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Re: Emm Dac 6e/DCC2 versus new Signature version

216.209.239.119

Posted by Bill K on May 1, 2006 at 15:56:52

In Reply to: Re: Emm Dac 6e/DCC2 versus new Signature version posted by Terry on May 1, 2006 at 14:56:02:

Well I went so far as to quickly buy one of the many EMM CDSD/DCC2 combos that have been for sale on Audiogon. I made my purchase because of the comments in the audio press on the incredible SACD playback. So spending 10 large allows me to offer a point of view, of course, in my humble opinion.

The reviews are absolutely correct. In SACD mode the machine is without peer. Textures, dynamics, detail, musicality and warmth are abunbdant. It made the other players I had (Esoteric X-03, Wadia 861se), sound like recorded music, as compared to the live event. Frankly, it sounded better than quite a few turntables that I have heard. As a side note the Wadia 861se sounded better than the Esoteric X-03 whether the disc was SACD or CD. Again, IMHO.

On CD the EMM combo was one of the poorer sounding units I have ever auditioned. Maybe there was something wrong in the software? Hard to figure out. The EMM approach to upsample the red book disc to the dsd standard is a unique approach. However, in this case, I was left severly wanting. Guitars, and cellos were all strings and fingers. There was virtually no resonance from the instrument body. These instruments sounded dry and edgy. The human voice was much worse. The body was washewd out, but the echo and reverb was present. This pushed the vocalist to the back of the hall burried in the orchestra. Again, there was no warmth or musicality. Considering that most of us have a library of Cds, I was totally surprised that EMM missed the boat on reb book Cds.

Now we come to the issue of playing the SACDs. The EMM will not play them all. I had one Chesky SACD (Area 31), and one Groove Note by Jacintha which it refused to play. Both discs played on the Esoteric unit that I had. When I spoke with customer relations at EMM he pointed the finger at the SACD manufacturers who produce a product that does not strictly conform to the Sony/ Philips standard. He said there was nothing they could do. I can't figure out how they could play on the Esoteric, but not the EMM?

Naturally, my muscial experience with the EMM gear was not done alone. I had several audiophile colleagues, and one professor of music. They as well loved the SACD playback of the EMM gear. It fullfilled the promise of what digital music was always supposed to be. They too, were equally disappointed by the CD playback. This take on the EMM gear was supported by the gentleman who sold me the unit (after the sale), and was also supported by the gentleman who was anxious to buy the unit from me.

So for now I'm trying something less expensive, the Ayre C5XE. According to the same audio press It's great on both SACD and CD. I hope so!

If EMM has a signature version I hope it addresses the two issues I've raised, namely CD playback, and not rejecting some SACDs. I don't think it would be possible to improve on their SACD performance.

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