EMM Labs DAC2X slays all comers - and wallets .....

[hifixman]

I’m immune now from BS and haters

 

[chesebert]

I have been immune from shills, promoters and marketers. nice to have some immunity in this hobby.

 

[hifixman]

I get it everyone want to hear and believe their source and systems are the best or the giant killer to get the security but it it not

 

[eskamobob1]

So, which specific dac have you owned that you believe has a large soundstage and great dimensionality for headphone use?

I mean, purely stage size and image seperation wise, holo and chord clearly trounce emm/meitner. For smaller stage but laser seperation Weiss is also fantastic as is ideon. Tbh, while emm/meitner do have smaller and less seperate stages than others in their tiers, it's just the specific trade off they make while others make different ones. I don't honestly think it's a huge deal, just something worth recognizing when comparing dacs.

 

[2Maybe4]

I get it everyone want to hear and believe their source and systems are the best or the giant killer to get the security but it it not

Agreed!! The fact is, no one has the "best"; there are just pros, cons and compromises. This is even more true, once loudspeakers and the room are added into the "best" equation.

As such this thread's heading is a misnomer or perhaps meant to be facetious. Of course, the “EMM Labs DAC2X doesn’t slay all comers”. No DAC does! But a DAC like my EMM DV2 or the DAC2X, may be equal to whatever the competition is, that is thrown at them. However, will they slay all comers? Of course not, unless a sledge hammer is wielded by the EMM owner against the competition.

There are pluses and minuses with each component, including DAC’s. Once the level of an EMM DV2/DAC2X is reached, other DACs at their level are different in certain areas, not necessarily better or worse. However, DAC’s at the EMM level are more comparable than different.

At the level of an EMM, DCS, Lampizator, MSB, you name it, one person’s best is not necessarily the next persons. If there were 100% consensus in this crazy hobby, websites like this one wouldn’t be necessary.

Because when it comes down to it, we arrive at preferences and tastes when we first expose ourselves to high end systems. That preference and taste is subjective, based on the subjective way we perceive what we are hearing. Why would anyone conclude otherwise, by assuming some kind of objective measurement would take priority, when the enjoyment of music is a very personal, emotion eliciting, subjective experience?

Hence, audio reproduction tastes are different for each of us and they will grow and change as the numbers of our experiences change. Of course, we might be in agreement with a few folks at a high-end equipment shootout. But in those instances -- as long as the items being compared are at a fairly equal level -- a 100% consensus would be the rare exception. So, why should we believe that one component like a DAC will slay all other DAC’s?

I believe the best we can do is create a grouping of what is considered to be the best performing hardware types (e.g., pre-amps, DAC’s etc.) and say these are the best of the best. And even then, some won’t agree. Such is the wacky and wonderful hobby we find ourselves. The best we can do is seek what we believe is the best within our budgets and enjoy the music!

 

[ufospls2]

This seems to be the most active EMM Labs thread on the board so I figured I'd post here. I've moved to an EMM Labs DA2V2 and it arrived today. Build quality seems really solid. I haven't had a chance to dig into listening yet, that will be later on this evening, but I'll report back with how its sounding. Kind of neat to have a piece of gear from a Canadian company in my set up.

 

[IanB52]

Congrats! IMO, takes a whole 500 hours to fully settle.

 

[ufospls2]

Congrats! IMO, takes a whole 500 hours to fully settle.

Its a second hand unit, so I'm guessing it has a solid amount of hours. Still, I'll keep my ears on it and let it settle and see how things go. Thanks for the tip

 

[ufospls2]

The DA2V2 seems promising so far. Only negative I noticed last night was it was coming across slightly bright in the highs compared to my Wavedream and other DACs, but I think that might change slightly as it gets more hours on it in my system. I'm guessing it has been sitting unused for some time.

 

[chesebert]

The DA2V2 seems promising so far. Only negative I noticed last night was it was coming across slightly bright in the highs compared to my Wavedream and other DACs, but I think that might change slightly as it gets more hours on it in my system. I'm guessing it has been sitting unused for some time.

I don’t disagree. I think dac2xv2 is more laidback and playback dacs are a bit more laidback than dac2xv2. Might want to try different power cables and different digital inputs. You may have better luck with a more laidback sounding streamer/front end.

 

[IanB52]

I don’t disagree. I think dac2xv2 is more laidback and playback dacs are a bit more laidback than dac2xv2. Might want to try different power cables and different digital inputs. You may have better luck with a more laidback sounding streamer/front end.

I think this is true. The big factor is how sensitive the DA2 is to cables, esp power. With some it was a bit bright, but the current Shunyata Omega QR-s (yes, I'm sorry) is very smooth. I also found it quite not bright when I had some Transparent Reference interconnects a while back.

I also find that optilink and toslink are more laid back inputs.

 

[ufospls2]

I don’t disagree. I think dac2xv2 is more laidback and playback dacs are a bit more laidback than dac2xv2. Might want to try different power cables and different digital inputs. You may have better luck with a more laidback sounding streamer/front end.

After listening more last night and today, so far its sounding a bit less bright in the highs. I think that will partly be due to my ears adjusting, and also just the DAC warming up and settling within my system.I don't think it will ever be an easy going let alone darker or warm DAC, but I'll definitely experiment with inputs and power cables and what not, see how they effect things. Its only day 3, so I've got all the time in the world to play about with it all

I think this is true. The big factor is how sensitive the DA2 is to cables, esp power. With some it was a bit bright, but the current Shunyata Omega QR-s (yes, I'm sorry) is very smooth. I also found it quite not bright when I had some Transparent Reference interconnects a while back.

I also find that optilink and toslink are more laid back inputs.

I've just switched to the toslink input, and will see how that sounds tonight. Thanks for the tip

Overall what I'm noticing so far is that its a very highly detailed DAC, not bass heavy, and pretty ruthlessly revealing of the quality of the recording you are listening to. Though I've never heard them, I think WE300b's might work well in my tube pre with the DA2V2 as the DAC, as they are fairly widely report to be a bit of a warmer smoother tube.

 

[chesebert]

@ufospls2 Has the sharpness gone away for you? What streamer/front end are you using?

 

[ufospls2]

@ufospls2 Has the sharpness gone away for you? What streamer/front end are you using?

It has definitely subsided somewhat over time and I'm sure there is simply just my ears slowly adjusting vs day 1. Then through tweaking I've improved it further. I do think ill try different tubes in my preamp and see how that goes, but not yet. For me so far the positives, of which there are a lot, are massively outweighing the slight brightness/sharpness I was struggling with initially (and am much less so now.) Its a really good DAC

 

[chesebert]

This PSA will apply to may be 1 other person here ...lol. Here it goes - Emm Labs will have a v4 upgrade for XDS1 featuring a new Esoteric drive unit and digital and analog boards from the DA2i. No pricing yet, but I expect the upgrade to be around $12k.