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Hi-Rez Highway: REVIEW: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD Player by dcstep@swbell.net New high resolution SACD releases, players and technology. |
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209.111.93.211
Model: MPS-5 Category: SACD Player Suggested Retail Price: $15,000. Description: One box player, redbook and SACD. will work as DAC or transport, ideal as DAC for music server and said to input any digital without jitter, software upgradable. Manufacturer URL: Not Available
Review by dcstep@swbell.net on June 27, 2008 at 08:21:55
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for the MPS-5
I recently added the Playback Designs MPS-CD/SACD player to my system and now that I've got some hours on it I thought I'd share my impressions.
First, realize that I don't have any references in the same price band as the PD, so the comparison will be to a grossly different universal player (a modded Pioneer Elite DV-58AV with a Superclock 4 and beefed up I/O stages). The Pioneer was actually pretty decent with SACD, but I longed for much more with redbook CD. I found myself listening to lots of vinyl or listening to SACDs and DVD-As.
There are now two or three reviews out about the MPS-5, most notably Mike Lavigne's, supplemented by an excellent addendum by Ted Smith. David Robinson is working on a detailed review, but gave a preliminary thumbs up.
Well, I listened and listened and went back and forth from the Pioneer to the Playback Designs. The PD was clearly superior, but how to describe it was my issue, other than use words like bigger air, richer harmonics and better imaging.
All became crystal clear when I ABd using Enrico Rava (trumpet) and Stefano Bollani's (piano) latest CD "The Third Man". (BTW, this is a fantastic, etherial, jazz CD. Rava is one of the world's great jazz trumpeters IMHO). If the pictures on the CD cover and insert are accurate, this is recorded in a live studio with hardwood floor and just a couple of mics. One mic is stuck right in the piano, with the lid open and the other is stationed in front of Rava, sitting about five-feet beyond the foot of the piano.
The first cut, "Estate", starts with just piano. I think a touch of reverb is added because of the very close proximity of the mic to the strings. With the MPS-5 the image of the piano stretches from about three-feet inside my right speaker to two-feet outside. (That reverb might actually be very light "flange" effect or "chorus", stetching the image so far). That image goes from my floor to a foot or two above the right speaker, but it's focal point is about six-inches inside the speaker about three-feet off the floor.
In contrast, the Pioneer doesn't go outside the speaker at all and stops about a foot from the floor and at the top of the speaker. I'd matched levels, but I tried to expand the Pioneer's image by turning up the volume, but no go, it just got louder, not bigger and "fuller".
Let's talk about Rava's trumpet image. The engineer has placed him to the left of center, but not out at the speaker. His mic is about four feet from the floor in the picture and he's sitting casually and playing. His mic is where you hear the atmosphere of the room, with both direct and reflected trumpet sound coming through, stretching from the piano edge to the left speaker, with a real strong focal point about four feet high and 30-degrees to the left of center. Once again, the Pioneer nails the focal point of the trumpet. You can hear the room, but it's much less obvious.
Didn't I say "fuller" earlier? Let me talk about it more. With that piano intro that I mentioned earlier, there's an incredibly rich and complex set of overtones, strongest at the piano's focal point, but showering the surrounding area with a overtones that decrease in richness as you move away from the focal point. Unfortunately the Pioneer is lacking the best overtones. The piano sounds "clangy" and thin in comparison. With the MPS-5 it sounds like there's more bass, but there's also way more high overtones. It's not all steel sound, but you hear the wood sound clearly.
The trumpet gains the same luxurious coating of overtones, high an low, making it sound fuller and richer and less edgy.
I don't have Rava's album on LP, but I do have a couple of Nora Jones albums on CD and LP. I'd stopped playing the CDs after I got my Pro-ject TT. Now the CDs are back out. In direct comparison, the glare and edge I was hearing in Nora's voice on CD is now gone. The images are now as big as the LP. The improvement is VAST.
Still, I think it took a sparely recorded album like Rava's to clearly demonstrate to me what I was hearing. Everything sounded fuller, more dynamic and just plain better, but now I can explain better why.
The excellent Reference Recordings CD "Crown Imperial" shows a couple of other advantages of the MPS-5. When things get really complex, with everybody playing loud but different lines at the same time it's much easier to pick out each line. I've played this before as a trumpeter, so I have a very good idea what's going on. Even knowing that I'd lose lines with the Pioneer, where the PD kept each line separate and easy to follow.
The controls are simple and intuitive, with a nicely backlit remote. The drawer is solid and fast. Like most drawers, if you push on it when it's open, it'll close. The chassis is heavy aluminum plate. At this price you might hope for a chassis machined from aircraft billet, but instead you get a solidly made chassis that's attractive, stiff and heavy.
There are balanced and unbalanced analog outputs (I used balanced into my Rowland Continuum 500 integrated amp). There is a wide selection digital inputs and outputs, but no HDMI either in or out. (My Pioneer has DSD-out via HDMI, so I miss the potential to use that with the Playback Designs).
Playback Designs' web site is not up yet, but it will be reasonably soon, I hope. I leave that to give you more technical details. I'm only here to talk about sonics.
Sorry that I didn't have any 10 and 20-thousand dollar players to compare the MPS-5. Mike, Ted and Dave have started that and there'll be more to come.
BTW, the retail price is $15,000 and there's an introductory price of $10,000. I have no idea how long that'll last, but I suspect it'll end soon, when the web site is up and marketing swings into full force.
Dave
Product Weakness: No HDMI I/O Product Strengths: NO %22digital%22 sound, rich harmonics, big stable images and stress free.
Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Rowland Continuum 500 Integrated Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): NA Sources (CDP/Turntable): Pro-ject RM10 Speakers: Vienna Acoustic Beethoven Baby Grands Cables/Interconnects: Analysis Plus Solo Crystal Oval Music Used (Genre/Selections): Jazz, Rock, Soul, Classical Room Size (LxWxH): 18' x 36' x 9 Room Comments/Treatments: Sumiko Speaker Time Period/Length of Audition: 8-hours Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Power Factor Correction included in the amp Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner Your System (if other than home audition): NA
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Topic - REVIEW: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD Player - dcstep@swbell.net 08:21:55 06/27/08 ( 66)
- RE: REVIEW: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD Player - dcstep@swbell.net 20:03:26 02/16/09 ( 0)
New Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD Player - Bruce B 22:23:21 12/13/08 ( 0)
RE: REVIEW: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD Player - dcstep@swbell.net 07:56:44 12/11/08 ( 0)
HRS M3 Isolation Base added - dcstep@swbell.net 13:37:36 09/3/08 ( 0)
RE: REVIEW: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD Player - dcstep@swbell.net 12:12:35 08/21/08 ( 0)
- RE: REVIEW: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD Player - Kenny 17:48:40 08/22/08 ( 0)
- RE: REVIEW: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD Player - dcstep@swbell.net 18:03:57 08/22/08 ( 0)
- Audio Federation's Impressions of Playback Designs - dcstep@swbell.net 17:24:51 08/23/08 ( 0)
- RE: Audio Federation's Impressions of Playback Designs - Kenny 22:45:50 08/23/08 ( 0)
- RE: Audio Federation's Impressions of Playback Designs - dcstep@swbell.net 07:44:00 08/24/08 ( 0)
- RE: Audio Federation's Impressions of Playback Designs - dcstep@swbell.net 15:35:29 08/24/08 ( 0)
- No worries... - Kenny 07:36:58 08/25/08 ( 0)
- Thanks for the vote of infallibility Kenny... - dcstep@swbell.net 08:27:14 08/25/08 ( 0)
MPS-5 performance comparing CD to SACD of the same album... - dcstep@swbell.net 12:40:27 07/5/08 ( 6)
- Interesting... - Kenny 06:23:35 07/6/08 ( 4)
- Digital Inputs Followup - dcstep@swbell.net 19:42:04 07/13/08 ( 2)
- Thank you ! - Kenny 05:54:59 07/14/08 ( 1)
- RE: Thank you ! - dcstep@swbell.net 08:33:49 07/14/08 ( 0)
- RE: Interesting... - dcstep@swbell.net 06:30:05 07/6/08 ( 0)
Interesting - Metralla 18:51:42 07/5/08 ( 0)
Well, well, well - xxyyzz 07:05:09 07/1/08 ( 0)
Two-hours with headphones, pure bliss... - dcstep@swbell.net 20:18:20 06/30/08 ( 0)
I Wonder What This Player Would Cost... - Gerry E. 09:28:22 06/30/08 ( 4)
- TEAC (Esoteric) has economies of scale... - dcstep@swbell.net 10:00:21 06/30/08 ( 2)
- Decision Factors? - Gerry E. 07:43:17 07/2/08 ( 1)
- Evaluating and taking risks... - dcstep@swbell.net 08:25:26 07/2/08 ( 0)
IME large companies design these types of products by committee.. - dcstep@swbell.net 09:53:54 06/30/08 ( 0)
Is it a reliable player ? - Kenny 17:54:55 06/28/08 ( 35)
- Good questions... here's a few answers... - dcstep@swbell.net 20:54:11 06/28/08 ( 13)
- Digital inputs - Kenny 08:02:52 06/29/08 ( 2)
- Also AES/EBU nt - Bar81 08:42:59 06/29/08 ( 0)
- It DOES have firmware update capability - dcstep@swbell.net 08:12:04 06/29/08 ( 0)
RE: Thanks for the info - Charles Hansen 21:25:43 06/28/08 ( 9)
- RE: Thanks for the info - Mark Hoepfl 00:00:41 06/29/08 ( 5)
- It's called the law of diminishing returns... - Bar81 08:35:58 06/29/08 ( 0)
- RE: Thanks for the info - Charles Hansen 08:31:33 06/29/08 ( 3)
- So a CX-R with VRDS NEO... - Bar81 08:41:18 06/29/08 ( 2)
- RE: So a CX-R with VRDS NEO... - Charles Hansen 09:17:59 06/29/08 ( 1)
- Too bad :( nt - Bar81 09:19:50 06/29/08 ( 0)
RE: Thanks for the info - dcstep@swbell.net 21:43:58 06/28/08 ( 2)
- RE: Thanks for the info - Charles Hansen 22:36:09 06/28/08 ( 1)
- RE: Thanks for the info - dcstep@swbell.net 06:51:42 06/29/08 ( 0)
Hmm, who are you? - Ted Smith 19:00:04 06/28/08 ( 20)
- Wow !!! Should a bored member be neutral ? - Kenny 07:50:46 06/29/08 ( 16)
- RE: Wow !!! Should a bored member be neutral ? - Charles Hansen 08:46:43 06/29/08 ( 14)
- (( Too bad Charles does not come up with a SACD player that is MULTI_CHANNEL )) - Robert C. Lang 12:40:38 06/30/08 ( 0)
- Hmm... How about a D/A for PS3 ? - Kenny 09:14:50 06/29/08 ( 1)
- RE: Hmm... How about a D/A for PS3 ? - Charles Hansen 09:30:28 06/29/08 ( 0)
- Wait, are you saying that simply connecting an SPDIF cable... - Bar81 08:50:31 06/29/08 ( 10)
- RE: Wait, are you saying that simply connecting an SPDIF cable... - Charles Hansen 16:53:04 06/29/08 ( 9)
- Crap, you're right. - Bar81 19:10:57 06/29/08 ( 3)
- PS -- Thanks for sharing - Charles Hansen 21:47:46 06/29/08 ( 1)
- Rather... - Bar81 05:10:16 06/30/08 ( 0)
- RE: Crap, you're right. - Charles Hansen 21:45:28 06/29/08 ( 0)
- 2 ways to hand this.. - Kenny 17:29:20 06/29/08 ( 4)
- RE: 2 ways to hand this.. - Charles Hansen 21:39:36 06/29/08 ( 3)
- Doesn't the KX-R address the second issue - Bar81 22:56:13 06/29/08 ( 2)
- RE: Doesn't the KX-R address the second issue - Charles Hansen 08:46:25 06/30/08 ( 1)
- cx-7e review - tngiloy 14:00:59 07/1/08 ( 0)
Nope, I'm speaking for myself - Ted Smith 08:37:21 06/29/08 ( 0)
RE: Not sure if that's fair, Ted - Charles Hansen 20:46:32 06/28/08 ( 2)
- P8i is OK.... - Kenny 08:27:20 06/29/08 ( 0)
Yep, I was just going to delete my post - Ted Smith 21:10:08 06/28/08 ( 0)
For that amount of money.........it had better walk my dog - Joe M 16:53:30 06/27/08 ( 2)
- If there is some way it can be used as - Duilawyer 09:29:14 06/28/08 ( 0)
& dispense BEER! - hifitommy 08:39:57 06/28/08 ( 0)
Personally, I don't care... - krisjan 14:36:17 06/27/08 ( 9)
- RE: Personally, I don't care... - dcstep@swbell.net 21:20:58 06/28/08 ( 1)
- Piano sound discussed in my prior post NT - dcstep@swbell.net 07:07:26 06/29/08 ( 0)
You'll love this string sound... - dcstep@swbell.net 19:40:16 06/27/08 ( 4)
- Rampal, and "She who must be obeyed" ? nt - Duilawyer 09:39:36 06/28/08 ( 2)
- RE: Rampal, and "She who must be obeyed" ? nt - Bayside Bomber 17:14:58 06/28/08 ( 0)
- RE: Rampal, and "She who must be obeyed" ? nt - dcstep@swbell.net 13:22:17 06/28/08 ( 0)
Thanks for the comprehensive response... - krisjan 04:36:42 06/28/08 ( 0)
Agreed! I find that most "gear-to-gear" comparisons, while potentially entertaining, are counter intuitive.... - Robert C. Lang 19:08:24 06/27/08 ( 1)
- RE: Agreed! I find that most "gear-to-gear" comparisons, while potentially entertaining, are counter intuitive.... - dcstep@swbell.net 20:05:04 06/27/08 ( 0)
RE: REVIEW: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD Player - kana813 11:36:59 06/27/08 ( 2)
- RE: REVIEW: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD Player - dcstep@swbell.net 11:42:07 06/27/08 ( 1)
- RE: REVIEW: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD Player - kana813 13:16:54 06/27/08 ( 0)