New audio products compatible with HDMI 1.3 are finally appearing on the market (in theory I do not care about 1.3 but I do care about 1.2 and native DSD supports for SACD). I was thinking about buying a Denon receiver (that I would have used as a pre-pro) but I started to hear about a product that seems to fit even better my needs. An audio-video pre-pro from Integra the DTC 9.8 (Integra is a sub-company of Onkyo, supposedly one level higher than typical Onkyo products).
This product include a reon video processor able to up-convert everything up to 1080p. On the audio side it can accept native DSD, full 7.1 PCM signals and has balanced out. It also supports Audyssey multi-eq which can help compensate for acoustical weaknesses of the listening room (I am a bit sceptical here, but will surely try it).
There is a lot of information on this product on a thread on the AVS forum.
I was impressed enough just based on the price/functionality of this product that I decided to pre-order it. Of course I am doing a leap of faith and the sound quality may be disappointing or the product could have several first generation issues (for example HDMI compatibility issues). But I checked with my reseller and I will have a few days to play with it in my own set up and could give it back with full refund.
While waiting for this new toy, I decided to shop for a new 2 channel amp for my ESL-63s. Currently I used a 2 channel Bryston 3BSST for my QUADs 988 and a multi-3 from audio refinements for my ESL-63 and center. For movies in 6.1 I use one channel of my Onkyo receiver. But in going to a real pre-pro I would have ended only in 5.1 (not the end of the world). But I wanted to use the balanced out of the DTC 9.8 and pamper my trusted ESL-63s.
So while shopping on audiogon I decided to go for another amp of the same family the Bryston 2BSST . This amp also has balanced input, compared to the 3BSST (rated at 150 watt) the 2BSST is "only" rated at 100 watt. But Bryston is very conservative on power measurement and in practice it definitively sounds more muscular than a 125 watt including my own 3 channel audio refinement. Also QUAD panels can take just so much current, so going much higher than 150 watt is useless (and even dangerous see below).
The Brystons have a long warranty and are nearly indestructible, they resist to a short. For a Quad owner this is important because when driven too hard, a protection circuit triggers (to protect the panel from a burn through) and a temporary short is created. In the past I have blown up several amps on trial and managed to blow up one channel of the audio refinement when pushing too hard a DVD-A of the Verdi's requiem (I did not expect that from the surround channel!) So no such problems with two Brystons amps for my 2 pair of QUADs.
I was hoping for a small improvement but the result has exceeded my expectations. I do not know if the 2BSST is simply better, or that its capabilities in terms of current are better adapted to electrostatic panels but the resulting improvement is not subtle. The overall image in multi-channel is more solid and complete (e.g. a bit like feeling a complete circle with no holes in the sound) and more details stood out on some of my favourites recordings.
On recordings where the surround channel are used aggressively the improvement is easy to justify, my ESL-63 are singing better and feel better match to the newer ESL 988s. In one of my oldest multi-channel recordings of the brandeburg concertos on TACET, , in the second concerto the trumpet is coming through the right surround channel. You will not be surprised to learn that the trumpet dynamics is better. But what I found most surprising is that the overall sound is clearer and more instrumental details are standing out. For example in the 5th concerto the basso continuo of the cello is much easier to follow and the sound of the instrument fuller.
Another good test is the SACD LAGQ (Los Angeles Guitar Quartet) latin on Telarc (SACD 60593) where on nearly all the tracks there is one guitar on each speaker (the center is for ambiance). For those who thinks this is not natural 2 comments: 1- The ear can select each guitar independently, but the chords sounds perfectly synchronized; 2- What do you think musician ear when they play together on a stage? The second track Hasta Alicia Baila contains many percussive effects (musicians tap on the guitar bodies). This is a very dynamic track (I made my QUADs clip by putting the volume too high) with the 2BSST on the rear channel my 63s are lot more dynamic and the feeling of liveness better.
But the most surprising effect was on this SACD from ATMA where three organ showpieces are fantastically recorded. The image is much more solid and less constricted, and the weird effect is that I got a strong illusion that my front speakers (which of course did not change and have the same amp) sound stronger. I suppose this is because the surrounds support better the overall soundscape and give a better feeling of the huge instrument even from the front. This effect increases my respect of the saying that equal speakers (and electronics) is recommended for all channels for an optimal listening experience.
Shortly after buying the 2BSST I ordered 2 pairs of XLR interconnects. And then I heard of a new universal DVD player from the Oppo 980H with video out both in component and HDMI 1.2. This product is one of the first available to output DSD natively on HDMI. So I also purchased it, so I am fully ready for the Integra DTC 9.8.
During that installation I get rid of an incredible quantity of cables, I do not need the ICBM for bass management, nor do I need multiple 6x interconnects for multi-channel analog. All of this is replaced by one HDMI cable to the Oppo 980H and one to the PS3. I still need sets of video component cables but this is because my older HDTV only supports one 1080i component input. I can at least use the DTC 9.8 as a video switcher. But for reason of content protection (HDCP) it is “forbidden” to switch HDMI input out to component, so I still need component cables from the PS3 and Oppo to the Integra.
The arrival of sounds digitally to the processor permits a host of adjustment in the digital domain (bass management, Audyssey acoustic correction, etc.) . The DTC contains excellent DACs Burr-Brown 1796 for each channel (7+1) which support 192Khz/24 bits PCM and native DSD decoding. I think these are the strong point of the Integra. Of course several audio modes are available including “Direct” which minimizes signal processing. The Integra supports balanced output, so I use XLR interconnects to my two Brystons and RCAs interconnects to the Audio Refinement multi-3 for center and the 2 back surrounds. I need to connect another Boston Acoustics VR-MX so that I now have 7+1 speakers.
When powering up the DTC 9.8 for the first time there is quite a set-up to be done (including Audyssey than needs to take several audio samples with a supplied microphone at several positions while playing test tones in all speakers in succession). After close to 2 hours of confusion nothing works. I am trying to assign inputs such as HDMI 1 for audio and Component Video 1 for the DVD. But both the PS3 and Oppo 980H are complaining that HDMI does not work. Finally I understand that the HDMI input are numerated upside down (4 is at the left 1 at the other side, probably make sense for Japanese!), everything start to work!
In the next few days I realized that I could not play SACD on the Oppo 980H. I either got a huge white noise (the first time I was afraid I blew up a speaker, but after that I was very careful with the volume) or some kind of very fuzzy stereo (like an echo of the recording). I did not have this problem with the PS3 that transforms the DSD into PCM at 176.4Khz, and it sounds absolutely fantastic. After some help through the AVS forum and the excellent technical support from Oppo I finally understand that the Oppo was set to a video resolution of 480p (I did not care because I do not use the HDMI video currently) which is not high enough to pass high-resolution audio. I also understand that all my 96Khz DVD-Audio were downconverted to 48Khz. Even if I do not have an HDMI display by temporarily putting the DTC 9.8 in HDMI monitor out, I managed to fool the Oppo to switch to 1080i video. This is a new world where video is king and audio is secondary, but finally I can output SACD in native DSD mode!
So it took a few days but everything works properly. What is very sweet is nearly every single recording I own (CD,DVD-A and SACD) sounds better than before (except a few really bad sounding recording that are even more strident, but this is to be expected). After a lot of trials and a lot of fun I conclude that when I do not need bass management I prefer the Oppo 980H and the DTC 9.8 in “direct” mode for SACD with as little processing as possible. But if I want bass management the PS3 seems to do a better job converting DSD to PCM. But this difference is really small and a bit subjective, so for DVD-A and CD I use the Oppo and for SACD whatever is already open.
Of course now I also have access to better audio from Blu-Ray. For example the Fifth Element has been re-mastered (apparently the first Blu-Ray version was horrible) and with a Dolby TrueHD track. The famous diva scene starts with a flute playing and feels very natural, the diva voice is full and present, this is the best sound I have ever heard from a video source. James Bond Casino Royale has an uncompressed PCM soundtrack which clearly improves the impact of action scenes and help transports us into a different world, the difference with ordinary dolby digital or DTS is not subtle. Note that currently many of these tracks are around 48Hkz 16 (or 24) bits. So this is not high-resolution yet but CD quality in each channel is a good beginning.
Finally musical Blu-Ray (and HD-DVD) are slowly starting to appear. One of the first one is Legend of Jazz (from the PBS show) and I was not disappointed (except that the 55 minutes are over too quickly). The combination of HD image with high-rez sound is seductive (and I will do a full review soon).
So I think I have replaced the weakest link in my sound system and the DTC 9.8 at this time is a fantastic value. I have no HDMI compatibility issue and the sound quality is superb. For example I can clearly hear a smoother and refined sound from a TACET DVD-A at 96Khz compared to it downconverted to “only” 48Khz. So I want to re-listen to all my favourite multi-channel recording. As a bonus the DTC 9.8 can upconvert video up to 1080 and I appreciate that a lot while watching an F1 race ( I am a total maniac!).