Introduction
A source is an important part of the system and the rule "garbage in garbage out" always applies. But for beginners it's unclear what exactly a better source does, and many start their journey by buying/trying a lot headphones and headamps instead (like I always do ), and leaving source upgrade path because there aren't many choices for budget priced units.
Thanks to Jaben for giving me the opportunity to listen the 24-bit Spitfire DAC (SF) with the "Supplier" (SP) power supply from Firestone Audio. I try to summarize what I heard, and it is all just my personal opinion.
Equipments used:
Transport: Slim devices Squeezebox 3 with coaxial optical out. Every CD was encoded using xACT to FLAC.
Amps: Meier Audio Corda HA-2 and occasionally a PINT with AD8397 opamp.
Phones: Alessandro MS-Pro and Beyer DT880 (pre-2006)
Interconnects:DIY RCA-RCA interconnects similar to SlinkyLinks cable (a gift from Jeff, ), meier-audio's Tech+Link mini-RCA interconnect.
Power cords: Volex hospital grade plugs (high impact nylon body) that were previously used in the molecular biology laboratories. Best thing they are free for me.
The builds and features...
The SF and SP in real life are indeed much solid built than what were seen in the pictures. The chassis is great, and I am impressed with the weight of the Supplier which weights 700g it's quite heavy actually.
The Spitfire has changeable opamp so you can tune the sound for your tastes and experience a little upgrade.
The Supplier is an upgrade power supply designs for other Firestone products. As my grumpy hi-fi guru fishball always told me to upgrade the power supply first in any fine tuning in the chain if possible, this Supplier sure adds improvement to the dynamics and power.
Now the sound...
I did not spend much time to listen the Spitfire DAC with stock power supply; these impressions were done mainly on Spitfire + Supplier PSU. Upon first listen it's very flat sounding as nothing were emphasized nor lacked. The sound was very tight, and it was not upfront to your face sounding or laidback, it takes time for me to form impressions for this combo.
Its highs are smooth sounding and non-fatigue. I can listen to them for few hours without the need of taking a break. Listening to some live tracks it's capable of presenting a sense of airiness and decay which I like, although I feel that it does not extend much.
The midrange is impressive. It is more forward sounding and stands out from the rest of the soundstage yet still integrates well with accompanying instruments. Besides vocals, instruments such as piano and strings are liquid and full bodied. Female vocals don't sound sibilant, if it does check your recordings. It doesn't sound chesty for male vocals as well.
I tried some rock music albums, the kind of in your face sounding such as Metallica's Master of Puppets, Nebula's Apollo, Queen's The Works, and it's really enjoyable as it's not fatigued at all and I can continue listened to them for few hours. The bass is really tight and detailed, but does not have the impact. The bass depth is not as deep but overall it's sufficient. I feel that there isn't a hump to the upper bass which gives an impressive punch and weight to music, but do not mistaken that it sounds lean. On the contrary, it sounds rather mean and clean but never so much as to cloud the mids and highs.
I feel that the soundstaging width is better than depth; nonetheless you still get a sense of space and imaging where you are now in the music.
Details are abundant but of course, they are not as prominent as my cdp with 24-bit resolution.
Summary
It sounded very close to the stock Squeezebox 3, I feel that the Spitfire together with the Supplier have the balance of both frequency extremes which IMO slightly better over the Squeezebox 3. As it is a very natural sounding and smooth DAC, it won't wow you on first listen. But give it some time and the sound will grow on you like you wouldn't imagine.
So how far would you go with a source? If you're starting with a soundcard or usual DVD player as transport, I am happy to report that the Spitfire and Supplier will be good for the price. Of course, conclusion is subjective and I'm only drawing this upon my own music and sound preference.
Albums used:
Metallica's Black album, Master of Puppets
King Crimson, In the court of the crimson king, Red, Discipline
Uriah Heep, Demons and Wizards
Queen, The Works (1984)
Nebula, Apollo
Zhou Zhi-yong, The Great Yellow River (Kiigo 1020-2)
Cheng Yong-ling, Wandering Singer (HUGO HRP 755-2)
Eva Cassidy, Live at blue alleys
Diana Krall, The Girl in the Other Room
Harry Connick, We are in love
Leonard Cohen, The Essential of Leonard Cohen
Paul McCartney, Unplugged (1991)
Nirvana, MTV Unplugged in New York
The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Jazz impressions of Eurasia
Jeno Jando, Beethoven Piano Sonatas Nos 30, 31, 32 (Naxos)
Jascha Heifetz, Sibelius, Prokofiev, Glazunov- Violin Concertos (RCA label)
For more information, Firestone audio
