So I finally got around to putting some words down on this beauty.
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I've been running the DC-1 for about 2 weeks now.
Connections:
ERC-2 connected via AES/EBU.
ERC-2 connected via optical.
Squeezebox connected via coaxial.
Squeezebox connected via analog (just to compare SB DAC with DC-1's).
Squeezebox connected via optical to XDA-2 (for comparison).
DC-1 via XLR cables to Airmotiv6s.
XDA2 via RCA cables to Airmotiv6s.
I did not use the BNC connection as none of my other gear has any. The DC-1 is targeted at recording studios where BNC connectors are commonplace (although being phased out slowly) since they provide a quick means of secure connection for gear that's being moved around a lot.
I have not yet used the USB connection. It's a hassle to move my laptop into the family room! I do plan to test it later on however.
CDsMarantz Audiophile CD
Audiophile Vocals CD
Steely Dan -
Can't Buy a ThrillFleetwood Mac -
RumorsElton John -
Goodbye Yellow Brick RoadCassandra Wilson -
Silver PonyLisa Markley -
The Sky is Blue and Sometimes CriesSantana -
AbraxasFLAC
Adele - 21
Steely Dan -
Gaucho Steve Winwood -
Arc of a DiverEric Clapton (with BB King) -
Riding with the King Rebecca Pidgeon -
RavenGlass Hammer -
Three Cheers for the Broken HeartedMP3
Several - ranging from rock to jazz to classical to bluegrass. FWIW, I also used some of the same tracks I have in FLAC just to compare.
First impressions:
Unboxing this brought back memories of when I denuded my Oppo BDP-95 from the box and then from the bag that so lovingly held it in place. Packaging was in an outer box about the same size as the UMC-200. Having seen the unit at last Emofest I started thinking.. did they change the form factor? No worries.. Nestled inside the outer box was a smaller inner box. The unit came in a nice bag along with a power cable, a slick remote and a small plastic bag containing a spare fuse and a small screwdriver! That instrument allows one to remove the cover off the remote so that the plastic strip that is between the battery and the terminals can be removed. How thoughtful of Emotiva to include the screwdriver!
The remote is slim and feels just right in the hand. It exudes quality as does the DC-1. There are no LEDs. Just the buttons for source switching and volume, plus mute. Very functional.
After hooking it up, I turned the unit on. Nothing happened! Uh oh! Intuitively I pressed on the right knob and it sprang to life. This is the standby button. When it comes on, the display shows the word "Emotiva" which zooms in and gets brighter as it does. Nice! That display is very sharp looking. More on that later.
So how does it sound?On to the business end then. Using material I am very familiar with I can state the following:
The DC-1 has a more openness in the mid-high frequencies than the XDA-2. Not a massive difference but it is definitely there and you don't have to try hard to find it. I had my daughter press the remote buttons, switching between DACs and sources without my looking at the units.
CDs sounded excellent. FLAC was phenomenal. But that's what I'd expect. MP3s on the other hand were.. meh.. can't polish a turd (without making a mess). Some tracks sounded so bad that it reminded me how I haven't played them in a long time (and why!).
Lisa Markley's album was produced with minimal miking but was multi-miked. On the track entitled
Fell Asleep Diving I
can hear the foot tapping of one of the musicians. This I had not heard before. The transient response and clarity on Recebba Pidgeon's
Raven album is remarkable given that Bob Katz's 15
th Anniversary remaster was transferred from the first generation analog tapes.
Also, the sound level over coax was higher than analog. This is likely due to the difference in output of the Squeezebox DAC - which is very good also. However DC-1 is hands-down the best DAC. I used to have the XDA-1, still have the XDA-2 and I also compared my Marantz receiver's DAC. The latter is very good for MP3s as it does some sort of processing on the sound; however I don't like that effect on all tracks.
The DC-1 is an Asynchronous DAC on all inputs. I left that setting enabled. To me it sounded better with it ON and choose it as my main clock source.
I tested my V-Moda headphones on the DC-1. They sounded much better than when connected to the XDA-2. This difference is striking. Better in the sense that there was a depth to the sound that I had not experienced before. Again, my daughter plugged in the headphones into XDA-2, DC-1 and Marantz at random but it was very easy to tell the difference, even with my back turned to the gear.
Conjecture Now I do not know this to be true so don't hold me to it but I believe that to eliminate noise, the DC-1 likely features a completely capacitor-free signal path, and discrete Class A op-amps featuring passive filtering, thereby ensuring maximum signal fidelity.
In many DACs, the vast majority of digital switch gates use a type of transistor logic that is known as “saturated logic”. This simply means that when the gate is in the fully ON state, it is locked or saturated on. When it moves from this saturated on-state to its off-state, the point of transition can vary from device to device causing jitter and poor sound. I rather suspect that the CS-1 uses high-speed analog switches instead of saturated logic digital switches. CMOS analog switches do not go into saturation mode, do not add jitter or timing issues and sound remarkably better than any digital logic gate.
Again, this is just some thought latitude on my part and I have not verified these things with Emotiva.
Living with itThe front panel display shows the input source and sample rate. Whenever any controls are touched (either on the unit or changed with the remote) the display brightens momentarily only to revert back to the dim setting chosen from the menu.
Ergonomically this is a simple but easy to use unit. The right knob acts as the standby button when pressed and controls the volume when turned. Pressing the left knob activates a menu. Turning the knob navigates through the menu choices. This allows settings such as ASRC to be toggled, dim levels to be set etc. It is very intuitive.
Note that the ASRC is global for all inputs - i.e. ON or OFF but not selectively for each input. To me this is not a big deal but maybe for some studio work you may want to select an external clock for some sources. Most consumers and prosumers will likely leave this ON.
The dual headphones outputs are driven off of two separate headphone buffers/amps but there is only one volume control for both outputs so you cannot control them independently. No big whoop. At least 2 people can listen to the same tunes - that's a plus.
Hex codes for the remote control are not available yet so you will have to teach your remote control the commands if you want to use a universal remote as I imagine most folks will. I did not teach my Harmony One and am just using the DC-1 remote. It's divine in its simplicity.
It does run slightly warm which is just due to the small form factor. There is adequate heat sink for the regulators inside but they are concentrated to a small area so it seems like it is warmer. Not that it's hot - I could place my palm facing upwards on the top of the unit and it was warm but nit uncomfortably so. I'd leave an inch or more open space above it for natural convective ventilation.
There was no manual in the box but really.. this unit is so easy to use it doesn't need one. I expect Emotiva will include a manual however as it can be a useful reference.
The shiny front panel can be a fingerprint magnet but I prefer to listen to it and look at it rather than touch it once it's rigged up.
I did hear a comment about the name DC-1 (sounds like an early predecessor of the DC-9 airplane model!)
Corollary
So is this a keeper? Most definitely YES!
How does it compare with the XDA-2? I owned an XDA-1 initially and was reasonably happy but for the lossy volume control. So when the XDA-2 came out, I jumped on it. I can say that I am very happy with the XDA-2. In comparing with the DC-1 there's no question the latter clearly has the edge. It is not subtle either. Transparency and clarity are certainly better on the DC-1.
I will use it as my main DAC and the XDA-2 will move to the office where it will soldier on. Aside from stellar performance, the DC-1's killer looks and that gorgeous display are enough to win me over. Well done Emotiva!
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Must sleep now. I'll post some pics later... Done!
