The Emotiva XDA-1

agree with buconero that it looks like alot of product for small $$$; though i think peachtree decco/nova, which includes a power amp, still have the edge--they're more all-inclusive portable devices which everyone (except hard-core old guys like us) seem to crave. my kudos to emotiva--they have a very smart business model, which enables them to deliver good stuff at low prices.

I think the XDA-1's remote beats the pants right off the Decco's remote, if that means anything to anyone (it does to me). I also found this webpage:
http://emonatics.com/XDA-1.shtml
It shows some correspondence with "Lonnie," an Emotiva guy, who reveals some of the design topology and process, some pictures, etc. Interesting read.
I have signed up for the opportunity to purchase one. If I get my hands on one I will try running USB audio into it from my Alienware XP 64-bit laptop and report what I hear.

I also signed up for one. Too good a deal, at least on paper, to pass up!

Rob

You know, the one thing it really is missing are some fixed outputs, so you could upgrade to a really nice pre-amp. Like maybe this McCormack...:
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatran&1291488888&/Mccormack-RLD-1-w/-phono-$995-
Is there no way to simple use the XDA-1 just as a DAC?
But at the price, and considering Emotiva's in-home trial, its too tempting to resist for me. Its a shame there is no upgrade path tho.

Just saw the XDA-1 at RMAF, Emotiva folks told me that if you crank up the volume on this unit all the way up, the volume pot basically turns off and the outputs can be considered fixed, not variable, so it is possible to use this unit just as a DAC, and upgrade to a high-end pre later on. I will confirm this tomorrow. They said the units were "on the water" right now, and will ship in mid- to late-November. I spent about 20 minutes playing various CDs I know really well on their Emotiva system, which featured all Emotiva gear, including speakers. They were bi-amping each speaker with an XPA-1, total of four XPA's. They DAC'd their ERC-1 with the XDA-1. I thought the sound was limited a bit by the speakers, which I felt were a little weak in the mid-range, those frequencies felt pushed back a little.
The XDA-1's digital volume control moves at half-increments, so they got that part right. They could not answer for me whether the XDA's USB input was asynchronus or not. Wrong Emotiva people in the room, too many analog guys.