ERC-3 REVIEW

[Kent]

Hello All,

My uncle recently paid me a visit and was kind enough to bring his ERC-3 over so I could hear it in my system. This sort of thing is exciting to us audiophiles but makes our beloved wives shake their heads, in a loving manner of course:) Lucky for me my wife accepts this obsession of mine and tolerates me moving things around in the quest for sonic bliss. 

I swapped out my YBA CD1 Alpha Blue Laser and replaced it with the ERC-3. Interconnects were YBA Diamond RCA cables and a YBA Diamond power cord. I listened to the ERC-3 for several hours with various types of music that I am very familiar with along with tracks I haven't heard in a long time. 

The ERC-3 sounded wonderful in my system. I enjoyed every track and did not find anything in particular that bothered me about it's sound. For example my Oppo 105 which does a good job with CDs is a little on the bright side I find. Without getting into a bunch of audiophile descriptions the ERC-3 gave my music a realistic quality that is the true goal of any component IMHO.

It was not as good as my YBA but I could certainly live with it and be quite happy. If I were currently looking for a player I would buy one without hesitation and recommend it to anyone in need of a high quality CD player. The price is the icing on the cake! 

Well done Emotiva!

[Jim]

Glad to hear that you liked it.

Those 2 players certainly are at very different price points!

$6000 vs $500

[pallpoul]

I recently added an ERC-3 to my xp-2 Gen 2, XDA-2, USP-1, and I just love how this system sounds.

[teaman]

Glad to hear you are enjoying your new CD player. I love my ERC-3 as well.

[Gary Cook]

+1
I also find the ERC-3 to be more to my liking for stereo music than the 105, but it's a very subtle difference. I'm not sure as I would describe it as "bright", Keith often uses the term "etched". Which I take to mean the highs are more up front or maybe the non highs are more laid back. I find it difficult to put into words, I just prefer the ERC-3 sound.

Cheers
Gary

[Kent]

Yes they are at different price points Jim. Don't forget my YBA is from the 90's. I was very pleased to hear how good the ERC-3 sounds nonetheless and would buy one if I were in the market.

[Jim]

Mar 16, 2015 17:56:12 GMT -5 Kent said:

Yes they are at different price points Jim. Don't forget my YBA is from the 90's. I was very pleased to hear how good the ERC-3 sounds nonetheless and would buy one if I were in the market.

Thanks for posting your comments. I'm sure they'll help some people who are looking for comparisons.

I saw the YBA was older. Curious to know how much has or has not changed in CD players in that time frame.

[Kent]

I like the ERC-3 better than the Oppo 105 too Gary. I too find it difficult to pinpoint why I like one component better sometimes. I just know when a piece of gear hits my hot button:)

[Kent]

Jim,

I think the main thing that changes with regard to CD players is the DAC chips. I don't know for sure I'm just guessing. More advanced ones become available as time goes on. On the same token higher bit DACS doesn't necessarily mean better sound in all cases. The DAC is only a small part of the equation and it's actually the sum of the whole design that creates it's sound IMHO. I know my YBA has dual 18 bit DACS but compared to what's out there now it is outdated. But, it has very high quality parts, meticulous circuit design and extremely robust power supplies for a CD player. It does sound incredible and is a testament to good design because it's stood the test of time.

[audiobill]

What is a cd player?

[Kent]

Soon it will be what was a CD player!

[Gary Cook]

Mar 16, 2015 18:40:48 GMT -5 Kent said:

Jim,
I think the main thing that changes with regard to CD players is the DAC chips. I don't know for sure I'm just guessing. More advanced ones become available as time goes on. On the same token higher bit DACS doesn't necessarily mean better sound in all cases. The DAC is only a small part of the equation and it's actually the sum of the whole design that creates it's sound IMHO. I know my YBA has dual 18 bit DACS but compared to what's out there now it is outdated. But, it has very high quality parts, meticulous circuit design and extremely robust power supplies for a CD player. It does sound incredible and is a testament to good design because it's stood the test of time.

You got it Kent, a good CD player will be a good CD player for a very long time. It's not like the audio coding gets updated and the CD's won't play anymore. Or some new cabling, connector, copyright and/or compression standard stops them playing. That's why I bought the ERC-3, I don't have to touch it, update its firmware, save back up copies, restore it when it drops a 1 or a 0, link to it, ethernet, bluetooth and wifi not required. Just put in a CD, push the play button and listen losslessly for years, decades even.


Cheers
Gary

[Kent]

I agree Gary:)