... WireWorld Supernova III+ ($125/1m) glass-fiber Toslink with the firm's proprietary Globegrips metal connectors (muchos gracias to David Salz for his quick response!). By simply toggling between the Odeon's inputs 2 (Toslink) and 3 (S/PDIF), I could evaluate the differences between either feed since -- unlike balanced connections that usually double output voltage -- they were perfectly level-matched.

I could evaluate the differences. Really? What differences, pray tell?


There were none - zip, nada, nilch. Try as I might, regardless of album, track, time of day or phases of the moon(s), there wasn't one measly iota of difference. The performance of either cable was identical. Perhaps this toss-up was unavoidable? After all, the Supernova III's lime-green garter snake jacket veritably reeks of fresh salad which you're supposed to toss before consumption.


Okay, okay. But - this result plainly is not what Common Knowledge predicted, is it?

Frankly, already based on this one solitary, repeatable, open-to-all and certainly inconclusive experiment, I feel compelled to pronounce that those folks who categorically dismiss Toslink as an inferior and flawed medium (based on the optical converter, reputed bandwidth limitations, the actual terminals and then the cable interface) are talking out of their arse.


Yes, it's very possible that inferior Toslink terminals or their peculiar mounting to the boards of components could handicap or limit their ultimate performance potential. It's equally possible and rather likely in fact that a run-of-the-mill plastic-fiber Toslink would sound starkly inferior. It's also possible that with a different converter and different cables, one or the other interface would have emerged victorious rather than end in a tie.


But to come to any kind of blanket conclusion (impossible and dangerous anyway) wasn't the point of today's mini experiment. All I'm saying thus far is that results with Toslink can be the spittin' mirror-image equal of the supposedly much superior S/PDIF format. And simply considering the odds, did I, by some strange circumstance of fate, stumble upon the one and only case where Toslink would acquit itself this honorably? No, that isn't likely at all.


To add to this subject, the forthcoming DAC-2 review will investigate multiple cable pairs and combinations. It will even include a Siltech state-of-the-art S/PDIF digital interconnect to make Toslink's keeping-up as tough a proposition as possible (not that the Acoustic Zen seems to be any slouch, but I'm told the Siltech may be the one to beat).


For today, let's just say this: If my $800 CD recorder's Toslink output could perform as well as its S/PDIF port and save me $175 in the process (the differential between the two cables I tried), you needn't by necessity feel damned if your transport, CD or DVD player of choice was outfitted only with Toslink. Furthermore, if you have both options, try them and level the playing field by obtaining a superior quality Toslink, something equivalent to whatever S/PDIF you're using.


I'd wager a bet that even if S/PDIF sounded better in your instance, you wouldn't feel prompted to declare the Toslink feed "sucks" by comparison.

Here's where I have to cheat. I'll do so by relating the quacks of a retail friend whom I share plenty of similar notes with on a regular basis. He sells the DAC-2 and MSB Platinum Plus. I showed him this review as it stood until this concluding paragraph. I indicated curiosity about how a significantly more expensive product would improve things. He stated that comparing his two DACs ends up reasonably close when he runs the MSB single-ended. In balanced mode, the Platinum Plus vanishes to an altogether higher plateau of performance and leaves the 2 behind in the foothills.


And what does that sound like? He pointed at a larger soundstage, more air on top, expanded macrodynamics and perhaps a millisecond longer decays on notes, the latter a quality he feels edges the Platinum Plus closer to convincing analog vinyl performance. He also concurred with my descriptions of the DAC-2. It apparently exhibits the same kind of slightly warm demeanor in his system. He conjectured that the MSB's trump card was its monstrous power supply and admitted that despite its excellent sonics, the DAC-2's smaller physical wrapper and "injured bragging rights" asking price had most his customers overlook it.

With its airier top end and more elegant/less meaty but otherwise very similar sonic performance, it stands to reason that the Odeon-Ag would acquit itself equally well in a comparison with MSB's top $3,995 DAC offering. The dedicated yet still sane audiophile and music lover who can't or doesn't want to spend thousands of dollars on a few additional percentage points of performance gains should perhaps acknowledge that the neighborhood of the Odeon's asking price could well be the ideal place to drop anchor. You'll enjoy topnotch DAC glory scarily close to cost-no-object efforts indeed. Is that why Stereo Sound of Japan opted for the Best Buy recognition of the Birdland Audio Odeon-Ag?


When I add the Odeon's direct-drive feature into today's equation which only ups the ante in the transparency races, spending more than its $1,390 for a world class converter suddenly looks a mite - excessive and unnecessary perhaps?


I've already put in a request with Gilles Gameiro to review his forthcoming Pleyel-Ag 18wpc stereo amplifier. Could it be the low-power solid state amp I've been trying to meet to recommend unreservedly for Avantgarde hornspeaker owners who, for whatever reason, insist on "no tubes"? If Gameiro were interested in following up, I'd request to revisit the Odeon-Ag in that context. Simply adding a decent transport would complete the electronic package necessary to likely do serious damage to preconceived notions about how much one must spend to see the light.


This is my cue to wrap it up now: Light on price, seriously heavy on performance and features - that's my verdict on the Odeon-Ag. If you're building a digital-sources-only system and haven't committed to a preamp yet, don't shop for one until you've laid ears on the Odeon-Ag first! You could save a bundle. And if you insisted on spending it anyway 'cause it's burning a hole in your pants, buy a few hundred CDs instead. You'll be that much farther ahead and demonstrate to one and all of us audio nerds that you are into this for the real reason - the tunes. Beam me up, son of Scotty, I've said my peace for today.

"... I've posted in the past stating the "inferiority" of Toslink as a digital signal transfer medium. (Lack of bandwidth/jitter problems.) But this [WireWorld Supernova III+ ] glass (as opposed to plastic) cable was a revelation. Transmitting from a JVC XLZ1050 CD player as a transport to the Prism DA-1 DAC (which I initially thought having a Toslink input was rather comical), this Toslink setup is devoid of the "mechanical" character I often associate with ST glass tranmission. It had all the speed and air (actually more!!) of S/PDIF transfer. But the isolation of the transport and subsequent stripping of RFI artifacts from the signal made the entire rig sound as close to analog as any Redbook rig I've encountered. And its effect is noticed listening to other sources. (Although I will not discount the combination of the Prism DA-1 PLL combined with an RFI-free link, which I have tried for the very first time. This could be the very reason why this DAC had a Toslink input in the first place!! So be forwarned that this could be a unique case.)"


"This could be the single biggest sonic improvement I've had with the main system since setting it up in 1998. The Prism DA-1 DAC fed by the WireWorld Supernova III+ Toslink cable could be in the same league as a Wadia 7/9 or Linn CD12. And that was the last thing I could have ever imagined from Toslink!!"

"I will have to try this cable with other DACs with Toslink input before I come to the conclusion that David Salz' Supernova III+ cable is a true breakthrough product... But it has big-time potential...."


Todd Krieger on Audio Asylum in response to my post about the upcoming WireWorld Supernova III+ experiment.