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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2016 17:13:29 GMT -5
Hey, Gary keeps getting off subject when we are trying to post about Bob's 8 time broken right left leg and new house! Oh, woops! I now see this thread is about the ERC-3 ..... Sorry, my apologies to Gary!   |
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Post by deltadube on Sept 2, 2016 0:06:13 GMT -5
so sorry guys .. now i've only broken my right leg 8 times.. I don't walk so good so I'm a bit fat and lazy.. big fat and lazy Bob, Any chance you might be a slow learner?  oh yes very slow but learn well.. if i can remember.. lol believe it or not i graduated college with honours as a biological chemical technologist.. |
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Post by routlaw on Sept 6, 2016 12:57:22 GMT -5
Well I just ordered one of these things, it will be interesting to see if digital playback is better than what I'm used to. Looking forward to it.
thanks
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Post by routlaw on Sept 18, 2016 10:05:30 GMT -5
Thought it might be helpful to those interested to provide a short followup review now that I have the ERC-3 in hand for almost a week. In short I agree with Gary, it has exceeded all expectations sonically & musically and in some ways by no small margins. While I'm not a believer in break in periods for electronic gear past a few hours, nevertheless I did give it a day or two before getting into any serious comparisons.
The comparisons were with the Oppo 103 through coax, HDMI, and analog outputs feeding the XMC-1 set to Reference Stereo in all cases. All power chords, interconnects were identical and volumes matched as close as possible. In addition I also compared my computer based music server, a Mac Mini feeding the XMC-1 via USB cable to the ERC-3. Regardless of the output on the Oppo 103 the ERC-3 simply put outperformed the Oppo in ways I had not expected, it wasn't even close in fact. Even comparing the SACD layer feeding a DSD signal via HDMI from Oppo to XMC-1, the ERC-3 to my ears sounded significantly better playing the same disc from the CD layer, that being Steely Dans, Gaucho. Again it wasn't even close.
Comparing the computer based music server to the ERC-3 did not render such dramatic differences however and as often as not the two had more similarities and common attributes than differences. Effectively it comes down to whether one prefers to fool with a computer with library of music at your finger tips vs the more direct route of dealing with disc. Sound quality for the most part seemed to be splitting hairs.
This test implies the Oppo 103 does not read the data off any of these disc as thoroughly or accurately as the ERC-3, or for that matter the feed provided by the computer system. Making the case even worse for the Oppo these comparisons were done using only the single ended (RCA) outputs of the ERC-3 with the Blue Jeans LC-1 interconnects. Using the balanced outputs of the Emotiva player at least theoretically would distance itself even more.
In conclusion the following is a brief description of how the ERC-3 sounds by comparison. There is more flesh on the bones, curvy voluptuous flesh at that, the presentation is far more immersive with soundstage that seemed half again wider, and deeper if not more. The ERC-3 is far more dynamic, yet maintains a warmer, smoother more lush delivery without ever giving up any detail. One of the big surprises was the amount of ambient room and or reverb present in the recordings especially noticeable on vocals.
Hope this helps.
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Post by garbulky on Sept 18, 2016 11:22:44 GMT -5
Thought it might be helpful to those interested to provide a short followup review now that I have the ERC-3 in hand for almost a week. In short I agree with Gary, it has exceeded all expectations sonically & musically and in some ways by no small margins. While I'm not a believer in break in periods for electronic gear past a few hours, nevertheless I did give it a day or two before getting into any serious comparisons. The comparisons were with the Oppo 103 through coax, HDMI, and analog outputs feeding the XMC-1 set to Reference Stereo in all cases. All power chords, interconnects were identical and volumes matched as close as possible. In addition I also compared my computer based music server, a Mac Mini feeding the XMC-1 via USB cable to the ERC-3. Regardless of the output on the Oppo 103 the ERC-3 simply put outperformed the Oppo in ways I had not expected, it wasn't even close in fact. Even comparing the SACD layer feeding a DSD signal via HDMI from Oppo to XMC-1, the ERC-3 to my ears sounded significantly better playing the same disc from the CD layer, that being Steely Dans, Gaucho. Again it wasn't even close. Comparing the computer based music server to the ERC-3 did not render such dramatic differences however and as often as not the two had more similarities and common attributes than differences. Effectively it comes down to whether one prefers to fool with a computer with library of music at your finger tips vs the more direct route of dealing with disc. Sound quality for the most part seemed to be splitting hairs. This test implies the Oppo 103 does not read the data off any of these disc as thoroughly or accurately as the ERC-3, or for that matter the feed provided by the computer system. Making the case even worse for the Oppo these comparisons were done using only the single ended (RCA) outputs of the ERC-3 with the Blue Jeans LC-1 interconnects. Using the balanced outputs of the Emotiva player at least theoretically would distance itself even more. In conclusion the following is a brief description of how the ERC-3 sounds by comparison. There is more flesh on the bones, curvy voluptuous flesh at that, the presentation is far more immersive with soundstage that seemed half again wider, and deeper if not more. The ERC-3 is far more dynamic, yet maintains a warmer, smoother more lush delivery without ever giving up any detail. One of the big surprises was the amount of ambient room and or reverb present in the recordings especially noticeable on vocals. Hope this helps. That sounds very similar to the DC-1 for me. It had more body on the instruments, more dynamics, and room ambience was present. It's not that the Oppo wasn't reading all the information (that would be unlikely) but that it wasn't converting the information from digital to analog (DAC - digital to analog converter) as well. |
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Post by wilburthegoose on Sept 18, 2016 13:27:01 GMT -5
I agree - I have an Oppo BDP-93, and I found it to have fairly poor audio quality for CDs.
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Post by routlaw on Sept 18, 2016 15:19:05 GMT -5
That sounds very similar to the DC-1 for me. It had more body on the instruments, more dynamics, and room ambience was present. It's not that the Oppo wasn't reading all the information (that would be unlikely) but that it wasn't converting the information from digital to analog (DAC - digital to analog converter) as well. Garbulky, normally I would agree with your conclusions but remember I ran the test not only with the analog outs where the Oppo did the DAC conversions, but also via HDMI allowing the XMC-1 to convert, then the coax as well. Its also worth pointing out I did not arrive at the same anemic sound via my computer based music server where the USB sent the signal to the XMC-1 allowing it all the decoding. In other words, the Oppo is NOT sending the same data to the XMC-1 DAC's from my perspective as my music server. Its also worth pointing out the differences between the 3 outputs of the Oppo did not render significantly different results, different but certainly not significant. I slightly preferred the HDMI rendition. Now to add to the conversation, just this afternoon I soldered up some homebrew XLR balanced cables, put on Patricia Barbers Cafe Blue which I have listened to probably a hundred times or more with a litany of different digital front ends, Arcam, Wadia (and not the entry level stuff either) Krell, Marantz, Sony ES and others. I don't recall ever hearing it with such finesses, delicacy, and liquidity while at the same time creating yet a deeper blacker background. With the balanced outs, clearly the ERC-3 just pulled away from the pack by a mile. Impressive to say the least. BTW, I also owned the DC-1 for a period of time, but don't recall it performing to this level even with my computer based music server feeding the USB input. It was great, but not this good. Also just had a friend from out of town visiting who also owns a bit of Emotiva, he was blown away by the difference in the ERC-3 compared to the Oppo. So the real conundrum is, where does one find a universal player that sounds this good with SACD, and Blu Ray audio without a spending a fortune? Emotiva engineers are you reading this? Thanks |
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Post by brutiarti on Sept 18, 2016 16:55:02 GMT -5
The oppo 103 for cd playback is inferior than the erc-3. But connected to a dc-1 or a xmc-1 it should sound better than the erc-3. The dc-1 has two dacs, one for each channel compared to the erc-3 that only has one dac for both channels. I found the erc-3 to have more of a digital glare compared to the dac of the xmc-1, but we all hear different. Glad that you are enjoying the unit.
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Post by lehighvalleyjeff on Sept 18, 2016 17:18:23 GMT -5
I'm considering getting a ERC-3 after reading this thread. Currently I have a Sony ES SACD changer playing discs with coax out to two Monarchy Audio DIP jitter filters into an Emo DC-1 then balanced out to XSP-1.
I know the weak link in my chain is the Sony changer and from what I've read ERC-3 makes a strong transport.
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Post by routlaw on Sept 18, 2016 18:37:08 GMT -5
The oppo 103 for cd playback is inferior than the erc-3. But connected to a dc-1 or a xmc-1 it should sound better than the erc-3. The dc-1 has two dacs, one for each channel compared to the erc-3 that only has one dac for both channels. I found the erc-3 to have more of a digital glare compared to the dac of the xmc-1, but we all hear different. Glad that you are enjoying the unit. Sorry, but no glare what so ever with the ERC-3, not even close to it. Very smooth and almost analog like, others concurred. I am aware of the DC-1's better specs theoretically, so cannot explain the performance. Don't get me wrong the XMC-1 is great, just not hearing a huge difference between the two yet however i have not tried using the ERC-3 as a just as a transport yet either. Thanks |
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Post by routlaw on Sept 18, 2016 18:39:24 GMT -5
I'm considering getting a ERC-3 after reading this thread. Currently I have a Sony ES SACD changer playing discs with coax out to two Monarchy Audio DIP jitter filters into an Emo DC-1 then balanced out to XSP-1. I know the weak link in my chain is the Sony changer and from what I've read ERC-3 makes a strong transport. If you do purchase one, I would recommend at least trying it also as a stand alone player directly into your XSP-1 in addition to using it as a transport. |
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Post by lehighvalleyjeff on Sept 18, 2016 18:50:59 GMT -5
I'm considering getting a ERC-3 after reading this thread. Currently I have a Sony ES SACD changer playing discs with coax out to two Monarchy Audio DIP jitter filters into an Emo DC-1 then balanced out to XSP-1. I know the weak link in my chain is the Sony changer and from what I've read ERC-3 makes a strong transport. If you do purchase one, I would recommend at least trying it also as a stand alone player directly into your XSP-1 in addition to using it as a transport. Will definitely hook up balanced to XSP1 plus dc1 for A/B. |
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Post by Gary Cook on Sept 18, 2016 21:21:53 GMT -5
I had my ERC-3 connected via RCA to a USP-1 for some time (ie; most of its life) and more recently via XLR to an XSP-1. There's not a night and day improvement in the sound quality that I notice, but I can say for sure that it's "quieter" (ie; less external/induced noise) and possibly a tiny bit more dynamic. Just for further confusion, at the same time I changed from RCA connections (5 metres long) to XLR connections to the XPA-1L's. Undoubtedly some of the benefit comes from that change as well.
My view is that if you want to listen to CD's in their best light, then get an ERC-3. What is in the system after that is a different question.
Cheers
Gary
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