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nooshinjohn wrote: »

There is no sonic difference that just jumps out they are both superb. What is apparent is a velvety blackness to the Simaudio. This manifests itself in the perception of a clean area around each instrument and vocalist instead of an incredibly soft haze. This helps with giving a deeper look into the soundstage, and into the musicianship of separate instruments such as acoustic guitar, Tenor Sax, or vocal texture.

Again, it is not a tonal thing, volume related or some psychosomatic effect. It is there. Once again, it is not genre related, as it is there for every track I listened to, and now that I have identified it, it cannot be unheard. The DAC module is housed in the power section of the preamp and I wonder how well it is isolated from interference.

I was honestly hesitant to post this, as it seems that some folks around these parts seem to not want to hear any more about it, but I will post this anyway. What you are hearing in my experience is the loss of "noise" in one versus the other, when audibly comparing these two components. The Simaudio (from what you have described here) has less noise that is either introduced, passed through or shielded from/filtered out compared to what basically amounts to an all in one box that also handles many other things. EMI and RFI also bounce around inside your new pre and what you are hearing is the audible result.

The Simaudio may also handle jitter, leakage current, Allan deviation, timing variances within the 1's and 0's (whether it be immediate, misread, short or long) better than the pre. This is not surprising because the Simaudio is more of a dedicated device, where these types of things are better controlled versus an all in one box that performs multiple things. Then there are the clock differences and circuitry leading up to and from it. The reasons why you are hearing what you just described are vast, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to the loss of noise.

This is exactly why I have attacked as much noise as possible throughout my system. Now that you have identified it, "unhearing" it is not possible IME, and it's rather easy to pick up on from here on out. Not only with your system but others as well.

Congrat's on your new pre. I would recommend getting some spare/upgraded tubes soon, just in case.

Tom