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Post by mgallyot on Dec 28, 2010 22:05:44 GMT -5
It's not often I anticipate a new product and it exceeds my expectations.This is what has happened with the xda-1.I was looking to upgrade my stereolink 1300 usb dac to use with my HTPC as a music server.I was ready to pull the trigger on a Dacmagic until I starting hearing about the xda-1.I was very happy when I first got the stereolink about 3 years ago,it gave my pc files the sound quality of a good cd player.I was worried that the xda- would not be as good or just marginally better.Well i'm here to tell you it blow's the stereolink away.There is no placebo effect here,I have been an avid music listener since the 70's,there are songs that I have listened to hundreds of times and i am familliar with every soud on those recordings,and I am hearing things I have not heard before.Now I know what people are talking about when they mention things like: soundstage and seperation and details etc.I am using the usb connection, and asio4all, windows xp with JRiver media center - kernal streaming works as well.I have been able to play 24/96 files as well.Had to download usb drivers to make that work.One other thing I have discovered to be fact is: USB cables do make a difference.I first hooked up the xda with the Belkin pure av gold cable that came with the stereolink until the Nirvana usb cable arrived.I figured I would try the cable thing once just to see if it makes a difference.Well when I hooked up that Nirvana cable I was floored.I cannot believe how good the sq is using this dac, my winxp HTPC,Onkyo TX NR 905,PSB image T65 towers or Sennheiser HD600 headphones. I can not stop listening to my new system. Thanks EMO !!! your product has made me a happy camper. Once you go DAC you never go BACK!!!
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Dec 28, 2010 22:17:14 GMT -5
I couldn't agree with you more.
A couple of days ago I played CSN&Y Deja Vu. I've played this album a million times. I heard detail that I've never heard before.
The addition of the XDA-1 to my system has made the most noticeable change that I've ever experienced.
This is my first DAC and I will never go back!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by pdaddy on Dec 29, 2010 9:45:11 GMT -5
Diito. So much so, I sold my Parasound Preamp as the XDA-1 is my preamp now.
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cawgijoe
Emo VIPs 
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." - Yogi Berra
Posts: 5,033
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Post by cawgijoe on Dec 29, 2010 13:07:52 GMT -5
I'm verry happy with the XDA-1. I've got a Squeezebox Duet and the ERC-1 connected to it and going into a Pioneer Elite VSX-01. The sound quality is a huge improvement with the Duet and a definite improvement even on the ERC-1.
I mainly notice that everything is so clear. No distortion. No muddiness. Bass is tight. My system actually sounds like a high end system does in a good high end store!
For me this is a great product.
Thanks Emotiva!
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Post by sharkman on Dec 29, 2010 13:21:55 GMT -5
Hah, I sold my pre-amp too as the XDA to amp is the superior method and it outperformed the pre-amp!
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Post by CrazyBlue on Dec 29, 2010 14:46:49 GMT -5
I couldn't agree with you more. A couple of days ago I played CSN&Y Deja Vu. I've played this album a million times. I heard detail that I've never heard before. The addition of the XDA-1 to my system has made the most noticeable change that I've ever experienced. This is my first DAC and I will never go back!!!!!!!!!!! How is your DIY crossover working? Are you using it yet or adding the attenuator you were thinking about? I'm still debating using the XDA-1 as pre or also getting the USP-1. |
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Post by bd52 on Dec 29, 2010 15:27:23 GMT -5
This is my first DAC and my expectations were pretty high and I must say they were met and then some. For me the XDA to amp was noticeably better than running it through the UMC-1. My biggest surprise was Pandora internet radio. For me it is shockingly hi def. I go through a roku xds optical to XDA or iMac to XDA through usb.
I go from the XDA to a UPA-7 to small maggies. I go from the maggies to a DIY Rythmik DS1500 through the high level in. Sounds pretty incredible to me.
Anyway, has anybody else tried Pandora to XDA to amp? Is it just me or does it sound really good?
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Dec 29, 2010 16:44:24 GMT -5
I couldn't agree with you more. A couple of days ago I played CSN&Y Deja Vu. I've played this album a million times. I heard detail that I've never heard before. The addition of the XDA-1 to my system has made the most noticeable change that I've ever experienced. This is my first DAC and I will never go back!!!!!!!!!!! How is your DIY crossover working? Are you using it yet or adding the attenuator you were thinking about? I'm still debating using the XDA-1 as pre or also getting the USP-1. I just got a RMA today to send the unit back for the log volume control fix, so attenuators will no longer needed. I've made a lot of changes to the XCE-1(my DIY) so I'll post about it in that thread. I can't wait to hear the XDA-1 through this path. I've been using it through my AVR and using the bass management of the Onkyo. And, unbalanced! Still sounds incredible even with the additional ADC/DAC step. |
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Post by weeman on Dec 29, 2010 17:56:13 GMT -5
This is my first DAC and my expectations were pretty high and I must say they were met and then some. For me the XDA to amp was noticeably better than running it through the UMC-1. My biggest surprise was Pandora internet radio. For me it is shockingly hi def. I go through a roku xds optical to XDA or iMac to XDA through usb. I go from the XDA to a UPA-7 to small maggies. I go from the maggies to a DIY Rythmik DS1500 through the high level in. Sounds pretty incredible to me. Anyway, has anybody else tried Pandora to XDA to amp? Is it just me or does it sound really good? Are you able to compare the sound between the roku xds going via optical to the UMC-1 vs going optical to the XDA-1 then from the XDA-1 into the UMC-1 stereo inputs. I have to use the UMC-1 for bass management with my sub and would like to know if adding the XDA-1 will make any difference. |
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Post by pdaddy on Dec 29, 2010 21:53:53 GMT -5
This is my first DAC and my expectations were pretty high and I must say they were met and then some. For me the XDA to amp was noticeably better than running it through the UMC-1. My biggest surprise was Pandora internet radio. For me it is shockingly hi def. I go through a roku xds optical to XDA or iMac to XDA through usb. I go from the XDA to a UPA-7 to small maggies. I go from the maggies to a DIY Rythmik DS1500 through the high level in. Sounds pretty incredible to me. Anyway, has anybody else tried Pandora to XDA to amp? Is it just me or does it sound really good? Bd52' I am running Pandora two ways and they both sound amazing. I was VERY surprised how great it sounded. I am streaming from my iPad through the new Apple TV using Airplay. I can also use my Vizio TV which has a Pandora widget to stream out of the optical digital output. All of these sources are connect to my XDA using balanced connection to an XPA-2 which is wired to my MMG Maggies. I also have the RCA connections from the XDA connected to a Klipsch Sub 12. |
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Post by bd52 on Dec 30, 2010 2:12:19 GMT -5
weeman,
I did as you asked. First the disclaimers. This wasn't a very scientific comparison. Just my wife and me listening to pandora without the XDA-1 through the UMC-1 and then with the XDA-1 through the UMC-1 all through optical from the roku xds I just got Christmas Eve.
Well, it wasn't much of a contest. I asked my wife if it was worth $299 plus shipping to listen to music through the XDA-1. She said yes without hesitation. This test was worth it for me because now there is no doubt in my wife's mind that the DAC was worth it.
What stood out and was the most striking is what many have already stated. That is, you hear things with the XDA-1 that you just don't hear without it. We would listen to half a song without the DAC then pause it and listen to the rest of the song with the DAC.
On an Alison Krauss song we discovered there was a male backup singer singing very softly in the background of one of her songs. You could not hear that singer at all without the XDA-1. That alone is worth the price of admission to me. The music just sounded much better and of a higher quality with the XDA-1 to my wife and me. Of course YMMV.
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Post by GMan on Dec 31, 2010 12:20:57 GMT -5
Bah! A slight increase in volume will cause you to hear things you haven't heard before. Likewise, a slight decrease in volume will cause you to not hear things you've heard before.  ;D |
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Dec 31, 2010 13:53:50 GMT -5
Bah! A slight increase in volume will cause you to hear things you haven't heard before. Likewise, a slight decrease in volume will cause you to not hear things you've heard before. ;D I think most of us didn't just "fall off the turnip truck". We know the difference volume setting makes. This has nothing to do with the perceptions of the XDA-1, its soundstage or detail! |
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Post by monkumonku on Dec 31, 2010 14:17:35 GMT -5
Bah! A slight increase in volume will cause you to hear things you haven't heard before. Likewise, a slight decrease in volume will cause you to not hear things you've heard before. ;D I agree with you. I'm not saying that differences don't exist, but I feel that many of the "differences" people hear are due to volume and not the equipment itself. I really find it hard to believe that someone who has a pretty decent amp or preamp (not some junk, but something that is already pretty highly regarded) buys something new and immediately, as the cliche goes, the veil has been lifted and there's a night and day difference and they hear details they never heard before on recordings. To me that means that the old stuff must be really crummy if there is truly a "night and day" difference. Electronics reproduces what is there and if most amps and preamps have pretty much a ruler flat response over the range of human hearing ability, then how could two things with such curves sound that different? The slight difference in their curves could account for differences in the sound character but as far as being able to pick up details from the music, that seems more due to volume levels rather than equipment quality. |
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Post by sharkman on Dec 31, 2010 14:33:37 GMT -5
For me it's like peeling off another layer of the onion. I had a $400 dvd player(for cds) in my system, and the ERC was an improvement, not night and day, but an improvement. The switch from an Adcom 5300(80x2) to the XPA-3 added dynamics as could be expected, not any significance in SQ. My change from an Anthem TLP-1 pre-amp to a Denon 3803 as pre-amp was an improvement, and then switching to the XDA-1 as pre-amp another gain was made in transparency and soundstage.
I feel like I'm about done. You can always tweak but you do get past a point of diminishing returns. Maybe when my Onkyo 876 dies if I'm still into movies/HD sports I'll see what Emotiva has, but now it's just about the music.
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Post by thepcguy on Dec 31, 2010 14:44:55 GMT -5
here we go again.....  |
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cawgijoe
Emo VIPs
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." - Yogi Berra
Posts: 5,033
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Post by cawgijoe on Dec 31, 2010 15:46:32 GMT -5
Who made Peter Aczel God.
I can send you a dozen counter articles from well know and respected editors and reviewers who will tell you it starts with the source.........it's all important, but to claim that the amplifier and cd player make no real difference is hogwash.
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Post by sharkman on Dec 31, 2010 15:54:16 GMT -5
Thank you pcguy, I think I've seen that page before, maybe you posted it? Anyway, it has some good points and some bad ones like most opinions. The part on tubes is certainly funny as fans buy their tube products for the sound characteristics, which they like, and telling them that solid state is superior misses the whole point.
In the same way, those of us who can notice improvements in our systems with certain changes will not suddenly stop noticing them because someone named Peter Aczel says so. It's audio, man, more than what some left brained academics think of it.
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Post by rockguitar on Dec 31, 2010 20:40:34 GMT -5
Bah! A slight increase in volume will cause you to hear things you haven't heard before. Likewise, a slight decrease in volume will cause you to not hear things you've heard before. ;D I agree with you. I'm not saying that differences don't exist, but I feel that many of the "differences" people hear are due to volume and not the equipment itself. I really find it hard to believe that someone who has a pretty decent amp or preamp (not some junk, but something that is already pretty highly regarded) buys something new and immediately, as the cliche goes, the veil has been lifted and there's a night and day difference and they hear details they never heard before on recordings. To me that means that the old stuff must be really crummy if there is truly a "night and day" difference. Electronics reproduces what is there and if most amps and preamps have pretty much a ruler flat response over the range of human hearing ability, then how could two things with such curves sound that different? The slight difference in their curves could account for differences in the sound character but as far as being able to pick up details from the music, that seems more due to volume levels rather than equipment quality. Certainly volume plays a very important part of hearing things into a recording. However, I've got to give Emo props for not making the output loud in comparison to other CD players/DACs. The XDA has the lowest output volume in comparison to 4 different Cd/DVD player sources I've compared it to. So in making level matched comparisons, I had to turn the volume up 0.5 to 1 db on my preamp for the XDA to match the other sources. The output voltage was measured for the XDA 1 at 2V for full output. Contrast that to the MSB link DAC, which I used to own, which measured at 2.275V. That would give the apparent advantage to the source playing louder, which would typically be the MSB if you didn't level match. "As seems always to be the case these days—presumably because no one wants to be the quietest player in the store—the Link III's maximum output level of 2.275V was higher than the CD standard's 2V RMS. This was sourced from a low 51 ohms across the audioband, and the unit didn't invert signal polarity." www.stereophile.com/content/msb-link-dac-iii-da-converter-measurementsAs for your point about all the curves being pretty much flat, while that is true, you are leaving out the distortion characteristics of different components. For one, harmonic distortion will mask up the details of the original sound. Some of the differences in components in what you are hearing is dependent on the amount of harmonic distortion and where in the spectrum it occurs (midrange, highs, bass). So the component with the cleanest (least distorted) reproduction will facilitate hearing the most details in a recording. |
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Post by rockguitar on Dec 31, 2010 21:29:30 GMT -5
As for Peter Aczel, let's not make this a referendum about him. I actually like a lot of what he has to say. But, there are many camps in audio: objectivist, subjectivist.
There's the source is King philosophy (sometimes called the Linn philosophy - because Igor Tiefenbrun of Linn used to demo his Linn record players with cheap electronics and speakers and could show that upgrading the source always made the system sound better).
Then there's the speaker is King philosophy -- which is what Peter Aczel seems to endorse, because the loudspeaker is the most flawed component in the whole chain.
Then there's the listening for the greatest differences, i.e. the most neutral system will have the most extreme differences in sound between great and poor recordings vs.
the euphonic system, which help make everything sound good, but this will also mask the differences between great and OK recordings.
However, this should not be an "Either ... Or ..." argument. It should be a "Both ... And..." In other words, there's truth to both sides.
Ultimately, since YOU have to be the one who listens to the music, it's up to you to decide what's important for your ears, sounding accurate or sounding good to you, sounding detailed or romanticized. Do you want everything sound exactly as it did in the recording studio or do you want all your CD's to sound "good" in your system? There's a big difference in the type of system you will like.
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