R.Daneel
01-09-2010, 11:54 AM
Hello my friends!
I know it took me a while and I have to admit that I didn't feel like doing this. But not because I was lazy or have given up on analog sound, but because I felt that I wouldn't give you guys a review that you deserve during all that holidays fuss. They do get me a little depressed butthat didn't stop me from spending time with my loved ones! So brace yourselves, here we go!
The review has been done on my own system comprised of:
- Denon DCD1420 cd player (Sony KSS151A fixed pickup mechanism) used as a transport only
- alternatively, I used a stabdard PC via an USB connector into the external DAC
- my own DAC (it is a CS4398 chipset oriented dac which works in a non-upsampling mode, uses a tube output stage with Mundorf prestige caps and Tantal resistors, the tube is anode-connected which lets more music out, separate power transformers for digital and analog sections)
- my own headphone amplifier (OTL tube design with truly best of power transformers - 2x250VA transformers for L/R channels and 28 caps per channel of high-quality electrlytical caps, 1x6H30 and 2xECC88 tubes, ALPS standard volume pot)
- cables were my own silver interconnets for analog transmission and a Furutech wire for a coaxial digital transmission. standard usb cable for PC-DAC connection
- the amplifier, though an OTL design and therefore should not be used with low impedance headphones has been built to match the Ultimate Ears Triple-fi 10 Pro earphones
- additionally, Sennheiser HD650 have been borrowed for this test from a friend of mine.
Comment on the system:
I do realize that my system is not high-end but against some very expensive stuff which, let's be honest here, I'd never spent that kind of money on, it stacked up well. For an example, dac matched a Marantz SA11 cd player which is around 3000EUR here. The earphones are truly superb bettering the Shure SE530 imo in every area! The amplifier is the best one I have ever heard, period. I have compared it to some very expensive stuff from the likes of PS-Audio, Naim, EAR and only the EAR Paravicini could match it. I am deeply fortunate to have met such talented designer that was willing to construct one for me. Also, pc has proven itself to be a worthy sound source and I was really taken aback because it sounded livelier and fresher when compared to denon. I guess when processing power is considered, pc is far more powerful.
On the tapes used:
I regret to inform you that by this time I wasn't able to get some metal tapes. To be honest, they are way too expensive for me to buy a few dozen. 10$ per tape is just not acceptable. So far I have had little experiences with them - I have used only sony metal-xr and maxell metal-cd tapes and to me, sony was a better choice as it was really a good tape with substantial improvement over a good quality high position tape. These are the tapes I have used:
high position
tdk sa-xs, sa-x, sa, cd-ing2
sony ux-s
maxell xlii
normal position
tdk d, ef
sony hf, fe
samsung sqc
After quick testing of each tape, I have decided to use the tdk sa-xs for this review. It is a tape that was marketed as the best high position tape and it does sound really really good. Unfortunately, I have only few of these and no way of buying some more because when I last checked, they were 12$ each! Tdk sa-x is not that far behind and in terms of basic sound parameters, they do share the same sonic signature. For normal position tapes, I have used a samsung sqc tape. I see these tapes for around 4$ on ebay now and I remember buying them at a local supermarket for 50cents each. I always thought of them as a cheap tapes but it is the best normal position tape I have heard! Extremely natural and silent and without any obvious flaws. I'd say, it beats the performance of a tdk sa tape, especially considering the price.
The music:
I have done testing sessions using different tapes and different music genres. I really do like different kinds of music. At heart, I probably enjoy rock the most. This is a list of some of the discs I used for testing:
- dire straits: all 6 studio albums and several live concerts including Alchemy which is my favourite album ever
- bryan adams: several albums including Waking up the neighbours and the latest album Eleven
- Bruce Springsteen: many albums and live recordings
- lots of good new bands including several domestic ones (there is no point is mentioning new Croatian rock&roll bands)
- Norah Jones: all studio albums out of which the 1st one is my favourite
- Dream Theater: Six degrees of inner turbulence, Images and words, Scenes from a memory, some live concerts
- Vangelis: film music
- several cds with classical music from the likes of Handel, Beethoven, Brahms, Mascagni, Bach - all good Deutsche Grammaphon recordings
- country music and american folk music aka Ellis Paul (my favourite)
- Roy Orbison (just love his voice)
- and so many others that it wouldn't make sense to mention them all
Most of this music was from prerecored cds but the rest was from a flac collection on the computer.
A little personal background:
Most interestingly, there is something you should probably know about me and this whole thing. When I was younger, I used to play in an orchestra for 12 years. We were really good and considered one of the best many times on international festivals all around the Europe. But it was no ordinary orchestra. It was an orchestra comprised of tamburica instruments (pronounced tamburitza). It is a string instrument that you play with a pick - similar to mandolin but with more strings, precisely crafted and tuned and that come in different sizes - from the biggest ones - basses (similar to counter-bass in a symphony orchestra) to the smallest ones called pearls. The reason why I am saying this is because we have done several studio recordings out of which I assisted on the post-production of the last album. That means mixing and mastering so I know how they sound in life, in studio and recorded on this cassette deck. Why is this important? Because these instruments produce tremendous harmonics and have dynamic range. They are the most difficult to record as the peaks of sound level can jump by more than 12db. I wasn't the one who mastered the recording of course, the audio engineers did that. All they wanted from me is to say if I think it sounds natural or not. The timbre these instruments produce is a challenge even for the most expensive equipment. That is why I have done several recordings using these albums.
The review:
Frequency response:
First off, I will say the deck sounds pretty balanced to me. On several different recordings I have never noticed that any part of the spectrum draws more attention than the other parts. It is very linear so to speak and I have never felt the urge to raise or lower the volume on the amplifier just to hear a fuller bass. Everything can be heard at the first listen and everything is there. The response itself is truly exceptional. There is no difference between the source and the recording here! Considering the equipment, it is the biggest compliment. The high end sounded limitless and extremely smooth in nature with no sudden peaks or sounds that i would normally draw attention. There are no colourations in the mid range and the low end is clear and tight. It is also very fast though I would not say it is overwhelming in any way. Everything is just right there without any obvious flaws. The best proof of this is listening to different genres of music - from classical to electronica or techno - you never feel there are any deficiencies and I never felt like saying - okay, that could have been done better.
Dynamis in general:
Okay, this is where pioneer shows all it's teeth. The dynamics are genrally excellent by any standards. I will say that they are nearly as good as the source with only a touch of dynamics dampening in the lower range of the spectrum, but dynamics of the high end is just superb. When listening to Private investigations (Dire Straits: Love over gold), which is a very mistic and spooky kind of a song, I could genuinely feel the story and the character in question. I was really taken aback by the performance. On some classical rock from Springsteen which are not so good recordings, I could feel the atmosphere nad could imagine the reflectors coming from on-stage and could sense the changes in the microvolume when the singer steps a little further away from the microphone. Also, I have to mention the other great thing here - the audionce which usually sounds high-pitched sounds very realistic and the clapping of the hands sounds just right. It brings me so much closer to the actual event. Classical music sounds very natural with woodwind instruments being so realistic I could genuinely feel the music inside - clarinets sounds so thrilling because the tiny changes in volume almost make it holographic. The brass section sounded full with the initial metallic sound and a long decay that was perfectly timed from start to finish. Piano sounds natural and I had a feeling it sounded better by the minute. Tamburica sound was done right as well. When recording, I set the level a little lover because I was afraid that sudden peaks might cause distorzion but there was really no reason for panic. Because, just when I thought the things might go wrong, the deck performed admirably calm and without any dynamics dampening or restrictions. The dynamics are sky-high and limitless. Attack and decay were handled really good as you could feel the strength and rise of the orchestra when it was time for the Ode of joy. It is like the orchestra itself is a single instrument with it's own dynamics and at the same time it is comprised of dozens of instruments each having it's own dnamics. But there is one thing I have to say here - I have always considered that a true high-end source is a source that can reproduce the micro-dynamics more naturally than a lesser source. In this context, this deck is definitely a high-end machine.
Detail:
hen talking about detail, it is not just a matter of finding new ones hidden somewhere in the recording but a matter of each instrument having it's own properties and signatures that make it distinctive in the group. I will say that all instruments sound very realistic and each one has a certain dose of personality and character. Saxophone sounds like a saxophone. The insight it gives into a recording is truly astounding. You can hear the saliva in the back of the singer's throat and buzzing of the reflectors and the climatization system in the concert hall. There is nothing more to say here, the detail is excellent and nearly as good as the source. Not to say that some details were not audible because they were, but maybe not so apparent which did not compromise the general performance.
Soundstage and spatial imaging:
For this test I used mostly classical recordongs. Not all recordings are that good mind you because even when different instruments were recorded on individual microphones, that doesn't mean the actual group of the same instruments had a dedicated microphone for each musician. But, soundstage in either case sounded wide in any dimension - that means width, height and depth. Instruments were well placed on the audiotorium and I didn't feel like instruments were more desely packed in the middle. They were equally widely dispersed on the stage. The soundstage has well defined limits and sounds very solid in general. Also, each instrument in the orchestra sounded like one instrument in it's own airspace that surrounds it but also everything seems like one whole at the same time. That is ver important that the sound seems coherent. Imaginig was really good because you can follow any< instrument from the left to right and vice versa. Of course that this is not exactly a characteristic of classical music but some electronica revealed that quite clearly. Also, there is no know center gap here because the instrument doesn't melt into the whole when it reaches the middle so you can really follow it's path. This is not that is always done well on audio components but it looks like they did it this time. All in all, the deck scores very high here. Again, not maybe as good as the source, but very close indeed. Though I will mention that in my experience that amplifiers are the first one to fail this test but source components are not in the least immune to it.
Resolution:
I tend to think of the resolution as a way of tracking a single instrument or a group of instruments in a musical performance. Good soundstage is a must for good resolution although it can be debated on. I used several electronica and classical tracks for this test. Electronica is a good test because there are many instruments that can be tracked but are not always apparent because of the effects used in the recording such as different kinds of modulations, filters, arpeggios and every other kind of effect known to man. Classical is good because there a lot of instruments in the orchestra and it is especially intersting to see how you can resolve a classical piece just when the orchestra rises the volume before the main theme. Regardless of that, the deck again shows it's strength in dynamics because it is what makes resolving an instrument a breeze. That and the soundstage is wide and deep enough for you to do that. In my previous comparison with nak Dragon, I have stated that Dragon does a bit beter job in resolving things but pioneer is not far behind. In fact, it doesn't give nakamichi a little room to breathe. Resolution is therefore excellent.
Musicality and final thoughts:
What is musicality? There are different definitions of course. For me it is how a reproduced sound translates to me - how and what I feel during the listening session. How do all the parameters (frequency response, dynamics etc.) connect and what effect do they produce and is the whole really larger than the sum of it's parts? To give you guys an honest answer, I do not know how it melts in to one whole but I will say that it provoked an emotional response in me. The music I heard was real and my God, when listening to Dire Straits' Tunnel of love from the Alchemy album I could almost taste the burhers on the grill and the smell of fried onions in the air and could see the purple neon lights Mark was talking about. It is a sensational feeling and profoundly emotional. Pioneer CT-S740S scored very high on all testing areas but it is this musicality that goes beyond words that it scores the most. I think it is an outstanding achievement. The source that it is, is a digital source in nature (digital states only 0s and 1s, not any kind of negative connotation) and sounds good by any standards imo and the Pioneer is definitely right there. It is not better, but there was never a moment I wanted to switch back to the source.
As some of you might know, I have had my share of bad experiences with cassette in general and was ready to let go of this whole thing. Some of you guys have given me a valuable advice. I don't want to menzion anyone, but Marc Higo was really good to me and I want to thank him. It has been a while since I felt I belonged to a certain forum but people here went out of their way to help me out in my quest for a good machine.
Comments on the cassettes used:
Though most of the testing was done on a TDK SA-XS cassette tape, I used all the tapes I have mentioned earlier. I especially liked the Samsung SQC normal position tape. Generally, Pioneer sounded great with every single tape and I was astounded by the performance with normal position tapes. The recordings were done using Dolby S and without any kind of NR system. In this area, i am not an expert and there are those of you ere that will describe it better than I will but I have never noticed and kind of supression or dampening of sound when using Doly S. In sudden dynamics changes, everything works just like with no NR. There is no lag in sound parameter. It is simply a matter of noise floor. But, to be honest, i didn't feel the noise was ever a problem because the cassettes used were very silent and imo the electronics in this deck are dead silent. The mechanism is very solid, smooth and silent and works perfectly. No matter how I tried on soft piano passages i couldn't detect any smudging caused by wow.
Aditionally, here is a link to the other thread with the DRAGON comparison:
http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?p=78558#post78558
And a thread with the pictures:
http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=6846
It is a very striking deck imo, doesn't seem complex at all but is very well equipped and extremely simple to use. As it turned out, it is a deck not just for enthusiasts but for music lovers as well. For me like for probably most of you guys, music is what matters most in the end and wjole set of features in the world wouldn't compensate for bad performance.
I know it took me a while and I have to admit that I didn't feel like doing this. But not because I was lazy or have given up on analog sound, but because I felt that I wouldn't give you guys a review that you deserve during all that holidays fuss. They do get me a little depressed butthat didn't stop me from spending time with my loved ones! So brace yourselves, here we go!
The review has been done on my own system comprised of:
- Denon DCD1420 cd player (Sony KSS151A fixed pickup mechanism) used as a transport only
- alternatively, I used a stabdard PC via an USB connector into the external DAC
- my own DAC (it is a CS4398 chipset oriented dac which works in a non-upsampling mode, uses a tube output stage with Mundorf prestige caps and Tantal resistors, the tube is anode-connected which lets more music out, separate power transformers for digital and analog sections)
- my own headphone amplifier (OTL tube design with truly best of power transformers - 2x250VA transformers for L/R channels and 28 caps per channel of high-quality electrlytical caps, 1x6H30 and 2xECC88 tubes, ALPS standard volume pot)
- cables were my own silver interconnets for analog transmission and a Furutech wire for a coaxial digital transmission. standard usb cable for PC-DAC connection
- the amplifier, though an OTL design and therefore should not be used with low impedance headphones has been built to match the Ultimate Ears Triple-fi 10 Pro earphones
- additionally, Sennheiser HD650 have been borrowed for this test from a friend of mine.
Comment on the system:
I do realize that my system is not high-end but against some very expensive stuff which, let's be honest here, I'd never spent that kind of money on, it stacked up well. For an example, dac matched a Marantz SA11 cd player which is around 3000EUR here. The earphones are truly superb bettering the Shure SE530 imo in every area! The amplifier is the best one I have ever heard, period. I have compared it to some very expensive stuff from the likes of PS-Audio, Naim, EAR and only the EAR Paravicini could match it. I am deeply fortunate to have met such talented designer that was willing to construct one for me. Also, pc has proven itself to be a worthy sound source and I was really taken aback because it sounded livelier and fresher when compared to denon. I guess when processing power is considered, pc is far more powerful.
On the tapes used:
I regret to inform you that by this time I wasn't able to get some metal tapes. To be honest, they are way too expensive for me to buy a few dozen. 10$ per tape is just not acceptable. So far I have had little experiences with them - I have used only sony metal-xr and maxell metal-cd tapes and to me, sony was a better choice as it was really a good tape with substantial improvement over a good quality high position tape. These are the tapes I have used:
high position
tdk sa-xs, sa-x, sa, cd-ing2
sony ux-s
maxell xlii
normal position
tdk d, ef
sony hf, fe
samsung sqc
After quick testing of each tape, I have decided to use the tdk sa-xs for this review. It is a tape that was marketed as the best high position tape and it does sound really really good. Unfortunately, I have only few of these and no way of buying some more because when I last checked, they were 12$ each! Tdk sa-x is not that far behind and in terms of basic sound parameters, they do share the same sonic signature. For normal position tapes, I have used a samsung sqc tape. I see these tapes for around 4$ on ebay now and I remember buying them at a local supermarket for 50cents each. I always thought of them as a cheap tapes but it is the best normal position tape I have heard! Extremely natural and silent and without any obvious flaws. I'd say, it beats the performance of a tdk sa tape, especially considering the price.
The music:
I have done testing sessions using different tapes and different music genres. I really do like different kinds of music. At heart, I probably enjoy rock the most. This is a list of some of the discs I used for testing:
- dire straits: all 6 studio albums and several live concerts including Alchemy which is my favourite album ever
- bryan adams: several albums including Waking up the neighbours and the latest album Eleven
- Bruce Springsteen: many albums and live recordings
- lots of good new bands including several domestic ones (there is no point is mentioning new Croatian rock&roll bands)
- Norah Jones: all studio albums out of which the 1st one is my favourite
- Dream Theater: Six degrees of inner turbulence, Images and words, Scenes from a memory, some live concerts
- Vangelis: film music
- several cds with classical music from the likes of Handel, Beethoven, Brahms, Mascagni, Bach - all good Deutsche Grammaphon recordings
- country music and american folk music aka Ellis Paul (my favourite)
- Roy Orbison (just love his voice)
- and so many others that it wouldn't make sense to mention them all
Most of this music was from prerecored cds but the rest was from a flac collection on the computer.
A little personal background:
Most interestingly, there is something you should probably know about me and this whole thing. When I was younger, I used to play in an orchestra for 12 years. We were really good and considered one of the best many times on international festivals all around the Europe. But it was no ordinary orchestra. It was an orchestra comprised of tamburica instruments (pronounced tamburitza). It is a string instrument that you play with a pick - similar to mandolin but with more strings, precisely crafted and tuned and that come in different sizes - from the biggest ones - basses (similar to counter-bass in a symphony orchestra) to the smallest ones called pearls. The reason why I am saying this is because we have done several studio recordings out of which I assisted on the post-production of the last album. That means mixing and mastering so I know how they sound in life, in studio and recorded on this cassette deck. Why is this important? Because these instruments produce tremendous harmonics and have dynamic range. They are the most difficult to record as the peaks of sound level can jump by more than 12db. I wasn't the one who mastered the recording of course, the audio engineers did that. All they wanted from me is to say if I think it sounds natural or not. The timbre these instruments produce is a challenge even for the most expensive equipment. That is why I have done several recordings using these albums.
The review:
Frequency response:
First off, I will say the deck sounds pretty balanced to me. On several different recordings I have never noticed that any part of the spectrum draws more attention than the other parts. It is very linear so to speak and I have never felt the urge to raise or lower the volume on the amplifier just to hear a fuller bass. Everything can be heard at the first listen and everything is there. The response itself is truly exceptional. There is no difference between the source and the recording here! Considering the equipment, it is the biggest compliment. The high end sounded limitless and extremely smooth in nature with no sudden peaks or sounds that i would normally draw attention. There are no colourations in the mid range and the low end is clear and tight. It is also very fast though I would not say it is overwhelming in any way. Everything is just right there without any obvious flaws. The best proof of this is listening to different genres of music - from classical to electronica or techno - you never feel there are any deficiencies and I never felt like saying - okay, that could have been done better.
Dynamis in general:
Okay, this is where pioneer shows all it's teeth. The dynamics are genrally excellent by any standards. I will say that they are nearly as good as the source with only a touch of dynamics dampening in the lower range of the spectrum, but dynamics of the high end is just superb. When listening to Private investigations (Dire Straits: Love over gold), which is a very mistic and spooky kind of a song, I could genuinely feel the story and the character in question. I was really taken aback by the performance. On some classical rock from Springsteen which are not so good recordings, I could feel the atmosphere nad could imagine the reflectors coming from on-stage and could sense the changes in the microvolume when the singer steps a little further away from the microphone. Also, I have to mention the other great thing here - the audionce which usually sounds high-pitched sounds very realistic and the clapping of the hands sounds just right. It brings me so much closer to the actual event. Classical music sounds very natural with woodwind instruments being so realistic I could genuinely feel the music inside - clarinets sounds so thrilling because the tiny changes in volume almost make it holographic. The brass section sounded full with the initial metallic sound and a long decay that was perfectly timed from start to finish. Piano sounds natural and I had a feeling it sounded better by the minute. Tamburica sound was done right as well. When recording, I set the level a little lover because I was afraid that sudden peaks might cause distorzion but there was really no reason for panic. Because, just when I thought the things might go wrong, the deck performed admirably calm and without any dynamics dampening or restrictions. The dynamics are sky-high and limitless. Attack and decay were handled really good as you could feel the strength and rise of the orchestra when it was time for the Ode of joy. It is like the orchestra itself is a single instrument with it's own dynamics and at the same time it is comprised of dozens of instruments each having it's own dnamics. But there is one thing I have to say here - I have always considered that a true high-end source is a source that can reproduce the micro-dynamics more naturally than a lesser source. In this context, this deck is definitely a high-end machine.
Detail:
hen talking about detail, it is not just a matter of finding new ones hidden somewhere in the recording but a matter of each instrument having it's own properties and signatures that make it distinctive in the group. I will say that all instruments sound very realistic and each one has a certain dose of personality and character. Saxophone sounds like a saxophone. The insight it gives into a recording is truly astounding. You can hear the saliva in the back of the singer's throat and buzzing of the reflectors and the climatization system in the concert hall. There is nothing more to say here, the detail is excellent and nearly as good as the source. Not to say that some details were not audible because they were, but maybe not so apparent which did not compromise the general performance.
Soundstage and spatial imaging:
For this test I used mostly classical recordongs. Not all recordings are that good mind you because even when different instruments were recorded on individual microphones, that doesn't mean the actual group of the same instruments had a dedicated microphone for each musician. But, soundstage in either case sounded wide in any dimension - that means width, height and depth. Instruments were well placed on the audiotorium and I didn't feel like instruments were more desely packed in the middle. They were equally widely dispersed on the stage. The soundstage has well defined limits and sounds very solid in general. Also, each instrument in the orchestra sounded like one instrument in it's own airspace that surrounds it but also everything seems like one whole at the same time. That is ver important that the sound seems coherent. Imaginig was really good because you can follow any< instrument from the left to right and vice versa. Of course that this is not exactly a characteristic of classical music but some electronica revealed that quite clearly. Also, there is no know center gap here because the instrument doesn't melt into the whole when it reaches the middle so you can really follow it's path. This is not that is always done well on audio components but it looks like they did it this time. All in all, the deck scores very high here. Again, not maybe as good as the source, but very close indeed. Though I will mention that in my experience that amplifiers are the first one to fail this test but source components are not in the least immune to it.
Resolution:
I tend to think of the resolution as a way of tracking a single instrument or a group of instruments in a musical performance. Good soundstage is a must for good resolution although it can be debated on. I used several electronica and classical tracks for this test. Electronica is a good test because there are many instruments that can be tracked but are not always apparent because of the effects used in the recording such as different kinds of modulations, filters, arpeggios and every other kind of effect known to man. Classical is good because there a lot of instruments in the orchestra and it is especially intersting to see how you can resolve a classical piece just when the orchestra rises the volume before the main theme. Regardless of that, the deck again shows it's strength in dynamics because it is what makes resolving an instrument a breeze. That and the soundstage is wide and deep enough for you to do that. In my previous comparison with nak Dragon, I have stated that Dragon does a bit beter job in resolving things but pioneer is not far behind. In fact, it doesn't give nakamichi a little room to breathe. Resolution is therefore excellent.
Musicality and final thoughts:
What is musicality? There are different definitions of course. For me it is how a reproduced sound translates to me - how and what I feel during the listening session. How do all the parameters (frequency response, dynamics etc.) connect and what effect do they produce and is the whole really larger than the sum of it's parts? To give you guys an honest answer, I do not know how it melts in to one whole but I will say that it provoked an emotional response in me. The music I heard was real and my God, when listening to Dire Straits' Tunnel of love from the Alchemy album I could almost taste the burhers on the grill and the smell of fried onions in the air and could see the purple neon lights Mark was talking about. It is a sensational feeling and profoundly emotional. Pioneer CT-S740S scored very high on all testing areas but it is this musicality that goes beyond words that it scores the most. I think it is an outstanding achievement. The source that it is, is a digital source in nature (digital states only 0s and 1s, not any kind of negative connotation) and sounds good by any standards imo and the Pioneer is definitely right there. It is not better, but there was never a moment I wanted to switch back to the source.
As some of you might know, I have had my share of bad experiences with cassette in general and was ready to let go of this whole thing. Some of you guys have given me a valuable advice. I don't want to menzion anyone, but Marc Higo was really good to me and I want to thank him. It has been a while since I felt I belonged to a certain forum but people here went out of their way to help me out in my quest for a good machine.
Comments on the cassettes used:
Though most of the testing was done on a TDK SA-XS cassette tape, I used all the tapes I have mentioned earlier. I especially liked the Samsung SQC normal position tape. Generally, Pioneer sounded great with every single tape and I was astounded by the performance with normal position tapes. The recordings were done using Dolby S and without any kind of NR system. In this area, i am not an expert and there are those of you ere that will describe it better than I will but I have never noticed and kind of supression or dampening of sound when using Doly S. In sudden dynamics changes, everything works just like with no NR. There is no lag in sound parameter. It is simply a matter of noise floor. But, to be honest, i didn't feel the noise was ever a problem because the cassettes used were very silent and imo the electronics in this deck are dead silent. The mechanism is very solid, smooth and silent and works perfectly. No matter how I tried on soft piano passages i couldn't detect any smudging caused by wow.
Aditionally, here is a link to the other thread with the DRAGON comparison:
http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?p=78558#post78558
And a thread with the pictures:
http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=6846
It is a very striking deck imo, doesn't seem complex at all but is very well equipped and extremely simple to use. As it turned out, it is a deck not just for enthusiasts but for music lovers as well. For me like for probably most of you guys, music is what matters most in the end and wjole set of features in the world wouldn't compensate for bad performance.