With David's Western Digital Element drive formatted for Mac not Windows, I used my music iMac to access his copious file folders and transfer a few to microSD card. Even though Soundaware's D300Ref was set for native DSD64 and the Shanling's status cursor moved, the Deluxe DAC didn't respond. It still showed PCM 44.1 from the prior session, hence made no sound. Being new at sending native DSD down the wire, I suspected my AES/EBU connection or USB bridge settings. Hey, I had to blame something. Instead I moved the Shanling and its 2m USB cable onto the Cen.Grand. There I switched inputs to USB. Presto. Instantly the yellow display showed DSD64 and David's .dff files played proud if not loud until compensated for on the preamp's throttle. From Miles Davis to Aaron Neville, Bill Evans to Diana Krall, Cannonball Adderley to Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, I was in biz. The majority of David's collection fell outside my usual music sandbox to reiterate why I never pursued SACD when they were the latest and greatest. But I certainly saw titles that I knew I'd like. Others would take careful sampling to decide. To get started, I stuck to artists I knew. They'd suffice for today's purposes.
Use mouse-over loupe enlarger or open in new tap for full size.
Brainwashed? Having listened to PCM exclusively for 20+ years, that question had very sharp teeth. It'd explain why to my ears, pure DSD sounded colored. This held true for all albums I sampled. The sound was undeniably beautiful; how, minus all groove and other noise, this homo digitalis expects really good old vinyl to sound. I perceived it as a very pleasant slightly gilded patina. Its otherness reminded my ear/brain that I was listening to playback. It was different than how I respond to all my CD-based files. I never mistake those for live sound either. Still they feel truer. Chalk it up to having been deeply conditioned by pulse-code modulation. Had I grown up on SACD, I'm certain that in its own ways, CD would strike me as colored, SACD as more correct. The upshot is that based on my exposure to carefully curated native .dff files, the format does have a discernable aroma. I found it distinctive enough to appreciate why some listeners prefer it. I also found it interesting that simply resampling CD/PCM to DSD1'024 did not resurrect the same fragrance in full. I heard echoes thereof but not the uncut dose.
Two-do items. Without taking away from the well-earned award, I do want to reiterate two things that should/could be improved. For 'should', the error response to dialing in full +5dB output via the physical volume knob is irritating and redundant since it doesn't happen via remote. The unwitting user's first response to the present implementation will be that he/she broke something. Why risk that? For 'could', in variable mode the display should revert to what currently is exclusive to preamp mode so display volume in the bigger numbers to be easily legible from the chair. However, neither point is a sufficient demerit to withhold my award. I simply mention them again to keep us all honest.
Final judgment. JianHui Deng's current top D/A converter is my 2023 equivalent find to 2017's Denafrips Terminator. In those six years, what buyers expect for £6'000 hasn't stood still. It explains how today's Deluxe can edge out the Terminator Plus which itself upgraded the Terminator and a follow-up processor update. I heard the Cen.Grand as packing still higher resolution whilst clearly remaining in the organic not explicit camp of detail magnification. Its volume control as a Muses chip's analog resistor ladder is a special boon to amp-direct users who don't want/need a separate preamp. The two analog inputs bypassing all digital mine the same vein. Build quality is top shelf, socketry complete. Cosmetics are classy and include silver/black options. I also noticed how fellow reviewer John Grandberg who contributes to darko.audio has declared the Deluxe/Silverfox combo his new headfi reference. He clearly rates what I heard with equal enthusiasm. I don't think the two of us will be the end of that song; just the intro to its first verse. Eventually there'll be a second then third verse then mighty chorus. But no need to wait for any of that. The Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe is available now and ready to romance your ears. It's another ace discovery from the house of Cen.Grand!
Postscript. While likely utterly basic to native DSD connoisseurs, this newb learnt that once his digital transport was set to DoP not native mode, transmitting DSD64 over AES/EBU was no issue. It's the native setting which demanded USB. Got it. This also confirmed how the Deluxe processes DSD both native and packaged as DoP. The only practical difference was that in DoP mode, each 'pause' and 'next' command triggered a small digital fart or switching noise which didn't happen with native DSD over USB. Whether this was caused by the transport or DAC I couldn't say.
PPS: Once the Terminator Plus was back upstairs, withdrawal symptoms kicked in. So I unpacked the review sample again, cancelled the pickup request and settled the invoice. Progress. It wasn't to be denied.
