In my last installment, I talked about the sudden and unexpected changes I made to my digital streaming setup, and how I’d gone from a system with a moderately high price tag and level of complexity to one with a near bargain-basement price without extraneous fluff centered around the DSD-direct Topping E30 II DAC—the new setup was about as bare-bones as possible. Surprisingly, the equipment reductions and software changes resulted in a remarkable uptick in overall sound quality, which I’d been enjoying for a couple of months. Maybe a simpler system was definitely the way to go. And based on the timeframe given to me by the guys at Euphony Audio for the availability of the next major upgrade to their operating system, it would have been six-to-nine months before the updates were finalized and would be ready to install on my streaming system. In the meantime, I’d been instructed to remove Euphony’s Endpoint unit and stream directly from the Euphony Summus to the Topping E30 II DAC as a stopgap measure until the new software updates were complete.

Well, the folks at Euphony did an almost complete 180-degree turnabout and, in the process, restored my system setup to one that’s far less spartan. In a recent WhatsApp conversation I had with Euphony’s Dalibor Kasac, I was told that the latest updates to Euphony’s Stylus OS were completed ahead of schedule, coinciding with their business partner Mozzaik’s release of a significantly improved upgrade to the company’s upsampling software. The plan was that I’d reinsert the Euphony Summus Endpoint device back into my digital system, and Robert Devcic (also from Euphony) would remotely install the new software updates to the Euphony equipment stack. That only left one missing piece of the new puzzle, which was getting my hands on the DAC that Dalibor was now so very high on, an S.M.S.L. VMV D2R. From my online research, only one VMV D2R unit was currently available in North America, and it was from an Amazon reseller I’d had a less than pleasant experience with. I started rapidly making phone calls and sending out emails trying to find an alternate source; I was on the verge of leaving town for five days and was hoping to have a VMV D2R waiting for me when I returned from my trip.

Amazingly, John Soriano of APOS Audio—they’re S.M.S.L.’s North American distributor—pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat and found one for me. No units appeared to be in their stock stateside, and with China having just entered the eight-day long Golden Week holiday, getting one from Asia would be nearly impossible in my timeframe. Luckily, members of his crew located a VMV D2R in APOS’ California warehouse, and he made the arrangements to have it sent via UPS 2nd-Day Air to my home outside of Charleston, South Carolina. I learned of all this on the first day of my trip, and was able to arrange for the package to be held at a UPS drop off point near my home, where I’d retrieve it upon my return. When I arrived four days later at the drop off location—which was an Advance Auto Parts store—a goth-looking employee dressed all in black with jet-black hair hanging below his waist greeted me by first remarking on my Metallica t-shirt, “Hey, man, nice t-shirt! What’s your favourite album? Master of Puppets still rocks my world!” Which was followed by, “Have you paid for this package? You know, you can’t have the package unless it’s been paid for!” Thankfully, another employee came from behind the wall adjacent to us and before he said, “It’s okay, he’s already paid for the package”, he too immediately remarked, “Hey, man, nice t-shirt!”

S.M.S.L.’s VMV D2R DAC Takes Its Place in the System

So, why the S.M.S.L. VMV D2R? In Dalibor’s call to me, he spoke at length about his recent experiences at High-End Munich, where Euphony shared a room with Canadian company Master Fidelity. Master Fidelity manufactures a range of high-end digital audio equipment, most notably the NADAC DAC and master clock combo (close to US$60k for the pair) that were developed in combination with software company Merging Technologies, which have become the go-to DAC and clock units for many professional studio engineers. Those engineers include legends Jim Anderson and Ulrike Schwarz of Anderson Audio New York and Morten Lindberg of 2L Music; both utilize the highly acclaimed digital equipment in their Grammy-winning studios. Dalibor was able to get the Master Fidelity NADAC to use in Euphony Audio’s evaluation system, and it soon became their new reference. They used the NADAC system as they continued to refine improvements to their already good Stylus OS, and also compared additional DACs against the NADAC to determine which might perform at a high enough level to satisfy not only themselves, but their customers. After extensive testing, they determined that the S.M.S.L. VMV D2R came within an eyelash of matching the reference sound quality of the much more expensive system, which is quite a feat for a DAC that retails for $1000.

So, what separates the S.M.S.L. VMV D2R from the pack of more affordable DACs? The VMV D2R is built around Japanese manufacturer ROHM Semiconductor’s flagship DAC chip, the BD34301EKV, which is part of ROHM’s MUS-IC^TM series. The BD34301EKV chip is designed for class-leading audio performance; Luxman utilizes the same ROHM chip in their flagship D-10X digital media player/DAC that retails for US$17k. The ROHM BD34301EKV chip is currently the most expensive DAC chip available on the open market—that says a lot about S.M.S.L.’s decision to incorporate it into the VMV D2R DAC. Euphony’s insistence on the ROHM chip’s superiority and the VMV D2R’s superb musicality spoke volumes to me. Dalibor insists that with the software upgrades to both Euphony’s OS and Mozzaik’s software, the sound quality of the S.M.S.L. DAC approaches that of the über expensive Master Fidelity NADAC system. I was beyond stoked to hear all this in my own upgraded Summus Endpoint streaming system.

With the Euphony streaming stack now reconfigured in my system, all that was necessary was for me to substitute the VMV D2R DAC for the super budget-friendly Topping E30 II DAC that had been doing the heavy lifting for the last few months. The VMV D2R has significantly more advanced features and connectivity options than the Topping DAC, including balanced outputs, additional digital input options like i2S and AES EBU, MQA compatibility, and it features multiple options for 1-bit direct-DSD playback. As with the now-departed Gustard equipment, I made all output connections via the VMV D2R’s balanced outputs, while the digital inputs were connected with Oyaide USB and Sommer i2S cables. I used the Sommer i2S cable despite Dalibor’s proclamation regarding the infinite superiority of the USB connection—I plan to test this soon. With the VMV D2R, i2S is fully configurable within the onscreen menu, so you no longer have to worry about the reversed channel problems I endured with the Gustard devices.

The S.M.S.L. VMV D2R features a high performance built-in linear power supply with a British-made Porcupine toroidal transformer, and includes separate regulated power supplies for both digital and analogue circuits. Dual high performance Accusilicon AS318 B clock units keep jitter non-existent, and most digital inputs can handle the highest bit-and-sample rates available for both PCM and DSD files. The display faceplate is made of tempered glass, and features a cool multifunction controller knob that can be used for both volume or function setup in the absence of the supplied remote, which is nicely made from a block of solid aluminum. The VMV D2R’s specifications show it to be an impressively capable digital-to-analog converter.

Digital Source Philosophy à la Euphony!

Dalibor has been partnering with recording engineer and record label head Bert van der Wolf of Northstar Recording Services and The Spirit of Turtle, the EU-based digital platform where Bert’s Studio Quality Recordings are marketed online. Bert was one of the pioneers in the creation of Direct Stream Digital (DSD), working with both Sony and Philips on the creation of the SACD format, as well as with high-end digital giant dCS and early DSD proponents Channel Classics and Native DSD Music. Like the other high-end recording studios I mentioned, Northstar utilizes the NADAC devices throughout their sessions, where everything is initially recorded to DXD (24-bit/352.8 kHz PCM). Recording with DXD allows for a significant level of ease in editing recordings, but Bert’s long history with recoding formats has taught him that DSD is the preferred medium for ultimate sound quality. And while his site offers recordings in just about every bit-and-sample rate of PCM and DSD, his preference leans toward DSD playback.

Dalibor has been lecturing me for months on how transcoding DXD to DSD always—ALWAYS—results in a massive improvement in sound quality, hence, his enthusiasm for his new Euphony Stylus OS in combination with the latest Mozzaik upsampling software. The new Stylus OS incorporates many subtle improvements over the prior version, but among the most important are those made to both the Summus and Endpoint machines’ ability to seamlessly handle the often massive, transcoded DSD files produced by Mozzaik during playback. And for those who don’t find DSD to be their cup of tea, the latest Mozzaik version will also transcode all PCM files to DXD.

After getting the new software upgrades and the VMV D2R set up in the system, I reached out to Bert van der Wolf to ask if he would kindly supply me with a few of his DXD files for use during the evaluation. He’s located in the Netherlands, and even though it was around 3 a.m. local time there when I sent the email, he responded immediately(!), offering me whatever I wanted (or needed) for the review. I picked out several albums from his site and replied that whatever he could send—whether it was only a single file from each album—would be very helpful to my process. When I awoke the next morning, an email with a Dropbox link was there that led to seven complete DXD albums, including Prokofiev’s Complete Symphonies (James Gaffigan with the Netherlands RSO), the Complete Symphonies of Robert Schumann (Jan Willem de Vriend with the Stavanger SO) and Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni (Sigiswald Kuijken and La Petite Bande). Wow! I immediately fired off an email that gushed with gratitude, then started slowly downloading the massive files—the Dropbox downloader recommended downloading one movement at a time, as each of them measured close to 1GB compressed for delivery. Zow!

Listening Results

Well, first of all, we had to get the new setup to actually make a sound. Yep, after all the remote upgrades and the installation of the VMV D2R, my newly revamped system outputted nada. I use an Android tablet for system control, and while everything appeared to be working as usual, there was no sound. As typical for a hiccup like this, I restarted the apps, then rebooted everything, then reset every system parameter, all to no avail—as a last resort before absolute panic set in, I unplugged all the digital source components, powered them back on, and—voilà! Glorious music poured forth, but before making any pronouncements of superiority, I shut off the amplifier, set the Stylus OS to repeat function, and let the VMV 2DR break in by playing it non-stop for a couple of days.

I have a surprisingly diverse variety of music on my digital server, along with a mixture of PCM and DSD bit-and-sample rates—including, prior to this most recent arrival, a handful of DXD files. In my earliest foray into audio journalism, I spent several years as a classical music reviewer for Audiophile Audition. At least a third of my music collection is made up of classical albums of every sort, and I have a great appreciation for classical music. Listening to Bert van der Wolf’s recordings wasn’t foreign to me, and I chose first to listen to a cross-section of them as they were recorded in 24-bit, 352.8 kHz DXD. That meant that in the Stylus OS, the Mozzaik software was set to “Bit Perfect,” so that no upsampling was taking place during playback and the DXD files were presented as originally recorded. And I thought they sounded exceptionally good; the DXD files were dynamic, musical, and presented a superb aural capture of real musicians playing in a real space delivered with a remarkable level of fidelity. Finding differences between the DXD originals and DSD conversions might prove to be a tougher assignment than I initially expected!

I constantly hear claims by (especially) audiophiles about “night and day” differences between certain software, equipment, loudspeakers, you name it, but I’m not generally one to express an immediate feeling of certain superiority of one thing over another during my initial evaluations. Pronouncements along those lines often grow from repeated listening experiences. But with the new Euphony Stylus OS upgrades, the newest version of Mozzaik, and the S.M.S.L. VMV D2R DAC in my system, upon switching the Mozzaik software to “Upsampling Mozzaik DSD,” the changes I heard were jaw dropping and immediate. I now could hear a much wider and deeper soundstage that expanded beyond, behind, and in front of my KLH new production Model Five loudspeakers. I could easily identify instrument positions within the soundstage, and the overall realism of the recording’s capture of the sound space was suddenly über believable. More importantly, the DXD files converted to DSD 64 were imbued with an impressive new level of musicality that simply defied belief; the orchestral string tone gained a noticeable measure of sweetness, and the crescendos were more viscerally powerful and dynamic. If listening while blindfolded, I might have been able to convince myself that I was actually sitting in front of a live orchestra.

My perception of the difference I was hearing was the sort I might have once attributed to my level of impairment from whatever substance I happened to be indulging in at the time. Astonished, dumbfounded, or even gobsmacked don’t come close to expressing the near complete disbelief I felt hearing DXD files upsampled by Mozzaik to DSD. And the effect was easily repeatable—as I switched on the fly between the bit perfect and upsample modes in Stylus, the transformation between input and output was, well, transformational! I’ve been raving for months about my incredulity at how good upsampling from CD-quality PCM files to DSD has been, but I never would have believed that upsampling the very highest rate of PCM (DXD) would also yield results every bit as impressive.

More To Come!

This experience has been an eye-opener for me—I’ve been a firm believer for a couple of decades now in the superiority of DSD, and I’ve constantly been on the hunt for SACDs in thrift stores and independent record stores, as well as online. Now that I can convert PCM to DSD on the fly, I no longer feel the need to spend upwards of $100 for that ultra rare SACD on eBay or Discogs. I’ve paid almost as much for relatively rare SACDs as I paid for the Topping E30 II DAC that’s crazy good at its low price point! And as I mentioned, I’ve been playing about recently with the i2S connection again, and I’m not at all certain that the ubiquitous USB cable is the be-all, end-all of digital connectors. More to come on this new journey—I honestly couldn’t have believed that any changes to my digital system would yield such dramatic differences in my listening as I’ve been experiencing over the last week or so. Until next time, enjoy your family, your friends, and enjoy the music!

All images courtesy of the author, Euphony Audio, Apos Audio, Mozzaik Audio, Northstar Recording, and The Spirit of Turtle.