New Emm Labs TSD-1/Dac-2 vs DCS Puccini

Both companies have a very different sound, to my ears the EMM Labs is more natural and smooth, sound just flows from it effortlessly, the DCS gear always seemed forced and is not to my taste. FWIW I own the TSD1/DAC2 and the combo is the best player I have ever heard.

On the other hand; I had Emmlabs cdsa and switched to dCS Puccini and the sound was more powerfull, organic and with bigger soundstage; after latest firmware update and adding u-clock the sound improved more IMHO.

I like emm Labs TSD1/DAC2 combo but the quality control is less than satisfactory, communication between the transport & DAC is always have problem.

Bryan,

I am curious what kind of problems you've had, mine works perfectly, except for when I accidentally put a DVD-A disc into the transport, which seems to play them fine but doesn't output any signal as it's not built for these.....

I've only done this twice, and unfortunately both times it has been right after coming home from vacation, so I assume something happened, rechecked all wiring, preamp, you name it only to realize it's a non supported format. Sometimes we do dumb things.....

Kenny,

The DAC2 can't lock the incoming signal from the TSD1 neither through Opti nor AES when playing SACD. After a firmware update, it can play SACD now but not CD! So it fixed one problem and create another.

Moreover, last night the DAC2 can't power up no matter how I tried. Confirmed the fuse is still intact though.

I totally lost the confident of this brand no matter how good it sounds when it is working:(

Bryan