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Headphoneus Supremus
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[size=medium]Electrocompaniet ECD-1[/size]
I bought an Electrocompaniet ECD-1 digital/analog converter device in the beginning of the year and now I'd like to share some thoughts about it. There's been long pauses between the chapters and even paragraphs as I've been trying to taste the real flavor of the DAC before writing this short sum-up.
Chapter 1 – the wait
I weren't very nervous. Things were smiling altogether, fresh breeze would smooth me in the winter. I was watching some episode of Top Gear last Friday, knowing that a parcel would soon hit my post. And it'd contain the Ferrari of DACs. Boy how wide was the smile that night. What is quality? Really. I came home. It is a Sunday afternoon. David Gilmour is singing about breathing the air and rabbits running. I will be getting the DAC tomorrow for the issues are to be cleared. I actually am quite happy with the Delta 192 soundcard, but I felt I need an external DAC device so I could try and use different sources with it. And there'd be an increase in quality as well. Of course.
A month later
All my memories are foggy or grainy at least. For some reason, it's now a lot more clear. The vision, the enthusiasm. Where once was a weird imitation of a Pollock, now were thousands of individual patterns and dots. This dark beauty with golden feet and blue baby-face with funny nose has certainly some assets. So fit, muscular and groovily potential to have a kingdom to rule. A month ago the sky was gray. Now it is light blue. Light shades expose every little thing in the ground. An early tit is pecking something and lets out a little chirp. The record has spun. The winter has changed to easter once again. The snow was gray and now that the sun has come out of the cloud, shines and glitters.
Chapter 2 – The Build
Enough of poetical try-outs. I've enjoyed the DAC for about 6 weeks now. I've strapped her using a pair of RCA splitters that'll take the unbalanced signal to my low-fi speaker set and to my Stax setup. Should I earn some extra money, I'll buy an SRM-717 and feed it balanced.
Right, now to the point. The ECD1 looks like a babe. It knows how to look good, to feel high-end, to act like a player. Golden feet, slight bit of blue in front panel and dark body makes it clear that there's some class and style attached to it. Blue indicates the presence of some electricity. Or rather, the binary presence of the digital domain. Blue is the color of electricity but today, a sort of mark of digital era. At least to me the dark shades of gray – or in this case, black – mixed with blue makes a great looking device any day. The golden buttons make a touch also. It doesn't look industrialistic or studioish but very classy and cozy piece of hi-fi furniture the kind people bought as fashion statements in the good ol' days.
The whole construction is very solid. Perhaps even too solid. The input selector is rather stiff to use. I have to use my thumb to press the selector and have index finger against the plexiglas in order to have the input changed. I fear that the panel might get loose after sufficient amount of changed inputs. The power button is implemented with different way and feels very good to use. It puts out a satisfying little click followed by another mechanical snap when the input switches on. I don't have a clue how it's done but it sounds sweet.
The ECD-1 has four inputs: two coaxial ones, one optical (toslink) and an XLR one (AES/EBU). It outputs unbalanced and balanced as seen. I haven't tested – don't have equipment to test – if it outputs both at the same time. Probably does, how could it see easily what is connected to which jacks. And naturally, there is a coaxial and an optical output to chain in more devices. That'd make comparing of two DACs easy – if I had one. Maybe in the future. Very distant future.
Chapter 3 – the Sound
The major difference between a low-end and high-end source is the degree of forcing of sound. When I bought a simple, mid-fi soundcard to replace an integrated ill-doer, there was a great sense of freedom in the air. Then, jumping into higher levels makes a similar effect. That didn't surprise, but gladdened nonetheless. The amount of relaxedness in the vocals is very notable. It makes vastly easier to follow lyrics and enjoy the words as a counterpart of playing. When I first listened to some Mulholland Dr soundtrack (by Angelo Badalamenti & co) the effect wasn't that great. It didn't work with the particular type of music and mastering! I was a bit confused at the time. On the other hand, it was my first listen, so there shouldn't be such worries. The very next album I played was The Wall (by Pink Floyd) and I quickly found out what's happened. Waters' voice seemed to come from a clear emptiness, from a clear empty spot, single spot. It was rather a large, full size wall with the lesser sources. The ECD1 could nail the voice down right at the first listen. The Mulholland Dr track was violin-based, had some serious orchestra work in a slow, sluggish way. It didn't have directions in a sense. That's why there was a difficulty to tell any enhancement.
And the sense of realism, relaxedness eventually achieves any aspect of music reproduction. Now that I've listened to music with the ECD1 for months I feel everything feels alright with it. Perhaps it doesn't shine with classical music that much but I enjoy it. I quickly realized there's a notable boost in bass that I didn't like very much first. Well, the ear gets on with it fast. And the bass isn't that bad. People say it's loose but at least it's tighter than my Juli@. The highs are the weak spot in this baby. Should there be slightly slower roll-off of treble, the violins would shine in a way I'd grow smile to my ears. My Stax setup is also rolling off the highs early so it alone might cause the issue.
No turning back
Today I had a revelation. I wanted to hear Tchaikovsky on DVD-A once again -- there's been a long time I listened to it last time. To listen to it, I have to use my Pioneer only, because the Telarc disk seems to disallow feeding SPDIF (in order to prevent perfect copying). So, I plugged my cables into the Pioneer and started listening. When I first got the disk it sounded just perfect with all the nuances showing up clearly. When it started playing, I was confused: why it sounds so flat? I thought I played the DVD-Video side but I checked both sides and yes, it was the DVD-A side that sounded bad. Well, not bad but not perfect either. Not anymore. I realized the ECD1 sounds better with CDs than the Pioneer with DVD-As and SACDs. Indeed the flash from the past was needed to hear what's going on.
Now that I've got used to the sound of the ECD1, I simply can't see the imagery and dynamics with my lesser sources any more. The gap has widened and probably will keep widening whereas it was hard for me to notice difference. Now I could take an ABX test and tell right away which is which.
Last notes
Honestly, I can't say now if the piece is worth the money. I haven't checked much of the sources and around here it's not easy to attend serious hi-fi meets with my trusty Staxes. What can I say is that the ECD1 has taught me some important lessons about how music is built and layered. While it clearly beats the mid-fi $100 DVD-A players and SACDs just by playing redbook on it, there might be more financially better choices. Of course, I can't be sure of any of this without listening to the compares so you don't take my word on the quality/price factors. Just hear this: the ECD1 is an excellent performer that can and will please the listener very much. The dynamic sound it generates is absolutely stunning.
[size=medium]Electrocompaniet ECD-1[/size]
I bought an Electrocompaniet ECD-1 digital/analog converter device in the beginning of the year and now I'd like to share some thoughts about it. There's been long pauses between the chapters and even paragraphs as I've been trying to taste the real flavor of the DAC before writing this short sum-up.
Chapter 1 – the wait
I weren't very nervous. Things were smiling altogether, fresh breeze would smooth me in the winter. I was watching some episode of Top Gear last Friday, knowing that a parcel would soon hit my post. And it'd contain the Ferrari of DACs. Boy how wide was the smile that night. What is quality? Really. I came home. It is a Sunday afternoon. David Gilmour is singing about breathing the air and rabbits running. I will be getting the DAC tomorrow for the issues are to be cleared. I actually am quite happy with the Delta 192 soundcard, but I felt I need an external DAC device so I could try and use different sources with it. And there'd be an increase in quality as well. Of course.
A month later
All my memories are foggy or grainy at least. For some reason, it's now a lot more clear. The vision, the enthusiasm. Where once was a weird imitation of a Pollock, now were thousands of individual patterns and dots. This dark beauty with golden feet and blue baby-face with funny nose has certainly some assets. So fit, muscular and groovily potential to have a kingdom to rule. A month ago the sky was gray. Now it is light blue. Light shades expose every little thing in the ground. An early tit is pecking something and lets out a little chirp. The record has spun. The winter has changed to easter once again. The snow was gray and now that the sun has come out of the cloud, shines and glitters.
Chapter 2 – The Build
Enough of poetical try-outs. I've enjoyed the DAC for about 6 weeks now. I've strapped her using a pair of RCA splitters that'll take the unbalanced signal to my low-fi speaker set and to my Stax setup. Should I earn some extra money, I'll buy an SRM-717 and feed it balanced.
Right, now to the point. The ECD1 looks like a babe. It knows how to look good, to feel high-end, to act like a player. Golden feet, slight bit of blue in front panel and dark body makes it clear that there's some class and style attached to it. Blue indicates the presence of some electricity. Or rather, the binary presence of the digital domain. Blue is the color of electricity but today, a sort of mark of digital era. At least to me the dark shades of gray – or in this case, black – mixed with blue makes a great looking device any day. The golden buttons make a touch also. It doesn't look industrialistic or studioish but very classy and cozy piece of hi-fi furniture the kind people bought as fashion statements in the good ol' days.
The whole construction is very solid. Perhaps even too solid. The input selector is rather stiff to use. I have to use my thumb to press the selector and have index finger against the plexiglas in order to have the input changed. I fear that the panel might get loose after sufficient amount of changed inputs. The power button is implemented with different way and feels very good to use. It puts out a satisfying little click followed by another mechanical snap when the input switches on. I don't have a clue how it's done but it sounds sweet.
The ECD-1 has four inputs: two coaxial ones, one optical (toslink) and an XLR one (AES/EBU). It outputs unbalanced and balanced as seen. I haven't tested – don't have equipment to test – if it outputs both at the same time. Probably does, how could it see easily what is connected to which jacks. And naturally, there is a coaxial and an optical output to chain in more devices. That'd make comparing of two DACs easy – if I had one. Maybe in the future. Very distant future.
Chapter 3 – the Sound
The major difference between a low-end and high-end source is the degree of forcing of sound. When I bought a simple, mid-fi soundcard to replace an integrated ill-doer, there was a great sense of freedom in the air. Then, jumping into higher levels makes a similar effect. That didn't surprise, but gladdened nonetheless. The amount of relaxedness in the vocals is very notable. It makes vastly easier to follow lyrics and enjoy the words as a counterpart of playing. When I first listened to some Mulholland Dr soundtrack (by Angelo Badalamenti & co) the effect wasn't that great. It didn't work with the particular type of music and mastering! I was a bit confused at the time. On the other hand, it was my first listen, so there shouldn't be such worries. The very next album I played was The Wall (by Pink Floyd) and I quickly found out what's happened. Waters' voice seemed to come from a clear emptiness, from a clear empty spot, single spot. It was rather a large, full size wall with the lesser sources. The ECD1 could nail the voice down right at the first listen. The Mulholland Dr track was violin-based, had some serious orchestra work in a slow, sluggish way. It didn't have directions in a sense. That's why there was a difficulty to tell any enhancement.
And the sense of realism, relaxedness eventually achieves any aspect of music reproduction. Now that I've listened to music with the ECD1 for months I feel everything feels alright with it. Perhaps it doesn't shine with classical music that much but I enjoy it. I quickly realized there's a notable boost in bass that I didn't like very much first. Well, the ear gets on with it fast. And the bass isn't that bad. People say it's loose but at least it's tighter than my Juli@. The highs are the weak spot in this baby. Should there be slightly slower roll-off of treble, the violins would shine in a way I'd grow smile to my ears. My Stax setup is also rolling off the highs early so it alone might cause the issue.
No turning back
Today I had a revelation. I wanted to hear Tchaikovsky on DVD-A once again -- there's been a long time I listened to it last time. To listen to it, I have to use my Pioneer only, because the Telarc disk seems to disallow feeding SPDIF (in order to prevent perfect copying). So, I plugged my cables into the Pioneer and started listening. When I first got the disk it sounded just perfect with all the nuances showing up clearly. When it started playing, I was confused: why it sounds so flat? I thought I played the DVD-Video side but I checked both sides and yes, it was the DVD-A side that sounded bad. Well, not bad but not perfect either. Not anymore. I realized the ECD1 sounds better with CDs than the Pioneer with DVD-As and SACDs. Indeed the flash from the past was needed to hear what's going on.
Now that I've got used to the sound of the ECD1, I simply can't see the imagery and dynamics with my lesser sources any more. The gap has widened and probably will keep widening whereas it was hard for me to notice difference. Now I could take an ABX test and tell right away which is which.
Last notes
Honestly, I can't say now if the piece is worth the money. I haven't checked much of the sources and around here it's not easy to attend serious hi-fi meets with my trusty Staxes. What can I say is that the ECD1 has taught me some important lessons about how music is built and layered. While it clearly beats the mid-fi $100 DVD-A players and SACDs just by playing redbook on it, there might be more financially better choices. Of course, I can't be sure of any of this without listening to the compares so you don't take my word on the quality/price factors. Just hear this: the ECD1 is an excellent performer that can and will please the listener very much. The dynamic sound it generates is absolutely stunning.
