Quick ERC-1 review

[rclark]

So I'm putting together my first hifi, and originally I was gonna do all this diy stuff but as an apartment dweller I've just come to my senses and have adopted the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid!) which has led me to Emotiva. So far, if the ERC-1 cd player is any indicator, I am very very much on the right path. In fact my plan now is to go entirely Emotiva.

I will have to diy my accoustic treatment however, but that's out of sheer necessity. Do I want to spend $7000 retail on basstraps and other material to do my room up proper, or would I rather spend about $500 or $600 and a couple of days work?

Moving on. I have a rather, I won't say large cd collection because there are lots of people out there who could put me to utter shame, but my collection, gee it must be almost 500 discs now (I add about a couple a week via Amazon.com), is pretty nice.

I've been listening to all that music on a $20 ten year old Classic dvd player. And it's "done the job". I'd always planned on putting together a hifi but just never got around to it. My speakers are some pretty nice (especially after adding the ERC-1) multimedia speakers: Altec Lansing MX-5041. A 6 inch driver in a large low tuned vented box for a sub (I tested a pair of these against Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultra and they smoked it in SQ), satellites are a horn loaded titanium tweeter and two 2" midrange drivers. It "does the job".

As I was reearanging my space in anticipation of the Fedex guy I had "The Very Best of The Eagles" playing in the background. And it sounded nice. Now mind you, I'm not particularly an Eagles fan, but I always figured them for a reference level audio source.

So the ERC-1 shows. It's as everyone says, comes packaged like the serious hardware that it is. I marvelled at the remote. No seriously, it's a NICE remote. I handed the player to my roomate and said, "hold this". He couldn't believe the heft. I said, "that's just a cd player. One disc." He was impressed. You can see the impressive hardware beneath the grills on top. It's just a beautiful, well built unit. I fired it up.

Let me tell you again, I'm not particularly an Eagles fan, but sitting there letting the player burn in was like a religious experience. I was moved! This is a powerful unit. On my old dvd player, I had to turn it down on the player and turn my speakers up to get it sounding just right. With the Emotiva, it has balls, and it sounds pristine and full and just amazing! I could hear such a forceful, full representation of the music, bass notes actually audible that weren't before, cymbal hits that were palpable, guitar had weight, everything had such a presence! And for the first time ever, I could hear what it means to have a soundstage, instruments playing in space. In fact, it made my old Altec Lansings sound incredible. It was a massive, massive upgrade and as I sat there dumbstruck for hours, playing disc after disc, more than a few times I exclaimed my happy disbelief at the improvement.

There was no negative aspect to the sound, it was just pure awesomeness. Ear candy, if you will. I've ordered the UPA-2 amplifier, and will add the UMC-1 as well as the ERM 6.2 speakers to complete my new system. Subs will hopefully be the pair of Adire Brahma 15's sitting in my closet. I'm in talks with another company to assist me in procuring an open baffle design for those.

Thank you Emotiva, I could simply not be happier with my new cd player and very much look forward to getting everything else up and running.

People, if you are thinking about buying one, don't hesistate. You can't lose.

[SteveB]

If you think it sounds like ear candy now....you're in for a real treat when you get the rest of the gear you listed! Enjoy!

[rclark]

It is an incredible cd player! I'm listening to it right now and just floored by the dynamics, accuracy, and power, and musicality. I am.... beyond happy with this purchase.

Looks like the 6.2's are going to be out of stock for an extended period.. I can't wait that long! Thinking about getting the Fountek RM6K kit, having Elemental Designs do me up a flatpack, and having Skiing Ninja do me up some crossovers. Either way, I'm ordering something in the next week so I can be relatively ready for my UPA 2 when it shows.

Again, I can't emphasise it enough, the ERC-1 is an absolute dream. So so happy. I've been throwing cd's at it and it's just like people say, it's like hearing them for the first time.

[rclark]

Wow, I've not had it a long time, feels like forever.

So update: Yes, I am still absolutely floored by the sound. I've even begun getting into reference quality recordings and I'll tell you what, the ERC-1 is just teasing me with how my system will sound, system complete.

I'm building a very nice set of monitors, actually the Statement Monitors (found at Speakerdesignworks.com), with Skiing Ninja aftermarket crossovers - with platinum bypass caps, yes. I already have the flatpack here and have begun documenting my build. And a set of 15" open baffle subs based on a pair of Adire Brahma mkii 15's I literally had sitting around doing nothing. I'll have a very nice build check for it on the DIY page here.

Anyway, really, REALLY looking forward to another leap by adding the Emotiva XDA-1 to my ERC-1 player. ERC-1 becomes a transport.

But I want to say it again, if you're even just considering it, you might as well put your money on this player, Emotiva works their business-world magic to bring you a stunning cd-player. Forget aesthetics, on sound quality alone, this thing inspires. A where-in-the-world-were-you must buy!

[kse]

I just ordered an ERC-1, looking forward to it. Also looking forward to doing a comparison of it and my Oppo BDP-83 using 2ch analog. The Oppo sounds amazing, we'll see if the ERC-1 can best it.

[roadrunner]

kse

Congrats on your ERC-1 purchase. I have had mine since the very first week they were released and it still impresses me with its outstanding sound quality. I had been using the Oppo DV-980H before installing the ERC-1 and thought it was pretty darn good. After the first minute of listening to one of my favorite CDs played on the ERC-1 I was overwhelmed by how much better it sounded than when played on the Oppo -- a night and day improvement. I then hooked up both the Oppo and the ERC-1 and played identical copies of the same CD at the same time switching back and forth to confirm what I was hearing, thinking that I might be talking myself into wanting the new player to sound better. The switching back and forth just reinforced what I initially perceived about the improvement in sound quality. Now, the only thing I use the Oppo for is to play SACD recordings. Oh man, if only the ERC could play SACD discs I would be in audio heaven. ;D

Several Lounge Members who owned both the ERC-1 and the Oppo 83 reported that the ERC-1 was better sounding playing analog sources than the Oppo. I assume you intend to use the analog outputs on the ERC-1 to take full advantage of its beautiful sound. It will be interesting to see if you also find this to hold true. My brother owns both of them and he also reports the ERC-1 easily out performs the Oppo 83.

We have had a few reviews comparing against the Oppo 83SE and they reported that the sound quality was much closer in this comparison, but most reported that the ERC-1 still held the upper hand. I have discovered just how great CDs can sound since getting the ERC-1, particularly those with HDCD encoding. About the same time that I got my ERC-1 I bought a few HDCD samplers from Reference Recordings's website and found them all to be quite extraordinary recordings. I have since purchased another 45 to 50 of their HDCD offerings and literally love each one of them. They rival the sound quality of the best SACD discs at a fraction of the cost. A link to their website is below.

www.referencerecordings.com/default.asp

You might want to start with a few of the "sampler" recordings to get a taste for the genre and recording quality they offer. These CDs are now what I use to demo speakers with. StereoMojo and Absolute Sound both routinely give glowing reviews of Reference Recording CDs, giving their highest recommendations. Enjoy your new toy. ;D

[jony1600]

Hey road runner, i was wondering how do cds sound like on the erc-1/erc-2 vs an SACD on an oppo player

[roadrunner]

May 26, 2011 14:42:18 GMT -5 jony1600 said:

Hey road runner, i was wondering how do cds sound like on the erc-1/erc-2 vs an SACD on an oppo player

Well mastered CDs played on the Emotiva ERC-1 sound every bit as good as a well mastered SACD played back on the Oppo... especially the HDCD encoded albums from Reference Recordings.

[jony1600]

wow that really makes me want to purchase an erc- 2

[jony1600]

I wonder how the erc-2 paired up with the xsp-1 will sound like?

[openreel]

"You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."
That pretty well sums my feeling for the ERC-1 which had to go out for service. I preferred eleven days of FM rather than the mediocre CD fidelity from a Panasonic BD player.
Once again I'm really appreciating the depth and musicality of the ERC-1 on headphones and MMG. Now to catch up on all those sealed Cds!

[jamrock]

May 26, 2011 14:42:18 GMT -5 jony1600 said:

Hey road runner, i was wondering how do cds sound like on the erc-1/erc-2 vs an SACD on an oppo player

I really don't intend to be controversial. But, I find a well mastered SACD to be the absolute best stereo presentation that clearly surpasses anything a well mastered CD can offer. The higher resolution of SACD offers an incomparable and noticeable bass & mid-bass presentation. As I near middle age, my loss of high frequency acuity might be compensated for by increased acuity in the mid & bass regions. I don't know. This is just my opinion. But I think that I'm correct though. ;D

[roadrunner]

May 27, 2011 11:22:53 GMT -5 jony1600 said:

I wonder how the erc-2 paired up with the xsp-1 will sound like?

I am very anxious to hear just how the ERC sounds when paired with the upcoming XSP-1. With all the effort Lonnie has put into the sound quality of this unit it should be a "heavenly" experience. Combining the output of the ERC-2's dual differential, truly balanced analog stage with the XSP-1's dual differential output stage is likely to deliver sonic bliss beyond what most of us have heard before.

This improvement in the sound quality of the ERC-1 when connected via the USP-1 was substantial. The combo of the ERC/USP is the best sounding, most synergistic pairing of equipment I have yet to experience; and the XSP-1 is supposed to have improved sound floor and superior analog circuitry. This may yield the best sonic experience yet.

To give you an idea of the Bang for the Buck potential you might want to read one of the reviews done by an early ERC-1 owner. Just click the link below.

emotivalounge.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=mediareviews&thread=6499&page=1#94208

There were many fine reviews done by owners in the Lounge the first few months the ERC-1 was released. The owner in the review that I created the link for had owned several "Esoteric" CD Players costing many times as much and he preferred the ERC-1 to any of them. I felt the ERC-1 was one of the biggest bargains in all of A/V for music lovers... as did many other Lounge members.

[jony1600]

hey roadrunner, you seem to be very informative on these things. So what does emotiva mean when they say dual differential(ex erc-2/ xsp-1) and how does it help?

thanx

[roadrunner]

May 28, 2011 14:41:20 GMT -5 jony1600 said:

hey roadrunner, you seem to be very informative on these things. So what does emotiva mean when they say dual differential(ex erc-2/ xsp-1) and how does it help?

thanx

I am sorry for assuming you knew what this means. A few months ago, this terminology received a lot of discussion here on the Lounge. What is meant by dual differential is that the circuit design uses a true balanced configuration which provides two circuits, 180 degrees out of phase, to eliminate any noise or distortion. This terminology can be confusing because any pieces of gear that uses XLR connectors is said to have balanced inputs or balanced outputs, whereas any gear using RCA connectors is said to have "single-ended, unbalanced" inputs or outputs.

What you have to remember is that using XLR connectors does not mean the component is a true balanced design, even though you must employ XLR connectors in a balanced circuit. As a matter of fact, very few components using XLR connectors are balanced (dual differential) designs. Generally speaking, only a company's flagship products are graced with "dual differential balanced circuits". Why? Because build quality, superior design, and ultimate performance is reflected in every facet of the design. This means higher costs to design and build a truly balanced piece of A/V equipment.

If you wish to read up on the recent discussion on balanced circuits, most of the previous threads on the Lounge that had this discussion where on the XDA-1 DAC and the XSP-1 Preamplifier. Prior to that, Emotiva's only balanced component was the XPA-1 Power Amplifier.

[jony1600]

So, I'm guessing the upa-1s that I have are not dual differential?

[roadrunner]

Your assumption is correct. The UPA-1 is not a balanced amp design. It is still a very nice sounding amp and has a huge Bang For the Buck.

[jony1600]

you're right, I shouldn't cry about that. It truly is a phenomenal sounding amp.