Digital Drive: REVIEW: Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 21 DAC Processors by davehg

Model:	Tri-Vista 21
Category:	DAC Processors
Suggested Retail Price:	$2395.00
Description:	24 bit DAC with 96khz or 192khz upsamping, coaxial and toslink inputs
Manufacturer URL:	Musical Fidelity
Model Picture:	View

Review by davehg ( A ) on February 07, 2004 at 14:57:01
IP Address: 209.206.241.184

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This is a review of the Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 21 DAC. In my system, it replaces a Art DI/O, heavily modified to â€œMENSAâ€ standards by the Bolder Cable Company. The Tri-Vista is a heavy unit, about 30 lbs, and is deeper than most DACS. It sits atop 4 puck-shaped feet, which like other Tri-Vista products, glow red when turned on, then amber, then blue when fully warmed up (about 30 minutes). It has an IEC connector for accepting aftermarket power cords, has one co-axial and one toslink input, and one coaxial digital output in addition to a single pair of RCA outputs. It upsamples to either 96kz or 192khz (a small pushbutton switch on the rear selects the desired upsampling). The front panel uses dark blue LEDâ€™s to indicate power on, digital input type, upsampling selector, and digital signal lock.
The dealer was quite right about the time needed to break this DAC in (at least 100 hours before it begins to sound like it should, and things are still getting changing after 200 hours). The Tri-Vista radically changed during the first seventy five hours, from a fairly musical DAC into a seriously musical DAC. At all times, I used a Technics DVD A10 as a transport (reviewed in SPhile some years back and well built player, weighing 20 lbs). Of note, the Technics upsamples to 24/96, so methinks the digital output of the Technics had already been upsampled before being fed into the Tri-Vista. (I can turn upsampling off on the Technics, but did not for the review).
This is the first DAC I have heard where my sonic comparisons are not to other DACS but to the vinyl systems I have owned (my last system being a VPI Jr. turntable and Sumiko Blue Oyster cartridge playing on a Rega RB300 arm). For you vinyl owners, you know how effortless, unrestrained and open, and musically dynamic good vinyl is, and how digital seems to be a compromise. Well, I finally heard in the Tri-Vista a digital system that equals a decent $2000-$3000 vinyl system (but does not exceed a true high end vinyl system).
The Tri-Vista locks in on a digital signal every time, even when I use a different DVD player. After a brief comparison between upsampling choices, I left it at 192khz. I used a stock power cord with the Tri-Vista, and a coaxial input (the Tri-Vista also accepts optical inputs).
My recent experiences (besides the MENSA) have been with the Shanling tubed HDCD player that a friend brought over. I listen to a range of music, from well recorded folk and jazz, to remastered rock, to favorite but crappy sounding mid to late 80â€™s CDâ€™s. When I auditioned the unit at the dealer, we compared it to the Cary 308 tubed HDCD player, and the MF 308, both of which the Tri-Vista handily beat.
Immediately, the Tri-Vista does a number of things amazingly well, far better than my MENSA and other units I have heard. First, it has a wide soundstage that extended outside my speakers, whereas the MENSA tended to keep things between the speakers. Second, and most noticeable, the Tri-Vista spreads out the instruments and singers on the soundstage; in comparison, the MENSA and most other DACS had them pushed up closer to one another. When the mix had two or more singers in the middle (think Crosby Stills Nash and Young), other DACS made them sound like they were one large mass, whereas the Tri-Vista flushed out the space between them. Third, the Tri-Vista gave the singers and musicians about two feet of extra height in my system, making them life size in height.
Fourth, the Tri-Vista gave the singers and instruments more body. A good example is the tune â€œDown to the River to Prayâ€ from the Oâ€™ Brother Where Art Though soundtrack. With the MENSA, the tune was musical and involving and the choir behind Allison Krause could be heard distinctly. However, the Tri-Vista added body and height to both Krause and the choir, and it sounded more like a larger choir spread out behind Krause, with the weight of many singers and the breath exhaling from Kraus. With the MENSA, it sounded more two-dimensional and flatter. Prior to the Tri-Vista, I had assumed the CD version was simply recorded a bit flat, since the DVD soundtrack from the movie sounded much more three dimensional and lifelike than the CD (go figure!). Not so; the CD version has the dynamics and weight that a choir should have, and it took the Tri-Vista to demonstrate this.
I had also assumed that a revealing DAC could not also sound warm; that for resolution you traded the warmth. With the Tri-Vista, you get more of both: more resolution and extraction of low level detail (especially the sheen of cymbals, the decay of cow bells, differences in guitars and drum types). The sound is far from clinical and cold, it is also warm and rich and musically involving in a manner that reminded me of some of the excellent Conrad Johnson gear I have owned over the years. Cross the typical detailed sound of VTL and ARC gear with the lushness of CJ and Airtight gear and you get a sense of what I mean.
Only with the mid to late 80â€™s CDâ€™s that sound horrible on most any system (the MENSA is no exception) does the Tri-Vista fail to charm. It does remove some of the digital hash and sheen, but it cannot breathe life into these flat tunes; they still sound cold and flat.
$2000 for a DAC (after the rebate) is a lot of cash. But the Tri-Vista was just simply impressive for the price; I see myself keeping the Tri-Vista for a long time, and I am simply amazed that for around $2000, I can actually afford a DAC that reminds me of the VPI vinyl systems I have owned. The only DACS I have personally heard that substantially exceed the Tri-Vista are the outrageously expensive Burmester 001 CD ($15k) and the DCS Elgar/Purcell ($34k), two products I could not afford and would not consider spending that kind of dough on.
I am quite captivated by the Tri-Vista. I have listed to other MF products, such as the Nu-Vista integrated amp, and the A308 preamp, both of which sounded cool and clean, but lacking the musicality and warmth that the Tri-Vista demonstrated in my own system. This product is exceedingly well made. Get one before they are gone (they are limited to 1100 units, only 800 of which are supposed to make their way out of the UK).

Product Weakness: Wish it had more than one coaxial digital input, and wish it had a toslink digital output in addition the coaxial out it has.
Product Strengths: Price, quality build, gorgeous warm sound akin more to good vinyl than digital sound, wide and deep soundstage, lush but resolving.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	VAC Avatar Special Edition
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	None
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Technics DVD A10 (transport)
Speakers:	Merlin TSM-M and REL Strata III
Cables/Interconnects:	Acoustic Zen Satori Shotgun and Silver Reference
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Rock, acoustic, vocal
Room Comments/Treatments:	DIY Jon Risch tube traps
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Cardas Golden Reference PC
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Wish it had more than one coaxial digital input, and wish it had a toslink digital output in addition the coaxial out it has.
Product Strengths:	Price, quality build, gorgeous warm sound akin more to good vinyl than digital sound, wide and deep soundstage, lush but resolving.