Ric Schultz

Icepower has released a new high powered class D stereo amp using their new "ICE EDGE" technology. Suppose to be really great. Check this forum out for info and some comparisons now to other amps and many, many more comparisons coming soon: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=204.0

and the price is?

Nice comparison. Trouble is there are tons of DACs that you did not listen to that maybe better or as good than what you heard. Here are some other very latest ESS DACs: Resonessence Mirus Pro and Pro Signature (two 9028 DAC chips), Benchmark DAC3 (one 9028 DAC chip), Wryed for sound DAC 2v2SE (one 9038 DAC chip), Mytek Brooklyn ll (one 9028 chip), Mytek Manhattan ll (one 9038 chip), $799 Oppo Sonica (one 9038 chip), $1600 LKS MH-DA004 (two 9038 DAC chips), $1700 Musical Paradise MP-D2 MKll (one or two? 9038 chips). One 9038 DAC chip is essentially 4 9028s in parallel. So, as far as DAC performance would go the LKS DAC has the most ESS DAC channels per channel. Of course, one thing does give great sound. However, most people feel the stock LKS is better than the Yggy. Other DACs worth considering are the latest PS Audio DACs (direct stream and direct stream junior) , the somewhat more expensive Lampy DACs, The Holo Audio Spring DAC, The Denafrips DACs, Metrum Acoustics, modified Sonica and LKS DACs (by me), etc. etc. into infinity. Now if we could get all of these DACs together and A/B that would be fun. Never happen. So anyone's comparison like you did is really helpful. A friend was over the other day and while I was re-capping his turntable power supply he commented that he did not understand how all these DAC companies could stay in business since there are so many of them. Its no wonder Exa is discounting packages on their site.......probably not selling very many......no doubt, do to the prolification of DACs everywhere and little comparisons. I mean, how do you know the Exa is the real steal at $3200 when you have not heard any of these other DACs? I don't see one post comparing an Exa E32 DAC with any of the DACs I listed. Have you? Some of the listed DACs above might equal or surpass the Ayre as well. You cannot know anything unless you do serious listening comparisons to burned in units. This is why I am sending out a modded Oppo Sonica on tour (so people can A/B with other DACs in their own listening room). We just have to do the best we can and since most DACs these days are pretty darn good, not worry about the "other ones" out there. But it sure would be great if someone would compare a whole bunch of DACs. Most professional reviews are worthless because of this. The guy says...."best DAC I have ever heard".......and then you look at his reference and realized he has a five year old DAC that he uses for comparison. Almost all of the DACs I have mentioned (in their latest incarnation) are only about one year old!!!!! DACs are like computers......they have a short life before they are outdated. Enjoy the Ayre DAC! Have heard nothing but raves about it.

Stephan, What voltage and amperage LifePo4 battery do you use? Thanks

Guy, Did you get the Terminator? If so, how does it compare?.....I know it will need burn in....but curious.

You guys might want to read this......the Uptone thing is not as good as others and other combos and Uptone now have a seriously improved model as does IFI and then there is the usb to whatever converters like the Singxer that can also put out I2S that some DACs can handle. You might want to read this where two guys heard better sound using external power supplies with Exa.....some did not hear better sound. http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=icm8ojuu9fpe4n6k814jpbektdcpnkv5&topic=147336.0 I think that external power supplies that are "really great" will almost always help the sound over a wall wart and also doing "really great" isolation and reclocking, etc. of the usb signal should not be overlooked (can bring serious improvement from what I read all over the net.)

Every change by a manufacturer or by someone else is a mod (modification). So all new "models" are just mods of the past "model". This is obvious. No one mods expensive gear. I consider Exa expensive. Nothing over $2000 gets modded any more. It makes no sense. If you want value then you mod an inexpensive thing with great potential. If you mod an expensive thing then you will loose resale value. If you mod an inexpensive thing then it does not matter whether its resale value is low.....you have practically nothing in it...including the price of the mod. It all comes down to value. If a modded inexpensive thing sounds way better than a stock expensive thing then you have serious value. And with digital changing so fast, why would you want to spend big bucks when in six months someone else might come up with a DAC that is better "sounding" for one quarter the price? What is interesting is that you have tons of people who "mod" cars.....and who have never ever built one from scratch. However, at least you can measure the horsepower increase in a car. The problem with audio is that there is no way to measure the better performance of something except by listening. Lowering the distortion figure does not necessarily correlate to better sound. This is where the problem is....You have the objectivists who believe in numbers and hate the tweakers (who tend to say that everything you do affects the sound....no matter what the measurements). And you have the subjectivists who think that listening is key....or king. I personally think that good measurements are nice....but just a start.....you have to listen. Really what it comes down to is sound. The only way to know if a modded cheaper thing sounds as good or better than a stock more expensive thing is to get both in house and listen. If you do not do that then you know nothing!!!!! (I already told you I know nothing!!!). You are just talking........So. if anyone wants to bring an Exa e32 here to A/B with a modded cheaper thang then give me a call. You can determine (know) something with your ears.......at least for those that trust them.....However, some believe only in measurements....those people would not want to do a listening test (they already have there minds made up). Snake oil for everyone! Yum Yum....tastes so good!....sounds so good too!

All connectors suck. Why don't you hardwire the power supply directly to the pins on the board instead of having a connector on the unit and another cable? It WILL sound better hardwired. Connectors add noise and distortion.

The "game"......which is life, which is audio, which is who we are, is infinite........infinite possibilities....infinite Love, Infinite Joy......I wish you all of this.....for this is who we are. This is what we are all learning.....we are beautiful beyond imagination......praise God! Now back to the earth.....tweak that thing until perfection.....tweak your audio.....tweak your soul. Praise Everyone! There is no them.....just the face of God.....looking back at you.

Everyone has an "agenda"....including you. This game is infinite. Every single thing you do to a product changes the sound. There is no audio product of any kind that cannot be made better.....by the manufacturer or by someone else. Everything is mod...able. You just said you are working on an output stage to use with the 9038 above....so you are going to use the better DAC with a better output stage.....you are modding it. Mod means modify....or change. There will always be a new version of whatever by every manufacturer......and someone else can go inside anything and with the right knowledge can make it sound different and possibly better because this game is infinite and no one person or company has all the knowledge. The more I know, the more I know that I know nothing.....I am learning new things every single day.....really. I hope you are too.

jtwrace, You like to hassel me, that is for sure. You do it on every forum.....you don't like me? Sorry, but I love you. I have designed DACs of my own. My "Hand made DAC" in the mid 90s used the UltraAnalog DAC, UltraAnalog input receiver, HDCD filter, had 5 transformers, shunt regulators, single Vishay output resistor for the output stage, etc. etc. Some people think this thing is still killer. Around 2000 I made the Millennium DACs.....you can read many glowing reviews on Audioreview.com. It is much easier to mod an existing great sounding Chinese DAC than make your own from scratch. Exa, The people at LKS spent many a day making their own discrete output stage that could handle all the current from parallel 9038s.....that is one reason it sounds so great.

I stand by what I said.....you made it look like you were comparing apples to apples and then created a fictious distortion figure for a non distortion producing noise floor. You must be feeling the pressure of these Chinese DACs that might give better sonic performance for less money.

Noise floor with no signal has nothing to do with percents of distortion. There is no signal, so there cannot be any distortion. This is misleading. The other post of a DAC measurement (that you are using to compare) was a measurement of distortion of a given signal. If you want to do a comparison then you need to show the same test. There was no picture shown of the "noise floor" of the other DAC. Measurements are just a starting point. Most all DACs with ESS chips these days measure super. Yet, they all sound different....and the one that measures best is not always the one that sounds the best. Please, trust your ears. Speaking of measurements......I wonder how the new $1460 LKS MH-D004 DAC measures. It has two ESS9038 DACs in it. A single 9038 is essentially 4 9028s in parallel. A single 9028 run in stereo mod (like what Exasound is doing) will give you 4 parallel DACs. Dual 9038s run in mono mode will give you essentially 32 9028 DACs in parallel. The more DACs in parallel the lower the noise and the greater the dynamic range....this is a fact.

Well, if someone has finally figured out how to measure the sonic difference between small pieces of wire, all caps, all resistors, all jacks, all forms of damping, etc. etc. then that is great. Please show us a link to where "Tom" demonstrates this. I (and all other audiophiles around the world) would like to see how and what he does. REALLY. Or at least his email address (you can send it to me privately) as I would like to talk to him. What you say he has accomplished has never been done before. However, I really don't see how you could certify a measured difference of an audible difference.......even if you could measure a difference.....which one is transparent? Only the ear knows which one is transparent. Are his ears certified? he he.

Completely disagree......please show me the measurements on different resistors, solder, wire, etc. etc. and how it correlates to sound. Yes, some op amps measure different.....but it does not necessarily correlate to sound. Some great measuring op amps sound bad. Some worse measuring discrete circuits sound better. Please show us these measurements where you measured the differences between different wires. I use different wires all the time and they all sound different.....even one inch of them......please show us the measurements......you cannot....because they do not exist. All DACs using the same ESS DAC chip and the same output stage (the usual two stage op amp jobbie) will measure mostly the same (on all tests)......yet, they all sound different. Please show us the measurements that correlate to the best (most pure sounding....most real sounding) DAC.