In last month’s Gramophone Dreams, I explained why doing any sort of empirical study of high-quality digital sources was extremely difficult. That any success I might achieve as a reporter would boil down to my ability to employ metaphors to describe a DAC’s clarity and dynamic personality. Concocting metaphors for DAC reviews is risky because it assumes readers will be familiar with the sound of my amplifier and speakers and, ideally, with one of the DACs I’m using in the comparison. That’s a lot to assume.
When a reader is unfamiliar with the other components I mention, my exposition becomes abstract—useful entertainment if it’s useful at all. That’s why I believe strongly in comparing products under review to widely known and respected reference components whenever possible.
Fortunately, in the current era of ultra-fi headphones and with the global popularity of CanJams, most audiophiles can experience a wide range of digital sonics without buying anything. If I refer to the dCS Bartók, HoloAudio Spring, or Mytek Manhattan II, most CanJammers (and readers) will at least have had the opportunity to experience the sound these converters make. All are popular, single-box DACs representing a particular manufacturer’s viewpoint.
With phono cartridges, it’s harder. The sound of phono is a mélange of the many vibrating contraptions comprising someone’s curated record-playing system. Each cartridge manufacturer has its own “house sound.” Each model in a manufacturer’s lineup sounds different. What’s more, phono cartridges perform differently with different phono stages, tonearms, tonearm cables, turntables, and even record pressings.
The best any phonophile can do is listen widely: at audio shows, in dealer showrooms, at friends’ homes. In lieu of that, or in addition to it, they can study reviews and scan hi-fi forums. If you are new to analog, start simple and cheap and try a variety of products to learn the ways that moving magnet, moving coil, moving iron, and “optical” cartridges sound different from each other.
