DAC Shootout

[jlafrenz]

Dec 13, 2010 11:00:57 GMT -5 corgidog59 said:

Thank you jlafrenz for your well written reivew. What I find troubling about all of this is that the XDA-1 is to me the ERC-1 without the transport (all things being equal). That product earns more or less rave reviews by users as being as good a CD player as you can find - worth 3X to 5X its price. Grat sound and all of that sort of thing. You provide a comparison of three albeit low cost DACs (Music Hall could be the exception) and the XDA-1 did not emerge as a clear winner. I wonder how it would compare to more expensive DACs or CD players.

Anyway, thank you again for your remarks they are very helpful to me.

As we all know, the XDA-1 is based on the ERC-1 DAC and design. I used to own an ERC-1 and I can certainly tell they are related. The XDA is certainly a good DAC, but just like any other piece of gear it has it's weak spots that may or may not show based upon a particular system. While I know that many have reviewed the ERC-1 as somewhat of a giant killer, they expect the same for the XDA-1. I have no doubt that the unit can give a lot of the big guns a run for the money, but what I have learned is that there are other companies out there with the same mentality. For me, ultimately, there will be a clear winner. I just wanted to keep that out of the review and let people choose what is best for their system and listening habits.

[roadrunner]

Picking Dacs is a lot like picking speakers. They will sound different in every room and based on the other gear in the system. What sounds great in one system may not even sound good with another. Plus, you may like a DAC that adds warmth to your system and someone else will want a DAC that is brutally accurate with no coloration at all. The Best DAC is what ever you say it is. What I like as the best you may not even like, or you may agree. The point is you will have to listen to it yourself to know if it "fits" with your gear/room and personal biases.

If you think a DAC may help with your sound system, bring it in and try it. With Emotiva products you have a thirty day trial period to make up your mind. If you don't like it just return it for a no questions asked refund.

[tjhenry]

I posted this in my XDA-1 versus DACMagic thread, but was hoping to get some feedback from jlafrenz. He had posted in the same thread that he noticed some fuzziness in bass notes when played through the XDA-1.

I've had the XDA-1 for a week now and have had more time to listen to lots more music and do some more comparisons with my CA DACMagic and Pioneer BDP-51FD.

Jlafrenz, I agree with you when you say the bass notes are fuzzy. I've listened to several tracks with upright bass solos and as the bass solo dips into the lower range, the transients of the bass notes become fuzzy. It becomes difficult to hear the start and stop of individual notes which I can when listening through my other sources such as the DACMagic and BDP-51. It's not just upright bass, it's any other instrument with notes in the lower bass range like piano and drums. I don't know the frequency range of the upright bass, but if I did, I think I could almost tell you the exact frequency that it gets fuzzy.

There seems to be a certain frequency where the clarity and detail stop and the notes get fuzzy. Again, this only happens with notes in the lower bass region. Interestingly, if there is detail within the fuzzy note, such as fret buzzing during an upright bass solo, this is reproduced with exceptional clarity (though obviously fret buzzing occurs at a much higher note than low bass which seems to be why its comparatively more detailed).

Due to the exceptional clarity of the XDA-1 for all frequencies other than the low bass, it makes me wonder if this is a technical problem. Maybe a power supply issue? I don't know. But it has me a little discouraged. I think I'm going to give Emotiva a call to ask them about this. I'm really hoping it's a technical issue and something that can be fixed. I'm very happy with every other aspect of the XDA-1s sound. Then again, it may just be this is how the XDA-1 sounds.

[jlafrenz]

We share the same thoughts about the lower end of the frequency range. I didn't want to put the blame directly on the DAC in my 2 channel review because of their limitations. I did notice the same type of bass in my main system when playing it full range though. Again, those speakers have limitations, but not as limited as my 2 channel room. With that said, I don't think it is a technical issue, because when I had the ERC-1 (XDA-1 is based off of) I heard the same thing. As well, I noticed that the phono stage in my MMC-1 has a similar sound. I realize that Emotiva does not design gear to color the sound and ideally just recreate the music so it is hard to say if it is a design flaw or just poorly mastered recordings these days.

[tjhenry]

jlafrenz, thanks for your feedback.

After reading your post, and hearing your impressions of the ERC-1 and MMC-1, I guess the plump bottom end of the XDA-1 must just be the way it sounds. That's too bad. It's almost a deal breaker for me. I wish I could play the intro to a couple songs for you so you could hear what I'm talking about. I literally could tell you on which notes it gets fuzzy. It's not a speaker issue, because I hear it when listening through headphones too. And I don't think it's a recording issue, because I don't hear the same problem through other sources. Again, I think it's just the way the XDA-1 sounds.

I'm taking the XDA-1 to a friend's house for comparison with my DACMagic and his Beresford TC-7520. I'll be interested to hear if he notices this too. He has a piece of classical music with an extended cello solo that he always plays when we listen to different gear. I'm interested to hear if the fuzzy bass is noticeable on this piece of music.