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Review: Emotiva XDA-1 DA converter

Category: Digital

I haven't really owned or listened to many low priced DACs. I have to say that this Emotiva is pretty amazing.

I have owned other Emotiva gear, mainly the XPA amps and the ERC-1 Cd player. While I thought those products offered great build quality and warranty for the price, I wasn't impressed enough to keep them for long. Nothing in the sound offended, but the bass wasn't as good as I wanted or expected given the size/weight of the amps, the highs had no real sparkle and mids sounded a little sharp to me.....maybe because the highs were a bit recessed. The cd player had nice extension at the frequency extremes, but just didn't sound cohesive to me.

But the XDA-1 is a different animal altogether. This review concentrates on using the XDA-1 as a DAC/pre.

It is detailed yet natural..not etched. It has very nice imaging. Bass is deep, mids have no etch and the highs produce shimmer or nuance when called upon to do so.

Compared to the best I have owned (recently the Bel Canto DAC3vb with VBS-1 PS and the Benchmark DAC1pre) the XDA-1 performs very well. Compared to the Bel Canto, it loses only in soundstage size...mainly depth and definition at the rear corners of the soundstage. It is similar in the ease at which it produces nuance/detail.

Compared to the Benchmark, there is just zero emphasis in the upper mids. In my system, the Benchmark was just a little too hot.

I listen mostly to jazz both modern and classic.......Bill Bruford, Pat Metheny, Stan Kenton, Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride. I also listen to classic rock with an emphasis on progressive rock.....Floyd, Yes, Moody Blues. And I also listen to classical. Mephisto is one of my standard test discs.

Weaknesses.......some systems and listeners may find this unit too warm sounding. It wasn't at first. The sound I am describing only appeared after the unit had been turned on for 3 days. At first, it was bass shy, peaky in the mids/highs, and disorganized sounding.

Highly recommended!

Associated gear
Sunfire Cinema Grand 5-ch amp
Lexicon RT-10 Transport
Emerald Physics CS2 speakers
PS Audio Power Plant Premier
PS Audio AC-12 Power Cords
Audio Metallurgy GA-0 XLR interconnects
Simply Physics speaker cables

Similar products
Bel Canto DAC3vb +VBS1
Benchmark DAC1 pre
tkmetz
realremo
455 posts
 
The XDA-1 will only accept 48KHz/24 bit over USB. If you want to feed it high res files, like 96KHz/24 bit, which is a pretty common format on HD Tracks, you need to have a USB to S/PDIF converter in front of the XDA-1, then feed with a digital coax cable.
Another affordable option for 96KHz/24bit files might be the musical fidelity V-DAC MkII, $350 new, USB input accepts a much wider range of bit rates and sampling rates. I'm trying to decide between these two units myself.
gkrr1
1 posts
 
I've had the XDA-1 DAC for about a year. My impressions closely mirror those of Tkmetz. It is a warm sounding unit with good detail. I run it into a Musical Fidelity integrated amd Legacy speakers.
I have found that cable quality makes a big difference in the sound of digital; the XDA-1 is no exception! You will need a good power cable to eke out the best sound; the included IEC connector is virtually worthless. Also. I use an Audioquest solid silver digital IC from my CD player. The cables probably cost more than the XDA-1! Also, I found it sounds much better with the cover removed.
All in all, a good buy for the money!
lads's avatar
lads
7 posts
 
I too just purchased this unit at the discounted pricing of $199 including shipping. For this price it is hard to find any faults. Previous to this unit I had a Bel Canto Dac 1.5 using that as a dac/pre as well. The Bel Canto is by far a superior sounding unit. Bass is not nearly as tight and defined and the sound stage shrunk quite a bit with the Emotiva. However, at $199 the Emotiva does offer an amazing value. You certainly won't find a better sounding unit with this build quality at this price...PERIOD. I will most likely move on from this unit once my little financial situation improves. Until then I am going to have some fun putting this little gem through it's paces!
gumbydammit
186 posts
 
While most people who change gear like underwear would not consider an old budget unit like this in their system, I felt that all these years later, I would give a tidbit of feedback on the DAC for those on a budget.
I run a set of slightly modded 565 Adcom monoblocks with custom interconnects direct from this Emotiva XDA-1 into the amps. They drive a set of SEQUERRA MET7/"STICKS" and the MET 10 subs.
I find zero difference in the pre-DAC connections. If you have a good connection, they all sound the same to me. Between the DAC and the amps is an entirely different animal. My ancient "LSD" cables from 1988 are so bright, they are unlistenable. My home made old Mogami mic cables turned interconnect with the gold plated Japanese ’something or other 75 dollar’ RCA interconnects with the twist clamps seem to work best.
I leave the XDA-1 on 24/7.
Upgrading the power cable, much to my surprise, DID make a difference.
After borrowing a $350-ish example of a super cable ’blessed by Tibetan dog-monks who only eat grapes on full moon nights and wash with coconut soap drained from Christs tomb,’ I found a very thick, high end hospital grade plug with just-as-thick wiring attached. It was in an auction lot from NASA, used on some very high end measurement gear. Not sure what, but someone spent a lot on the cord for sure. It gave me 98% of the super esoteric example...and I do not feel the need to be "shun-mook-sarcastic" about it.
If you are looking at this thread, do yourself a favor.
Block out the guys who buy 7 DACS a year, North of 1500 dollars.
Good.
Now, Block out the guys who say, "the thing was totally blown away by XXXX DAC and I would not use it as a wheel stop on my project Camaro in the garage after hearing xxxxxx DAC."
For the $100 price tag they are still selling for, it is still difficult to beat the sound and options on a XDA-1.
Listen to one.
The XDA-1 is easy to live with and built like a tank.


gareneau
88 posts
 
"The thing about it for me, is the ability to change with the times. In all of the reviews, I did not see one person notice how truly easy it is to modify that unit to upgrade the core of the conversion process. It is, for all purposes, a few modules combined in one box. Between myself and a couple of friends, we intend to play with them a bit as time goes on. "

Gumby, did you ever modify this unit?
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