case, XMMS told me the ID out of the tags in each file.

[sygdwm]

Wasn't a blind test in my case, XMMS told me the ID out of the tags in each file.

thanks for your thoughts, but i have no idea how to prevent that.   

[Brian Skalinder]

Wasn't a blind test in my case, XMMS told me the ID out of the tags in each file.

thanks for your thoughts, but i have no idea how to prevent that.

ABX during playback.  Many tools / plugins available depending on one's OS and/or playback s/w.

[sygdwm]

Wasn't a blind test in my case, XMMS told me the ID out of the tags in each file.

thanks for your thoughts, but i have no idea how to prevent that.

ABX during playback.  Many tools / plugins available depending on one's OS and/or playback s/w.

interested in your thoughts, brian.

[JD]

First off my playback isn't the greatest, same goes for my ears.

Random thoughts on A and B.

At first I liked B more, The vocals where more upfront and the sound-stage wider. After a few times back and forth I upped the levels on A about 6-7db, Seemed to equal the samples out.

With A played louder I liked A better, vocals sound more natural, something about B sounds off, not sure what. Also I like the piano/keys better in A.  Still think B has slightly better sound-stage , the sound on A seems to be coming more from the left channel than the right, B is more centered.
Overall, I'd go with A.

Random Thoughts and C and D

Levels seem much closer on these samples. Vocals on D are more upfront. High end sounds better on C. Sound-stage is a little better on D.


Over all the sound-stage is a little better on B and D, but both B and D have something about them that is harder on the ears, not as smooth? Maybe its a little to much in the high end.

To me, A and C are easier to listen to.

Play back = Esi Juli@ sound card > Bluesky Prodesk 2.1 active monitors

I would be happy to bring any of these recordings home from a show, Thanks for the comp.

[sygdwm]

thanks for the excellent review.  +t



fwiw, i did play w/ the masters to get the levels as even as software would let me, but in the end i used the unedited original files, and probably should have mentioned that. so, adjust accordingly w/ your playback or edit as you see fit.

[boojum]

foobar2000 allows for ABX comparisons.  It adjust levels to make them equal so that the louder does not win as better.  Louder always "seems" to sound better.  If the levels are not equal it is not a true test.

[cshepherd]

I thought the midrange in source D was over-accentuated.  It brought out more detail & separation within the sound stage (the drums in particular), but also made the higher frequencies more fatiguing.  The extra midrange also affected the tonality of the recording.   Source C, was less fatiguing and easier to listen to at louder volumes.  It's frequency response was flatter, though its midrange was a little more veiled by comparison.

I thought sources A & B had the same corresponding issues as sources C & D (maybe to a slightly lesser degree).  Source A was a little smoother and more balanced, but neither sounded good with the volume turned up.

For overall sound quality, I would rank the sources from first to last - source C / source D / source A / source B.

Thanks for comp.  +T for your efforts.
Chris

playback system: 
Sonneteer Byron cdp > Mastersound Compact 845 integrated > Sonist Concerto 2 speakers

[sygdwm]

26 d/l's and only 6 reviews?

[db]

q: where was the vocalist on a & b? as stated above the image between a & b is different. on a, i'm getting guitar and vocal left channel almost entirely. on b is center/right channel. this diff should not come from a diff in recorders...  i'm just listening from songbird > mdr 7506.


edit: not getting the same diff from c/d. to this point i'm partial to b and d. tighter low end, more defined presence in the mids (noticable in the vocal) and highs. will move to stereo system later... these headphnes tend to accentuate mids.

[cshepherd]

Dre, you're doing good.  I drove 2 hours to Portland to make my last cable comp, only to have 12 downloads and no replies.

Chris

q: where was the vocalist on a & b? as stated above the image between a & b is different. on a, i'm getting guitar and vocal left channel almost entirely. on b is center/right channel. this diff should not come from a diff in recorders...  i'm just listening from songbird > mdr 7506.

I also noticed the sound stage in A & B leaning in different directions.

Chris