cawgijoe
Emo VIPs 
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." - Yogi Berra
Posts: 5,033
|
Post by cawgijoe on May 19, 2010 9:07:03 GMT -5
Lonnie......any ballpark timeframe for the DAC to go up for sale?
|
|
|
|
Post by houston1 on May 19, 2010 9:07:30 GMT -5
Does anyone know what op-amps will be incorporated into this design? There are Burr Browns right after the DAC just to act as a current follower. The real majic is in the discrete output stages. All of the outputs have their own discrete drive stage and there are no opamps used for any of the outputs.  Thanks for the info Lonnie I am no expert in circuit design, but I think I understand now. Since the DAC already has a discrete output stage (which is the best from my understanding), adding another discrete path is not necessary. I can't wait to hear this unit in action. I already have a place in my system to connect it to my Squeezebox Duet. John |
|
|
|
Post by SticknStones on May 19, 2010 9:08:07 GMT -5
me want! ooh, ooh! and is that dark circle left of centre a headphone jack? tell me it is...! -barry Sorry folks, the headphone didn't make it. After looking into it further, it would have required a complete new board design. Lonnie, Can you share how you have the XDA, ERC and UMC configured? PPPurty Please? |
|
Lonnie
Emo Staff 
admin
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain
Posts: 6,999
|
Post by Lonnie on May 19, 2010 9:10:03 GMT -5
Thanks Mike , Very good information. I am hoping to be able to tweak/modify this unit when I get it. I have read great things about discrete op-amps, and I want to see if I can incorporate them into the unit. www.partsconnexion.com/opamp_burson.htmlJohn discrete opamps..............LOL ;D The output stages in the XDA are in a league way beyond anything an opamp can do. They are fully discrete, think miniature version of an X series amp stage. Dual differential input with cross linked current sources, Darlington VAS stage and Darlington output stage. Can we say Bad @$$ ;D |
|
Lonnie
Emo Staff
admin
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain
Posts: 6,999
|
Post by Lonnie on May 19, 2010 9:12:28 GMT -5
Lonnie......any ballpark timeframe for the DAC to go up for sale? I still have some testing to do and we need to get schedule production, but a ball park figure woudl be 60-75 days. |
|
Lonnie
Emo Staff
admin
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain
Posts: 6,999
|
Post by Lonnie on May 19, 2010 9:28:50 GMT -5
Sorry folks, the headphone didn't make it. After looking into it further, it would have required a complete new board design. Lonnie, Can you share how you have the XDA, ERC and UMC configured? PPPurty Please? The easiest way to discribe this is to start with the UMC and work our way up to the XDA. The UMC uses a similiar design principle that is used in Pro recording gear. The DAC is run wide open to get the best performace out of it. From the DAC it goes to some very high quality OPAMPs which are used as a gain stage. From there it goes to a digitally controlled, but still analog volume control. From the volume control it goes to another set of opamps which are used as buffers and then to the outputs. In the ERC the DAC is run wide open as well. The signal then goes to Burr Browns which are set up at buffers. From the buffers it goes to the discrete output stage. The discrete output stage is a beautifully simple design that uses a single dif input to a traditional VAS and output stage. Basically in terms of sound quality and performace it is a whole order of magnitude beyond that of an opamp. The XDA is our most advanced design to date. Although it uses the same DAC as in the ERC practically everthing else is all new. From the DAC the signal goes to set of Burr Browns which are used as buffers. From there is goes to the discrete output stages but these are completely different from the ERC. These are like a miniature version of an X series amplifier. They use dual differential inputs stages with cross-linked current sources which then goes to a Darlington VAS stage and then to a Darlinton output stage. So in terms of performace and sound quality, this is a whole order magnitude greater than the ERC. Hope this helps. P.S. it is just my opinion, but if you really want to get the most out of the XDA. Connect it straight to the amp and forget about using a pre-amp. Just playing with it here, we originally had it run into the USP. We could hear a difference and it sounded better than the ERC itself, but it really wasn't a night and day difference. So we decided to connect it directly to the amps and see what that sounded like. Well that was when we realized just how good it really is and it was the night and day difference we were expecting. |
|
|
|
Post by houston1 on May 19, 2010 9:50:56 GMT -5
P.S. it is just my opinion, but if you really want to get the most out of the XDA. Connect it straight to the amp and forget about using a pre-amp. Just playing with it here, we originally had it run into the USP. We could hear a difference and it sounded better than the ERC itself, but it really wasn't a night and day difference. So we decided to connect it directly to the amps and see what that sounded like. Well that was when we realized just how good it really is and it was the night and day difference we were expecting. Just curious. Could I use balanced outputs from my XDA-1 to my XPA-2 and maintain my unbalanced inputs from my receiver? I have never had both connected at the same time to my XPA-2 and I was wondering if this configuration would work (with the flip of the switch in the back). John |
|
MikeWI
Emo VIPs
DC-1, ERC-1, USP-1, UPA-2, Sub 10, Emotiva 4S
Posts: 346
|
Post by MikeWI on May 19, 2010 9:51:11 GMT -5
"P.S. it is just my opinion, but if you really want to get the most out of the XDA. Connect it straight to the amp and forget about using a pre-amp. Just playing with it here, we originally had it run into the USP. We could hear a difference and it sounded better than the ERC itself, but it really wasn't a night and day difference. So we decided to connect it directly to the amps and see what that sounded like. Well that was when we realized just how good it really is and it was the night and day difference we were expecting."
Thanks for the info.
Interesting.
I was going to go computer->DAC->USP-1->UPA-2.
I guess that adds the complication of adjusting two different volume controls (assuming computer volume at 100% already).
Mike
|
|
|
|
Post by monkumonku on May 19, 2010 10:09:36 GMT -5
P.S. it is just my opinion, but if you really want to get the most out of the XDA. Connect it straight to the amp and forget about using a pre-amp. Just playing with it here, we originally had it run into the USP. We could hear a difference and it sounded better than the ERC itself, but it really wasn't a night and day difference. So we decided to connect it directly to the amps and see what that sounded like. Well that was when we realized just how good it really is and it was the night and day difference we were expecting. So if I am reading this correctly, if I have just a couple of inputs, such as an ERC-1 and a Sonos box, I can just use the XDA and negate the need for my USP-1? How would this work with a sub, though? (sorry if this question is ignorant.. I'm a little confused). |
|
MikeWI
Emo VIPs
DC-1, ERC-1, USP-1, UPA-2, Sub 10, Emotiva 4S
Posts: 346
|
Post by MikeWI on May 19, 2010 10:13:00 GMT -5
^^^
Good question.
I just ordered at Emotiva Ultra 10 sub for my office system -- which would potentially include the XDA-1 DAC.
Mike
|
|
DYohn
Emo VIPs
Posts: 18,485
|
Post by DYohn on May 19, 2010 11:08:04 GMT -5
Damn Lonnie, I really don't need another DAC, but damn. Your description means I will probably have to buy one of these. You engineers can be bastards. ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by UT-Driven on May 19, 2010 11:49:04 GMT -5
Damn Lonnie, I really don't need another DAC, but damn. Your description means I will probably have to buy one of these. You engineers can be bastards. ;D Agreed! I am going to have to get one too.  Doug |
|
|
|
Post by ajani on May 19, 2010 11:52:49 GMT -5
Lonnie, Can you share how you have the XDA, ERC and UMC configured? PPPurty Please? The easiest way to discribe this is to start with the UMC and work our way up to the XDA. The UMC uses a similiar design principle that is used in Pro recording gear. The DAC is run wide open to get the best performace out of it. From the DAC it goes to some very high quality OPAMPs which are used as a gain stage. From there it goes to a digitally controlled, but still analog volume control. From the volume control it goes to another set of opamps which are used as buffers and then to the outputs. In the ERC the DAC is run wide open as well. The signal then goes to Burr Browns which are set up at buffers. From the buffers it goes to the discrete output stage. The discrete output stage is a beautifully simple design that uses a single dif input to a traditional VAS and output stage. Basically in terms of sound quality and performace it is a whole order of magnitude beyond that of an opamp. The XDA is our most advanced design to date. Although it uses the same DAC as in the ERC practically everthing else is all new. From the DAC the signal goes to set of Burr Browns which are used as buffers. From there is goes to the discrete output stages but these are completely different from the ERC. These are like a miniature version of an X series amplifier. They use dual differential inputs stages with cross-linked current sources which then goes to a Darlington VAS stage and then to a Darlinton output stage. So in terms of performace and sound quality, this is a whole order magnitude greater than the ERC. Hope this helps. P.S. it is just my opinion, but if you really want to get the most out of the XDA. Connect it straight to the amp and forget about using a pre-amp. Just playing with it here, we originally had it run into the USP. We could hear a difference and it sounded better than the ERC itself, but it really wasn't a night and day difference. So we decided to connect it directly to the amps and see what that sounded like. Well that was when we realized just how good it really is and it was the night and day difference we were expecting. Intriguing, normally I hear persons saying that you should avoid digital volume control at all costs... Which would imply that the XDA to USP to XPA would be a better option than XDA to XPA... So the XDA to XPA options really does sound interesting... I may just need to add the XDA to my collection to find out ;D |
|
cawgijoe
Emo VIPs
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." - Yogi Berra
Posts: 5,033
|
Post by cawgijoe on May 19, 2010 12:15:16 GMT -5
So......I should be able to improve upon my sound by connecting my ERC-1 to the XDA.......I will also have a Squeezebox Duet hooked up.........looking forward to one of these n a couple months.
|
|
|
|
Post by barryrobin on May 19, 2010 12:17:33 GMT -5
can this purdy dac also be used to replace all those external HDMI boxes we use on the older DMC-1's and such? or is it apples to oranges, so to speak?
-barry
|
|
|
|
Post by icenoir on May 19, 2010 12:22:53 GMT -5
Lonnie,
does the dac work with linux/ ubuntu? what is the bit rate as a usb card/dac?
|
|
|
|
Post by rdaneel on May 19, 2010 12:40:21 GMT -5
Barry - this DAC doesn't do any HDMI handling, sorry! It's really a different beast, this is designed for 2 channel stereo use only, not home theater surround sound.
Sorry that the headphone output was cut, but I understand...
|
|
|
|
Post by ajani on May 19, 2010 13:04:51 GMT -5
I am looking for DACs that can decode 5.1 audio (and have 5 analog outputs). So at this juncture count me as a 'No'. But I will keep hoping that Emo will decide to build one:) What would you use such a product with? Since as far as I know almost all multi-channel preamps (processors) include a DAC.... |
|
tito
Minor Hero
Posts: 19 
|
Post by tito on May 19, 2010 13:09:26 GMT -5
Yeah, remote control, six inputs AND headphone jack was too good to be true. A couple of analog inputs would be nice also, but that's dangerously close to stereo preamp territory.
I'm not selling my Matrix Mini just yet.
|
|
|
|
Post by ajani on May 19, 2010 14:17:47 GMT -5
Yeah, remote control, six inputs AND headphone jack was too good to be true. A couple of analog inputs would be nice also, but that's dangerously close to stereo preamp territory. I'm not selling my Matrix Mini just yet. I prefer they do less features and do them all well, than have a pile of poorly done ones... There are a load of inexpensive DACs that copy the feature list of the Benchmark DAC1 Pre/HDR, but unlike the DAC1 the copies usually suffer from having useless, low quality features... |
|
