Blasphemy!

My brother's gonna kill me for blogging about this, but yes--that's a Mac Airbook (or Air Macbook, or Book AirMac, or whatever) hooked up to my system. I ran the borrowed Mac through the Wavelength Brick V3 24/96 DAC and listened to titles using iTunes. The purpose of the Mac is to help break in the new cabling while the laptop for the server is being used as a, well, laptop. Overall, the sound quality was good to excellent and I was able to listen to a series of choice audiophile-y cuts that sounded about the same as a good CD player.

I think that says more about the excellence of the Wavelength DAC (not to mention my Trenner & Friedl ART monitors, which truly amazed some guests I had over last night) than the software. When it comes to iTunes, I think the interface is clunky, slow and downright antiquated compared to the Zune software running through the Blue Computer Solutions Music Server Project. (Or, as my brother likes to say, "iTunes looks like it was designed in the '80s.") In my humble opinion, many people love using iTunes because it's the only thing they know. I've used iTunes on PC for the last five years or so, but when I switched to Zune I instantly noted a HUGE difference in ease of use, speed, flexibility, features and overall appearance (the Zune presentation is great-looking and fun).

In the end, however, I think I could be okay with just the Mac BookAir and iTunes. It's not bad at all. The sound quality was much better than I expected (although those new Cardas cables are starting to break in nicely). But I can't wait to give the Blue another shot. The other night I reviewed Sam Cooke's Ain't That Good News from HDtracks for Stereolist.com, and it was my first experience with FLAC files. The sound quality was simply amazing. So I think we're on the right track with the project.

The Blue Computer Solutions Music Server Project...Adding the Wavelength DAC

The latest chapter of the ongoing music server project here at Blue Computer Solutions is the substitution of a high-end DAC for a traditional external sound card to see how it affects overall sound quality. I had a chance to borrow the Wavelength Audio Brick V3 24/96 digital-to-analog converter for the project, which replaced a $125 Creative Labs SB1240. When I first compared our music server (which isn't really a music server, but one of our Acer laptops with Zune software) to my modest Denon CD/DVD player, the sound quality was almost identical. I wanted to see how the $1750 Wavelength tipped the scales.

First I hooked up everything with Cardas Audio cable, including a Golden Reference interconnect linking the DAC to my amp--even the USB cable to the laptop was Cardas Clear. I plugged my laptop in, started the Zune software on my laptop and started playing around. For the first hour or so, I felt that the treble was a little too bright for my tastes. In addition, I thought the output levels from selection to selection were way too varied, much more so than if I was merely playing CDs. Good thing the Zune software let me adjust volume directly from the laptop. After a while, however, the sound softened up, and I was ready to compare the music server files directly to CD.

I listen to quite a few selctions from some of my favorites including The Smiths, Dead Can Dance, Pink Floyd and even a little Adam and the Ants. I finally settled on a cut for A/B comparisons: Neko Case's "Star Witness" from her album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, one of my favorite songs in the world. I carefully matched the volume for both the music server and the CD player, and started twisting selector knobs back and forth, back and forth.

At first I found it difficult to prefer one format after another. Then, I started to notice that the CD was sounding increasingly bright compared to the server running through the Wavelength DAC. When Neko really starts singing at full power, it could be a little relentless through the Denon CD player and I found myself wanting to turn down the volume. The Wavelength DAC/music server took the edge off and made it less fatiguing. It was almost like switching back and forth between a solid state amp and a tube amp (which makes sense because the DAC is tubed), where the Wavelength sounded softer, warmer and natural. The differences are subtle, however, and I want to spend some more time (and have a few others second my impressions) before I offer my final thoughts...especially since the Cardas cables need to break in further.

The next phase of the Blue Computer Solutions Project...

...is the DAC! I just received this DAC, the Wavelength Brick V3 24/96, to use with our music server project for Blue Computer Solutions. My brother Mat and I will do extended listening tests to determine how a high-quality digital-to-analog converter such as the Wavelength can deliver truly high-end sound in comparison to the stock external sound card I'm currently using. We'll report on our findings later in the week.

I'll be honest and admit that I have little or no experience with DACs. When they started appearing back in the '90s, it took me forever to learn what they did. I've always used one-box CD players throughout my life (albeit great ones such as the Naim CD3 and the Naim CDX2), so I never really had a need to explore what an outboard DAC could do.

When DACs started making a comeback a few years ago, I was a little confused until I realized these new machines weren't being used with CD players...they were being used with music servers and other computer audio sources. When I first unpacked the Wavelength, I immediately wanted to hook it up to my modest Denon CD/DVD player to see how it improved the sound. Unfortunately, they're incompatible since the Denon doesn't have a USB connection. D'oh! So I'll use it with the server and get back to you shortly!