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JP181352

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  1. Hi Eloise No offence at all ... Glad you gave me the opportunity to put in some detail. I had read a lot in this forum and others about DACs and I knew I wanted to move from physical media (lots of horrible jewel cases sliding around & crashing to the floor whenever you try to handle more than a couple at once). Clearly didn't try a load of different DACs and I took something of a punt on the XDA-1 but the UK importer itemaudio were very good and I was sufficiently tempted by what I'd read to order an XDA-1. Honestly I am VERY happy with it. I am sure that other forum members could point to their choice(s) of DAC and make a strong case but I had simple goals that I managed to achieve - (i) try not to lose SQ by moving away from using a hi-end CD player, (ii) keep the cost under a grand, and (iii) be happy storing all my CDs in the loft, and relying on PC based music software. In the event, I have better SQ (yes, subjective but my wife (who is not easily convinced) is also seriously impressed) and I feel I got the resulting set up at a very attractive price. Cheers!
  2. Hi Eloise Good questions. My comparison is with the sound quality from (i) my Ayre CX-7 CD player (utilising its internal DAC)... and (ii) from an initial foray into this territory, an Arcam rDAC. Admittedly the rDAC is not top end hi fi but it DOES have a similar price tag to the XDA-1. IMHO the XDA-1 is streets ahead of the rDAC. The Ayre CX-7 is a £2,700+ CD player so not a trivial piece of kit and (again) in my opinion the XDA-1 clearly outperforms the CX-7 DAC in terms of sound quality, resolution, detail, realism, soundstaging... ... so, not a comprehensive analysis I will admit but for me the modest price for the XDA-1 together with its performance makes it hi quality and something of a bargain, and, yes I would not have been disappointed if I'd paid twice what I did... Best wishes!
  3. I received the Emotiva XDA-1 last week, installed it, connected it (via Halide Bridge) to my laptop, switched on and….WOW! This is a seriously good DAC, even just out of the box the sound is excellent, soundstaging is terrific, instrument separation is soooo good and you can pick out everything that's going on and follow the music so well. And it's great value - an amazing bargain! The build quality is exceptional. I'm thrilled with it. For me, this would be a recommended product at twice the price. As far as install goes...No install issues at all. Connected the XDA-1 DAC via Halide Bridge USB-S/PDIF.. Windows (W7 64bit) detected the Bridge device, loaded the appropriate driver. I selected the Bridge as default audio device and fired up AudioMonkey. Kit is Sony Vaio S12 laptop (Win 7 64bit), AudioMonkey playing CDs ripped to uncompressed FLAC. Chain is laptop - Halide Bridge - XDA-1 - Gamut DI 150 amp (via balanced XLR cables (Kimber)) into Thiel floorstanders. After 5 days continuous running in, the XDA-1 is astounding… its ability to resolve detail & let you follow the music & get more involved is brilliant! Very musical, revealing lots of detail. This DAC is a steal!
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