Theta DSPro vs DSPrime
Peter Chong
this posting contains my impressions of the comparison I made between the
new(ish) bitstream Prime against the more traditional multibit Basic.
The Prime is a new(ish) DAC by Theta. It is a bitstream converter, and is
said to be fully upgradable. It has an RCA coaxial digital input as well
as a TOSLINK (first optical input for any Theta DAC). It sells for about
US$1250 versus the US$1995 for the Basic.
The system used consists of the following: Theta Universal Data Transport/
DAC/Klyne SK6/Kinergetics KPA75/Spica TC50. Cables used were all Straightwire
(data, and Maestro interconnects and speaker cables). For fun we also tried
the Theta transport (which plays normal NTSC laserdisks) for video via the
Pulsar Prodigy front projector.
The comparison:
1. The sound of the Prime was very sweet, and warm. This contrasts with
the Basic which I thought to be a little forward and aggressive. (see my
earlier posting of the Wadia X32-Theta ProBasic shootout) The midrange
was detailed, and even suggests of liquidity. Ambience retrieval of the
Prime is slightly better, but as noted earlier, the Basic's performance
here is less than excellent.
2. Dynamics. Macrodynamics were handled better by the Basic. The Basic is
wonderful in reproducing dynamic swings; perhaps better than any other CD
player I have heard. The Prime seems to compress dynamics, particularly
from ff to ffff, and pp to pppp. Microdynamics too were handled better
by the more expensive Basic. I find microdynamics is essential to allow
the recorded musician to communicate with the listener on a more intimate
level. The Prime was not able to make the differentiation of small nuances,
like inflections in a voice (good example: In Duets (MCA 42131), on
"The moon is made of gold", Rikki Lee Jones' voice is full of such nuances.
With the Prime, and a lot of other CD players, these are all but lost).
This to me, is the greatest failing of the Prime, and indeed of most other
CD players. The Wadias excel in this, and I treasure them for this.
3. Bass. Although both DACs were very capable in reproducing bass, the
Basic seemed to have slightly tighter, and deeper bass. But the reference
system is hardly suitable to explore bass (the TC50 is only useful to about
50Hz).
4. Treble. The Prime's highs seemed to me to be less aggressive than that of
the Basic, and for me this is preferable. The Prime's upper octaves are rounder
sweeter, and less brash; but sometimes at the expense of some detail being
lost.
5. Imaging. I found both DACs equally competent in imaging. Both are quite
capable of reproducing a wide, deep stage. Good image focus is easily
achieved with a slight toe-in of the speakers (too much toe-in will cause the
stage width to collapse). And the dimensionality of the images comparable
to each other, and to the Aragon D2A; though less good than the Wadia X32.
Conclusion. The Prime becomes a viable alternative to entering the high end
digital world. It returns a fair performance for US$750 less than the Basic.
The Prime is much easier to listen to, indeed most bitstream players I have
heard tend to be smoother, warmer, sweeter. But I think the Basic more capable
of getting more out from those little silver disks.
At this price level, the other competitors to watch would be the Aragon D2A,
(I will report soon), some British DACs like the A&R Delta, Meridian 203, or
the PS Audio Digilink and Superlink. I would also consider the Audio Alchemy,
especially if the money saved could go towards a better transport.
But for me, I would save my pennies and go for a better player. Although
the Prime's midrange performance is endearing, the details it looses, and
the dynamic limitations (both macro and micro) rules it out.
Video note: The Theta Transport also doubles up as a bare bones LD player.
>From the 10 minutes or so of Fantasia I saw, its video performance is very
mediocre, and easily bettered by any of the Pioneer LD players.
-Pete
Sridhar Mahadevan
Since I just auditioned the Theta DS Pro Basic and the Prime over the
weekend, I thought I would add my findings to the earlier post comparing
these two D/A converters.
Interestingly, although I have a very different system from Peter Chong,
my conclusions are very similar to his (my system is a Sony 608ESD used
as a digital drive, Classe' DR-5 preamp, Adcom 535/545 combination
driving a pair of Quad ESL-63's with the new Gradient subwoofers).
Before listening to the Thetas, I had found my Sony a poor match for my
analog front end (Well-Tempered turntable, Well Tempered arm, Van-Den
Hul MC-1) in terms of dynamics, detail, soundstaging, and smoothness. On
almost every occasion, I preferred the original LP to the remastered CD
(I listen exclusively to classical music). Given that original LP box
sets (operas, symphonies etc.) come with fantastic notes and librettos,
whereas their digital cousins usually don't, I rarely enjoyed buying the
remastered CD of a recording I already had, even given its convenience factor.
>From the start, the Theta Pro Basic was a revelation to listen to. It
immediately had a quality I like to call "naturalness" (if you are
familiar with the sound of the Quad's, you'll know what I mean). It was
easy to forget that one was listening to a recording. One felt that one
was actually eavesdropping on the actual musical performance. The
soundstaging, midrange clarity, dynamics etc. were all superb.
Interestingly, I did not find the Theta to be aggressive in the midrange
at all, unlike Stereophile's Robert Harley and the earlier commentator
Peter Chong had. It just sounded natural. It was difficult to go back to
my old CD player, which in comparison sounded distorted.
Alas, I cannot recommend the Theta DS Prime. It sounded veiled and
distant. I think the new bitstream technology is a big step backward. A
few months ago, I auditioned the Meridian 203, also a bitstream
processor. I found it inferior to the Sony 608 ESD in almost every
respect. The dynamics were poor, the tempos were sluggish, and although
the Meridian was smoother than the Sony in the midrange, it put me to
sleep. One CD highlighted this beautifully -- Alfred Brendel's majestic
performance of Schubert's B-flat Sonata D.960 on the Philips mid-price
CD. The opening few bars of this sonata are among the most moving
pieces of music I know of. On the Sony, one could clearly hear all the
pianissmo notes that Brendel plays. On the Meridian, it sounded as if
Brendel had gone to sleep and was missing many of the notes. The
difference was dramatic. To its credit, the Theta Prime sounds much
better than the Meridian. It did not alter the tempos so appreciably.
But it is no match for the Basic.
My conclusion: you have'nt heard CD properly if you have'nt heard the
Pro Basic. It is a stunning product and fully deserves all the kudos
heaped on it.
- Sridhar Mahadevan
Greg Penetrante
>
>
>Alas, I cannot recommend the Theta DS Prime. It sounded veiled and
>distant. I think the new bitstream technology is a big step backward. A
>few months ago, I auditioned the Meridian 203, also a bitstream
>processor. I found it inferior to the Sony 608 ESD in almost every
>respect. The dynamics were poor, the tempos were sluggish, and although
>the Meridian was smoother than the Sony in the midrange, it put me to
>sleep. One CD highlighted this beautifully -- Alfred Brendel's majestic
>performance of Schubert's B-flat Sonata D.960 on the Philips mid-price
>CD. The opening few bars of this sonata are among the most moving
>pieces of music I know of. On the Sony, one could clearly hear all the
>pianissmo notes that Brendel plays. On the Meridian, it sounded as if
>Brendel had gone to sleep and was missing many of the notes. The
>difference was dramatic. To its credit, the Theta Prime sounds much
>better than the Meridian. It did not alter the tempos so appreciably.
>But it is no match for the Basic.
>
>My conclusion: you have'nt heard CD properly if you have'nt heard the
>Pro Basic. It is a stunning product and fully deserves all the kudos
>heaped on it.
>
>- Sridhar Mahadevan
>
Mr. Mahadevan did a great job in comparing the two units. However, I have to point out something that many would also probably believe...
Equipment interacts in a synergistic way, sometimes, and I think the reviewer
has found that match. But there are situations in which a reviewed product can
differ, or even sound quit similar to another. It is this experience which I had
when I auditioned the Basic AND the Prime.
Basic system included the Fabulous Martin Logan Quests, Mark Levinson 23.5 and
massive Cardas interconnects. The local dealer (Stereo DEsign) was kind enough
to let me and my friends audition both for a day, and even lend us the units
to aution in our own systems.
An immediate trait which the Prime demonstrated was its similarity to its older
brother, the Basic. On the whole, the Prime and Basic were very close in terms
of clarity and "smoothness" or "non-edginess" of treble reproduction. Listening
to Handel's Water Music (Harmonia Mundi CD) revealed quite alot of detail from
both the Prime's and Basic's point of view. In fact massed violins and the
harpsichord were produced exceedingly well (as compared to a Meridian 203) on
BOTH units! Since were were in the listening room for quite a while, we tried
an A/B comparison (and later, a BLIND A/B) between the Basic and Prime. We
listened to Water Music, "Hard Cash" (BBC Soundtrack CD), some Ana Caram (ugh),
and David Chesky's Clark Terry Live at the Village Gate.
Yes, there were differences between the Prime and Basic in SOME areas. Most
notably, dynamic range (i.e. "slam") was slightly better from the Basic's POV.
Also, a TINY bit of detail seemed to be lacking from the Prime. Violins playing,
harps plucking, those conversations in the background of the Village Gate CD
were slightly harder to pick out from the Prime. In fact, some blind A/Bing
revealed that the units were so CLOSE in most other areas that we had a hard
time distinguishing the two! Only the most intense and concentrated listening
was required to pick out the differences.
Comparing the Prime to the Meridian on the other hand, was a bit easier. Dif-
ferences were more audible than with the Basic. The 203 seemed to "veil" the
music more. Handel's massed violins sounded like mush through the 203, as well
as plucked strings. The Prime cleared the sonic haze immediately and we noticed
less listener fatigue. Our panel agreed that the Prime bettered sonically, the
Meridian 203.
Lastly, the situation between the Prime and Basic was open to more debate. Was
the Prime a more expensive Meridian or a cheaper Basic??? The panel found it
hard to decide whether the sonic differences within the context of this System
(the ML-ML combo) would make the Basic a better buy for over 750 bucks more.
Certainly, we agreed, was the Prime a best buy at $1250, outclassing all of its
competition at this price point (and we had experience with PS Audio, Bitwise
Musik Systems, Arcam).
---------------------------------------gre...@crash.cts.com