For the first comparison, I cued up Ernest Bloch's "Fugue - Allegro" from his neoclassical Concerto Grosso No. 1 for Strings and Piano Obligato [Israel Chamber Orchestra under Yoav Talmi, Chandos 8593, 1988], a 20th-century work in the style of Corelli and Handel. Alternating between MkII and DAC-2 using Chris Sommovigo's excellent i2digital X-60 coaxial interconnect, two distinct differentiations emerged. For one, the Zanden raised the acoustic reverb setting of the St. Judes Church in London by a few clicks. Not only was there more ambient half life within a larger venue, it became blatantly apparent that the piano was miked closer than the strings. That rendered it comparably drier and spatially a mite divorced from the surrounding billowing orchestra. The DAC-2 didn't resolve the effects of this mastering choice microphone placement nearly as pronounced. Due to less generous decays in general, its recreation of the strings reduced some body, followed by less harmonic spray immediately after the impact of the bow attacks.
The second notable difference brought to mind the term 'voltage swings' as it relates to valves. At matched volumes -- important for compensation of the Zanden's half-mast 1-Volt output -- the Japanese full-size component seemed to move larger air volumes. This wasn't in terms of ultimate sound pressure but through a sense of heightened dynamics displacing heftier masses of sound, quite akin to the difference in foot fall between a teenager and grown man. The latter makes the stair's wooden planks compress further, leaves a deeper imprint in the sand. This impression of greater scale and enhanced focus arose especially when the various registers of violins, violas, celli and contrabasses took up the unfoldment of the stacked fugue motif. Large bodies of instruments entered the soundstage from out of silence, assuming their place in forceful unison and with great deliberation. Ditto for the parallel piano figures - the DAC-2 descended into the keys from an apparent 2 inches up while the more flamboyant MkII seemed to, osprey-like, plummet from greater heights.


In audiophile terms, this could be called greater control, attack and dynamic range - a firmer grip on the musical substance, taller peaks, all very likely benefitting directly from the MKII's colossal power supply. I was less sure whether the added richness of tone was due to second-order distortion or simply to the fluffier, bloomier reverb setting. I'd need something less tumultuous and complex to concentrate on raw instrumental timbres. The famous cantabile opening of Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto Op. 18's "Adagio Sostenuto" suggested itself, with first flute, than clarinet trading solos with the pianist [Vladimir Ashkenazy, Concertgebouw under Haitink, London 414475-2, 1988].
Recorded in one of the preeminent concert halls of our world, the Grote Zaal on Amsterdam's Van Herengracht 366, the Zanden again projected grander scale and greater depth. The clarinet's timbre was like that of an A- versus the Bel Canto's B-flat blackwood - the latter's lighter and leaner-sounding. In fact, it's physically a bit shorter. The difference of tone with the flautist was similar - a golden rather than silver mouthpiece. Not at all drastic, this, but discernible to one familiar with these instruments. The mid-movement exposition crescendos and peak announcing the circular return to the opening melody had significantly more impact, however -as though the Zanden were, quite literally, reacting with a larger voltage swing to the same signal, accelerating with a bigger engine in the same chassis frame.
Repeated A/Bs confirmed that, while delicately, the Zanden's valve output stage did add some timbral richness which the transistor DAC-2 did not. Its exploded dynamic range created more drama, more carry-me-away pull. Of note especially for the number's war platoon? The new Burr-Brown multi-bit, dual-differential, sigma-delta 24/192 DAC in the Bel Canto box did not resolve any additional data. In fact, unless you were to consider the spatiality of the Zanden a distortion artifact of sorts, its humble 16/44 converter dug deeper into the extreme small-signal domain.
Concertgebouw


The MkII's previously noted smoothness factor, with this classical programme, did not make itself known in any overt fashion. The DAC-2's a very smooth operator by its lonesome. The greater denominator of difference was enhanced, expanded ambient retrieval, greater focus and scale, larger dynamic range. For a subsequent vocal test, I picked Bobi Céspedes' just-reviewed Rezos, our latest musical Blue Moon Award winner in the Yoruba/Cuban/Funk fusion category [Six Degrees, 657036 1076-2, 2002]. Besides being smokin' tunes, this also happens to be a very good HDCD recording.
"Como Te Extraño" is a heavy-duty midtempo bolero with massively slamming, boulder-hurlin' bass, a paint-peeling Cuban trumpet, a mix of Latin and Oaktown Funkateers percussion and, of course, Bobi's creamy alto - black soul, Cuban syncopation finesse, all filled with Lucumi magic. The expected slammage advantage of the Zanden came as no surprise by now. What did come as somewhat of a shock was the distinctly steely mien that crept into this "How I miss you" ballad when I switched to the box from Minneapolis. Make no mistake, the DAC-2's smooth. Nobody would ever accuse it of even a trace of harshness. And yet - even on very well recorded contemporary music with truly full-range high-impact elements, the Model 5000 performed clearly in a yet higher league of suaveness. With this music, I'd call it a triple espresso caffeine injection without the other bistro's distinct note of acid bitterness.
In all prior comparisons over the last few accumulating months, the DAC-2 had always acquitted itself as top dog, whether playing against the Birdland Odeon-Ag, Audio Magic Kukama, Jolida JD-100, Cairn Fog v2.0 or Shanling T-100. Adding existing reviews for yet broader context confirmed yet again that yes, it's a benchmark product on its relatively short perch of $1,300. I had, for a while, contemplated giving the Zanden an award just like my colleagues at SoundStage!. I was hesitant only because the DAC-2 represents such great value. A converter at $9,950 would have to greatly eclipse it. Frankly, I doubted that no matter how stellar, the Model 5000 could justify its expense by staking out a sufficiently distanced performance post.

Well, this and very critical subsequent investigations determined that, yes, it could justify its lofty asking price, and no, it wasn't merely incrementally better but superior as in entering a different dimension - of cardinal ways directly related to tapping into a vast musical palette (of widely differing genres and grades of recording quality) and finding most of what I personally listen to distinctly more enjoyable. As you can probably tell, I snuff at most audiophile-approved fare. Admittedly, the additional brownie points of deeper soundstage, greater focus, charged dynamics et all were very impressive. But that's not what fundamentally set the Zanden Model 5000 MkII apart. It's greatest accomplishment is really the banishment into permanent exile, of that nasty digital lime-green gremlin. It pulls off this coup-de-grace without waking any of the belligerent elite guards, the usually concomitant issues of subdued energy, muddied transients, glossed-over details, weakened bass or attenuated high frequencies.


To me, that's what the MkII is all about. Call it the annexing of digital land into the analogue domain. Only true vinyl mavens like Michael Fremer or Yamada-San himself would be qualified to determine exactly how close this digital piece manages to mimic the essential signature of vinyl. I doubt it's the same but dare suggest that it's perhaps closer than you'd think. Far more important than such quasi-religious debates? It has you review and rediscover your Redbook collection, not as a journey of additional detail or so-called resolution (though depending on your current level of excellence, that could well be the case) but for a very audible reduction of digital "stress". Sayonara to the green meanie of glare and stridency.
How much of this get-lost threat was due to the Zanden's 7308 triode? Switching to the $3,000, fully loaded Shanling showed that though markedly narrowing the previous gap, the MkII still sounded bigger and bolder while the T-100 still retained a modicum of restrictive tightness that you wouldn't notice except in such direct opposition. This makes the modified Shanling not only into a SOTA performer but stellar value (more on that in the upcoming review). It leaves the Zanden above the final clouds on the lone peak: Out of reach for most mere mortals but a final destination for the next sixty few willing to shoulder the expense and intent of owning one of the best DACs extant. Hence, a Blue Moon Award is in order, albeit not for value but strictly Himalayan performance and unassailable build quality.
Yamada-San replies: Dear Srajan, Thank you very much for your fine review. I am very glad that you understand my MODEL 5000MK2 perfectly.
Best regards,
Yamada
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