The phono preamp is so integral to the Prisma that it wouldn’t be possible without a great deal of re-design to put it in a box and offer it as a standalone phono pre. Sure, the TIDAL Audio stuff is a little blingy (although I’d argue in a tasteful way), and certainly in the stratosphere level of price, but forget about all that for a minute and let’s take a dive into the tech philosophy, execution, and sonic results.Īccording to Jorn, the TIDAL Audio Prisma is not intended to be a minimalist preamp with added phono stage, but rather a phono stage that also has 3 line inputs and a volume knob. That mission is to create hi-fi products that are on the cutting edge of what can be achieved in music reproduction when performance rather than cost is the only consideration. Up until recently, I didn’t know squat about TIDAL Audio other than it sounds amazing and is expensive.ĭoug was kind enough to send me lots of links and school me on the phone about all things TIDAL including chief designer, figurehead, and CEO, Jorn Janczak. ![]() But I’ll try.Īfter living with the TIDAL Audio Prisma in my system for a while and growing accustomed to hanging a drool bucket under my chin, I figured I better do some research. I’m almost at a loss for adjectives to describe the towering achievement in sound reproduction I hear when playing music through the Prisma. From the minute I plugged it into my system, I heard a nice sized slice of that same goodness I’d heard at CAF. Fast forward to mid-2020, and my excitement for having the opportunity to live with TIDAL Audio’s brand new Prisma preamplifier in my home system. While It’s not exactly commonplace to go into a random hi-fi shop and hear a TIDAL Audio system, it’s even less common to happen on to TIDAL Audio electronics “in the wild” and separated from their herd, so I would probably never know what part the TIDAL Audio electronics played in that system’s excellent sound. I had no clue how much of the sound was the speakers, the electronics, or some unique synergy. After hearing a few things including a bit of music from a recent mastering job of mine ( What Heat by Bokante and the Metropole Orkest) I was thinking this might be the best sounding playback system I’ve ever heard.I’d heard the talk of Doug always having impeccable sound at any show where he exhibits. Eric Franklin Shook grabs me and says “Stick with me, I’m gonna show you the good rooms.”Īs we walked into the room set up by Doug White, owner of The Voice That Is, I spied a pair of TIDAL Audio Contriva 20th Anniversary Speakers, Ferios mono amps, Preos preamp, Innous server, and a Vertere Acoustics turntable. It was late on the evening of the first night, so most of the rooms were not as crowded as they would become on the weekend days. So, there I was at the 2019 Capitol Audiofest show. ![]() But what about gear designed to be as transparent as possible? Can clean be emotionally engaging?Īfter hearing the TIDAL Audio Prisma, I’d have to say that an almost total lack of coloration is MORE engaging. What about playback? It’s easy to see why a lot of highly regarded hi-fi playback equipment unintentionally (or intentionally) has certain colorations that many find to be a pleasing or even an essential part of the listening experience. I tend to think that carefully chosen added coloration is fine at the recording and mixing phase, not so much in the mastering phase of production. It turns out our ears LIKE distortion, at least certain kinds of distortion. This is because many times a straight-up “purist” recording done to digital is certainly clean and free of distortion, but for some it can be less than involving. Since digital recording became essentially omnipotent as the pro recording medium of choice, it’s become standard practice by many engineers to use whatever tools available to impart a sonically pleasing amount of harmonics to the recording process in search of more apparent texture and dimension or cojones. (Courtesy of Doug White and TIDAL Audio) Where’s The Flava? But it’s in a class that is reserved for the best of the best, audio electronics that are so low in any added texture or distortions that the sound seems magically transformed by what’s NOT there. In the case of the TIDAL Audio Prisma, that sonic stamp is very audible. Whether I’m using certain pieces of gear to master music in my studio or swapping out stuff in my home system for a review, I’m highly aware of whatever sonic stamp, however slight, is being placed on the music. ![]() People like me who listen to music for a living (including lots of audiophiles I know) have developed a familiarity with the various sonic signatures that any piece of audio electronics contributes to the music passing through it. Is the absence of any coloration its own signature coloration? During my time with the TIDAL Audio Prisma preamplifier, I found myself asking that very question.
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