AMR / EMM / PLAYBACK Designs

I am looking to replace my Berkeley DAC with something that will also handle SACD. So far I had a well broken in XDS1 in my system for a little over a week and I was a bit disappointed. Hopefully in the next week or two, I should have PD MPS-5 to try. XDS1 looks much better than the pictures in most magazine. However, I find it to be an unfinished product as it still has some bugs that has not been taken care of yet, although I understand that EMM knows about the problem and still tries to fix it.
I forgot exactly what it was now but I remembered getting some distortion sound coming out of the unit either when sampling rate was changed from 44.1 to 88 or when switched source from digital input (from my music server) to SACD player or something like that. The only way to get rid of the distortion was to turn off and on again. For product this price, I expected everything to be functioning perfectly. Also AES/EBU digital input supporting on 24/96 is a bit lame and EMM is delaying its upgrade to support 24/192 for awhile now. Anyhow, beside that sonically, it was a mixed bag for me. In my system, Berkeley has fuller, richer and warmer midrange. EMM has greater extension at both ends, better speed but for my taste, sounded too lean. I use all Synergistic cables (Tesla Apex) in my system with T3 power cords for Berkeley and EMM. I also tried Nordost Valhalla IC for a littel while with EMM.
I think XDS1 did many things better than Berkeley but in the end, I find Berkeley easier to listen to for extended period, more musical although may be less neutral or accurate than EMM but happen to be the way I prefer to listen to music. Let see if PD MPS-5 will suit me better.
It was strange listening to SACD on EMM though. I found the difference between SACD and CD layer was less than when I heard the same disk with Esoteric D-05 that I used to have.

Suteetat, EMM lost me when they made everyone buy that Philips SACD 1000 transport. Whenever someone describes a problem, I always think back to the beginning.

Let me again stress that the sound of the unit is much impacted by the choice of power cord. I have tried a number of cords with which I have had success in the past, including the Stage III Zyklops. With most of these cords, the mids were a bit lean for my tastes and the bass was not right. Some of this is undoubtedly breakin related. The cord with which the unit seemed to lock/sound right to my ears was the Jorma Prime with Prime balanced interconnect. I have friends that have also had excellent luck with the Odin power cord and interconnects. It is too early to say whether the unit is ruthlessly honest or a bit lean, but it has great potential.

I have not heard the EMM gear, but I do seem to read about a number of issues with the gear (now including their $25K flagship) is this the case? Or are these isolated idiosyncrasies which are quickly rooted out and nulled?

I cannot speak to use of the EMM Labs XDS1 as anything other than a player, but in that mode EMM Labs has been extremely successful in addressing earlier criticisms. The transport mechanism which is sourced from Esoteric works flawlessly and the time required to access tracks is similar to other top brands. The build quality is excellent, certainly much improved over past efforts. The unit appears to be very well thought out and very nicely implemented. The manufacturer is also quite helpful. I also like the fact that many functions are software based and any upgrades can be easily accomplished by reprogramming and do not require hardware changes.