[The Monkey]

Quote:

I'm not sure how one can say how a DAC sounds when the final sound you hear is the result of all the preamp, amp, speakers, cabling, and especially the hotel ROOM.  Do you remember what the rest of the gear, cabling, speakers were at RMAF?  

So in other words, one can never say how a DAC really sounds?

 

[bixby]

Quote:

I'm not sure how one can say how a DAC sounds when the final sound you hear is the result of all the preamp, amp, speakers, cabling, and especially the hotel ROOM.  Do you remember what the rest of the gear, cabling, speakers were at RMAF?

How the dacs sounds in any system is a bit of a struggle but after going to RMAF for about 5 years you do get a feel for how the source is feeding the system.  It was an all emotiva system of course.
 
It is ultimately hard to tell how it might sound in your system, but having heard several of my tracks on about 30 systems over the course of this years event, I feel comfortable in my opinion.
 
then again if you really want the inside dope, BUY ONE and listen to it.

 

[ciphercomplete]

 
Quote:

Quotes of the specification
- D/A conversion: high performance, multibit Sigma-Delta Burr Brown AD1955 
  Data Directed Scrambling with high jitter immunity, and an 8x Oversampling Digital Filter
 

They could have used more than one ad1955 chip. One per channel.  The Esoteric X-01D2 uses one ad1955 per channel.  (Yes I do realize that the X-01D2 costs $16000).


 
Quote:

Actually, I heard it at RMAF in Denver yesterday, no delorean required. 
 
Sounds like most $300 dacs, veiled mids, mushy bass and not nearly as resolving as one who has heard a $800 dac might want.  As I said, nothing to get excited about.
 

Your description of the sound reminds me of my old Zero DAC which used a single ad1852 dac.
 
This is one of the reasons I am not a Emotiva fan even for home theater.   They only tout specs and random audio jargon like 8x oversampling.  Yes 8x Oversampling was very impressive back in the 90's, it should be par for the course now unless it has been superceded.  On the other hand they do seem to get that output stages are important.  But then you see debacles like their UMC-1 and it makes you wonder. 
 
Audio GD makes a Dual Wolfson Dac for $450, so one would think that Emo could make a dual AD1955 dac and slide under $500.  *sigh* I'll quit hating.

 

[n3rdling]

Bixby,
 
You don't know how the DAC sounded.  You know how the system sounded.  You didn't listen to a DAC.  You listened to a system.  You haven't developed superpowers to be able to hone in on only one piece of gear in a system with no changes made.  Don't kid yourself.
 
If you want to know how the DAC sounds (or have a valid opinion), then you have to at the very least switch between different DACs in the SAME SYSTEM.  Very much preferably in your own system since you have a good idea of what your system sounds like.
 
This isn't exclusive to DACs - it goes for anything in the system.
 
Looking forward to a valid opinion being posted on the DAC in question.  Cheers to Jon L for posting what others were thinking.

 

[The Monkey]

I see the point better now, and I guess I agree somewhat.  Without being able to do a quick A/B, it is quite difficult to compare DACs or to offer an absolute opinion as to their sound.  Not impossible I'm sure, but hard.  Heck, I have a hard time doing it with near instantaneous A/Bing.

 

[n3rdling]

To give an example:
 
Monkey you are currently having an audition with the Ref 7.  In order to determine what you think the Ref 7 sounds like, you are switching between DACs or are playing the Ref 7 in your system.  Both are completely valid ways of evaluating new gear.  It would make zero sense to suddenly replace your PW/KGSS/O2 with the Ref7 and say, a SRM1mk2/Sr Lambda you just got in the mail, and then try to form opinions on strictly the PW vs Ref7.  Instead, your impressions would be on the PW/KGSS/O2 as a whole vs the Ref7/SRM1mk2/Sr Lambda as a whole.

  You'd think it's common sense, but so many seem to think they have superpowers.

 

[bixby]

Yes, yes, yes, I did hear a system.
 
And I did hear their nice big amps and top notch cd transport and their cables and large speakers, so yes I heard a system.  And feeding that system was the dac. 
 
I did not freaking review the dac for goodness sake.  I gave just gave my impression of the sound coming from it (the dac) and the rest of the gear when asked for more info. This after I merely said I would pass based on what I heard.  If you are using your best stuff to showcase your products and it sounds like any other run of the mill system with a $300 caliber front end then perhaps the system is at fault.
 
By all means to review it you need to listen to it in your own system. 
 
I only meant to point out to the builders of the bandwagon that perhaps they may be premature to crown this reasonably priced dac the new Flavor of the Month, especially since most of the fanboys praising it had not heard it either in any system or in their own! 
 

 

[bigred7078]

Well as someone who acts like they know what they are talking about you should definitely know better than to just disregard something based on THAT listening session lol... I'm a fan of most Emotiva products...that is other than their speakers. They just don't live up to the value that their other products have so your impression of the system does not surprise me. That being said you appeared to have a negative view on the product before you even heard it which leads me to believe you have negative views on the company as a whole and thus no matter what the experience you had you probably would have gave the same weak description...True or not, I see that as an ongoing trend that really is sad to see these days. 
 
That being said let me be the first to take the opposing stance. I've actually gotten the chance to hear it in my own system...After my first song I was not overly blown away by it, but after awhile I started to get a better feel for it as one would expect with any audio equipment. Some songs made me seem like it lacked in the midrange a bit it is an extremely detailed DAC. I was previously a fan of the ERC-1 (however I do not own one as I just don't use CD's anymore) and this is definitely a better sounding unit than it. Again the details and separation and extremely good. This unit has plenty of inputs for all of your needs so its very flexible and it can also be connected directly to an amp due to its built in volume control. The build quality is excellent and its comes with an all aluminum remote control that adds a nice touch...not to mention the 5 year warranty. Overall for $299 I definitely give it a thumbs up. Obviously it may not mesh well in everyones systems but thats a choice for you to decide and at this price point it should give most people the opportunity to see what a DAC can really do for their system.  


Quote:

Yes, yes, yes, I did hear a system.
 
And I did hear their nice big amps and top notch cd transport and their cables and large speakers, so yes I heard a system.  And feeding that system was the dac. 
 
I did not freaking review the dac for goodness sake.  I gave just gave my impression of the sound coming from it (the dac) and the rest of the gear when asked for more info. This after I merely said I would pass based on what I heard.  If you are using your best stuff to showcase your products and it sounds like any other run of the mill system with a $300 caliber front end then perhaps the system is at fault.
 
By all means to review it you need to listen to it in your own system. 
 
I only meant to point out to the builders of the bandwagon that perhaps they may be premature to crown this reasonably priced dac the new Flavor of the Month, especially since most of the fanboys praising it had not heard it either in any system or in their own! 
 

 

[SilverCans]

Yikes, relax guys. Bixby didn't like what he heard; ok no problem he is entitled to his opinion. He even said he didn't A/B it so give him some slack. No one is saying don't buy it, wait for more reviews or get one yourself to try out.

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

Yikes, relax guys. Bixby didn't like what he heard; ok no problem he is entitled to his opinion. He even said he didn't A/B it so give him some slack. No one is saying don't buy it, wait for more reviews or get one yourself to try out.

How?
 
Are these available anywhere?
 

 

[project86]

I've seen several people on forums who seem to have one already, and I could have sworn one even sold in the classifieds here recently. The website still seems to show pre-order status though. So who knows.

 

[Dynobot]

Its rare to see bad Dac reviews, I think at least initially most people seem to like just about any Dac.  It isn't until they start to compare side by side that shortcomings start to show.
 
I've heard enough AD1955 Dac's to know I really don't care for the sound long term.  Detailed full of energy, nice bottom end, more up front and in your face, perhaps depending on music preferences it could be someones cup of tea.

 

[tyrion]

I had mine for a week before sending it out on a tour to a few friends to check out.  I own an Amarra 4 which was being repaired when I had the Emotiva, so no comparison.  On it's own, the Emotiva sounds very good to my ears.  Is it a giant killer, probably not is it damn good for $300, no question in my mind.  I had the ERC-1 and liked it but have no idea how this compares.  All I can say is that I would have no problem with this the XDA-1 in my system. I haven't heard a lot of low end DAC's (price wise) so can't compare.  I may have access to a Arcam rDAC to compare, which would be interesting as they are within a couple of hundred dollars of each other.

 

[audiosceptic]

I received mine last week and am using it in my speaker system connected via coax to a Logitech Touch. As of now I can't really tell the difference between the XDA-1 and the Logitech Touch analog outputs. In a couple of weeks I should receive the Audio-gd Ref 7 DAC and will do some comparisons between the 2.

 

[Xan7hos]

I'd like to hear more descriptions of how it sounds via balanced output