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Empirical Audio Overdrive DAC: King of the Hill?

I received the Overdrive DAC a month ago and have been listening to it without a preamp interposed between the Overdrive and my Luxman M-600a monoblocks to Evolution Acoustics MMmini2s.

I have rarely heard sound this transparent and realistic. I am a strong believer that top priority in digital systems should go to transport/DAC. Not all DACs and digital transports are the same; there are MAJOR differences. The off-ramp->I2s->Overdrive front-end is one of the best I have ever heard; digital or analog. I am getting natural, organic, lifelike music I never thought possible from a computer front-end. Only the DAC 202 is comparable, but I don't think the 202 could beat it in a head-to-head match.
128x128dallasjustice
edorr
714 posts
 
To be precise, I would actually buy the Overdrive with a 30 day return option, allowing me to do the shootout. Still a generous policy of course.
deluxman
18 posts
 
Edorr..did you get a chance to compare the overdrive with perfectwave mk ii?
edorr
714 posts
 
Nope. I decided to jump right into the 5 figure segment instead, and ended up buying the EMM Labs DAC2X, which is a lot better than the PWD MKII (gap is bigger than I expected).
deluxman
18 posts
 
Edorr, do you plan selling your overdrive anytime soon?
edorr
714 posts
 
I don't own an overdrive. I owned a Perfectwave MKII and was planning to compare it to an overdrive. I upped the budget and got an EMM Labs. The PWD MKII has been sold. I may get the new MSB analog DAC for a shootout against the EMM Labs shortly, but I am no longer considering auditioning the Overdrive. I still own the Offramp 5 with Monolith PS though.
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