Even in this configuration, the effect of the 3R Master Time is audible at all times, even if it is not as impressive as in the constellation with my notebook. However, please keep in mind that the USB configuration of my Audio PC is significantly more expensive than a 3R Master Time. With the Absolute Time, a completely different picture emerges. It immediately shows its best side: strong timbre, rhythmically and dynamically powerful, but always with that certain dash of subtlety that makes me experience the intermezzo particularly intensely. In addition, there is a musical flow in the playback that you don't get to hear every day in this form. The spatial image is now much deeper and still looks extraordinarily natural to me. This is certainly helped by the fact that the brass entries in the middle of the piece are so extremely clear. In addition, there are subtleties that I have not heard so clearly before. Does the Absolute Time sound more "analytical" where possible, i.e. perhaps a little colder and harder? No, the exact opposite is the case! The string entries have radiance and intensity, without the slightest hint of harshness, the pizzicato of the cellos and double basses sound round and sonorous with a lot of body.

So that you don't get the wrong impression due to my enthusiasm: The sound improvement is not twice as great compared to that of the 3R Master Time. Here, too, the well-known rule applies that the effort for a certain result does not grow linearly as optimization progresses, but rather exponentially. Nevertheless, it simply sounds better with the Absolute Time! Can that be topped? Well, the Absolute Time Signature knows how to conjure up a high-frequency range in my listening room that is as fine and smooth as the very best silk. The strings still lose their last touch of roughness. The winds – like the other instruments – are drawn a tad smaller in their size, but more realistically for my taste and simply look even more natural with the same intensity. At the same time, the individual instruments are now surrounded by an airiness that is fascinating. This results in an admirably transparent and at the same time fine reproduction overall.