[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!