Emotiva XDA 2- DAC....questions on DAC & music

[locopoco]

Thnx kapvin.....

Well, well - some updates:

1.) XDA-2 was delivered at my bro's place last week. I hopefully should have it here with me in the next couple of weeks.

2.)I downloaded foobar last week... i am a little confused...initially, i found the sound very nice. Then, the sound sounded different....i do not know how to put it. On English songs (bit of REM, MJ, Pink Floyd etc etc) - the sound seemed a little subdued compared to the earlier windows media player. In HIndi songs, I am not noticing much of a difference.

It could be possibly that i have not spent much time with foobar or is it that 128kbps mp3 does not allow foobar to perform better?

3.) Last couple of days, i ripped some CDs that i have to FLAC (thnx Indian ears for the heads up on EAC - it works well though it comes with only a 14 day trial period ).

Haven't really had a opportunity to listen to FLAC.....

I am hoping to see now what difference a DAC makes to the sound.. !!



cheers,

 

[IndianEars]

EAC is Free For LIFE.

Only One of the the Database Look up services, that EAC prompts you to take, is a paid service and U get an initial 15 day trial.

( The database look up service automatically finds the Name and other details of the CD and its songs that you are going to rip.

Other Database Look up services that EAC can use are completely free but need you to give an E mail address. I have never got junk mail from them... Even submitting a fake E-mail address works fine :lol:

Incidentally, after you have moved away from mp3 to FLAC, do explore Wav vs FLAC.

 

[tcpip]

You could have tried the ODAC, which diyaudiocart sells in India. I think it's one of the best USB DACs available at any price, and it's surprisingly affordable. It is the outcome of an "open source" project, and it will appeal to those who want accurate reproduction (not everyone does).

I know my suggestion is like bolting the stable door after the horse has fled -- sorry, I just encountered your thread now.

 

[reignofchaos]

You could have tried the ODAC, which diyaudiocart sells in India. I think it's one of the best USB DACs available at any price, and it's surprisingly affordable. It is the outcome of an "open source" project, and it will appeal to those who want accurate reproduction (not everyone does).

I know my suggestion is like bolting the stable door after the horse has fled -- sorry, I just encountered your thread now.

No offense but my personal opinion after listening to a friend's odac is that it is a piece of krapp. It was muddy, noisy, extremely digital sounding and everything I don't want a DAC to sound like. The jitter spectrum of the device is pretty terrible as well.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Consensus of some recent stuff I've read on the ODAC (I have one) is that how it sounds depends on what it is connected to. For me, it is not consistent, but seems to depend on the state of PC at the time. That is a PC issue that I might manage to solve one day, but until then a reboot seems to fix it.

When it is sounding good, I think it sounds very good. I only bought it because I had budget at the time to buy one or two low-cost audio items simply for experiment/experience --- but I seem to be keeping. But reading all the DAC threads anyway.

There seems to be a fairly large segment of audio society, though, who just don't like the Sabre chip sound. Even Sabre said they were forced to listen to what the listeners had to say.

 

[reignofchaos]

Consensus of some recent stuff I've read on the ODAC (I have one) is that how it sounds depends on what it is connected to. For me, it is not consistent, but seems to depend on the state of PC at the time. That is a PC issue that I might manage to solve one day, but until then a reboot seems to fix it.

When it is sounding good, I think it sounds very good. I only bought it because I had budget at the time to buy one or two low-cost audio items simply for experiment/experience --- but I seem to be keeping. But reading all the DAC threads anyway.

There seems to be a fairly large segment of audio society, though, who just don't like the Sabre chip sound. Even Sabre said they were forced to listen to what the listeners had to say.

Let me point out that I do not hate the sabre chip. I heard a sabre based iFi DAC and it sounds very good for the 20k or so forum member Bluu spent on it. Money well spent. However the odac was doing something really wrong - tones were not natural, timing was off and there was a brightness that can probably be attributed to a badly designed output stage. Definitely not my cup of tea.

 

[manniraj]

Let me point out that I do not hate the sabre chip. I heard a sabre based iFi DAC and it sounds very good for the 20k or so forum member Bluu spent on it. Money well spent. However the odac was doing something really wrong - tones were not natural, timing was off and there was a brightness that can probably be attributed to a badly designed output stage. Definitely not my cup of tea.

My views on ODAC (it being my very first DAC) is opposite of yours, that it sounds natural/clear and without any coloration of the sound. I got a Audio-GD now and can say that ODAC is inferior to Audio-GD but not terms of your observations. I found with this comparison that ODAC had less bass, gain, less sound stage. But this completely negates deficiencies based on the fact that the price is less than half the price of Audio-GD.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

It might be this alleged inconsistency with different sources. I guess RoC might be getting something entirely different to what we experienced.

I'm not trying to say it's the bee's knees of all DACs, in fact I'm vaguely wondering what I might buy next, but I've heard it in two or three systems, and nobody (half a dozen or more Chennai HFVers) clasped their hands over their ears. I just can't see it being interpreted as that bad. My own system is undemanding (although my ears can be quite fussy ) but I believe that RoC has some very excellent stuff there.

I don't think that anybody who has only that much to spend on a DAC could go far wrong with an ODAC. Obviously, if that is their budget, it is not going to be for a very high-end system. My version is only US$169, and, to DIYers the board is <$100.

It's USB-powered: if the supplying device is very noisy, I guess that could screw it up some.

The Sabre pros/cons thing I hardly know anything about. I only heard of it at all from a video presentation ---by one of the company scientists! I'd like to find out more.

I came to this thread because I was curious about the XDA 2!

 

[Santy]

I have heard the XDA-1 and it was pretty good. In a comparison we did in a Mumbai meet, the Emotiva and Caiman sounded equally good on an expensive setup. I liked the ODAC too, especially for its price (though it lacked 'body'). I think in this segment, nobody can really go wrong with these top rated budget DACs.

 

[tcpip]

No offense but my personal opinion after listening to a friend's odac is that it is a piece of krapp. It was muddy, noisy, extremely digital sounding and everything I don't want a DAC to sound like. The jitter spectrum of the device is pretty terrible as well.

No offence taken. But, am curious, what was the equipment chain through which you listened to the ODAC?

 

[tcpip]

Consensus of some recent stuff I've read on the ODAC (I have one) is that how it sounds depends on what it is connected to. For me, it is not consistent, but seems to depend on the state of PC at the time. That is a PC issue that I might manage to solve one day, but until then a reboot seems to fix it.

This hasn't happened with me. I have been listening to it (PC --> ODAC --> O2 --> Etymotic ER4PT) since I got it, and it's always been superb.

There seems to be a fairly large segment of audio society, though, who just don't like the Sabre chip sound. Even Sabre said they were forced to listen to what the listeners had to say.

The matter of "liking" the output of a device may depend a lot on what else you are used to, right? I look for accuracy, and some look for likeable sound. If someone does not "like" the sound of a device which seems to measure very well under all normal-use circumstances, it could be a reflection on the listener's prior exposure to other devices and listening taste, don't you think? It may not be a reflection on the device performance.

 

[tcpip]

Let me point out that I do not hate the sabre chip. I heard a sabre based iFi DAC and it sounds very good for the 20k or so forum member Bluu spent on it. Money well spent. However the odac was doing something really wrong - tones were not natural, timing was off and there was a brightness that can probably be attributed to a badly designed output stage. Definitely not my cup of tea.

As I said earlier, I will be keen to know what was the entire equipment chain through which you heard the ODAC.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

This hasn't happened with me. I have been listening to it (PC --> ODAC --> O2 --> Etymotic ER4PT) since I got it, and it's always been superb.

Yes, it is something with my computer setup. You know all those audiophile words like involving, foot-tapping, etc? They exactly describe the difference. And a reboot usually puts everything right, so I'm suspecting it is something to do with resource allocation. I think, though, that I'd have to be much more of computer scientist cum *nix expert to nail it. That's tough, as I have got rather bored with the techie thing.

I'd love to get together with RoC on this, to get closer to his experience than keyboard/internet allows --- but time and space is in the way.

It might be a good idea for specific ODAC discussion to go on in an ODAC thread. There is one in the DIY section.

 

[reignofchaos]

As I said earlier, I will be keen to know what was the entire equipment chain through which you heard the ODAC.

All equipment is in my signature.

 

[tcpip]

All equipment is in my signature.

Sorry, i cannot understand from your signature what headphone amp you used to audition the ODAC. Or did you feed the ODAC to a conventional amp and listen through speakers?

 

[reignofchaos]

Sorry, i cannot understand from your signature what headphone amp you used to audition the ODAC. Or did you feed the ODAC to a conventional amp and listen through speakers?

No headphones - I connected the odac to my mccormack rld-1 preamp directly via a stereo 3.5mm to 2rca connector.