Post by krellion on Oct 12, 2009 23:51:37 GMT -5
I heard about Emotiva in general and eventually the ERC-1 from hanging out on audio forums. The ERC-1 sounded too good to be true, same for most of Emo's gear. So I kept an open mind but was skeptical. Recently I got the urge to buy a secondary CD player for various uses like with headphone amp or occasional placement in a second system I have. This led me to line up my options, NAD c545/565, Cambridge 640 (now being sold cheap), Music Hall 25.2 and I learned about the Musical Fidelity X-ray v8 being closed out, and, last but not least the ERC-1. I did some research and scratched off the 25.2 from owners comments of no negativity but mention of a laid back presentation, some sources stated the NAD was overall better than the 640. Any way to get to it not many options available locally but I knew I could get my hands on a c545. So I formed a plan to buy an ERC-1, curiosity was killing me, and put it against the NAD and begin from there.
I did some reading here and around the net on the ERC-1 and really became confused about it and even more curious. Here's why, reviews went from people who couldn't tell the difference between the ERC-1 and a DVD player to claims of replacing higher end units with an
ERC-1. After receiving mine I tend to more believe the latter. The huge sound stage of the ERC-1 would be enough to clue some one in that the ERC-1 was performing better than a DVD player.
The ERC-1 came double boxed, as if, the original made to fit box wouldn't be enough. Much nicer packing than most high end components I've received. I had already read about the slab of aluminum remote which I like except for the six screws on the back that have to be removed to change/insert the batteries. The ERC-1 is solid built. I personally liked the lay out of the front, large buttons spaced apart and simple. My first slot loading machine, how you adapt will probably depend on the height of the placement but it's not as bad to get used to as I thought and it works smoothly.
I was anxious to hear it so I just put it right into my main system which consists of Conrad Johnson preamp to two monoblock tube amps driving
Dynaudio Contour t2.5's and all cables Siltech New Yorkers. My reference CD playback the T+A "CD Player". The T+A just under $3k and no this isn't a story where the ERC-1 is better, let's get real. This is also a story about the ERC-1 so I won't dwell on the T+A except to say it's a great unit that justifies it's price tag. However, I was quite surprised at how
well the ERC-1 did sound in the system, it had a very large sound stage and much air between instruments, quiet background, not normal traits heard in a $399.00 unit. I wasn't one to typically hear components change sound much from out of the box and over time, "break in". The ERC-1 seemed to though. My initial listen the ERC-1 displayed a rigid pace, a lack of rhythm and something about the tonal quality didn't sit right with me. After about 6 hours or so playing time the unit seemed to relax some and although the tonal quality never quite developed micro and macro dynamics the tonal quality became more listenable. I eventually put it into a second system where I connected the ERC-1 to a Krell 500i via the XLR outputs using Transparent XLR cables. I was using a Conrad Johnson DAC-3 and speakers are Dynaudio Audience 62's w/Transparent cables. Initially, I thought the CJ DAC was better because it had more bass authority later I actually preferred the ERC for the better detail and quieter background. The CJ DAC is several years old but it's still saying something that the ERC-1 was preferred. I wanted to see what happened with a more even comparison so I connected the ERC-1 and CJ DAC using Bluejeans RCA cables. I plan to use the XLR's again to see if any improvement might have happened with further play because much to my surprise the ERC-1 sounded better using the RCA connection and further showed it could out class the old dog. I later did borrow the NAD c545 ($499.00) and won't dwell on it because it was no competition for the ERC-1. The c545 did have more bass slam but the sound stage was compressed by comparison and seemed to lack a lot of detail. I also compared it to a friend's Musical Fidelity X-ray v8 and here the ERC-1 had to place one in the loss column which is no shame as the X-ray retailed at over $2k. There was a contrast in approach though between the two players. The MF was "musical" and "warm" but did not lack detail and it had more bottom end where the ERC-1 is controlled and technical, it does not impose any colorations or emotion onto the music. This can sometimes be good but in the ERC-1's case it's almost too lacking. In saying this I am overly critical because the ERC-1 is fighting way out of it's price range. I feel the ERC-1 is better suited competing with players approaching $1k, there's nothing in it's own class to touch it. The ERC-1 is an excellent value and performer and will go toe to toe with units costing 3 times as much. When the ERC-1 is in my main system it is very listenable and enjoyable, not something I thought I'd ever be saying about a player at $399.00.
To sort of sum up my feel for the ERC-1 sound quality,
Strengths: Large sound stage, open and airy, very quick response, controlled and detailed.
Weakness: None at the ERC-1's price, it will lay to waste anything in it's range. And you get a solid unit with a very nice remote. My expensive unit doesn't even have an aluminum remote. I'm not going to beat up the ERC-1 any more with comparisons to higher end units, when you pay several times more one would hope you'd hear an improvement.
The ERC-1 has turned the skeptic into a believer and based on my experience with it I wouldn't hesitate to try other products from Emotiva.
I did some reading here and around the net on the ERC-1 and really became confused about it and even more curious. Here's why, reviews went from people who couldn't tell the difference between the ERC-1 and a DVD player to claims of replacing higher end units with an
ERC-1. After receiving mine I tend to more believe the latter. The huge sound stage of the ERC-1 would be enough to clue some one in that the ERC-1 was performing better than a DVD player.
The ERC-1 came double boxed, as if, the original made to fit box wouldn't be enough. Much nicer packing than most high end components I've received. I had already read about the slab of aluminum remote which I like except for the six screws on the back that have to be removed to change/insert the batteries. The ERC-1 is solid built. I personally liked the lay out of the front, large buttons spaced apart and simple. My first slot loading machine, how you adapt will probably depend on the height of the placement but it's not as bad to get used to as I thought and it works smoothly.
I was anxious to hear it so I just put it right into my main system which consists of Conrad Johnson preamp to two monoblock tube amps driving
Dynaudio Contour t2.5's and all cables Siltech New Yorkers. My reference CD playback the T+A "CD Player". The T+A just under $3k and no this isn't a story where the ERC-1 is better, let's get real. This is also a story about the ERC-1 so I won't dwell on the T+A except to say it's a great unit that justifies it's price tag. However, I was quite surprised at how
well the ERC-1 did sound in the system, it had a very large sound stage and much air between instruments, quiet background, not normal traits heard in a $399.00 unit. I wasn't one to typically hear components change sound much from out of the box and over time, "break in". The ERC-1 seemed to though. My initial listen the ERC-1 displayed a rigid pace, a lack of rhythm and something about the tonal quality didn't sit right with me. After about 6 hours or so playing time the unit seemed to relax some and although the tonal quality never quite developed micro and macro dynamics the tonal quality became more listenable. I eventually put it into a second system where I connected the ERC-1 to a Krell 500i via the XLR outputs using Transparent XLR cables. I was using a Conrad Johnson DAC-3 and speakers are Dynaudio Audience 62's w/Transparent cables. Initially, I thought the CJ DAC was better because it had more bass authority later I actually preferred the ERC for the better detail and quieter background. The CJ DAC is several years old but it's still saying something that the ERC-1 was preferred. I wanted to see what happened with a more even comparison so I connected the ERC-1 and CJ DAC using Bluejeans RCA cables. I plan to use the XLR's again to see if any improvement might have happened with further play because much to my surprise the ERC-1 sounded better using the RCA connection and further showed it could out class the old dog. I later did borrow the NAD c545 ($499.00) and won't dwell on it because it was no competition for the ERC-1. The c545 did have more bass slam but the sound stage was compressed by comparison and seemed to lack a lot of detail. I also compared it to a friend's Musical Fidelity X-ray v8 and here the ERC-1 had to place one in the loss column which is no shame as the X-ray retailed at over $2k. There was a contrast in approach though between the two players. The MF was "musical" and "warm" but did not lack detail and it had more bottom end where the ERC-1 is controlled and technical, it does not impose any colorations or emotion onto the music. This can sometimes be good but in the ERC-1's case it's almost too lacking. In saying this I am overly critical because the ERC-1 is fighting way out of it's price range. I feel the ERC-1 is better suited competing with players approaching $1k, there's nothing in it's own class to touch it. The ERC-1 is an excellent value and performer and will go toe to toe with units costing 3 times as much. When the ERC-1 is in my main system it is very listenable and enjoyable, not something I thought I'd ever be saying about a player at $399.00.
To sort of sum up my feel for the ERC-1 sound quality,
Strengths: Large sound stage, open and airy, very quick response, controlled and detailed.
Weakness: None at the ERC-1's price, it will lay to waste anything in it's range. And you get a solid unit with a very nice remote. My expensive unit doesn't even have an aluminum remote. I'm not going to beat up the ERC-1 any more with comparisons to higher end units, when you pay several times more one would hope you'd hear an improvement.
The ERC-1 has turned the skeptic into a believer and based on my experience with it I wouldn't hesitate to try other products from Emotiva.
