darkvisions
Sensei
ISIS - 10/14/97 - 03/12/11
Posts: 928
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Post by darkvisions on May 12, 2011 6:05:01 GMT -5
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2011 6:55:59 GMT -5
That was an excellent review!
I really like Jim's style and the clear and logical evaluation of the unit and his explanations of the testing procedures. He even gives his opinion on who the XDA-1 is not for. I will look forward to future reviews from him for a fair and balanced evaluation. Nice job!
"..........We hooked the XDA-1 up with the 93 and ran all three units through a Parasound 2100 preamp that had a remote that allowed for instantaneous switching between the devices. Also, we had 2 exact CDs from the same artist and were able to adjust each output to the exact same volume and the track timer to within a few milliseconds. This allowed us to listen to the Pioneer, Oppo, and Oppo via the XDA-1 almost instantaneously. After an extended listening session, we all agreed that we could not tell the difference between the Pioneer direct, the Oppo direct or the Oppo via the XDA-1....after a few minutes, we lost count as to which device was currently engaged (BINGO!).........."
I like this extra effort Jim took to in effect give us a blind comparison. As soon as I read that they lost track of which unit was playing, I knew I was getting objective results. Much better than hearing a reviewer say it was better in certain SQ aspects than another unit he listened to 9 months ago.
PS: I hope my frequent use of the word "bingo" in this post and numerous others doesn't lead any of the good brethren here at the Lounge to the conclusion that I used to spend a lot of time over in the church hall.
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Post by jmilton on May 12, 2011 7:10:04 GMT -5
That was an excellent review! I really like Jim's style and the clear and logical evaluation of the unit and his explanations of the testing procedures. He even gives his opinion on who the XDA-1 is not for. I will look forward to future reviews from him for a fair and balanced evaluation. Nice job! Funny...my wife says the reviewer was a "bloviating hack". Now if you will excuse me, I am going to look that up.... |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2011 7:59:36 GMT -5
Yeah, that's pretty much what I was saying if you're good at reading between the lines. ;D
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Pauly
Emo VIPs 
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Post by Pauly on May 13, 2011 0:18:51 GMT -5
Well done Jim.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2011 0:34:24 GMT -5
Excellent review if ya ask me  |
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RPA-1 man
Emo VIPs
Phutureprimitive "Kinetic" 2011
Posts: 2,109
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Post by RPA-1 man on May 13, 2011 6:27:12 GMT -5
Nice writeup Jim.
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Post by geebo on May 13, 2011 7:27:53 GMT -5
Good job, Jim
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Post by CrazyBlue on May 13, 2011 11:29:50 GMT -5
Funny...my wife says the reviewer was a bloviating hack. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to look that up.... I looked it up too. I was wrong in my previous post and have deleted it. Too many beers. The review was informative, to the point, and pretty much in line with the majority of opinions here. So he's obviously an Emotiva fanboy! ;D |
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RPA-1 man
Emo VIPs
Phutureprimitive "Kinetic" 2011
Posts: 2,109
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Post by RPA-1 man on May 13, 2011 16:40:26 GMT -5
The review was informative, to the point, and pretty much in line with the majority of opinions here. So he's obviously an Emotiva fanboy! ;D Ya think!! ;D |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2011 17:37:11 GMT -5
Funny...my wife says the reviewer was a bloviating hack. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to look that up.... I looked it up too. I was wrong in my previous post and have deleted it. Too many beers. I consumed numerous cans of the below depicted liquid beverage before I wrote my above two posts, replies #1 and #3. I firmly stand behind the content of my comments!  |
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jamrock
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Courtesy Costs Nothing. Give Generously!
Posts: 4,750
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Post by jamrock on May 13, 2011 18:15:47 GMT -5
Why drink beer if it has no alcohol? Anything wrong with the water or ice tea in Japan?
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Post by Porscheguy on May 13, 2011 19:47:46 GMT -5
Nice job. It was nice to see a reviewer refrain from "gushing" about a product. You were consise and honest..
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2011 18:36:38 GMT -5
Why drink beer if it has no alcohol? Anything wrong with the water or ice tea in Japan? Jamrock, apparently you've haven't had the news on for several months. I've been here in Sendai, Japan now for about three weeks. I drank the water for the first week and started to glow like a neon sign. I would drink real beer but my cardiologists says no. ;D ;D ;D |
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hemster
Global Moderator 
Particle Manufacturer
...still listening... still watching
Posts: 51,952
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Post by hemster on May 14, 2011 18:44:41 GMT -5
Why drink beer if it has no alcohol? Anything wrong with the water or ice tea in Japan? Jamrock, apparently you've haven't had the news on for several months. I've been here in Sendai, Japan now for about three weeks. I drank the water for the first week and started to glow like a neon sign. I would drink real beer but my cardiologists says no. ;D ;D ;D Mine too... but he wasn't too convincing when he told me at the bar!  ;D |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2011 18:57:27 GMT -5
;D ;D ;D
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NorthStar
Seeker Of Truth
"And it stoned me to my soul" - Van Morrison
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Post by NorthStar on May 15, 2011 1:44:47 GMT -5
Jim's thee man! ...And he's much more than that too...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2011 8:21:32 GMT -5
That was an excellent review! I really like Jim's style and the clear and logical evaluation of the unit and his explanations of the testing procedures. He even gives his opinion on who the XDA-1 is not for. I will look forward to future reviews from him for a fair and balanced evaluation. Nice job! Funny...my wife says the reviewer was a "bloviating hack". Now if you will excuse me, I am going to look that up.... I agree with your wife. All those code words that don't mean anything. He's been reading too much Stereophile. |
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NorthStar
Seeker Of Truth
"And it stoned me to my soul" - Van Morrison
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Post by NorthStar on May 15, 2011 15:09:34 GMT -5
^ ;D
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Erwin.BE
Emo VIPs
It's the room, stupid!
Posts: 2,269
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Post by Erwin.BE on May 17, 2011 4:39:38 GMT -5
"There is something that you need to consider here. If you have a pre/pro or a source device that already has a great DAC, you may not need the XDA-1."
Unless your AVR with great internal DAC - such as my Yamaha RV-2700 - does not alow the distribution of digital inputs to zone 2/3... Only analogue inputs are usable for zone 2/3 , for some tech reason I fail (more refuse) to grasp. I use the DacMagic for that, but today I would get the XDA-1: it's cheaper for starters and has a volume control, so it can be used as a minimalist digital pre-amp. And it's full rack width. And it has a remote.
I bought one anyway for the hobby room of my 16 year old music loving daughter. I did not bother to set-up a comparison with my Weiss DAC2 (MSRP $3,000) yet. Maybe I will do that in July, when daddy's girl is in the UK and daddy has time to mess about. The XDA-1 works fine, although the olde speakers in that set are not very good, unlike those Jamo's in my main set. I will add the (affordable) Pure i20 dock for use with her iPod, although I managed to get wifi connection via an extra Airport Express in the (remote) room, so she could just tap the music from my Mac.
My only "criticism" is that DAC-Pre's like the XDA-1 are so 2010. Streamers are the 2011 DAC's. Streamers don't need a computer to use internet radio or can use a NAS (network attached storage) as a source. Come on, Emotiva, give us that network connection!
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;D
