What I listen to:


Why this kind of installation?

As I do not have the space or the economy for a complete installation with amps and loadspeakers I try to get to get the maximum of sound quality out of a minimal system: CD-player and headphones. The headphones also permits those with neighbours to listen at any sound-level at unorthodox hours.

Current system:

CD-drive:

Micromega Drive 2 is based on the same design as Micromega Stage, but has no converter. It has 3 digital outputs; coaxial, balanced and optical(toslink) and a circuit called Acutrans is used to reduce the jitter. The drive itself is a Philips CDM12.4 intended to be used for CD-ROM.
20kb jpg of Micromega Drive 1/Dac
The intensity of the display may be adjusted and turns off(and close the drawer) automatically a few minutes after you stop listening so there is no need for a power button. This is a simple nice-looking drive that has all you need. Comparing Drive 1 with Drive 2 I found that the 2 had better marked dynamics and rhythm. With all the standards it got for the output it's a good departure for testing other equipment. One big minus for the cheap remote. I simply can't get used to it. On the remote is also an index-search that the drive don't have.

Digital Interconnect:

After a blind test I found the balanced connection to be better than the coaxial one, but the differences were smaller than observed when changing drive or analog interconnect. At the moment I simply use a standard AES/EBU cable. I may try out more exotic versions later, but there is not so much to gain here compared to what changing the analog cables may do.

D/A-converter:

Here I use a Micromega Dac. It has digital inputs after the same standards as the Drive and the two bitstream converters give balanced or unbalanced analog output. The only button is used to choose the digital input(Hold it in for a while to invert polarity). The sound is not made to impress. The bass is not the deepest, the soundstage is not the bigest and the treble is not the sweetest. This converter is not made for listening to test-records, but to music. You will not have any artificial "e;spatial stereo"e;-effect or a continous roar from the bass playing alone, but a consistent and natural sound that lets the music come through. Try it with your favourite recordings!!!

Analog interconnect:

Here the cable Audioquest Lapis is used. I tried out the Kimber PBJ as is is by many considered as the bargain cable at the moment. What I found was that I got an open sound that also was more natural. The problem was just that I also discovered that I needed a shielded cable because of some RF interference. I also tried Van den Hul the First, but it didn't sound linear on my system. A cable from Isolda was rapidly rejected. The lapis gives a good representation with good bass extention and with no big disadvantages. It may not be the most transparent cable, but I'll manage to live with it for a while.

Headphone amplifier:

Stax SRM-T1 is a triode amp that is just made for the headphones from Stax. It is a wellknown classic with transparent and detailed sound. It may seem a bit strange to use this kind of money on an amplifier that can only be used with a headphone......that is if you have not heard it. The silence is a total absence of sound, not even any tension in the air is left. And the music passes in a way that makes it well suited to use for testing sources. This is a reference in sound-reproduction.
23kb jpg of Stax SRM-T1/Lambda Pro

Headphones:

Stax Lambda Pro is an electrostatic headphone that with the dedicated amp gives a a sound that conventional loadspeakers can't equal in some domains. Compared to Sennheiser Orpheus, that has even more details and air, it has a better bass and the sound comes partially from the front. With the Orpheus the sound comes straight from the sides and that is not natural while listening to music. Anyway the Orpheus is way out of my price-range. The Lambdas are so comfortable that they can be carried for hours.

Power conditioner:

I soon realized that the sound of a system is better during the night. This comes from the simple fact that there is less electrical equipment in use and hence less noise transmitted over the mains. I thought a filter would let me have the same sound all day around, but it actually gave me better sound than I have ever heard on my system. Maybe the worst source of electrical pollution is the digital front end. Audio Power Power Pack IIe has 2 special isolated outlets for digital devices and 4 other for the rest of the system. I hear no clear difference when filtering the AC to the headphone amplifier, but the difference for the DAC and CD-drive was much bigger than expected. The sound of the Micromega that was quite forgiving and soft now became much more clear and direct. The low end is less "theoretical" and more real and kicking. Good recordings with 2 microphones and no mixing is now giving much more of musical nirvana, but too produced music is turning less listenable and often get a hard character that I have not noticed before. It really seems like the filter has changed the personality of the Micromega a lot. The Power Pack IIe is slightly different from the Power Pack II on the picture.
11kb jpg of Audio Power Power Pack II

Possible upgrades:

Headphone amplifier:

From Stax SRM-T1 to Stax SRM-T1S in order to use balanced interconnects.

D/A-converter:

Dynamic Precision DPDAC800 is the first Norwegian D/A-converter and it has many interesting solutions at a local price of about 3000 US$. Coaxial, BNC or AES/EBU digital input, balanced and unbalanced analog output, separate power supply, Sigma/Delta-converter from Crystal, a separate output for CD's recorded with emphasis(to simplify the signal path for the rest) and a voltage controlled crystal oscillator(VCOX) that can be regulated. This VCOX permits only a narrow frequency range from the drive in order to prevent the jitter. The VCOX has to be adjusted to the drive that is used. Dead race against ML 30 said the first test ...
16kb jpg of Dynamic Precision DPDAC800

Speakers and amplifiers:

When I can afford something I may support listening to.

Music:

I listen to almost any musical genre apart from Heavy Metal and Country music. Among the current favourites are Milton Nascimento and Miles Davis.
3-400 CD's (and about 50 LP's that are collecting dust). In the collection there is just a few CD's with classical music as I don't find the current CD-norm good enough to enjoy this kind of music.