Weiss Minerva pk qb9 转外国一文
Mar 8, 2010 | tags meridian | views
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Chris, thanks very much!
I have listened to a not fully broken in QB9 and a full broken in Weiss for the last couple of days.
Interesting enough I have the same impression regarding bass with QB9. Although it did matter quite a bit, what kind of power cord I am using. With some power cords especially the transient response of e.g. an acoustic bass was much better than with others. These cables tend to sound a bit leaner. But my conclusion is, that it has to do a lot with roomacoustics.
I listened to the weiss now, for almost 10 days. The Minerva is a wonderful piece of gear and I was about to pull the trigger but then got the chance to audition the qb9...
In my system (Macbook Pro, Amarra, (Weiss and QB9), HMS and lessloss PowerCables and XLR Cables, ADAM AUdio active speakers) using the volume control of Amarra (The weiss volume control seems to be a bit more dynamic than Amarra) the weiss produces a very analog sounding picture. Even not so good ambiences are produced very listenable, Instruments are in Place, Voices stand right between my speakers, the sound is involving and it never is unnerving. That is with 16bit 44,1 khz. What really makes the weiss sing is Material at high samplingrates. All the samples on this site were used and the useal suspects vom HRX. Wow. But allthough most of the material used is brandnew I had the impression, that it sounded just a bit too analogue almost old????. In direct comparisson to analouge (Technics and TW Acustic Raven) my turntables sound a bit more alive. Nevertheless, the weiss unit is among the best Digital I have ever listened to (I havent listened to all the ultraexpensive gear except the top of the line Meridian and Soolos Music Server, Krell CD Player, Audionet).
When I introduced the QB9 in my system, I had plenty of detail, plenty of room, very accurate pinpoint imaging, but very analytical sound. This improved after I gave the unit 24 Hours of Isotek burn in coupled with classic, rock and pop CDs in constant rotation - I thought, "good resolution but without the emotional quality of the weiss. More burning in. Then yesterday evening, after about 72 hours of putting constant music on it, I sat down for another critical listening session. The first record I spun was Anna Netrebko "Souvenirs" Requiem - Pie Jesu. Actually I am not a classical fan and listen mostly to electronic music and jazz, but I have an idea how classical music should sound. Well it did sound the way I wanted it to sound. Those who know the record and have heard it on different systems might know that it can sound a bit cheezy, but it has orchestra and a choir in the background and it is quite a challenging task to seperate everything in the right way. I discovered that everything is in the right place. But not at first listen. I was actually overwhelmed by the emotional quality of Netrebkos Interpretation. Goose bumps. A fellow audiophile and sound engineer who stopped by to "help me with my decision" (of course!) sat there with his mouth wide open. His first comment: How much is it? His second: Thats a nobrainer? His third: I would very much like to listen to this unit in my system. His 4th: Damn, I need this record. After he listened to some records he is familiar with, he said, he really needs to listen to the qb9 in his system. He has a wadia! We played a whole variety of records including Bjork, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, some more classical music, audiophile female voices (Sara K and the likes), Zero 7, Roger Waters, ...
Same results! Spectactular! And what is most important. Not at all tiring. I could listen to very high volumes and then turn it down and still everything had weigth, the correct size, plenty of details I never knew existed in some old but familiar recordings.
Than we compared to the weiss. I was completely shocked at the difference. In my system and to my ears the difference is huge. Huge Ok but which one is better? I vote clearly for the qb9, my friend said the same.
But what are the differences. Compared to the QB9 the weiss seemed rather veiled (is that the correct english term?) If the QB9 has 100% resolution, than the Minerva has about 85% (For the first time I could understand what e.g. Maria Callas was actually singing!!!) The only thing I really liked better with the weiss, was the integration of bass in the overall picture. The best word to discribe it, is balanced or round. With the QB9 I sometimes missed some extension in the hights (maybe the MP Filter?) and the already described mushier bass (good word Chris). I listened to some records where I could not follow the basslines. I have not tried to fiddle with the placement of my speakers and have not tried using eq (It cost me weeks to find the "perfect" placement for my speakers which gave me the most musical pleasure with my analogue rig). in another post I was informed that break in might take up to 300 hours. I looked in the manual and it says 100-500 hours. So maybe bass will become more defined. But nevertheless I orderd a unit last night.
Those of you having not listened to the qb9, do so. Especially when your in the market for a DAC. Please do so. Especially in the US. I will pay 2800 Euro. The Weiss DAC 2 costs 2300 Euro in Germany. The Minerva about 3600 Euro. So for 2500 $ this seems to me like a bargain (thats 1700 Euro).
A week ago if someone would have asked me about the best digital gear, I would have answered The Weiss Minerva, today I say QB9.
By the way: without Amarra I preferred the Weiss. So maybe you should listen to different players before making a decision. Another interesting detail: Check the correct AC polarity of the QB9! The difference in my system was huge!!!! With wrong ac polarity the weiss definetly sounded better! In Germany we just reverse the plug. If you cant hear the difference you can check with a voltmeter. Can you do that with us plugs? (Maybe Mr. Hansen can chime in on this matter!)
All the best from Germany
Claudius
Charles Hansen - if you are listening - you did a marvelous job. I have auditioned quite some expensive gear in the last couple of years (Mostly Speakers, Amplifiers and analogue). But this much soundquality for so little money. Wow I will now audition your preamplifiers!
The only thing lurking in the back of my mind is: How would the qb9 compare to all the wavelength stuff? Well no chance in Germany.
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