In my view, Playback Designs MPD-6 and MPS-X deliver on all fronts, clearly showcasing what the best digital devices of the 21st century have to offer. They tick all the audiophile boxes, but they also tick music lovers’ ones, which is not always quite the same. The DAC is excellent, one of the very few that I could see replacing my Pacific 2, although I would miss the tube-rolling option that makes the Polish device so exciting. Its presentation is incredibly resolving, transparent, and dynamic, but also natural, fluid, and coherent. It does support both PCM and DSD hi-res files, it features several digital inputs, and a feature I hardly mentioned, but one that in a short test proved to be a real added value, namely the excellent volume control. Finally, the Streamer module, installed in the reviewed unit, works flawlessly as well.
The MPS-X is, on the one hand, quite a costly upgrade, on the other, once you hear the improvement it still brings to the table even paired with such superb D/A converters as Playback Designs MPD-6 and LampizatOr Pacific 2, you will, most likely, consider it worth every penny. The presentation with it, especially when PLink is used, is simply better, more refined, richer, even more transparent, and natural. Both MPD-6 and MPS-X combined, deliver a stunning, exciting, sometimes even breath-taking performance that, in my opinion, will satisfy even the most demanding music lovers using top audio systems. This combo clearly deserves our Victor award and the only reason I am not giving it is the fact, that there is still the Dream Line in the Playback Designs portfolio and it is supposed, even if at the moment it is hard to believe, even better. So hoping that one day I’ll have a chance to review it too, I’ll keep the award for future use.