You got a point. The DA2 has a XLR outputs of 4.6V
Emm da2 dac
- Thread starter Phishphan
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You got a point. The DA2 has a XLR outputs of 4.6V
Yes, It's a pity that the Aavik U-300 is single ended only.
But not to worry, I am very happy with the dCS Rossinni player, especially after the last upgrade.
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Kuoppis
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There’s a quite nice review of the Emm Labs DV2 in the March issue of Stereophile. It’s not yet available online, so I can’t post a link.
This is the first Emm DAC with a volume control/ preamp. That’s good, but it increases the price by 5K.
Positive: Emm has finally caught up with the world and supports MQA in this new product, though only via USB.
Negative: No Ethernet input available, so a bit of a yesteryear design. For this price I would also expect streaming capability as a Roon endpoint.
While the review is overall positive, it was made clear that USB is not its best sounding input. However, USB is the only one supporting the highest bit rates and MQA. As such I find this to be a slightly constrained and old-fashioned design, and not up-to-date with the current market.
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This is the first Emm DAC with a volume control/ preamp. That’s good, but it increases the price by 5K.
Positive: Emm has finally caught up with the world and supports MQA in this new product, though only via USB.
Negative: No Ethernet input available, so a bit of a yesteryear design. For this price I would also expect streaming capability as a Roon endpoint.
While the review is overall positive, it was made clear that USB is not its best sounding input. However, USB is the only one supporting the highest bit rates and MQA. As such I find this to be a slightly constrained and old-fashioned design, and not up-to-date with the current market.
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pdub
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EMM is listed on Roon’s Partner page, but good luck getting someone in the know to explain why.
Parker
Hi Phishphan, The good news is that Ed Meitner is coming out with a streamer this year.
Hi, in my opinion, the best sounding input for the DA2/DV2 would be the EMM Optilink interface for connection to EMM Labs transport! There are many excellent SACDs available online.
At my dealer we compared some Ansuz cables on the different inputs of the DA2, SPDIF and AES are both very good, USB a bit less but that might have to do with the output of his Aurender N10 (AES and SPDIF use a special word clock in the Aurender, USB output does not)
But the best sound is with the dedicated EMMLabs transport with the EMM optilink.
Dealers set is a full EMMLabs system, Pre, Transport, DAC and the 1kw monoblocks and YG Hailey (rev 1) loudspeakers
But the best sound is with the dedicated EMMLabs transport with the EMM optilink.
Dealers set is a full EMMLabs system, Pre, Transport, DAC and the 1kw monoblocks and YG Hailey (rev 1) loudspeakers
Hi, I fully agree with you that the EMM DA2's soundstaging, imaging, tonality and resolution are extraordinary. Jason Victor Serinus of Stereophile enthused: "“I was won over by the beauty of the DV2’s extremely natural, warm, smooth, and non-fatiguing sound."
Bar81
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That's too bad for the vast majority of users of the DA2 as only 50 TX2 transports were produced thanks to Esoteric refusing to continue to sell the VOSP transports to third parties. But then again, it doubles the cost of the setup and most people seem enamored with servers and the like so I doubt many would purchase the transport even if available.
USB has always been a garbage standard for audio. It's not surprising that it would take more effort to wring performance out of it. As such, I would be interested to know if the USB input is in fact worse performing than AES/EBU and SPDIF versus USB simply requiring more effort to overcome its lack of suitability for the purpose for which it is being used.
Hi Tony, May I know what differences did you hear and how much? Is it currently available? Thanks.
Hi Andy, great SQ improvement in almost all areas. If there's no dealer in Singapore you can email Aural Symphonics direct, and price is around US$1,700. A friend of mine is in the optical business and has instruments to test and view optical cables. Apparently not all optical cables are created equal : for example the shape of the contact point which is very important and any scratch will permanently damage the cable. He tested 3 optical cables : the Aural Symphonics, a Jadis and the EMM cable. Technically the best was the Aural Symphonics. Do not buy used, as you don't know if cable has scratches etc
Thanks Tony for the valuable tip!
Bar81
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My pleasure. It's a nice upgrade to the combo for a "reasonable" price.
Whenever you decide to tweak your system again, consider this:
Computer Audio Design GC1 Ground Control
https://www.computeraudiodesign.com/gc1-ground-control/
http://www.computeraudiodesign.com/CAD_Ground_Control.pdf
Not sure I really understand the necessity for a grounding device given that I have a star grounded power setup, but I purchased one recently, connected it to the AES/EBU digital output of the TX2 and an unused SPDIF digital input (PDAI) of the DA2 and my mind was blown. I always thought the guys going on about treating signal ground and AC earth were a little bit crazy but I'm a convert.
Problem in this case is that the SPDIF/AES outputs of the Aurender N10 make use of the special internal word clock and the USB output doesn't, so I cannot conclude if the USB input of the Emmlabs DA2 is sub par. (To be honest I don't think it is)
Hi, Interestingly, Jason Victor Serinus of Stereophile, in his review of the DV2, said: "... a few comparisons of the MacBook Pro with the dCS Network Bridge revealed that nothing sent from the MacBook Pro via USB sounded anywhere near as full and rich in colors as signals that bypassed the computer entirely and relied solely on the Network Bridge's coax outputs. Realizing that, regardless of the claimed jitter-free superiority of EMM Labs's USB input, my USB source was compromised ... Even with a computer as the source, when I played Debussy's Trios Chansons de Bilitis from our January 2019 'Recording of the Month,' mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato Into the Fire (24/96 WAV, Erato 573800), I was won over by the beauty of the DV2’s extremely natural, warm, smooth, and non-fatiguing sound.”
Hi Bar81
Thanks for the tip on ground control. I am using the Nordost Qkore 6 and find it lowers the noise floor of the system, thus enabling more details to be heard. However it wasn't a mind blowing effect. I am connecting the Qkore to the AES output/input of the TX2 and DA2.
Thanks for the tip on ground control. I am using the Nordost Qkore 6 and find it lowers the noise floor of the system, thus enabling more details to be heard. However it wasn't a mind blowing effect. I am connecting the Qkore to the AES output/input of the TX2 and DA2.