Emm labs DA2 v2 upgrade

[Yuen A.]

Hi guys,

Another great Test CD: Copland Orchestral Works 1 - Ballets, BBC Philharmonic, John Wilson, Chandos SACD.

I was transported to the recording venue - a very realistic ambient bloom to the sound! No congestion at all , even at fortissimo level. Instrument timbre was so right. The brass was brassy - only possible (to me) via the Ansuz Acoustic d-tc supreme signal cables. The recording revealed excellent transient performance!

 

[teeraash]

I can't comment with experience on the Taiko, but dollar for dollar it's much more expensive to get a pristine USB signal vs the already perfect isolation you get from the Optilink cable. The other issue is mains noise from the server itself, which I'm sure favors the Taiko over a Nucleus or PC, but if you have good isolation on the power end it shouldn't be a big deal.

Thanks Ian. I've a PC running on Audiolinux OS with HDplex 500w ATX LPS as Roonserver and NS1 as Roon endpoint. Taiko Extreme plus good USB cable probably cost 35k USD. I agree that is too much for marginal SQ improvement unless a dealer can demonstrate otherwise with my system.

 

[Tontoverde]

Hi, I would like to thanks all the forum participants here. I've followed this thread for awhile as I am interested in DA2 and had it auditioned at my home. It sounded good but I were not that impressed probably because many components in my system are not up to it. I returned the dac 4 days ago and I've upgraded upstream components. I borrow JL Audio CR1 and it helps to integrate my Fanthom 112 with the main speakers, Sonus Faber Il Cremonese ex3reme. My listening room is quite problematic with strong peaks (80hz) and valleys and the CR1 is very beneficial tool to mitigate this problem. I also tried Ansuz D2 interconnect to see what Andy were talking about but I've to admit that my system had never sounded this good! The dealer will replace it with D-TC supreme about 2 weeks from now. The dealer also brought used Ansuz Mainz8 DTC with DTC power cable which was replaced last year by D-TC 2. He will give me good price on these used items. I'm not sure about Ansuz power distributor and cable and will try Shunyata Everest 8000 and Omega XC power cable to see which work best in my system.

Truth be told, now I've have less appetite for the DA2 or DV2 as the upgrades above make my Holo Audio Spring R2R dac sound so good.

Hope that I explained things clear enough as English is not my mother tongue language.

I’m curious on how you like the Il Cremonese Ex3reme’s? I have the Il Cremonese and I was wondering if you compared the two. How did their sound differ? Anything else you would like to share about the Ex3reme’s?

 

[marty]

Hi,

I can't help it but to share with you guys what I have just heard (via my sound system): Mahler Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection), Ivan Fisher, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Channel Classic SACD.

Wow, what a staggering and vivid performance! The orchestra slams during fortissimo passages was frightening, many thanks to the 2000 watts amplifier inside my Magico Q Sub-15. The sheer power of the orchestra was very realistically reproduced, effortlessly and without any hint of compression or distortion. Besides, the ambient resonance of the recording venue can be clearly heard and felt. The Channel Classics capturing of the Palace of Arts acoustic was spot on - glowing and spacious. The instrumental timbre was so right. The symphony opening was explosive!

Try Fisher's M3 on Channel. Another masterpiece conducted by a legitimate first rank Mahlerite on another spectacular Channel recording.

 

[teeraash]

I’m curious on how you like the Il Cremonese Ex3reme’s? I have the Il Cremonese and I was wondering if you compared the two. How did their sound differ? Anything else you would like to share about the Ex3reme’s?

Never heard your edition but I'm sure that some will think yours sound better and some will like mine. The Ext3me are very good speakers but with 2 JL F112 subwoofers and CR1 active XO, I can spend the rest of my days with them.

 

[Yuen A.]

Try Fisher's M3 on Channel. Another masterpiece conducted by a legitimate first rank Mahlerite on another spectacular Channel recording.

Listen also to Ivan Fischer's thrilling Mahler Symphony No. 1 (Channel Classics SACD). The best Mahler's no. 1 (to me), both the performance and recording. Huge and deep soundstage. Purity of timbre. Explosive finale, phenomenal playing, plenty of clean, deep bass, open, sweet, transparent sound.

 

[Yuen A.]

Hi guys,

I just wanted to give you all a heads up! Fred Crowder said to me (just) regarding the Aural Symphonics Optimism Lotus ST Optical: "Simply stunning, rave review to follow shortly."

 

[jeromelang]

Received this yesterday at the office.
Couldn't installed it when I got home that night.
The lighting in my room had failed.
It's too dark to install the optilink cable safely.
Had to wait till this afternoon after I came back from physiotherapy.
First, I had to shut down power to the whole system to minimise any static interference in case during the changing of the optilink cables I might physically touch other cables. I then let the system sleep for a couple of hours.
(Normally I would let the system rest for up to 48 hours to completely dissipate all residue charges from all the interconnect and power cables, but I was just too eager to hear how this new cable sound, so I got on to it with just 2 hours' hiatus)

when it came down to it, I brought in a portable lamp from another room, and parted the curtains to get more light in.

 

[jeromelang]

I'm just so angry right now.

Why the fc*k did Meitner made a 50k digital system and supplied their customers only with a cheap, trashy orange colour rubber band to carry out the all that important role of data/clock transportion???!?

And on top of all that, this thingy needs its head all gel up with lubricants to make it all pleasurable.

This is such bullsh1t, and just so infuriating!

 

[Yuen A.]

I'm just so angry right now.

Why the fc*k did Meitner made a 50k digital system and supplied their customers only with a cheap, trashy orange colour rubber band to carry out the all that important role of data/clock transportion???!?

And on top of all that, this thingy needs its head all gel up with lubricants to make it all pleasurable.

This is such bullsh1t, and just so infuriating!

Hi Jerome,

(1) The stock optical cable provided by EMM Labs is not "trashy" as you put it. Have you forgotten what you have written previously about the TX2 and the DA2 V2 combination? I shall quote you : "Frankly, I'm enjoying the TX2 and DA2 combination so much I very reluctant to unplug the tpt to switch to the streamer unless it is really worth it."

(2) The Aural Symphonics Optimism Lotus ST Optical is so much better sounding than the stock cable (and it should be, in view of the price differences), but that doesn't mean that the stock cable is trashy!

(3) The inclusion of an expensive optical cable would pushed up the cost of the product even higher. In fact I would say that the EMM Labs DV2 and the DA2 V2 prices are a steal when compared to other expensive DACs such as the MSB Select 2!

 

[Ian B]

I'm just so angry right now.

Why the fc*k did Meitner made a 50k digital system and supplied their customers only with a cheap, trashy orange colour rubber band to carry out the all that important role of data/clock transportion???!?

And on top of all that, this thingy needs its head all gel up with lubricants to make it all pleasurable.

This is such bullsh1t, and just so infuriating!

The Aural Symphonics cable is definitely better than the stock, but I am reminded that it also cost more than half what the actual NS1 did. I'm not sure how many options there are for these cables and the Optimism cable was probably way over budget for EMM to include with a single device. I am pretty happy with the optilink cable format compared with the sonics of AES, USB, ethernet etc.

If you are having to move the cable around with different sources and apply the fluid each time I can understand why that would be a pain.

 

[teeraash]

What is the shortest burn-in time of DV2/DA2? The dealer brought me my black DV2 and took back a borrowed DA2 V2 yesterday. The sound of new DV2 was so terrible, very thin, dry with no sound stage. But after 24 hrs., it's improved quite a lot. Probably because I used Nordost system burn-in track?

 

[Yuen A.]

What is the shortest burn-in time of DV2/DA2? The dealer brought me my black DV2 and took back a borrowed DA2 V2 yesterday. The sound of new DV2 was so terrible, very thin, dry with no sound stage. But after 24 hrs., it's improved quite a lot. Probably because I used Nordost system burn-in track?

Hi Teeraash,

It takes some 500 - 600 hrs to burn-in the DV2. Don't worry, after the burn-in, it will sound great!

 

[Audire]

My dealer has my EMM DAC and PRE. If the new racks arrive today and if I can assemble them today- Friday then they will go in next week. So will the N30SA. This will make some dramatic changes to the sound - after break in of course.

Unfortunately, my EMM Transport and TT and new Magicos won’t go in until early Dec. (hopefully by the 10th).

 

[scot]

Hi everyone

Why is it that most manufacturers ship products that require extensive burn in hours? Would it kill them to put a few hundred hours on these products? Is it the cost of the electricity around the country/world? If a product sounds “terrible” when first hooked up, don’t you think that customer deserves a fully broken in product considering the cost of some of these products, not to mention someone at the factory listening to the product that’s been fully broken in to make sure the product sounds right. I never understood why they can’t break them in at the factory before boxing it up. Am I alone in this? Take care.

Best regards
Scot

 

[Ian B]

Hi everyone

Why is it that most manufacturers ship products that require extensive burn in hours? Would it kill them to put a few hundred hours on these products? Is it the cost of the electricity around the country/world? If a product sounds “terrible” when first hooked up, don’t you think that customer deserves a fully broken in product considering the cost of some of these products, not to mention someone at the factory listening to the product that’s been fully broken in to make sure the product sounds right. I never understood why they can’t break them in at the factory before boxing it up. Am I alone in this? Take care.

Best regards
Scot

Time is money. We are talking about typically a whole week of burn in. I do think most of unpleasantness with the DV2 is gone by 150-200 hours but it keeps improving until 500-600 hours.

 

[teeraash]

..... I do think most of unpleasantness with the DV2 is gone by 150-200 hours but it keeps improving until 500-600 hours.

Nice to hear that.

 

[jeromelang]

Way back in the mid 90s, on a Monday, I bought home this CD player, brand new, and at a good discount, but for the next few days I had a hard time justifying the expenses in acquiring it. It just sounded terrible!!!

By the fourth day I thought I would play those same CDs on another player so as to get some sense of perspective, and as the only other player I had at that time was a portable discman, that was what I played and compared against. And I was shocked that the full deck size player didn't even come close to the same sound standard as the portable discman. The next morning, back at the office I told my boss at that time (who had been involved somewhat in the player's development) about this and he rolled his eyes, and probably thinking I'm an idiot.

So there I was over that subsequent weekend contemplating what I was going to do with an expensive lemon. I remember I had my guest over from overseas sitting next me as we sat listening to it on the Sunday morning. Interestingly, the break-in occurred during that listening session. In that 30 sec period, the player suddenly went phasey and muddy, and as sudden as it occurred, the haze lifted, and imaging gelled, and everything sounded right from that moment on. We both turned and looked at each other, and without a word, we both knew each of us had experienced the same thing.

I had never experienced another break in quite like this since.

All subsequent players that I've had since then, the SCD-XA777ES, SCD-XA9000ES, SCD-1, XDS-1, TSDX/DAC2X, all of them they all took their own sweet time, over at least 4 months to gradually ease out that last bit of upper octave peakiness and come good. But never like this. Not this weird, freaking phasey type of break in.

 

[Yuen A.]

Hi guys,

After almost one year of waiting, my order of the latest generation of the Ansuz Acoustics D-TC PowerBox arrived. My Ansuz Acoustics Speakz D-TC2 and my Signalz D-TC Supreme must be powered by a PowerBox for best performance.

These cables plus the PowerBox have the ability to let you hear micro details which you have not previously heard. I was listening to Carol Kidd and Nigel Clark (acoustic guitar), Tell me once again (Linn Records SACD) just now and I was stunned by the micro details/dynamics, timbre and texture of the voice and guitar. Even more amazing is that the EMM Labs DV2 is able to resolved all these micro details!

 

[Yuen A.]

Hi guys,

I am giving this recording (Copland Motets, Durufle Gregorian Motets, Tavener Song for Athene, etc, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus, Norman Mackenzie, Telarc SACD) a relisten now and wow! With the addition of the Ansuz Acoustic D-TC powerbox, the
ambient music creates something like a cloud of sound, so soothing, sad, haunting, and at the same time so beautiful. It really sounds like I am now at the Concert hall listening to these works!