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Post by orangeLollies on Apr 21, 2010 6:24:55 GMT -5
Hi Bill, fair call ...I guess my statement was based on the actual method used to pass the 1s and 0s over a medium. To my knowledge I thought if you were to view the optical and coax on a scope, the optical would show a perect square wave, whereas the coax (electircal signal) will show ramps and slight distortions in the wave pattern. Hense my 'true digital medium' statement. If what I'm saying is incorrect, please let me know, as I will have to do some more study to clear up my mis-information In saying that, I guess computers move one's and zero's around all over the shop using electrical signals, so in hindsight, the 'normalsation' (if that's the correct term) of a electrical digital signal is obviously very well developed, as you have stated... Although I do believe, with optical you can carry a digital signal much further, as it is not as prone to degredation and interferance as an electrical signal... Keen to hear more of your thoughts... ;D cheers Shane Wow, Shane, you've really gotten into this! Yeah, I' enjoy some good brain candy... it drives my wife nutts though ;D Bill, thanks heaps for this insight. The optic quality, or lack of, in consumer grade components was not something I had considered, and your argument makes complete sense... More brain candy Seeing that I dont have 10,000km of super optic cable, I'm now going to go replace my very short (and free) toslink cables with some good ol 75ohm digital coax copper ;D cheers Shane
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Post by orangeLollies on Apr 21, 2010 6:29:49 GMT -5
Bill Bauman, I plan to add a XDA -1 using my existing ERC-1 as a transport. As this will be the only source for this system, should I remove the pre-amp and use the DAC's volume control in it's place ? ( I never use any of my pre- amp's controls other than volume ) Thanks, Maurice Maurice, I think a few others have given some good answers to this already. But, yes, I would remove the preamps. I'm planning to add a little piece on this to the Emonatics page, but I consider the XDA-1 to be a "Digital Preamp". It has 4 digital inputs, volume attenuation, and apparently, a killer analog output stage. From that perspective, if a secondary, analog preamp can be avoided, then it should. If the thing had an HT bypass, it would be the perfect Digital Pre. Well, nothing's perfect, but you get the idea. According to Lonnie, this thing sounds incredible direct-connected to an amp, and I can't wait to test that out myself. +1 on the XDA-1 with HT bypass, I actually started a thread yesterday on that very topic... emotivalounge.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=preamps&action=display&thread=11034Shane
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Post by billmac on Apr 21, 2010 6:40:39 GMT -5
That said, I like using optical because it eliminates grounding and EMF noise issues, but USB is what I will be using over short distances on equipment plugged into the same outlet. Matt, I agree with your thoughts on how the optical connection can provide better noise rejection. I had a TAD TADAC which is tube based DAC and preamp with HT Bypass. It was a great sounding DAC and preamp if tubes are your thing. At the time I bought the TADAC from TAD I was able to have it built with 2 coaxial inputs instead of 1 coaxial and 1 optical. I regreted that decision as I tried using the coaxial ouput of my Oppo BDP-83 to the TADAC and it had quite a buzz/hum. When I tried a optical to coaxial adapter inline the noise was eliminated. So I found out first hand that the optical output does have it advantages . Bill
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Post by ossif on Apr 21, 2010 10:46:06 GMT -5
I was just thinking: Since the XDA-1 has a volume control and can practically act as a standanlone digital pre-amp, what is missing if you use an UMC-1 for HT is a HT bypass box. Just a 1U high remote controlable box with to sets of input RCA and XLR for 2 peace of equipments and an output as RCA and XLR at the same time. No volume control, no amplification, just a simple switch box. How about that?
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Erwin.BE
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Post by Erwin.BE on Apr 21, 2010 11:34:29 GMT -5
I was just thinking: Since the XDA-1 has a volume control and can practically act as a standanlone digital pre-amp, what is missing if you use an UMC-1 for HT is a HT bypass box. Just a 1U high remote controlable box with to sets of input RCA and XLR for 2 peace of equipments and an output as RCA and XLR at the same time. No volume control, no amplification, just a simple switch box. How about that? RU nuts? No my friend, all we need is a 1RU DAB/FM/internet radio tuner! Left stack: XPA-1+ERC-1 = Right stack: XPA-1+XDA-1+XTA-1 (XTA= Balanced Tuner Application )
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Post by ossif on Apr 21, 2010 15:16:34 GMT -5
I was just thinking: Since the XDA-1 has a volume control and can practically act as a standanlone digital pre-amp, what is missing if you use an UMC-1 for HT is a HT bypass box. Just a 1U high remote controlable box with to sets of input RCA and XLR for 2 peace of equipments and an output as RCA and XLR at the same time. No volume control, no amplification, just a simple switch box. How about that? RU nuts? No my friend, all we need is a 1RU DAB/FM/internet radio tuner! Left stack: XPA-1+ERC-1 = Right stack: XPA-1+XDA-1+XTA-1 (XTA= Balanced Tuner Application ) That does not really tell me if that is a yes or no or even if the idea is understood but I will be generous and just that it as a supportive answer. ;D
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Post by BillBauman on Apr 21, 2010 23:38:47 GMT -5
That said, I like using optical because it eliminates grounding and EMF noise issues, but USB is what I will be using over short distances on equipment plugged into the same outlet. Matt, I agree with your thoughts on how the optical connection can provide better noise rejection. I had a TAD TADAC which is tube based DAC and preamp with HT Bypass. It was a great sounding DAC and preamp if tubes are your thing. At the time I bought the TADAC from TAD I was able to have it built with 2 coaxial inputs instead of 1 coaxial and 1 optical. I regreted that decision as I tried using the coaxial ouput of my Oppo BDP-83 to the TADAC and it had quite a buzz/hum. When I tried a optical to coaxial adapter inline the noise was eliminated. So I found out first hand that the optical output does have it advantages . Bill Bill, it would be very unlikely that interference in a digital coax run would manifest itself as a hum. It sounds more likely that there was a ground loop created by the ground of the coax cable since it has electrical conductive properties, and that the loop was eliminated when you put in the converter because it broke up the connection of the ground from the RCA connectors. If it were some sort of interference in the digital cable itself, it would manifest as errors in the transmission, which would be audio drop-outs, pops, or that terrible loud screeching, or the sort. But it wouldn't cause a nice, even hum. Of course, none of that is to say that a straight-up optical interconnect doesn't do the trick.
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Post by BillBauman on Apr 21, 2010 23:42:45 GMT -5
Shane, hopefully your brain doesn't eat too much. I'd be curious to know if you actually hear a difference changing cables. I really don't think you should/would, but you never know...
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Post by orangeLollies on Apr 22, 2010 0:07:12 GMT -5
Shane, hopefully your brain doesn't eat too much. I'd be curious to know if you actually hear a difference changing cables. I really don't think you should/would, but you never know... No, I probably wont hear a difference - but I'll still do it, cos I can... Besides, we got some damn talented solderers in our workshop, and a good stock of high quality cable and plugs.. All it'll cost me is a box of beers ;D cheers Shane
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Post by tjhenry on Apr 27, 2010 18:16:05 GMT -5
I'm excited about this DAC. Any new updates on a potential release date? Please??
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Post by joel on May 11, 2010 3:15:52 GMT -5
Didn't they mention in the latest podcast that the DAC is shipping now, or atleast very soon?
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Post by aarheadc on May 11, 2010 5:36:40 GMT -5
From the podcast: "The final sample, with the revised cosmetics of the XDA, is shipping tonight. Yeah!" Which I assume means it's shipping from China to Emotiva. So, it's getting closer, but not that close.
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Post by joel on May 11, 2010 5:59:27 GMT -5
From the podcast: "The final sample, with the revised cosmetics of the XDA, is shipping tonight. Yeah!" Which I assume means it's shipping from China to Emotiva. So, it's getting closer, but not that close. Ah, didn't catch "final sample". Haha, Emotiva is such a tease
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MikeWI
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Post by MikeWI on May 11, 2010 15:35:20 GMT -5
From the podcast: "The final sample, with the revised cosmetics of the XDA, is shipping tonight. Yeah!" Which I assume means it's shipping from China to Emotiva. So, it's getting closer, but not that close. Slow boat or overnight air? Mike
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Post by aarheadc on May 18, 2010 5:49:22 GMT -5
Hey Lonnie, it's been about a week since you said the XDA was shipping; has it arrived? And if so, could you be so kind as to give us some pics of it? That would be the B's niece... or something like that
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Lonnie
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Post by Lonnie on May 18, 2010 11:44:09 GMT -5
Hello one and all. Well we finally finished the revised cosmetic package and I wanted to put a quick pic for everyone. Full details about production and such to follow in a few days. I think the new design fits right in now and looks like an EMO product.
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Post by joel on May 18, 2010 11:49:33 GMT -5
That is awesome! It looks really sweet.
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iceman66
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Post by iceman66 on May 18, 2010 12:09:16 GMT -5
Hello one and all. Well we finally finished the revised cosmetic package and I wanted to put a quick pic for everyone. Full details about production and such to follow in a few days. I think the new design fits right in now and looks like an EMO product. Me Want! </Drooling>
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Post by monkumonku on May 18, 2010 12:32:31 GMT -5
Just hurry up and open that preorder list!
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ratmice
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Post by ratmice on May 18, 2010 16:40:00 GMT -5
WANT
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