Review of DAC from Emo

[jonsmith]

I have to agree with another post I found elsewhere that said that Lonnie prefers the DAC driving an amp directly, and that it is really special in that function.

I would subjectively observe that there is a whole lot more "there" there in my cds. You can hear a lot more of the nuance, like in Steely Dan's Aja where Steve Gadd hits the side of the cymbals, or slides his stick down the symbol instead of hitting it with his drumstick. You get a much more detailed picture of the little noises: fingers on fretboard, etc.

I assume that this added detail is resultant from my amplifier getting a very strong signal from the DAC which allows it to remain in its most linear mode.

I would also say that the high end sounds softer. Still not as sweet to my ear as a record playing, but much closer to that ideal than before. I would attribute this to upsampling and filtration. I would also say that it sounds "softer" to me now than it did when I first ran it.

This is the first DAC I have ever owned, aside from the ones in my CD players, so I can't say how it would compare to others in the same price range, which would include products from Musical Fidelity and Cambridge Audio.

On the minus side, it plays very loudly at the lowest setting, and I would prefer to see it be more attenuated at the lowest setting of .5. Also, the lights are really bright, even at their lowest settings, and the color of the display is a different blue than the other blue lights.

When a signal starts playing, it makes a pop first in the right channel and then in the left. The pop is very low in volume, and sounds like static, although I know it has to do with switching or something else. One would think that since this is a digital device they could make the popping noise go away by attenuating the device digitally during those events and then popping it back on. But that may be why the popping is occurring, i.e., the channels being switched on from being digitally attenuated.

Overall, it costs about $100 more than the aforementioned other DACs, which are very small and designed not to be displayed, but to sit behind your other gear or on top your cd player. Both of those devices are run by a wall wort switching power supply that converts the AC to DC. For a "full cabinet" version (i.e., 17" wide and taking up roughly half a rack space) with what feels by weight to be a relatively big transformer in the power supply, it appears to represent a substantial bargain, particularly when you see that it has pro-audio features like balanced outputs, and seemingly every input you might want or desire (except HDMI).

I would recommend that anyone who is interested in a versatile, well-made (and heavily constructed) DAC device that has the Emotiva "house sound" which is to say a very forward presentation of ambiance, a wide sound stage that has a tremendous depth of field, and a very strong and clear signal. Plus the remote is made of billet aluminum, which is uber cool. Seemingly to me to be a great value for the money.

Jonathan Smith

[sharkman]

Nice review, I have had many of the same results, although I would differ on your characterization of Emotiva's house sound being a 'very forward presentation', but to each their own. I haven't experienced any of the pop symptom you described, and no one on the forum has described such an experience, but it sounds like it's a repeatable occurrence for you.

I agree that it's a bargain at the price when you consider that the Cambridge Audio DAC sells for $429 online. I have mine connected directly to my amp as well and it's a significant upgrade from using my pre-amp.

[corgidog59]

So far the reviews or assessment from owners on this forum are mixed to positive. I am surprised that the XDA-1 has not been more favorably recieved (volume control issues aside). After all, to me, it 's an ERC-1 without the transport. I do not have much in the way of experience with a DAC. The XDA-1 is my first. The thing sounds just fine to me. But then again, and I am going to commit a great audio sin by saying that I did some testing using my HDMI cable from my DVD player against the XDA-1. Well, I couldn't positively tell them apart. The DVD player using the HDMI cable sounded just fine to me too. It is not night and day difference in sound. No veil was lifted when I switched to the XDA-1. The only thing I think I noticed was that there was less 'noise" in the background. Take a soloist with no music accompaning him/her and I think I did notice that their voice had a clearer quality to them and no, and it is hard to describe what I mean, "background atmospherics" for want of a better term. Like a good Pioneer Kuro Plasma TV, things were just "blacker" Granted, I have to give the XDA-1 more time to break-in and I just replaced my Better Cables that I've had for 10 years with a Signal Cables - Silver reference (50% silver and 50% copper). Next week, I will swap out my Blue Jean digital cable with a solid silver digital cable. But all that aside, I will continue to preform my unscientific AB testing with the hope that I can at some point tell the difference between source material played through the XDA-1 and the DVD/ Avr. I have no plans to return the XDA-1 (except to get the volume issue fixed which does not affect me as I use the XDA-1 as a DAC only) as I am interested in how others evaluate this product.

[sharkman]

Corgi, what is your XDA connected to? It sounds like it is connected to your AVR. If this is the case, you would want to use the AVR's 7.1 direct inputs which will completely bypass the AVR circuitry and provide the best SQ(just in case you weren't aware).

The other option is that your AVR has no such 7.1 inputs and therefore the XDA output will be somewhat affected by the AVR's circuits. Perhaps you could describe your set up. BTW, it looks like you are bypassing your DVD player's DAC by using the HDMI connection, the SQ you are hearing is that of your AVR's DAC, etc.

[corgidog59]

sharkman


I am using the "pure direct" setting on my Pioneer Elite VSX-03 when engaging the XDA-1 plus RCA interconnects to the CD input and either the DVD Player DACs or the AVRs DACs when using the HDMI. Again, nothing is jumping put at me saying, "OK, there is a distinct difference in sound". I will jump behind the equipment and move some cables around to the 7.1 direct imputs and see if that makes a difference. Thank you for the suggestion.

[sharkman]

Well, you've got a pretty good AVR then. One other thought is whether or not it disengages room correction when in pure mode or not. My Onkyo does, but I'm not sure about Pioneer. But at any rate the XDA doesn't shine in every set up and some others have mentioned this.

[cawgijoe]

According to the manual on the Pioneer website, it disengages all unneceesary signal processing.

Many times with a dac, especially if you have a good system to begin with....speakers.....source....amp. etc.....the improvement will be subtle.

I would say spend some more time with it and listen to music that has female vocals......this is where I can tell the biggest improvement in SQ.

[corgidog59]

sharkman and cawgijoe

I am thinking tht the technology has evolved to such and extent that we've hit the wall interms of sound quality. That spending lots of extra dollars will not buy any significant improvement in sound. Plus, the human ear is imperfect. I've crossed over the 50 year old mark and I know that I do have some hearing loss in one ear.

The only time in memory that I did notice a noticable difference in sound was when I bought a Nakamichi OMS-4 CD player and replaced a lower end Denon player with it. The OMS was much softer / smoother not bright like the Denon. I guess the OMS-4 had more of a tube like quality. I will continue to conduct listenning test to see if over time this initial impresson of mine changes.

[tjhenry]

Reader warning: long post below!!

I've had a positive experience with my XDA-1.

A couple years ago, I was very skeptical about the improvement in sound quality when comparing digital sources. That being said, the quality of digital sources that I was using for comparison was (subjectively) not that great.

My list of digital sources (and other comparison pieces) along the way:
1. Proton AS-2631 processor (used as DAC)
2. NAD C542 CD player
3. Audio Refinement complete CD player

A quick note, I compared the Proton against the NAD and AR CD players and heard improvements, though not significant. I was able to distinguish different attributes for the different CD players. However, at the time, the $ 300 for either CD player was too much to justify the small improvement.

4. Philips DVP-5982 DVD player
5. Denon DVD-1940CI DVD player
6. Pioneer Elite DV-48AV DVD player

I compared the Philips, Pioneer and Denon players and found the Pioneer to have what I felt to be the best performance. It seemed the most natural and neutral of the 3, though differences were small.

7. Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-ray player

I compared the DV-48AV to the 51FD and it was a HUGE improvement. Everything was greatly improved in all categories: resolution, bass weight and extension, soundstaging, you name it. Because of my past experience with digital sources, I was amazed at the analog audio out from the 51FD. The improvement was so noticeable, it was like upgrading my speakers. I should say that I still own the 51FD.

8. Beresford TC-7520 DAC
9. Cambridge DACMagic DAC

I compared the TC-7520 and DACMagic to the 51FD. I rated these 3 in this order: 1. DACMagic (best), 2. 51FD and 3. TC-7520. I should make sure to point out that all of these 3 were extremely close. In my system and to my ears, the DACMagic was the best of the 3 with the best resolution and most natural sound, though again, the differences in sound quality for all 3 were very small.

10. Emotiva XDA-1 DAC

I've compared the 51FD, DACMagic and XDA-1 to each other. The XDA-1 is the best of the 3 in my system, to my ears. It improves on the resolution of the DACMagic, it improves the depth of the soundstage and improves the dynamics of the music. The XDA-1 isn't perfect. In my system, it seems to blur the start and stop of low bass notes. The improvement of the XDA-1 from either the 51FD or the DACMagic isn't as large an improvement as I heard when upgrading from the Pioneer 48AV to the 51FD. But it is a bigger improvement than the upgrades I made earlier in my miscellaneous comparisons.

I'm not sure if we've hit the wall with the capabilities of digital sources. I know that I've hit the wall in terms of the price that I can afford for good digital playback. I would like to hear a statement (AKA $ 2000 to 3000) DAC to hear what improvements are possible. I've searched the used marketplace and I think my last comparison will be the Benchmark DAC1. On the used market, it is about twice the price of the XDA-1. I'm going to compare it to the XDA-1 to satisfy my own need to know: 1) how good the XDA-1 is for the money and 2) how good the playback from a "reference quality" DAC can be. If I feel the DAC1 makes a justifiable/$300 improvement in sound quality over the XDA-1, I'll keep it and be satisfied knowing that I've reached the highest dollar that I am willing to spend for digital playback. It's very possible that the DAC1 improvements over the XDA-1 may be minimal and (TO ME) not worth the additional money. I know there are posts on comparisons of the XDA-1 and DAC1, but I need to hear it for myself. I'll make sure to post my impressions of overall sound quality and value here.

(post modified to correct typo)

[corgidog59]

tjhenry

Great analysis!

[Erwin.BE]

tjhenry,

Good though the Benchmark DAC1 HDR is, it's not the best possible. My Weiss DAC2 is better.

Good though the Weiss DAC2 is, it's not the best possible. The Weiss DAC202 is better.

Good though the Weiss DAC202 is, it's not the best possible. The ... is better.

You get it, right? ;D

[sharkman]

Yes, my old Panasonic s97(DVD audio) was good but the ERC-1 was superior and now the XDA-1 beats that, and this is all under 1000. I think a 2-3000 DAC would probably sound better yet with state of the art processing and analog stages, but there is certainly a point of diminishing returns. For instance, to get a substantial SQ improvement in amplification, you'd have to spend several times what the Emo amps go for, because I think the XPA series is at that point of diminishing returns as well.

[tjhenry]

Erwin.BE,

Yep, I get it. There are always improvements to be made. I guess I'm at the point where my frugal side won't let me spend much more. For me (and I guess I imagine most people), the value of a DAC must come into play when taking overall sound quality into account. I've decided what my current means will allow me to spend and I try to find the DAC that fits my ears and wallet.

At least for me, it ultimately comes down to dollars. I would love to have a Weiss DAC, but it just isn't within my means. It would be nice to appease my curiosity and listen to a high dollar DAC in comparison to the DAC1 (the limits of my budget) to ultimately determine what I'm missing. There's always that question of: how good COULD my system be?

sharkman,

I agree with you about the diminishing returns. I could certainly spend more to get more, but how much more would I get? That's why I want to compare the XDA-1 to DAC1. For me, the DAC1 is the most I can spend. I'll just have to decide IF the DAC1 is better to me in my system, are the improvements worth the additional cost. For me it just boils down to dollars.

[Erwin.BE]

To be honoust, I would not have brought myself to pay the €2,400 / $3,000 that the Weiss DAC2 normally costs. However, I did almost buy the Benchmark, which was around €1,700 last year. I payed that last amount for the (demo) Weiss including Amarra MINI playback software. We all have our limits... I do not look back often, though, once I'm happy like I am with the Weiss. My car is 7 years old too. Once you got something outstanding, why bother looking further, even if there is better out there? Now that I'm thinking about it, my wife and I are together for 27 years... Yup, she's a good one!