AMR / EMM / PLAYBACK Designs

Please note that the XDS1 comes with a very nice upgraded power cord from Kimber. This is not ultimately what you will want to use but may be satisfactory in the short run. Power cords are easy to change, SACd players much harder.

The XDS1 has been in contitnuous play since Friday morning but will still require many additional hours of breakin. Given the new rather brute force power supply, you might think that power cords would make little difference. You would be incorrect in that assumption. It is quite sensitive. It seems to simply love the Jorma Prime power cords which incorporate Jack Bybee's filter modules and the Weizhi power distribution system. Properly set up the XDS1 significantly outperforms any of the other digital equipment which I have had in my home including the CDSA. This superiority is particularly evident in the top octaves which are extended and completely devoid of any digital artifacts. I have always appreciated the difference between red book and SACD and other digital formats but not completely understood how wide the gap actually was with DSD. The XDS1 makes it abundantly clear how good the best SACD's can be and their superiority over red book. It also provides the best red book playback that I have heard. More later.

Just a correction, I am the Dagogo reviewer who reviewed the Playback Designs. I did not purchase the unit. I returned it to the manufacturer with all shipping charges paid by me. The manufacturer in question was a perfect gentleman and put absolutely no pressure on me to buy the unit or to write a favorable review. The PD is an excellent unit, particularly at its price point, but it will not suit every taste or even every system. I should also say that my editor did not pressure me to write a favorable review, only one that was balanced and honest.

For what it is worth, I am out of the country but EMM Labs has shipped an XDS1 for review. I will certainly comment after I have had the chance to break the unit in.

Jason,
If you read my review of the Playback Designs at www.Dagogo.com you will have noted that I sold my existing Esoteric X01-D2 after many years of enjoyment and am currently borrowing a CDSA from a good friend. This has given me a golden opportunity to understand what each unit does well and how they differ. I find the CDSA to be an exceptional unit with many strengths, particularly used with the Halcyonics isolation base. I will, however, be very surprised if the XDS1 is not in a different class.

The XDS1 arrived yesterday while I was at work and will see some heavy playing this weekend. Initial thoughts will follow the weekend.

Let me again stress that the sound of the unit is much impacted by the choice of power cord. I have tried a number of cords with which I have had success in the past, including the Stage III Zyklops. With most of these cords, the mids were a bit lean for my tastes and the bass was not right. Some of this is undoubtedly breakin related. The cord with which the unit seemed to lock/sound right to my ears was the Jorma Prime with Prime balanced interconnect. I have friends that have also had excellent luck with the Odin power cord and interconnects. It is too early to say whether the unit is ruthlessly honest or a bit lean, but it has great potential.

I cannot speak to use of the EMM Labs XDS1 as anything other than a player, but in that mode EMM Labs has been extremely successful in addressing earlier criticisms. The transport mechanism which is sourced from Esoteric works flawlessly and the time required to access tracks is similar to other top brands. The build quality is excellent, certainly much improved over past efforts. The unit appears to be very well thought out and very nicely implemented. The manufacturer is also quite helpful. I also like the fact that many functions are software based and any upgrades can be easily accomplished by reprogramming and do not require hardware changes.

Two thoughts, 1) surprisingly, given the huge power supply, the XDS1 is very sensitive to the power cord used. It particularly likes the Jorma Prime and the Stage III Zyklops. Each sounds a bit different but both bring out the best in the unit. The PD is less sensitive to power cords. 2) Likewise, the EMM Labs benefits from good mechanical isolation as do the top of the line Esoterics. It particularly likes Cerabases. The PD works pretty well with the factory supplied feet.

I have had both the PD and XDS1 in my system for extended listening as well as some of the Esoterics and I am buying the XDS1. Each of the others does some things better but taken as a whole, the XDS1 nis the one that I chose to live with long term.

My standard of comparison when I auditioned the PD in my home for anout ten weeks was my Rockport Sirius with a Lyra Titan i and later swapped out for an Ortofon A90. I did not have a reel to reel for comparison but am familiar with Albert Porter's totally rebuilt Studer A810. Based on that, I felt that the EMM Labs XDS1 was more accurate.

Suteetat,

Thanks for the well thought out response to my posting. I think that the PD and the XDS1 are both great machines but that they will appeal to different buyers. Likewise, the choice may in the end be somewhat system dependent. A lengthy review of the XDS1 will soon appear in www.dagogo.com.