KeithL
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Post by KeithL on Oct 13, 2016 15:55:04 GMT -5
I have to agree with pretty much everything Garbulky said..... The amount of information in a digital audio file is determined by its bit depth and sample rate. When you upsample a file, your software or hardware creates new "fake" samples between the original ones to produce a file of higher sample rate. Spline interpolation is one way of doing this, but there are many others, and some do work better than others. However, that file is not and can not be any more accurate than the original. The new samples have simply been calculated based on the information that was there to begin with - so the new file isn't any more accurate to the original. Upsampling DOES NOT magically "increase the quality of your content". If an upsampled file sounds different, or better, than the original, it's either because your DAC happens to work better at the new sample rate (this is why virtually all modern DACs oversample internally), or because the filters used to perform the upsampling have simply changed the sound in a way that you happen to prefer. (All upsampling involves filtering, and all filters alter the signal, at least a tiny bit. You may be able to hear the difference introduced by a certain filter, and may even prefer it, but it is not more accurate than the original file - simply different.) A device with a physical S/N ratio of 140 dB can resolve about 24 bits..... it would require a DAC with a S/N of about 190 dB to resolve 32 bits. (The Big Ego is pretty quiet for a portable DAC, with a S/N of about 106 dB. For comparison, the theoretical best possible S/N for a CD is around 90 dB.) To be totally honest, this is the first time I've even heard of Bug Head player... so I have no idea if the Ego DACs will work with it or not. (From their forums it seems to be quite fussy and to have some odd requirements.) However, we do have a 30 day return policy if you can't get it to work. Hi, I am interested in buying the Big Ego for my son to use in his 2 channel rig. He is using my hand me down gear which is a Parasound A21 amp and a Pass Labs DIY B1 preamp/buffer that I built that has zero gain. Music player is Bug Head Infinity Blade. Currently his DAC is an AQ DragonFly 1.0. Speakers are PSB B6's and a velodyne sub. It sounds great but needs a bit more gain for quality recordings like Blue Coast music as the output of the DF 1.0 is 1.2vrms. I am looking for a sub $300 DAC that leans a bit on the warmer side. User reviews on the Big Ego comparing it to other DAC's are hard to find. Other DAC's that I am considering are the Schiit Modi Multibit, AQ DF Red, Optima uDAC5. Has any one compared the Big Ego to any of these DAC's or more expensive DAC's. If so, can you expound on your findings. I like the Big Ego because it plays 32bit/384K. Bug Head upsampling is fabulous and it probably is the best player around although the GUI is a bit cumbersome but worth it and it requires a lot of cpu horsepower. Also, does anyone know if the Big Ego is compatible with Bug Head Infinity Blade. Bug Head can use asio4all drivers. It is a deal breaker if it is not compatible with Bug Head. Much Thanks, Larry I'm going to hear the Gungir multibit in the near future. I've also heard the Dragonfly 1 and 1.4. The 1.4 is a noticebale improvement. The 1.0 had treble shenanigans. At the level of the Dragonfly, it's not really things like hi res and other stuff that make that much of a difference. There are more audible differences between DACs than 32 bit capability. Also....note that even though it is 32 bit capability you aren't getting anywhere near 32 bits of resolution in playback. It simply supports and decodes it but cannot do it at that resolution. I doubt even the recording equipment can get up to that level. I think most of them struggle to get to 24 bits of resolution. My current unit is a DC-1. |
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Post by Gary Cook on Oct 13, 2016 17:41:24 GMT -5
The amount of information in a digital audio file is determined by its bit depth and sample rate. When you upsample a file, your software or hardware creates new "fake" samples between the original ones to produce a file of higher sample rate. Spline interpolation is one way of doing this, but there are many others, and some do work better than others. However, that file is not and can not be any more accurate than the original. The new samples have simply been calculated based on the information that was there to begin with - so the new file isn't any more accurate to the original. Upsampling DOES NOT magically "increase the quality of your content". Well said Keith, it comes down to the old hifi question, does it actually sound better or does it simply sound different, which some people may well like and some equally may well dislike. It's why it's next to pointless asking someone that you don't know their likes and dislikes whether product "A" sounds better than product "B". I know for example if I ask audiobil (whose posts I read regularly) which sounds better then there's a good chance I won't like his choice. Not that either one of us is right or wrong, we just have different tastes. Cheers Gary |
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Post by mnyankee on Oct 13, 2016 22:43:47 GMT -5
Larry Here, I figured I would just join the forum.
I should have rephrased my question about the Big Ego. How does it's sound compare to other DAC's? I realize that asking if it is better is subjective. I want to know if it has a warmer sound vs neutral or bright. Is the treble harsh or grainy. Does it have some air and transparency. Is the bass thin or flabby. Does it have decent detail and resolution, is it musical. These can all be described in even inexpensive DAC's. I can describe every atrribute about the DF 1.0 and the many other high end DAC's to grace my system.
Concerning upsampling, I have used JRiver, HQ Player, Bug Head and HYSOLID. I have found that some players upsample better than others. Clearly you cannot take a poor recording and make it sound great. But Bug Head is the exception in some ways. I have tried it with different DAC's and in Most Instances, upsampled music has more texture, depth, air and transparency. The many settings do manipulate the music via complex algorithms. That is why it is so processor and ram dependent and depending upon the settings an album can take 30 seconds to 2 mintutes to play as the computer does its calculations, rewrites the memory and stores the music in memory. The current versions will only play on a Skylake processor, preferably an i7 with at least 16gb ram. Previous versions were more cpu friendly and would run on good i3 cpus on low settings. (If anyone is interested in trying Bug Head, I have some older versions stored and I can drop box it to you). The new version of BH has a natural sound setting that is very analog setting and adds a little warmth making old brighter recorded music sound pretty good.
Certainly, DAC's have a sweet spot as where they sound their best. My Luxman DAC in my main system ( Pass Labs X250 amp, BAT VK51se tube preamp, Magnepan 1.6 speakers with dual Martin Logan subs ) sounds its best with a 352 or 384 signal in most not all instances. Even better than native DSD.
My son's system with my old Parasound A21 amp and DIY Pass B1 pre/buffer with boutique caps and resistors is resolving enough to hear changes in inexpensive DAC's such as the DF and a few others that we have on hand. Certainly there are differences in DAC chips. My son and I have not heard a sabre based DAC that we really like.
One other question about the Big Ego, is it compatible with a Regen? A Regen does make a difference, even in high end DAC's. It also is a big equalizer with USB cables (found that out in a usb cable shoot out with and without the Regen in my system) It does not work with the AQ DF. Not being compatible is not a deal buster though, I was just curious.
Best Regards,
Larry
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Post by creimes on Oct 13, 2016 22:50:16 GMT -5
You could take advantage of their 30 day trial and it wouldn't be much to send it back if you didn't like it or didn't work in your system. Oh and welcome to the lounge  Chad Larry Here, I figured I would just join the forum. I should have rephrased my question about the Big Ego. How does it's sound compare to other DAC's? I realize that asking if it is better is subjective. I want to know if it has a warmer sound vs neutral or bright. Is the treble harsh or grainy. Does it have some air and transparency. Is the bass thin or flabby. Does it have decent detail and resolution, is it musical. These can all be described in even inexpensive DAC's. I can describe every atrribute about the DF 1.0 and the many other high end DAC's to grace my system. Concerning upsampling, I have used JRiver, HQ Player, Bug Head and HYSOLID. I have found that some players upsample better than others. Clearly you cannot take a poor recording and make it sound great. But Bug Head is the exception in some ways. I have tried it with different DAC's and in Most Instances, upsampled music has more texture, depth, air and transparency. The many settings do manipulate the music via complex algorithms. That is why it is so processor and ram dependent and depending upon the settings an album can take 30 seconds to 2 mintutes to play as the computer does its calculations, rewrites the memory and stores the music in memory. The current versions will only play on a Skylane processor, preferably an I-7 with at least 16gb ram. Previous version were more cpu friendly and would run on good I-3 cpu's on low settings. (if anyone is interested in trying Bug Head, I have some older versions stored and I can drop box it you). The new version of BH has a natural sound setting that is very analog setting and adds a little warmth making old brighter recorded music sound pretty good. Certainly, DAC's have a sweet spot as where they sound their best. My Luxman DAC in my main system ( Pass Labs X250 amp, BAT VK51se tube preamp, Magnepan 1.6 speakers with dual Martin Logan subs ) sounds its best with a 352 or 384 signal in most not all instances. Even better than native DSD. My son's system with my old Parasound A21 amp and DIY Pass B1 pre/buffer with boutique caps and resistors is resolving enough to hear changes in inexpensive DAC's such as the DF and a few others that we have on hand. Certainly there are differences in DAC chips. My son and I have not heard a sabre based DAC that we like. One other question about the Big Ego, is it compatible with a Regen? A Regen does make a difference, even in high end DAC's. It also is a big equalizer with USB cables (found that out in a usb cable shoot out with and without the Regen in my system) It does not work with the AQ DF. Not being compatible is not a deal buster though, I was just curious. Best Regards, Larry |
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Post by mnyankee on Oct 14, 2016 0:45:04 GMT -5
Thanks Chad! I will probably order one to try. I am betting that it will be much better than the DF 1.0. There was a guy on the HeadFi forum that preferred it over his Schiit BiFrost Multibit.
Larry
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Post by creimes on Oct 14, 2016 0:55:06 GMT -5
Thanks Chad! I will probably order one to try. I am betting that it will be much better than the DF 1.0. There was a guy on the HeadFi forum that preferred it over his Schiit BiFrost Multibit. Larry As I type this I'm streaming Tidal using my Little EGO through some Shure cans and oh man it's soooooo awesome, the Little EGO is an insane deal for $99 only thing is you wouldn't be able to return it as it's a closeout price. Whichever way you go don't forget to let us know the outcome. Chad |
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Post by mnyankee on Nov 2, 2016 22:58:52 GMT -5
I pulled the Trigger on the Big Ego and unfortunately after reading the instruction manual I will probably sell it. I see that you need to use Wasapi as opposed to Asio to play hi rez above 96K. I use Bug Head Infinity Blade and it is not compatible with WASAPI. They should have that up front on the web site. I have a lot of music at 192K and I don't care for JRiver and its inferior sound.
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Post by mnyankee on Nov 17, 2016 15:09:46 GMT -5
Well I was able to get the Big Ego to work with Bug Head Infinity Blade. I tried it in my main system and compared it to my Luxman dac which lists for $5K. I was pleasantly surprised. The Big Ego has similar sound in some respects. It is warmer, very analog and smooth sounding without any digital edge like my Luxman. Dynamics are very good and tone is excellent. Compared to the Luxman it does lack the detail, resolution, air, transparency, sound stage, depth and texture that the Luxman has. I am not saying the Ego lacks this but in comparison to the Luxman it does. I am very surprised at how good the Ego sounds. The pro reviews are spot on. I have heard much more expensive DAC's in my system that do not sound as good. My only issues with the Big Ego if I were to nit pick is that the high end is just a bit rolled off (But that contributes to its smooth non fatiguing sound) and I would prefer a full size usb port as opposed to a mini and that the RCA output be centered better so that all sizes of RCA connectors fit better. I bought an Audioquest Golden Gate mini rca to rca cable and the mini jack bumps up against the edge of the case and barely fits.
One last thing. We tried the Big Ego with the Audioquest Jitter Bug and the improvement in sound was very noticeable. The bass tightened up, the sound was cleaner with more detail and resolution along with a blacker background. Air and transparency improved. It took the dac to a higher level. Eventually I will try it with my Uptone Regen.
I bought the Ego for my son to use in his 2ch system to replace his Dragon Fly 1.0. He loves the Ego. It does blow away the DF in every aspect. I would love to hear how it compares to the new DF Red.
Overall I have to compliment Emotiva on an excellent product (also well built) at a budget price.
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Post by garbulky on Nov 17, 2016 16:23:07 GMT -5
mnyankee re: the high end. Try adjusting your speakers. I have had that same issue with certain Emotiva DACs. Repositioning the speakers helped.
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Post by mnyankee on Nov 18, 2016 11:12:27 GMT -5
mnyankee re: the high end. Try adjusting your speakers. I have had that same issue with certain Emotiva DACs. Repositioning the speakers helped. My Magnepans are optimally positioned and my room is a live room with wood floors and lots of large windows. The top end is a little rolled off in my son's system which consists of a Parasound A21 amp, Pass Labs B1 passive preamp and PSB B6 speakers. We tried re-positioning his speakers without any change. Thanks for the suggestion though. I prefer the top end a little rolled off compared to being too hot or bright. Especially since a lot of the music that I listen to is older music and was recorded too hot. Many DAC's these days that are using Sabre chips sound too bright and are fatiguing. Especially the cheaper DAC's. I am thinking about buying another Big Ego for myself to use in another system that I have in my basement work out area to use with a 2 channel system that uses a Grant Fidelity DAC-11 with a pair of MMG Magnepans and an Adcom amp. |
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Post by garbulky on Nov 18, 2016 11:29:35 GMT -5
mnyankee re: the high end. Try adjusting your speakers. I have had that same issue with certain Emotiva DACs. Repositioning the speakers helped. My Magnepans are optimally positioned and my room is a live room with wood floors and lots of large windows. The top end is a little rolled off in my son's system which consists of a Parasound A21 amp, Pass Labs B1 passive preamp and PSB B6 speakers. We tried re-positioning his speakers without any change. Thanks for the suggestion though. I prefer the top end a little rolled off compared to being too hot or bright. Especially since a lot of the music that I listen to is older music and was recorded too hot. Many DAC's these days that are using Sabre chips sound too bright and are fatiguing. Especially the cheaper DAC's. I am thinking about buying another Big Ego for myself to use in another system that I have in my basement work out area to use with a 2 channel system that uses a Grant Fidelity DAC-11 with a pair of MMG Magnepans and an Adcom amp. I just came across this portable (USB) unit by Grace. www.gracedesign.com/products/m9XX/m9XX.htmLooks interesting. Pretty high price for a USB unit at $500 but if it's audio performance is great, then for portability it may be interesting. |
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Post by Gary Cook on Dec 8, 2016 17:35:38 GMT -5
 Best Audio Accessory
Emotiva Big Ego USB DACThe Big Ego is an excellent value and almost a no-brainer for a regular headphone listener on their portable computer. For just over $200 bucks you get excellent build quality, easy operation and great sound in a very small package. USB powered so no wall wart required, solid build quality and made in the USA, played nice with a variety of headphones (3.5mm jack). Cheers Gary |
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Post by copperpipe on Dec 8, 2016 18:32:41 GMT -5
I must say I'm still very pleased with my Big Ego ( <-- that would sound, odd, in any other context). I only have one little nit with it, sometimes it kind of "hiccups" and plays a tiny bit of audio that was played a few seconds previously and then it continues playing audio correctly. I think this might be an audio buffer thing (maybe the buffer is too small??) with my driver, and I'm on linux; could very well be a problem with "pulse audio" too.
But the audio quality is stellar, I doubt it can be beat at that price.
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Post by Bill Street on Jan 2, 2017 1:14:57 GMT -5
Hi all! I bought one of the closeout Little Egos along with a Basx A100 to use for my headphone setup. The amp sounds good running into my STAX Transformer Box and use the front Headphone Jack for all my other headphones. Tonight I decided to try out the Little Ego.
For the 10 minutes it worked it sounded really good. Somewhat different than my DAC that has a Wolfson Chip and my other DAC that uses the SABRE 9018. In mid-song it just quit went black. I tried unplugging and replugging it in again, and even tried to load drivers through Device Manager. I can get no lights on at all and no sound. I know there aren't returns on this, I'm wondering if I can get some troubleshooing help, or maybe just get a replacement Little Ego (since I quite like the design and features and the sound for the short time I got to enjoy it.)
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Post by Gary Cook on Jan 2, 2017 4:03:01 GMT -5
Hi all! I bought one of the closeout Little Egos along with a Basx A100 to use for my headphone setup. The amp sounds good running into my STAX Transformer Box and use the front Headphone Jack for all my other headphones. Tonight I decided to try out the Little Ego. For the 10 minutes it worked it sounded really good. Somewhat different than my DAC that has a Wolfson Chip and my other DAC that uses the SABRE 9018. In mid-song it just quit went black. I tried unplugging and replugging it in again, and even tried to load drivers through Device Manager. I can get no lights on at all and no sound. I know there aren't returns on this, I'm wondering if I can get some troubleshooing help, or maybe just get a replacement Little Ego (since I quite like the design and features and the sound for the short time I got to enjoy it.) There's a difference between "no returns on sale items" and "warranty repairers or replacement". Give Emotiva customer service a call tomorrow. Cheers Gary |
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Post by mnyankee on Jan 3, 2017 12:38:01 GMT -5
I had an issue with the miniusb jack on my Big Ego coming loose. I sent it in and got it back all within 2 weeks. I bought the Big Ego used but it still had 3 months of warranty left. Customer service was great.
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Post by mnyankee on Jan 21, 2017 19:25:27 GMT -5
I like the sound of the Big Ego that I bought for my son so much, that I bought one used for myself to use in a bedroom system.
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Post by imjustdave on Jan 22, 2017 16:11:13 GMT -5
I'm fairly new to quality music and I'm seriously thinking about a DAC for work, you know I spend 8+ hrs there ... might as well enjoy it.
So lets say I get Big ego. The next question that comes to mind is music source, I never obtained a large collection of CD but I have a few, so ripping them to a quality format is next on my list to do. Any advice here?
Also what about online sources, say Amazon music, or spotify, or pandora... there are literally a few dozen options out there, but I assume if I get junk source it wont really matter if I have a Big Ego.
Headphones, Dont suppose Bose noise cancelling 15 are a decent quality.
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Post by garbulky on Jan 22, 2017 17:14:35 GMT -5
I'm fairly new to quality music and I'm seriously thinking about a DAC for work, you know I spend 8+ hrs there ... might as well enjoy it. So lets say I get Big ego. The next question that comes to mind is music source, I never obtained a large collection of CD but I have a few, so ripping them to a quality format is next on my list to do. Any advice here? Also what about online sources, say Amazon music, or spotify, or pandora... there are literally a few dozen options out there, but I assume if I get junk source it wont really matter if I have a Big Ego. Headphones, Dont suppose Bose noise cancelling 15 are a decent quality. There are better headphones than Bose. But headphones are a personal thing and you have to figure out what sounds good to you. However keep in mind that in the audiophile world, there are high impedance headphones. We are taling 250 ohms and above. For instance my Sennheiser HD600 is 300 ohms. The big ego likely won't be the best match for a headphone like that - THOUGH it will work with it and sound pretty decent. For a big ego if possible, I suggest sticking with a good pair of headphones 150 ohms and below to get lots of power. The lower the impedance, the more power the big ego can deliver. If you don't want to be limited you could get a very powerful headphone amp/DAC called the Schiit Jotunheim. It is a fully balanced unit that you can configure to come with a DAC in it and it will drive pretty much any high impedance headphones you connect to it. I suggest spending as much as you can on these headphones. Or get yourself a nice speaker system to go with your big ego. Emotiva's powered monitors the airmotiv 4s, 5s etc are very nice choices fora computer audio system. You will be surprised that streaming online sources can benefit from a quality DAC. People assume since they are mp3's that a good DAC isn't advantageous. But my subjective experience tells me a good DAC can make a difference even wit mp3's. I get a lot of musical pleasure out of Youtube - whose quality is 128 kbps mp3. However, I recomend ripping your CD's to a lossless format. For instance, wav is uncompressed - if you have enough space. FLAC takes up about half the space and is lossless. So is Apple's lossless format. Either should give you identical results. Lossless means that the bits that were on the CD ends up on the file that was ripped. A lossy format like most of the streaming options and mp3's do not have the same bit to bit identical rips from the CD's. They are approximated to save on space. Sometimes the difference is audible. I find my lossless files sound better to me than the mp3's. Though the mp3's are no slouch. |
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Post by mnyankee on Jan 28, 2017 23:07:02 GMT -5
I use JRiver to rip my CD's. I buy hi-rez music from HD Tracks, Pono Music, Blue Coast Music, and a few others. I usually use Flac or Wav. files but occasionally download DSD (the big ego does not do DSD but JRiver can down convert for you if you have another DAC that does DSD and want to play DSD music on the Ego). Flac saves hard drive space over wav. Stay away from MP3 if you want good sound quality. I use Bug Head as a music player and rarely JRiver. HQ Player is another great sounding player. JRiver is great, cheap and easy to use. It has a lot of functionality and is great for cataloging and making play lists of music. Roon is another great player but expensive. HySolid is another that is free and easy to use. It sounds great and can be controlled with a smart phone. Bug Head and HQ player are a little more complex and require a computer with a good CPU like an I-7 and 8 gigs of ram to get the best out of them.
If you get a Big Ego, consider adding the Audioquest Jitterbug. It markedly improves the sound of the Big Ego. The noise floor is lower, there is more detail, resolution and transparency. It takes the DAC to another level of refinement. It is well worth the $48. I use an longer usb cable like the AQ Cinnamon 6'. USB cables do sound different.
Cheers,
Larry
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