Korg MR-2000S 1-bit DSD recorder or Tascam DV-RA1000HD?

While researching AD converters the other day, I came across a shootout between the Korg MR-2000S 1-bit DSD recorder and the Benchmark ADC1 96/24bit AD converter. Last week, I bought an Apogee Rosetta 96K AD converter for recording my vinyl and while I'm very satisfied with the Rosetta, the audio samples from the shootout surprised me. The Korg MR-2000S samples sound noticeably better than both the Benchmark ADC1 and the Lavry Gold AD converters. If you have a chance, download the .zip file of audio samples and have a listen yourself. To me, the Korg sounds more transparent, open and detailed.

Some of the reviews I've read on the Korg state that they consider the sound quality (when recording in DSD) to be almost identical to a well maintained studio reel to reel tape deck, like a Studer A820 or an Ampex ATR 102. That's very high praise indeed. 

Well, this got me thinking. If I sell my two Apogee Rosetta's and the Ross Martin ADC, that would pretty much cover the cost of buying a Korg MR-2000S. I'm very tempted since the Korg works both ways - as a AD converter and also as a DAC. Not directly - you would need to copy your music file to the Korg's built-in hard drive first before playing it back. It has a USB port for file transfers, but so far, there is no support to use the Korg strictly as a USB DAC. 

Another great feature is the ability to effortlessly convert audio files between sampling rates with the included Audio Gate software. According to the reviews - recording at 2.8 or 5.6Mhz using DSD, then down sampling to 96K/24bit still retains most of the sound quality of the original DSD file and sounds better than the majority of straight 96K/24bit AD converters on the market.

I've also read that the headphone amp sounds great with high impedance headphones like my Sennheiser HD800's and the analog output (either RCA or XLR) sounds superb.

So now, I have a decision to make. Should I stick with my trusty Apogee Rosetta 96K AD, which I know sounds good, or spend the money and buy a Korg MR-2000S (which many major recording studios are now using as a DSD mix down deck for mastering SACD's)? I'm really a stickler for sound quality and I know that if I don't at least try one for myself, I'll always feel like I may be missing out on that little extra bit of sound quality the Korg could offer. Hmm...   

In the meantime, checkout the audio samples for yourself and see if you can hear the difference. 

Korg MR-2000s 1-bit DSD Recorder Overview

I found some internal photos of the Korg - it looks like it uses 2.5" IDE/PATA hard drives and it does work with SATA->IDE adapters. The original firmware limited the capacity to 132GB but version 1.6.1 and higher supports larger drives. I have a couple 320GB, 500GB and 750GB 2.5" drives I could use to upgrade it. 

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Ok, things are getting very interesting. 

While doing more research on stand alone recorders, I came across the Tascam DV-RA1000HD recorder. It does PCM recording up to 192K/24bit and 2.8Mhz DSD recording. It has a 60GB HD, a USB 2.0 port to offload the recordings, plus a built-in DVD recorder. Like the Korg MR-2000S, the Tascam is also used in many studios as a 2 track master recorder. It uses some of the highest grade Burr Brown ADC and DAC chips available. From what I gather, most people prefer to use the 192K/24bit recording rate over the 2.8Mhz DSD, but I'm not sure if that's because the file format for DSD is harder to work with. I don't think the Tascam comes with conversion software and the unit itself does not do conversions via hardware.

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Both units use the Burr Brown PCM4202 analog to digital chip for PCM and DSD. The Tascam uses the Burr Brown PCM1792 for the DAC and the Korg uses a Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC. The Korg also uses a specially designed Sony and Phillips chip for DSD processing.

Both units are running about the same price. The Korg intrigues me because it can do DSD at twice the standard SACD rate and everyone who heard it said it sounds outstanding. The test recordings I heard of the Korg blew me away - even after they were down sampled from DSD to PCM. 

I don't need the DVD burner of the Tascam, but I guess it would come in handy. Both units are built with professional studio applications in mind and both are highly regarded by well known studio engineers so I guess I couldn't go wrong with either one.

I'm at the point now where I know for sure that I'm getting one or the other, it's just a matter of deciding which one. 

Well, I decided to get the Korg MR-2000S. I put in a best offer on an eBay auction and the seller accepted. He listed it as a new unit, with the original box, manual and software. It's the silver model, which is functionally identical to the black model (MR-2000S-BK) but has an 80GB HD vs. 160GB in the black. It doesn't matter much, since I plan on upgrading it to a 250GB drive anyway.

One of the biggest selling points for me was the Audiogate software. Korg allows you to download and use the software for free (as long as you allow the software to tweet your usage of it), or use it 'tweet free' if you connect a supported Korg DSD recorder to your PC. After reading reviews of the unit from professional studio engineers and the fact that they also use the Audiogate software themselves for format conversion, plus having tried the software as both a high resolution music player and for converting a few DSD files myself, I was sold. The quality of the conversion from DSD to PCM is outstanding.

As an example, I have a SACD DSD rip of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' album which sounds amazing. All of the audio players I've used to play it - including Foobar 2000 (with the DSD plugin), sound great, but when I played it through the Audiogate software set for 192k (and the realtime, highest quality setting turned on) the audio quality jumped up to a level that was jaw dropping. 

My PC's sound card tops out at 192k and as of right now, there's no way to play native DSD files on a PC without converting them to PCM first (although Fostex, Mytec and a few others are starting to roll out DSD DAC's). Some Sony DVD/Bluray players - including older PS3's and some Vaio laptops will play DSD encoded .dff files burned on a DVD. There's even a hack available for older PS3's with SACD playback to use them as a SACD ripper. As far as I know, there's no other way to rip a SACD except by recording the analog audio output from a SACD - which is where the Korg will come in handy.

As good as the Apogee Rosetta analog to digital converters are, they never sounded exactly like listening to the live record playing - even at 96k/24bit. The Korg should be able to get one step closer to capturing all of that vinyl record goodness. 

I can't wait to record some vinyl at 5.8Mhz.     The place I bought it from is less than 100 miles away, so it should only take a day to get here and when it does - I'll post some sample audio tracks. 

The Korg MR-2000S is on the UPS truck and 'out for delivery' - it should be here in 4-5 hours. 

Yesterday, the mailman dropped off the 44pin IDE to SATA adapter:

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And I found a spare 2.5" 250GB SATA drive to drop in once it gets here. I can't wait to try this thing out. 

Here's the link for the unboxing photos and upgrade thread:   http://www.vinylaudio.net/index.php/topic,366.0.html