Micromega Duo CD3.1 & Duo Pro 2 DAC
A review that appeared in Audiophile around June 1994, which featured my then preferred CD set-up until the magnificent Micromega Trio happened along.
The funky Micromega Duo DAC
Internally the revised transport benefits from Acutrans, which is short for Accurate Transmission, an electronic anti-jitter mechanism developed by Micromega and about which it is saying zilch. Other than declaring that “the implementation of Acutrans is the most important change we’ve ever made to improve the transports” all Micromega UK would say about it was that “its operation centres on how and when data is clocked and it functions on all the transport’s digital outputs.” Acutrans works independently of the DAC – there’s none of the reclocking you’ll find in some other two-box systems – and so will benefit Micromega transport owners who aren’t using a ‘dedicated’ DAC from the same company.
Micromega’s grand fromage, Daniel Schaar is, according to the British arm of this French company, playing his cards unusually closely to his chest with this feature, which is now being used throughout his top-line transports. It comes in three flavours: the T-Drive and Duo CD3.1 mechanisms have basic Acutrans, the Duo CD2.1 and Trio mechanisms employ a more advanced version, and the most sophisticated level is being reserved for a “forthcoming product”. This is another topic that’s cloaked in secrecy with only Schaar and his chief designer knowing anything about the project.
Ian Bolt, Micromega’s UK voice, was more forthcoming about the AES/EBU balanced 100-ohm digital output now fitted to the Duo CD3.1. After comparing this connection with the alternative single-ended option, I can understand his enthusiasm. The transport comes with a regular phono to phono interconnect but buyers can upgrade to a Micromega-recommended Sterling AES/EBU lead for just £40. Given the difference this makes to the sound of the system and its relatively negligible cost, you would be foolish to pass on this option. Bolt also advocates the XLO Type 4B cable, which, at £115, proved commensurately more satisfying than the Sterling lead and far preferable to standard, phono-terminated leads.
Other changes to the Duo CD3.1 include improved control buttons and logic software, a relocation of the case’s single spiked foot so that users who wish to stack the transport and Duo Pro 2 DAC can do so without compromising the transport’s ‘energy bleed path’ isolation system, and a new disc clamp. The latter, which is British-made and hewn from hi-tech carbon-fibre, has a magnetic centre puck that makes it easier to use and, says Micromega, more efficient than the old one without imposing any extra load on the transport’s motor.
The new Duo Pro 2 DAC is based on the true time-aligned differential mode 7323 chips of its predecessor and features a dual mono circuit configuration with multiple power supplies as did the Duo Pro. However, the circuit now resides on a newly designed pcb and one of the original unit’s Toslink inputs has made way for a balanced AES/EBU connection. The Duo Pro 2 also has balanced analogue outputs. New additions to the front panel are indicators for Lock, De-emphasis, and one that is triggered by SCMS (Serial Copy Management System) copy-prohibit flags. Otherwise the facilities of this unit, which provides auto-sensing of incoming sampling frequencies, remain unchanged with four inputs controlled by separate listen/record selectors and a button for inverting the phase of the analogue signal.
I’ve always enjoyed the vivacity and intensity of performances given by Micromega’s top ranking players and what emerges from the Duo CD3.1 and Duo Pro 2 combination continues the tradition of highly musical presentations brimming with assertive energy. What appears to have been added to this player’s high-octane sound is an extra splash of finesse and cosmetic grace. This partnership is as musically animated as ever but it keeps its vigour a shade more tightly reined, offering performances that are simultaneously vivid and even-tempered. There’s no superfluous refinement here threatening to push the player into the pleasant but uneventful camp.
In gaining more sonic polish this machine has lost none of the properties that make for stimulating performances. For example, the deft way that Micromega players articulate bass lines hasn’t been sacrificed. The Duo CD3.1 and Duo Pro 2 doggedly pursued the minutiae of even restrained playing in the lower octaves behind more lively, dominant instrumental lines. Many machines won’t track Kai Eckhardt’s softly plucked electric bass throughout Florianapolis (John McLaughlin Trio Live at The Royal Festival Hall) without losing definition and leading edge attack on the more gently played passages. The Micromega clung tightly to every note, exploring the instrument’s shifting intonation, note shape and dynamic variations with commendable ease. It never left me struggling to pick out exactly what Eckhardt was playing in the midst of McLaughlin’s spirited guitar flurries or Trilok Gurtu’s busy percussion outbursts that often obscure the bass line on other players.
It also demonstrated here the familial timing dexterity that I’ve found to be a particularly admirable characteristic in Micromega’s players. It never faltered following McLaughlin’s highly charged flights over the fretboard, clearly separating the individual notes in rapidly despatched arpeggios and runs. Furthermore, its acuity made light of discriminating between those notes, revealing those that were sustained, albeit briefly, and those that were fleeting grace notes. The Duo CD3.1 and Duo Pro 2 skilfully avoided losing its focus during convoluted scores.
The player consistently offered a scrupulously clear and musically fluent insight into recordings that regularly tax lesser machinery yet at no time did its presentation sound contrived or suggest that the Micromega was struggling. Contributing usefully to its easy-going nature was a very even tonal balance with a silky smooth but explicitly detailed treble register. This enabled it to deal effectively with the twenty-one-piece percussion complement and strident horn interjections of Varèse’ Amériques. This recording also showed that the revised player better resolved the sense of air and atmosphere within recordings. Much of this seemed attributable to the AES/EBU connections, which, along with opening out the presentation, better revealing low level information, also made instruments and voices sound more convincingly natural and life-like. This latter effect wasn’t subtle or hard to discern. Voices, in particular, were full-bodied and rich but were also intimately modelled; delicate inflexions and breathing details were laid bare and this added believability to the player’s portrayal.
When I reviewed the previous incarnation of this CD system I commented on its ability to sound more ‘human’ and emotionally engaging than most digital machinery. This latest iteration has extended the Micromega’s talents for communicating music’s dramatic and emotive qualities. Playing Van Morrison’s Too Long In Exile the Micromega easily captured the spirit the singer and the band injected into the music. It transformed an excellent performance into an excellent performance that had feeling. This wasn’t a quality that a technician could measure but it was nonetheless plainly evident.
Players at this price level need to go beyond conveying the cosmetics and fundamentals of musical performances acceptably, a feat that many budget machines can manage. The Micromega succeeds in that respect. Its ability to provide genuine musical insight often rests on resolving and organising information that might be judged as of secondary importance to music’s basic building blocks but the Duo CD3.1 and Duo Pro 2 present a convincing argument that paying attention to near imperceptible detail can make a significant contribution to your enjoyment of music.
