Well my XDA-1 has been playing almost 3 hours

[jhoak]

I unboxed it a bit before 6:00 this evening. I had already prepared for the install so most of the cabling was in place and ready to plug in. It took about 10 minutes from box to making music.

For reference the audition system is as follows:

Preamp = Emotiva USP-1
Power Amp = Emotiva UPA-5
DAC = Emotiva XDA-1
CDP/transport = Sony SCD-C222ES
BDP/digital streamer = Sony BDP-S570
HTPC = DIY generic PC running Windows Media Center 2005
Sub-woofer = DIY Infinite Baffle w/2 EA IB15-8 drivers
Sub-woofer amp = Behringer EP2500
Main Speakers = Klipsch La Scalas (heavily modified)

NOTE: Only the equipment germane to my initial testing is listed. There is a good bit more to the system but the HT stuff had no role to play tonight.

Music selected:
Styx – Greatest Hits
The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler Private Investigations (HDCD)
Nora Jones – Come Away With Me (SACD)
Eric Clapton – Slow Hand (SACD)
The Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D.
Assorted MP3s (320Kb VBR)
Pandora Radio

Impressions: A good bit smoother and more natural sounding on CDs. LOTS of detail that was either completely missing or covered up when played by the CDP alone. A bit less pronounced bass on some songs. I suspect that this is more a matter of enhanced midrange and upper registers rather than a decrease in bass.

Biggest surprise: Just how good a well recorded MP3 can sound when run through a decent DAC. I played Walter Becker's 11 Tracks of Whack from the HTPC and was amazed at how good it sounded.

Here's an overview of what I'm forced to sit in front of every evening.



Tomorrow evening or maybe Saturday I'm going to move the XDA-1 out to the “vintage” system (Integra preamp & amp – Magnepan SMGa – Sony ES CDP) and give it an extended listen.

I really hope that Emotiva contracted to build a metric a$$load of these.

[briank]

Sweet set up. :-)

[eusebio]

Dec 2, 2010 20:43:16 GMT -5 jhoak said:

I really hope that Emotiva contracted to build a metric a$$load of these.

their 2nd shipment might not come in until March and all of those are already sold out. might be summer before people who are willing to pay now can pick one of these up

why why why why why did i wait so long to reserve one.

[jhoak]

Dec 2, 2010 20:46:22 GMT -5 briank said:

Sweet set up. :-)

Thank you. It makes some pretty nice noise from time to time.

I have kind of an unusual "benchmark". I pay attention to how a system sounds when you're NOT right in front of it. Right now I'm hearing ELPs Brain Salad Surgery SACD (Toccata to be exact) from the next room and it still sounds great. Granted that's the system in general not just the XDA-1 but I think that adding a DAC may have moved my fairly modest system up a notch or two.

No matter... The XDA-1 is definately a "keeper".

[sharkman]

Jhoak, I wonder if you could describe how the XDA is connected into your system. Have you tried connecting the XDA directly into your UPA-5 ? Did you notice if the XDA gain was too high with this method, you couldn't turn up the XDA volume past 10 out of 80?

[jhoak]

Sure...

I have not tried the XDA-1 connected directly to the UPA-5. In my system that's not really an option for me without giving up the HT setup.

As it is right now the XDA-1 is connected to the CD inputs on the USP-1. The CDP is hooked up to Coaxial-1 the BDP is hooked up to Optical-1 and the HTPC is hooked up to the USB port. I have 1 coaxial port and one optical port open but I have a couple of ideas about how to put them to good use.

I never intended to use the XDA-1 strictly as a preamp. I have too much other stuff going on here (specifically the turntable) to ditch the USP-1 or some other 2-channel preamp.

Waiting in the wings here is one of the Grant Fidelity tube buffers. What I want to try is the CDP analog out (internal DACS) through the tube buffer versus the digital out through the XDA-1. I have a hunch that I'll hear two VERY different presentations. I'm curious as to which one my ears like best.

[dickk]

I hooked the XDA-1 directly into a high efficiency system with Avantgarde Duos fed bv Western Electric 300B (WE) monoblocks.

As is usual for new equipment, it took about 20 hours of burn in before the sound to really get glorious. Now I am trying out all my problem CD's to see how they sound with the XDA.

I can safely say that this unit is a keeper. It will replace an older Meridian digital preamp costing roughly 10 times the price of the XDA. (Technology is getting cheaper, but not by that much).

The volume control will be a problem. Listing to CD's at 4 out of 100 setting is a bit much. There is no adjustment on the output level of the Sony player I am using as a transport.

I am sure that Emotiva will come up with a fix for this issue.

[sharkman]

What is the decibel level for you at four (out of 80)? I have my XDA connected directly into my XPA amp, and I get peaks slightly over 90 when the volume is set at 20-22. Some may find 90db a little loud, but some push it over 100.

[dickk]

Level 4.0 played CD's at moderately high (85-90 db range) volumes.

Possible solutions:
Pad down the inputs (with a resistor voltage divider).
Change the digital output.
Change the volume pot to a logarithmic taper.

Perhaps the gang at Emotiva could suggest a fix.

[wizardofoz]

Interesting read... www.audioholics.com/education/acoustics-principles/human-hearing-amplitude-sensitivity-part-1

"Speaking now in terms of dB SPL, the minimum discernable changes by the human ear/brain mechanism I've seen in the research that I've reviewed ranged from about 0.5 dB to 3 dB, depending on a number of factors."

I can hear every 0.5 step of the XDA-1 and its a significant step

[jhoak]

OK... Lets see... 4 hours Thursday night, 5 hours Friday night, 15 hours yesterday and 6 hours so far today. Looks like it's got 30 hours on it and I think it sounds better now than when I hooked it up Thursday evening.

Or... Perhaps my ears are just becoming adjusted to it. []

Either way be it "breakin" or "re-educating" my ears I'm just plain loving what I'm hearing.