Emm labs DA2 v2 upgrade

[Yuen A.]

Is anyone using the NS1 streamer and have you compared it to other USB Endpoints?

Hi Manjy, Some in the other forums say that the EMM Labs NS1 is better than the Aurender N10 and the Sonore opticalRendu .

Urs at Audiophilestyle.com forums says: "The combination [EMM Labs] DA2 V2 with the Sonore Signature is the best Streamer/DAC I ever heard. Previously I owned a used Vivaldi Stack (Upsampler v2, Clock, DAC v2). IMO, the DA2 + Sonore has more space/air around instruments and voices. Another highlight are the lows and lower mids... beautiful and unheard before."

 

[Yuen A.]

Hi,

Just to share with you guys - when I asked Fred Crowder whether the latest top of the line EMM Labs dacs can compete with vinyl, he said:

"Assuming that money is no object (i.e. one is willing to expend around $100,000+ on a turntable, arm cartridge and phono stage), vinyl is still superior to the EMM DV2 or any other digital setup; however, the gap is getting smaller and smaller. There remain some things that a cost-is-no-object vinyl setup can do better. The miracle is that a digital setup for a fraction of the cost can come surprisingly close. I should also say in all fairness that not all records will beat all digital all the time and many titles are not available on vinyl. Most of my listening is to early pressings of classical and jazz recorded in the late 1950’s through the late 1960’s, perhaps as late as the early 1970’s or to audiophile vinyl. I do feel that EMM comes closer to analogue than any other brand and that Ed Meitner is continually working to improve his products." He also highlights vinyl's "ability to recreate extremely low level ambient detail. Again, digital is getting better in all these areas ."

However, when I countered: "Based on my personal experiences, I found that I cannot really hear all the micro details during live concert performances unless I am sitting close to the musicians. Mostly, I listened at mid-hall , level 2. And therefore I do not feel that I am missing much when listening to digital. What are your thoughts on that?"

He responded: "Again, you comments are spot on. Remember however that we are attempting to recreate a live event which sometimes requires that we “exaggerate certain aspects of the sound, overcompensate if you will. This is also true of imaging. I sit row M normally and imaging is not as pinpoint as an excellent system will reproduce; however, if I sit much further forward the imaging gets better and better, likewise fine detail as we increase direct sound and decrease reflections. If you consider the placement of the mikes, particularly in older recordings, they “hear” more what the conductor might hear. In any event, much of this is academic and you are correct that we normally do not miss the subtle cues in listening."

 

[Yuen A.]

Hi guys,

Allow me to share my discovery: I have just replaced my Ansuz Diamond interconnects with the new Ansuz dtc supreme interconnects. The result is unbelievable! I dare say that most of us have not heard what the EMM Labs DV2 is capable of without it! Inserting the dtc supreme allows me to hear all the subtle details, the density, the richness of sound, the tangibility, the deep bass, all the dynamics in music.

I will be replacing my speaker cables with the new Ansuz dtc2 next week.

 

[Yuen A.]

Hello guys,

Just to share an observation: I often found recorded brass works (via digital) boring and mechanical. A case in point is this particular recording: Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass Live (CSO Resound SACD). The legendary brass section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, remarkable not only for its power, but for the refinement and subtlety of its playing, was rendered somewhat mechanical via digital. However, today, with the insertion of the Ansuz Acoustics dtc Supreme interconnects, I found this particular recording fascinating for the first time! Why? Because the brass sounded like the real thing. The dtc Supreme interconnects enabled my DV2 to reproduce the brass with power, refinement and subtlety!

 

[Yuen A.]

Hi folks

If you have this album, Rhapsody in Blue, Arthur Fiedler, Boston Pops Orchestra, Earl Wild, piano (Living Stereo SACD), give it a re- listen. I did it last night, and the experience was thrilling and intense, with all the excitement of being there! The dynamic range was hair-raising, and the bass drum sounded stupendous. The soundstage was huge and the reverberant acoustic of Symphony Hall was realistically captured. A feat made possible in large extent thanks to the extremely low self-noise of my sound system, including the latest addition, the Ansuz Acoustics d-tc Supreme interconnects.

 

[Yuen A.]

Hi guys,

When I made the decision to replace my Ansuz Acoustics D interconnects with the new d-tc supreme, I did not expect the replacement to wrought so great an improvement to my sound system. But I was wrong. To give an example: C.P.E. Bach, Symphonies 1-4, Cello Concerto in A, The English Concert, Andrew Manze, harmonia mundi SACD. As good as the SACD was, with its gleaming timbres and razor edge dynamics, the replacement brought sheer improvements in these areas and adds a striking bloom of warmth and a dimensional aspect of greater micro details. It also shows that the EMM Labs DV2 is up to the task.

 

[Yuen A.]

Hi guys,

I have just replaced my Ansuz Acoustics Speakz D speaker cables with the new Speakz d-tc2. Doing so transformed my sound system to an unrecognizable level. First impression: The soundstage was really huge, with plenty of spaces and air between instruments and vocals. Timbre (micro details) was off the charts. More to come.

 

[Yuen A.]

 

[Yuen A.]

Hi guys,

It seems that the Ansuz Acoustics Signalz D-TC Supreme interconnects and the
Ansuz D-TC2 Speakz speaker cables require a break-in period of just a few days.

Indeed, the amount of improvement was astounding, transforming a system from excellent to amazing!

Just one highlight, Mahler Symphony No. 1, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer, Channel Classics SACD:

The reverberation of the bass-heavy "thunder" (the tempestuous finale) was stunning and terrifying!

 

[Yuen A.]

Hi folks,

Every component in an extremely high end sound system (including the power and signal cables, resonance control footers and racks) matters. To prove my point, I shall give you an example: Jacintha, Autumn Leaves; Groove Note SACD. Prior to replacing my Ansuz Acoutics D signalz and speakz with the D-TC Supreme and D-TC2 Speakz, certain parts of the pizzicato (plucking the strings) on the double base, the taping or hitting of the drums/percussion instruments, sounded quite indistinct (And the Angels Sing, Something's Gotta Give). However, with the new cables, these particular problem areas were corrected. It now sounded distinct and real! And Jacintha's voice came (more) alive too, with more subtleties, space and air around her voice.

 

[Yuen A.]

Hi guys,

After about a month with the new Ansuz Acoustics D-TC Supreme Signalz and D-TC2 Speakz cables, I continue to be mesmerized by how truly superb the sound quality is here. It has forced me to re-evaluate what is possible from digital and the DV2 in particular.

Just last night, I was listening to Sa Chen's performance of Edward Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor (Pentatone SACD). The Pentatone sonics provide a big, full, dynamic, spacious, ambient presentation, just like the real thing. I had goosebumps while listening to it!

 

[Yuen A.]

Hi guys,

You may be interested in the following comments from Tom Lyle of Enjoy the Music.com (The Olympica Nova V Speakers review, November 2020):

"Shortly before the Sonus faber speakers arrived, so did a review sample of Nagra's tube-powered digital-to-analog converter (review forthcoming). That meant it freed up the EMM Labs DA2 converter that is my reference converter in my main system. The EMM converter outclassed the converter I normally use in this system, a Benchmark DAC3HGS. The Benchmark is a fine converter. The EMM Labs DA2 is a spectacular one.

Some might wonder why I spent so much space describing the associated equipment used in this review. The answer is simple. The Olympica Nova V speakers deserve the associated gear that is the best one can procure. As I will discuss, The Olympica Nova V's are very sensitive to even the slightest changes that I made that could affect the signal upstream. What it means is that any money spent upstream, including cables, is a good investment."

 

[jeromelang]

Which is the better sonic choice?

LUMIN U1=>USB=>DA2v2 vs NS1=>Optilink=>DA2v2

 

[Ian B]

Which is the better sonic choice?

LUMIN U1=>USB=>DA2v2 vs NS1=>Optilink=>DA2v2

I received my NS1 yesterday. Until now, I lived with the DA2v2 for several weeks alternating between USB and AES inputs. The Optilink is far and away better than either USB or AES. I think it is the only way to go with these EMM DACs. With the NS1 the soundstage is MUCH wider and bigger, there is way more detail, jet black background, and effortless dynamics that don't exist with the other inputs.

 

[gfroman]

Will be getting the NS1 shorty.
Is the power cord a factor in improving the audio of this unit?
I assume like any audio product, the power cord can improve on things.

PS - I have a 30ft CAT6 cable coming from my office computer to the NS1.
Is there a better way of supplying the data, ;ike a box and then a 1 meter premium CAT6 cable?

 

[Ian B]

Will be getting the NS1 shorty.
Is the power cord a factor in improving the audio of this unit?
I assume like any audio product, the power cord can improve on things.

PS - I have a 30ft CAT6 cable coming from my office computer to the NS1.
Is there a better way of supplying the data, ;ike a box and then a 1 meter premium CAT6 cable?

I didn't try the cheap power cord with mine, however, my sense is that because of the electrical isolation and the NS1 internal clocking, power and ethernet make less of an impact. The signal that gets to the DAC is uncontaminated.

I think where a power cord might make a difference is keeping noise from the NS1 from getting into the mains/other components. I'm using a Shunyata Alpha NR and Denali v2 which is working really well. I don't think the quality of CAT6 actually matters with this device because ethernet audio quality issues are from the electrical connection and clock phase noise, both of which are eliminated by the NS1. So far I haven't noticed a difference between the cheap ethernet cable from my Innuos and Shunyata Sigma ethernet cable.

 

[Yuen A.]

Will be getting the NS1 shorty.
Is the power cord a factor in improving the audio of this unit?
I assume like any audio product, the power cord can improve on things.

PS - I have a 30ft CAT6 cable coming from my office computer to the NS1.
Is there a better way of supplying the data, ;ike a box and then a 1 meter premium CAT6 cable?

gfroman,

I think it does matter. After I replaced the stock Kimber power cord with the Shunyata Sigma power cable to the EMM Labs TSDX transport, there were significant improvements.

 

[jeromelang]

I received my NS1 yesterday. Until now, I lived with the DA2v2 for several weeks alternating between USB and AES inputs. The Optilink is far and away better than either USB or AES. I think it is the only way to go with these EMM DACs. With the NS1 the soundstage is MUCH wider and bigger, there is way more detail, jet black background, and effortless dynamics that don't exist with the other inputs.

Thanks for your reply.

May I know what are the other streamer setups with USB and AES connection?

Do they do any MQA core unfolding?

 

[Ian B]

Thanks for your reply.

May I know what are the other streamer setups with USB and AES connection?

Do they do any MQA core unfolding?

My setup for USB was an Innuos Zenith MkIII->iFi iGalvanic 3.0->Innuos Phoenix with Shunyata Sigma USB. For AES I used the same chain but added a Matrix X-SPDIF2 and Uptone LPS 1.2 psu at the end with a Shunyata Alpha AES/EBU cable.

AES does not do MQA although the USB was the same as the NS1. But, I'm not really qualified to say how much gets unfolded as I don't have Tidal and only one Dead and Company concert in MQA (of not great recording quality). From both the Innuos USB output and the NS1 it just said 48khz on the DA2. I presume that means that either the recording is 48khz, or that it isn't doing the last unfold, but is sounded ok.

 

[jeromelang]

Never in my wildest dream have I imagined that it would sound this good....