Well, after listening to the point that I want to smack my head into a wall repeatedly, I'm ready to post...
I'm really curious to hear others' feedback on the comp. Anyone willing to toss a few thoughts out there? Remember, there's no right or wrong answer - whatever your ears and brain perceive as most enjoyable is what counts. If we all agreed, we wouldn't have all these great options. And if you can't tell the difference, that's useful information for yourself and perhaps others, too.
PlaybackNext time I do my testing, I'll have my PC hooked up to the main playback system in my office, but I didn't get it done in time for this comp. So for this listening session: PC > Waveterminal 2496 (coax) > smART DI/O DAC > AKG K501 headphones. I admit I mostly listened to the WSP sample as I quickly got my fill in each of several listening sessions before I even got to the YMSB sample.
SummaryFor overall sound, I preferred MBIT+ due to my perception of its retaining the most detail from the 24b source throughout the range (smoother overall sound) and reproducing the soundstage very well. Waves IDR took a close second, but lost a touch of bass and soundstaging detail and I found the highs, while detailed, a smidgen fatiguing (I think I'll try a different noise shaping scheme next time). POWR3 and UV22HR sounded somewhat similar to my ears in the loss of HF detail and a resulting etchiness, with POWR3 exhibiting better mid detail and a more natural soundstage. CEP and WL's internal dither v. the others - readily noticeable difference, though I preferred WL's internal to CEP by quite a bit.
Bottom line for me: while I prefer MBIT+ and IDR to the others in this particular case, POWR3 and UV22HR sound mighty fine and I'd be happy with any of these 4 options. But since I have a choice...
My notes...
Cool Edit Pro TPDF- noticeble loss of detail throughout the range
- reduced bass extension / impact
- mids more up-front than others
- strident highs, spitty, fatiguing
- flattened soundstage
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Waves IDR- slight loss of bass extension / impact v. 24b; better detail than CEP, UV22HR, POWR3, WL Internal
- retained mids detail well, more than UV22HR, POWR3, similar to MBIT+
- smoother / more detailed highs than UV22HR, POWR3, similar detail to MBIT+, but something in the HF bugs me just a bit - may have to try another NS setting
- retains soundstaging well, better than UV22HR, POWR3, not quite as well as MBIT+
.
iZotope Ozone MBIT+- very close bass extension / detail relative to 24b, slight loss of impact
- mids rich and full, close to 24b sound
- similar HF detail to IDR, more than the others
- best 16b overall detail and soundstaging
.
Powr Consortium POWR3- best bass extension and impact of the bunch (woof), but seems a touch looser somehow than the other 16b sources (maybe a playback gear issue?)
- mids not as detailed as IDR, MBIT+, more detailed than UV22HR
- highs not as detailed as IDR/MBIT+, spittier, etchier a la UV22HR
- better soundstaging than UV22HR, not as open and natural as IDR, MBIT+
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Truncated- loss of detail across the board (big surprise there, eh!)
- spitty highs and transients
- screwy soundstage
- edgy
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Apogee UV22HR- reduced bass extension, but more pronounced upper bass / low mids the others
- something's just not right for me in the mids - maybe not blending well to my ears from the more pronounced upper bass / low mids into the rest of the mid range; something's just...missing
- less detailed, etchy highs (maybe due to no noise shaping options implemented with WL's UV22HR implementation?)
- somewhat etchy soundstage, like there's more pronounced instrument separation (even than the master) - I think this is what initially drew me (and perhaps draws others) to UV22HR, but ultimately I found it slightly unnatural and fatiguing
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Wavelab Internal- loss of bass detail / extension, but not bad!
- mids more recessed (guitar, keys, vocals), lost detail
- big loss in HF detail, extension, but not nearly as fatiguing as CEP TPDF
- flattened soundstage
Topic: Discussion: DITHER Comp, v4 (Read 13542 times)