[PurpleAngel]

Thought I would make a thread about ELE DACs.
I just order the ELE DAC EL-D01 and ELE DAC EL-D02, they are currently on the slow boat from China.
Anyone else on Head-Fi use these DACs?
Have any comments on them.

 

[ComradeYodich]

Before getting to the DAC itself, the shipping is indeed quite slow.
 
The shipping rates timetables on ebay aren't very accurate; took like 23 days to ship from HK to Aus.

 

[Zarrick19]

I have ordered the EL-D00 for $8 with free international shipping and it arrived in about a week and half. I'm from Slovakia.
 
About the DAC - for it's price it's a nice little upgrade from integrated sound card. There is a little background noise but it isn't actually too disturbing. I was a bit shocked when found out I will need an additional (headphone)amp. But rather than buying another low-cost USB amp, I'll save up for an all-in-one DAC/AMP, something like FiiO E10. 
 
But for it's price, the ELE DAC is a great choice if you have a headphone amp or receiver.
 
Pics!
 

 

 

 

 

[CoiL]

I have ELE EL-D02 (with amp) and it`s great little cheap dac. I recommend it over onboard integrated dacs for sure if you can`t get SPDIF or toslink out. Sound is great, large enough soundstage, no hiss or hum, imaging & separation is good. I have also Aune T1 DAC/Amp and ELE is no match for it but it certainly is with great sound especially for the money!
 

 

[ComradeYodich]

That's strange. Turning the volume on PC to 3% with the ELE EL-D01 is already plenty enough volume for me. Not sure how much louder it can get on the EL-D02

 

[PurpleAngel]

My EL-D02 arrived a few days ago, so far it works fine, sounds better then the on-board audio on the computer I'm using to test it.

 

[Croftengea]

  My EL-D02 arrived a few days ago, so far it works fine, sounds better then the on-board audio on the computer I'm using to test it.

I'm considering EL-D01/EL-D02, would you please share some more details about SQ? Will I get a better sound than I already have with my Asus notebook + Vsonic VC02? 

 

[CoiL]

Answer is just before your question. There are many PCM2704 chip based DAC out there, don`t know if this is the best version but it is good choice over onboard integrated audio, especially for the money. Just ordered 2 more as gifts to friends, I just can`t understand how they can listen music like they have used to, hope they will appreciate it

 

[drabina]

Is there a big difference between EL-D00 and EL-D01? I am thinking of getting one of those boards just to play with it. I do not really need the aluminum case but looking at the boards, there is a slight difference (some caps are not surface mount in EL-D01).
 
Thanks.

 

[CoiL]

  I have ELE EL-D02 (with amp) and it`s great little cheap dac. I recommend it over onboard integrated dacs for sure if you can`t get SPDIF or toslink out. Sound is great, large enough soundstage, no hiss or hum, imaging & separation is good. I have also Aune T1 DAC/Amp and ELE is no match for it but it certainly is with great sound especially for the money!

 
NB! Update! 

Because I had 3 of those ELE EL-D02 DAC`s and I ordered some ELNA SilmicII capacitors for my Aune T1 but seller sent me wrong values (47uF 25V), I though about trying different capacitors and do some A/B comparing between ELE DAC`s with different caps. I also had some new Panasonic FR series 47uF 50V capacitors left from my Aune T1 capacitor rolling and tried those also.
 
Since ELE DAC already has some ELNA caps (100uF 50V), decided to leave those in place and change only those brown ones on picture above. 
 
So, from stock brownies > Panasonic FR result was littlebit tighter and punchier bass&kick, soundstage became clearer and imaging changed also littlebit better. Better transparency.
With stock brown caps everything felt littlebit more distant. With FR caps everything moved closer but soundstage didn`t get smaller, maybe even tinybit larger. Also headspace center point moved more into center so I could hear sounds further away back from the head creating more air and space. Good overall improvement for sure!
 
Then, those stock brown caps are 50V but seeing some improvement thought about trying those SilmicII`s mentioned earlier despite them being 25V but me thinking about USB giving out only 5V anyway, gave it a try. And glad I did! Soundstage became even more airier with more decay/reverb. Imaging became slightly better and what best of all - mids section came more into play and high peaks got smoothed out (not muddy or recessed). Overall sound & dynamics got much more musical and enjoyable.
 
So, if you ELE owners have some caps laying around - give it a try! I`m pretty sure You going to get improvement if you replace those noname/cheap brand caps with good grade caps.
 
Edit: 
 
One more note. I don`t know exactly how it`s electronically made/implemented but with EL-D02 version the sound from Line-out jack is brighter, soundstage is smaller with noticeably less air and separation/transparency, despite having same caps as headphone jack-out. Also, about half less "louder" signal.
But luckily headphone jack-out is fine for feeding speakers too. And that note applies also to EL-D02 with stock caps.

 

[Yodeb]

Hey guys, I'm thinking of buying the EL-D01 or EL-D02, but do not know which to choose. I use a Superlux 668B, you think that I need version D02 for the amp? The amplifier is decent? The version D02 is 5 eurs more expensive.

Greetings.

 

[CoiL]

I think you should go for D02, because like I said, sound out of headphone jack is noticeably better. With D01 you get that line-out jack sound. If it helps comparing, I`m using Superlux HD-681 / HD-662F with fran`s hw filters. Should be great for your 668B also. And if you can, do capacitor upgrade, it`s worth it and doesn`t cost much.

 

[Yodeb]

  I think you should go for D02, because like I said, sound out of headphone jack is noticeably better. With D01 you get that line-out jack sound. If it helps comparing, I`m using Superlux HD-681 / HD-662F with fran`s hw filters. Should be great for your 668B also. And if you can, do capacitor upgrade, it`s worth it and doesn`t cost much.

And how much is the amp? I guess you can not put a lot required headphone impedance, no?

And did you mean with the sound of jack? I do not understand. Thanks

 

[CoiL]

One more note. I don`t know exactly how it`s electronically made/implemented but with EL-D02 version the sound from Line-out jack is brighter, soundstage is smaller with noticeably less air and separation/transparency, despite having same caps as headphone jack-out. Also, about half less "louder" signal.
But luckily headphone jack-out is fine for feeding speakers too. And that note applies also to EL-D02 with stock caps.

 

[Yodeb]

 

And you could answer the question about the amp? really meant for high impedance headphones?
 
Thanks.