I too just purchased this unit at the discounted pricing of $199 including shipping. For this price it is hard to find any faults. Previous to this unit I had a Bel Canto Dac 1.5 using that as a dac/pre as well. The Bel Canto is by far a superior sounding unit. Bass is not nearly as tight and defined and the sound stage shrunk quite a bit with the Emotiva. However, at $199 the Emotiva does offer an amazing value. You certainly won't find a better sounding unit with this build quality at this price...PERIOD. I will most likely move on from this unit once my little financial situation improves. Until then I am going to have some fun putting this little gem through it's paces!
Review: Emotiva XDA-1 DA converter
Category: Digital
I haven't really owned or listened to many low priced DACs. I have to say that this Emotiva is pretty amazing.
I have owned other Emotiva gear, mainly the XPA amps and the ERC-1 Cd player. While I thought those products offered great build quality and warranty for the price, I wasn't impressed enough to keep them for long. Nothing in the sound offended, but the bass wasn't as good as I wanted or expected given the size/weight of the amps, the highs had no real sparkle and mids sounded a little sharp to me.....maybe because the highs were a bit recessed. The cd player had nice extension at the frequency extremes, but just didn't sound cohesive to me.
But the XDA-1 is a different animal altogether. This review concentrates on using the XDA-1 as a DAC/pre.
It is detailed yet natural..not etched. It has very nice imaging. Bass is deep, mids have no etch and the highs produce shimmer or nuance when called upon to do so.
Compared to the best I have owned (recently the Bel Canto DAC3vb with VBS-1 PS and the Benchmark DAC1pre) the XDA-1 performs very well. Compared to the Bel Canto, it loses only in soundstage size...mainly depth and definition at the rear corners of the soundstage. It is similar in the ease at which it produces nuance/detail.
Compared to the Benchmark, there is just zero emphasis in the upper mids. In my system, the Benchmark was just a little too hot.
I listen mostly to jazz both modern and classic.......Bill Bruford, Pat Metheny, Stan Kenton, Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride. I also listen to classic rock with an emphasis on progressive rock.....Floyd, Yes, Moody Blues. And I also listen to classical. Mephisto is one of my standard test discs.
Weaknesses.......some systems and listeners may find this unit too warm sounding. It wasn't at first. The sound I am describing only appeared after the unit had been turned on for 3 days. At first, it was bass shy, peaky in the mids/highs, and disorganized sounding.
Highly recommended!
Associated gear
Sunfire Cinema Grand 5-ch amp
Lexicon RT-10 Transport
Emerald Physics CS2 speakers
PS Audio Power Plant Premier
PS Audio AC-12 Power Cords
Audio Metallurgy GA-0 XLR interconnects
Simply Physics speaker cables
Similar products
Bel Canto DAC3vb +VBS1
Benchmark DAC1 pre
I haven't really owned or listened to many low priced DACs. I have to say that this Emotiva is pretty amazing.
I have owned other Emotiva gear, mainly the XPA amps and the ERC-1 Cd player. While I thought those products offered great build quality and warranty for the price, I wasn't impressed enough to keep them for long. Nothing in the sound offended, but the bass wasn't as good as I wanted or expected given the size/weight of the amps, the highs had no real sparkle and mids sounded a little sharp to me.....maybe because the highs were a bit recessed. The cd player had nice extension at the frequency extremes, but just didn't sound cohesive to me.
But the XDA-1 is a different animal altogether. This review concentrates on using the XDA-1 as a DAC/pre.
It is detailed yet natural..not etched. It has very nice imaging. Bass is deep, mids have no etch and the highs produce shimmer or nuance when called upon to do so.
Compared to the best I have owned (recently the Bel Canto DAC3vb with VBS-1 PS and the Benchmark DAC1pre) the XDA-1 performs very well. Compared to the Bel Canto, it loses only in soundstage size...mainly depth and definition at the rear corners of the soundstage. It is similar in the ease at which it produces nuance/detail.
Compared to the Benchmark, there is just zero emphasis in the upper mids. In my system, the Benchmark was just a little too hot.
I listen mostly to jazz both modern and classic.......Bill Bruford, Pat Metheny, Stan Kenton, Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride. I also listen to classic rock with an emphasis on progressive rock.....Floyd, Yes, Moody Blues. And I also listen to classical. Mephisto is one of my standard test discs.
Weaknesses.......some systems and listeners may find this unit too warm sounding. It wasn't at first. The sound I am describing only appeared after the unit had been turned on for 3 days. At first, it was bass shy, peaky in the mids/highs, and disorganized sounding.
Highly recommended!
Associated gear
Sunfire Cinema Grand 5-ch amp
Lexicon RT-10 Transport
Emerald Physics CS2 speakers
PS Audio Power Plant Premier
PS Audio AC-12 Power Cords
Audio Metallurgy GA-0 XLR interconnects
Simply Physics speaker cables
Similar products
Bel Canto DAC3vb +VBS1
Benchmark DAC1 pre