I've started a new thread so as not to steal the thunder of John's (J.N.) thread comparing the CDX2 to MacBook streaming. There's a great debate going on there, and I hope this thread will supplement rather than over-ride.

The other main reason to separate this out is that I do not currently own a CDP (other than the CD playing capability of the n-Vi) but I have owned in the past a CDX, a CDS2 and lastly a CDS3, plus I've also owned both versions of the XPS. It's, therefore, only fair to say that any comparisons I make with these CDP's is from many years of enjoyment and experience, but not from direct A-B comparison.

I think that most would agree that my system forms a very good foundation for any source, and is capable of showing up all the differences and nuances.

A brief background of how I ended up here. My CDS3 sat in a 252 / 250 / NBL set up for a few years, but I finally decided this year to give the NBL's the type of amplification that they deserve, hence an upgrade to 552 / 500. Unfortunately to finance this meant the CDS3 had to go, with a little reluctance, but I felt I could get by with streaming my Mac Mini through my n-Vi for the time being, whilst I decide ( and save up for ) either the full CD555 route or see what Naim delivered in the streaming server range.

I desperately wanted the HDX (with at least an XPS2) to be vying with the CDS3, I would have been happy with this, embracing the convenience of a hard disk player, which in effect I grown accustomed to by way of iTunes playing through my n-Vi. Sadly, (and I say this without having heard the HDX) it seems, (I stress seems), that it lies somwhere between the CDX2 and the CDS3, which I have no doubt is exactly where Naim wanted it to stand in the pecking order. Still, for me, and in the context of my system, it may not quite cut the mustard, so to speak, and does not represent great VFM especially in light of what follows.

I already knew that I was getting good results (more on this later) from iTunes lossless / Mac Mini / n-Vi, and the recent 'remote' software from Apple for the iPhone and iPod Touch, should not be under-estimated, it makes using a mac through the hi-fi a pleasure. Anyone considering this route, should factor in a 8gb Touch, it's that good / convenient. It got me thinking (not least because Naim are slooooowly heading that way) what a separate DAC can do, can I improve the n-VI experience and again, in the context of my system, the cost of the Lavry seemed a worthwhile punt, it's always sellable at little or no loss.

Some of you will know that I only received the Lavry yesterday, and to be fair, this together with the Flashback XLR custom made lead do need a resonable period to burn in, just like any other new hi-fi component. So, any comments I make should be tempered by the possiblity of more to come from the Lavry.

So here we are, ground zero, day 1, open ears and all biases set aside. Here are my initial thoughts and I'll keep them brief and embellish more as I live with the changes. One other note is that I will keep the Apple TV out of the equation for the time being, but it is possible to sync iTunes from the Mac to here, and use the ATV on it's own via the Lavry or n-Vi. The main advantage is that you have a much less power hungry component (unlike the MAC or any other computer / NAS system) that can effectively be left on all the time with instant access from the hi-fi and also, much less wiring. The 'remote' program on my iPhone allows control of the ATV (for music) without it needing a screen being attached.

The initial start-up of the Lavry yesterday evening was very promising, but as to be expected contained some edginess, peaks and screeches on certain notes consistent with a brand new component going through it's initial warm-up. Things are much better this morning, but you can tell it still needs to burn in as previously mentioned.

Nevertheless, in comparison to the DAC in the n-Vi, I would have to say at this time that there is not much in it. The Lavry through the 552 has a slightly bigger soundstage and more depth in the overall sound, and also goes lower in the bass department, albeit with slightly less accuracy at this stage. The slightly lesser accuracy could also be said of the very high end bits of percussion. However, the timbral quality of voices, acoustic guitars, piano is excellent, better than with the n-Vi, so it's easier to get emotionally involved with the music, certainly some of my favourite tracks create the spine-tingles that is the mark of a very good system. I would say that when using the n-Vi route, which effectively by-passes the 552 through unity gain, the music has a more highly polished feel to it, but is maybe more veiled, (i.e. less full, smaller sondstage), some would say more 'digital'. Conversely, the Lavry could be described as bringing a slightly more analogue quality to what is still digital playback, maybe this is simply because it is using the analogue circuits in the preamp. Both routes have all the PRAT, no sluggishness or flatness at all.

So, do I miss my CDS3?

Well of course I do, the CDS3 is an exceptional CDP, some here still prefer it to the mighty CD555. What I can say is that the quality I was getting from my n-Vi & Mini-Mac combination was close enough to the CDS3 to cause to me to look at addressing the balance (some call it synergy) in the system elsewhere, and I do not for one moment regret the 552/500 now fronting the NBL's (at the expense fo the CDS3). In itself, this was an awesome upgrade and the NBL's sound fantastic. We are talking fairly minute pieces of detail I have lost overall by letting the CDS3 go.

Having had initial experience with the Lavry, I have to put this in context of what other people have said so far, and also, the equipment I have changed and replaced. My initial instinct and hearing tells me the Lavry / Mac Mini is slightly better than the n-Vi / Mac Mini, but this is an emotional thing I am getting in listening to what I have so far, it could change as the Lavry burns in further, and the gap may widen (it probably should), but what is apparent is the n-Vi / Mac Mini route was / is extremely good. By interpolation, both are better than the CDX or CDS2 I owned (even with added power supplies), but not quite up to the CDS3 ( and this is miniscule really). So this makes sense, I should point out that the CDS3 and n-Vi/Mac Mini comparison was made in a 552/250/NBL system, the CDS3 went when the 500 arrived.

What is interesting is what Steve, TonyM and others have experienced, whereby the Lavry / MacBook ran the CD555 very closely. Does this mean that the audio outputs of a MacBook and a Mac Mini are different quality, which further begs the question as to which Mac has the best digital audio output?

What will also be interesting is how the HDX performs in Jon Honeyballs active dibble system. That is going to be a good test of the HDX output and another guage of the HDX against a high end CDP..

Wiil post more as I live more with the Lavry.

Regards

Allen

Hi Allen,

What audio settings are you using for iTunes/preferences/playback and the OS X Audio MIDI Setup?

Also is the equalizer (iTunes/preferences/view) off?

Apologies if that's all sorted. It's just that I wasted some time with it and Keith did too IIRC.

Best,

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by Steve S1:
Hi Allen,

What audio settings are you using for iTunes/preferences/playback and the OS X Audio MIDI Setup?

Also is the equalizer (iTunes/preferences/view) off?

Apologies if that's all sorted. It's just that I wasted some time with it and Keith did too IIRC.

Best,

Steve

Hi Steve

I' have Crossfade, Sound Enhancer & Sound Check all un-ticked in iTunes preferences and no equalizer showing in View.

I have just noticed that in OS X Audio Midi Set Up, in the Audio Devices tab, the 'Built-in output' was configured as 44,000 hz, 2ch-24-bit, this must have been by default. I've now changed it to 96,000 hz, 2 ch-24-bit. Will this have an effect on basic 44,000, 2 ch-16-bit recordings (i.e all my tunes in appple lossless). Should I change with the type of recording, or will the highest setting do for all?

Also, are you aware of any differences between the Macs in terms of audio output quality, or are they all designed with the same components in each model?

BTW, the Lavry is set as optical/ crystal/ normal/ stereo on the front switches, volume set at 45 and the jumpers have been set internally to hot pin 2 to match the Flashback cable.

Many thanks

Allen

Hi Allen,

I think the latest Intel Macs with the current Operating System should be the same.

The key things seem to be as you have them. I use the 96khz sample rate for 24/96 samples only. Otherwise 2-ch 24bit / 44khz for my ripped CDs.

Benchmark's site indicates that it's OK to leave them on the max your DAC will take. I think you have to close iTunes - adjust - then open again for it to pick up the change. Otherwise all should be well.

Just seen your other post - Lavry settings are optical, crystal, normal and stereo. But the volume to match my CDS3 and Tony's 555 was set at 47 - I keep it there. Jumpers are hot pin 2 to match the same flashback cable. Love to hear it with a Hi-line. It bettered my CDS3 in this set-up.

Also, for hot pin 2 unbalanced - someone suggested polarity be set to "invert", but I could not hear a difference. No pain to try though.

Regards,

Steve

Thanks Steve

Interestingly, when the Mac Mini is set to 96,000 hz / 24-bit-2-ch, the Lavry locks on as 96,000 hz, suggesting the Mac Mini is upsampling the track being played (which as I said, are all 44,0000 hz / 16-bit-2-ch, as to be expected).

Initially there doesn't seem to be any dicernable difference in the track when played at either setting, but I'll investigate further. Will check out the normal / invert switch as well on the Lavry

I haven't tried any 96 / 24 stuff yet, mainly because I still have to download some most of what I have seen is not what I normally listen to, even with my 'broad' music tastes!

Even a few hours in this morning / afternoon, things have definately improved a tad, percussion is getting crisper, bass lines cleaner. Still not quite a CDS3 beater, but ohh so close, early days yet, burn-in over a week will improve things even more I reckon. Always has in the past with other equipment.

Regards

Allen

Allen - hope you don't mind me joing your thread with some observations from my experiments today. Look forward to seeing how the Lavry improves as it burns in.

After playing about with streaming audio over the past year or so with an AE / sB3 / Duet and drifting back to straight CD replay i'd become a bit disallusioned with it. The AE was ok but nothing special - the SB and Duet a lot better but i'd still found CD's played on the n-Vi to work best for me.

I sold my other streaming units a few weeks back - they'd stopped being used and with the release of the remote app for the iPhone / touch it was a no brainer.

All my CD's are ripped with iTunes into AIFF format and sit on a 1Tb infrant NV+ NAS. I've been a Mac user for a number of years with a Powerbook (pre toslink output) and G5 Powermac. I'd bought my parents a Mac mini a year or so back and had been impressed with the tiny little box.

Anyway the only thing i hadn't tried was streaming directly from the Powermac to the n-Vi. After reading Allen B's post in the Mac / CDX2 thread i thought it was worth a try. With the Powermac setup in the lounge and connected via a Chord Optichord it was time to have a listen to some music.

I set up Audio Midi to output at 44.1 / 24bit before launching iTunes and played a few tracks. This was much more like it with a definite step forward on the n-Vi playing the same tracks. Most noticeable was the the soundstage which widened beyond the width of the speakers. Bass was more defined and cymbals shimmered. Ironically one of the tracks that i normally enjoy on the n-Vi - From the North by Jason Carter (Naim label) sounded absolutely fantastic with details revealed in this complex mix that i'd not noticed before when played from the Mac.

Playing the same tracks on the n-Vi was good with excellent PRAT but whilst still enjoyable the sound stage shrank and although detail was there it was less easy to hear in the mix - going back to the Mac kept the PRAT but everything opened up again.

Interestingly, dropping the word length back to 16bit in Audio Midi (quitting and then re-running iTunes) brought the sound back closer to the n-Vi playing CD. PRAT remained but space was lost and the bass became fuller but less defined.

So to conclude - the Mac playing into the n-Vi does, to me, sound very good and certainly the best streaming solution for me so far. The n-Vi seems sensitive to the quality of the digital signal sent to it and certainly seems to prefer 24bit words - the DAC is a 24bit item so maybe that is making the difference.

I'm buying a Mac mini to add to my Mac collection. I have a spare shelf on my iSoblue rack it can sit on and i already have a wired ethernet port behind my equipment rack. Remote control is via a 8gb iPod touch i bought a few months back whilst playing with some other remote control apps for iTunes. The mini will be plugged into my HDMI switcher if i need a screen but otherwiswe will be administered remotely via VNC.

Should be fun

James

Hi James

Not at all, this is a forum, all contributions are worthy and welcome

I have to say, upon reflection, I was quite surprised how good the results were / are when the DAC in the n-Vi is fed by the Mac Mini (probably all the Intel Macs). I have to say I only recently converted to Mac, so I do not have much experience of the G4 Macs, but I have cracked open my Mac Mini already to upgrade the memory and hard disk. Your set up will be very similar to mine in this respect except I'm now challenging that with the Lavry route.

One bonus I had on moving the CDS3 on was the Hiline cable, which I was hanging onto in case I bought the HDX. Well, it's probably overkill using that as the interconnect between n-Vi and unity gain input on the 552 and I've not yet investigated what effect, if any, it has on this connection.

I'm gald you have found your best streaming solution so far, it certainly adds another 'string' to the n-Vi's multi-purpose 'bow'. Do you find it persausive enough to ditch your CD player I wonder?

One other thing, I see you mentioned using AIFF for your current library. Why not give a few of your favourite CD's the full Apple lossless treatment and see how they play through the n-Vi. I think again, you'll possibly be pleasantly surprised.

Regards

Allen

quote:

One other thing, I see you mentioned using AIFF for your current library. Why not give a few of your favourite CD's the full Apple lossless treatment and see how they play through the n-Vi. I think again, you'll possibly be pleasantly surprised.

Allen,

Are you saying that Apple Lossless is better than AIFF (Apple uncompressed)? The only time Apple Lossless may work better for you is if your wireless stream is struggling with bandwidth and consequently suffering from dropouts with AIFF.

Keith

quote:

Originally posted by Keith L:
Allen,

Are you saying that Apple Lossless is better than AIFF (Apple uncompressed)? The only time Apple Lossless may work better for you is if your wireless stream is struggling with bandwidth and consequently suffering from dropouts with AIFF.

Keith

Hi Keith

Not necessarily better, but should be as good as, but use much less space on the Mac Mini which has a small hard disk. So pleasantly surprised from the no loss of quality viewpoint, sorry, I guess I should have made it clearer.

Regards

Allen

Hi Keith,

I'd be surprised if you could hear a difference between lossless and AIFF. It's the same only unzipped, so takes up more space. Lossless is lossless.

Steve

I had a wonderful afternoon at Steve S1's house today, listening to his set with the addition [for my own reference] of my own Royd Minstrel SE speakers in place of Steve's Arts.

This was to try out the MAC/Lavry D10 combination, as part of an ongoing search for a digital source with HD storage for my CDs, and, at that, one I could afford.

We soon put two CD recordings of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos [HM Linde's EMI/Virgin set in a very early 1980s digtital, which is rather difficult to replay, and the venerable set from Mogens Woldike recorded by the Danish branch of HMV between 1950 and 1954, in very lucidly and musically balanced direct cut 78s and early LP tapings] onto the MAC, which was able to secure the tagging details for library purposes, and access to tracks, and then we set about some listening!

First auditioned was the Linde performance of the First Concerto with grand and tangy valveless French Horns, and it was immediately obvious to me that this MAC/DAC combo is the business, and quite amazingly fine. Then came the Fourth Concerto from Woldike, recorded on 78s in 1950. The revelation is that though the recording was made using [by then rather antiquated] HMV direct cut to wax recording machines of the type introduced by AD Blumlein in 1932 [!], the actual recording was just as lucidly balanced, and the music making still compellingly presented even after listening to a modern recording.

I am not so very interested in comparative listening, but prefer to trust my own ears in the absolute rather than wasting time on A/B style listening. We did not do any listening in that fashion though we did return to both these Concerti later, in completely relaxed fashion - just listening to the music - with Steve's big and very efficient Art speakers. I think it is probabaly fair to say his Arts were more suited to his Berning integrated valve amp than my Minstrels, which have a rather modest figure for output per Watt at about 86 dB. The Arts are over 91, which is not to say that the Minstrels were not performing superbly, but that there was a lot more work for the amp to do to drive them. They match splendidly with my NAP 140, for example.

Onto how the music came out, and my goodness it did, and so listenably and engagingly. I am not sure I have ever heard better characterised instrumental timbres from replay. The sound-world is literally delicious. Tangy and bright, or sweetly gentle as is true. If this were at the expense musical expressive phrasing, touch and swing, of rhythmic drive, or of articulacy then it would be useless, but it is articulate to perfection! And has the most wonderful sense of the momentum and swing of the music coming through. It is like the best pieces from Naim, and to have a voicing with it that is so pure as to timbre is something very special. Its voicing is in the CDS-series bracket of quality in my view, and that suits me perfectly.

After that we listened to the Brahms Accademic Festival Overture from Bruno Walter, a recording that I had on LP, and early CD, and now again in the latest Sony release. It is the most lovely and good humoured music making from one of the greatest conductors of Brahms to have left records. The recording is well balanced, full-bodied, with a brilliance to the violins and percussion that would be startling for a modern recording, and almost incredible for one made almost fifty ears ago. I have to say that digital resoration has revealed what no LP issue of it ever did, and not even the early CD set I had: In its latest digital restoration it is a very good recording indeed, and the more compelling for containg such grand music making. By now I was convinced by the source. So much so that it ceased to be a discussion point at all.

Than a change of musical direction, with Steve making some choices including a lady singer with a simply incredible guitar player. Steve please help with who and what!

Then we broke for coffee, and sat in the garden in pleasantly warm rain-free conditions and had a proper chin wag. On returning we put back the Art speakers, and relistened to the Bach and the lady with guitar, and set of on some other lovely relaxing music from Nat King Cole, and to round off Sir Adrian Boult's 1954 Pye recording of Brahms Accademic Festival Overture, which does have a different feel to Bruno Walter's performance! Then we started off on the first movement of Brahms First Symphony from Boult. But time was flying, and it is a 170 mile drive...

So another coffeee, and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto through the window from Jack Brymer and Sir Thomas Beecham. Marvelous ending to such a nice afternoon.

Thanks to Steve and Mrs S1 for inviting me to their lovely home!

I used to run a CDS2 for six years. When I was given the chance to buy it by my late Norwegian grandmother, I said it was the first digital machine [I had not listened to music through the original, and by then replaced CDS] which was so fine as to make me forget the issue of digital as a phenomenon in musical replay. I am not sure that the MAC/Lavry is not even more musically pleasing and involving than my old CDS2. That is how fine I think it is.

Until people have heard this combo they need not judge by the generally rather awful [in my experience] results based on a Windows-based PC, with ot without outboard DAC. The effect of this combo is simple wonderful, and compelling for the musical reasons that please me.

I don't ask anyone to take my word for it, but rather audition for themselves. I am not interested in comparitive listening to components or even a hierachical ordering of them, according to price or anyone else's opinion of their quality, but only what I find, and what I found was remarkable. If curious, give this arrangement a listen.

Please don't ask me to rate it in terms of currently competing components, but I will say that its performance and quality are in the very top flight. Given any amount of money, not being one to waste it, this is the way I would go. But I can afford it over the coming months, and will place the order for the Lavry at least by the end of next week...

Nailing my colours to the mast. Exactly as I did with the CDS2 in 2000 or 2001.

George

George,

I'm not really surprised you've been impressed. I've went a similar route to Steve and we've had a bit of correspondence which i thank him for.

The setup can produce very impressive results period. Once you factor in the cost it really is quite amazing. Thats not to say that cd cant produce similar results.....clearly it can, and we had a very enjoyable day listening to some great systems today (see North west Naim society thread), but if cd provided convenience then this type of setup must be considered as progress without any detriment to sound quality or your wallet.

I've been more than impressed with the results I've had and I hope you get it sorted as its very satisfying once its done. THe ripping the cds is a pain though

All the best

Ryan

Dear Ryan,

CD is not dead, and top CD players are not extinct, but for someone like me who enjoys the radio and a very carefully selected library of CDs of none too large proportions, the server route is the way to go.

The collector of a large, or even massive, library of records and CDs is going always to need the best CD player and Turntable, but I have made a conscious and continuing effort to make sure that my CDs don't exceed 500. More than that and many will not get listened to by me as often as the music is broadcast. For me that is pointless.

When I sold my CDS2, I reckoned that I had kissed good-be to ever having a top quality source for recordings - I do have very fine tuner and a respectably fine pair of CD players - but this MAC/Lavry is altogether something very special. Top-flight indeed in my view.

ATB from George

Not to rain on anyone's parade but I hope some of you conducting tests thought about disconnecting the DAC and PC from the AC mains when switching to the naim cd player during comparisons.

It's well known that many PCs will ruin the performance of a Naim cd player even if turned off but left plugged into the AC (two of my six PCs do this and that's with a dedicated AC line and with the hifi and PCs on a different AC "leg" or phase!)

IIRC, the Linn CD12 was documented here in the past as crippling a CDS2 during comparative tests due to the player generating extremely high-frequency digital noise and dumping it back onto the AC line.

regards,

dave

George,

Thanks for the interesting report on Steve's mac/dac. I am well aware of the performance attainable. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that Steve uses something very special for ripping his CDs. iTunes, the programme that is berated by audiophiles because it's so simple that it cannot possibly work!

Keith

quote:

Originally posted by GFFJ:
I had a wonderful afternoon at Steve S1's house today, listening to his set with the addition [for my own reference] of my own Royd Minstrel SE speakers in place of Steve's Arts.
George

Hi George, it was really interesting to meet you again yesterday. I wish had more time to advance my limited classical knowledge.

Regards,
Peter

quote:

Originally posted by dave simpson:
It's well known that many PCs will ruin the performance of a Naim cd player even if turned off but left plugged into the AC (two of my six PCs do this and that's with a dedicated AC line and with the hifi and PCs on a different AC "leg" or phase!)
dave

Please explain why this happens?

quote:

Originally posted by PMR:

quote:

Originally posted by dave simpson:
It's well known that many PCs will ruin the performance of a Naim cd player even if turned off but left plugged into the AC (two of my six PCs do this and that's with a dedicated AC line and with the hifi and PCs on a different AC "leg" or phase!)
dave

Please explain why this happens?

The DAC sends little bogey men with screwdrivers up it's mains lead and into the supply. They then jump across to the dedicated mains circuit, down the CDP mains lead to sabotage it.

Seriously though, the MacBook isn't connected to the mains and I could detect no difference in my CDS3 whether the DAC was there or not. Frankly, I'd be worried about a CDP that was ruined that way.

George,

Many thanks for sharing your insight and knowledge, it certainly added to my appreciation of favourite music to have a musician's take on the various interpretations.

The music you referred to will be familiar to a couple of friends that I've bored with it recently. It's the fantastic Sara K / Chris Jones live set called "Are We There Yet?"

quote:

Originally posted by dave simpson:
Not to rain on anyone's parade but I hope some of you conducting tests thought about disconnecting the DAC and PC from the AC mains when switching to the naim cd player during comparisons.

It's well known that many PCs will ruin the performance of a Naim cd player even if turned off but left plugged into the AC (two of my six PCs do this and that's with a dedicated AC line and with the hifi and PCs on a different AC "leg" or phase!)

IIRC, the Linn CD12 was documented here in the past as crippling a CDS2 during comparative tests due to the player generating extremely high-frequency digital noise and dumping it back onto the AC line.

regards,

dave

When Steve had the Mac/Lavry on my kit.
He was sat at the other end of my room on the sofa with the Mac on a poof infront of him. Not plugged into the mains, then only after 3 or 4 hours of playing did he plug it into a wall socket.There was know difference whats so ever to the sound of my Naim kit.
Munch

George,
Thanks for the very good read.
Munch

George

Thanks for a great account of your visit to Steve's home and first experience of the Lavry / Mac. I actually love the way you concentrate on whether you enjoy the music being reproduced and not worry about trends, reputations or pecking orders. (Steve - you've said the same in past postings - respect!)

Not even two days into my new Lavry, I'm starting to forget the CDS3, or rather I'm forgetting to compare the CDS3 from memory to what I am hearing from the Mac / Lavry. It's good enough to enjoy completely in it's own right, the 'new unit' edginess is going and being replaced by an 'exciting edge', certainly no dullness or lifelessness here. Furthermore, what is great is it does not upset the 'Naim sound', when and if Naim produce their own standalone DAC, I feel it will sound not too dissimilar to this one.

It's clear that Naim have a big problem on their hands and the sooner they announce their intentions with DAC's the better.

Regards

Allen

Well the Mini is ordered. Looking forward to getting it and setting it up. I've got a few downloads from Linn in 44.1 (as that's all my hardware could handle at the time) so i'll be downloading a few hi-res files to try out.

One thing i have found is how much more a diverse range of music i'll listen to as its all at my fingetips - the remote is so cool.

quote:

It's well known that many PCs will ruin the performance of a Naim cd player even if turned off but left plugged into the AC (two of my six PCs do this and that's with a dedicated AC line and with the hifi and PCs on a different AC "leg" or phase!)

True - i did listen when the computer was plugged in and noticed no difference. My n-Vi uses a switching supply so effectively i've already got a PC sitting on my hi-fi mains supply.

A Naim Dac - lets hope it has an Optical input eh ?

James

Well I'm into my second hour this morning, flicking through various favourite tracks and just enjoying the music.

The Lavry has improved markedly, bass is going even deeper, the accuracy has also improved greatly, only the slightest hint of wooliness which will burn-out (hopefully). Same applies to the top end stuff. Sorry James, the Lavry is starting to pull away from the n-Vi, nevertheless I know, and you are finding out that the Mac / n-Vi is a pretty damn good combination too. It's just the Lavry / Mac combination obviously utilises the analogue stages of the 552, and this provides just the right amount of emotion to forget you are listening to streamed digits.

It's not as 'an