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EMM Labs CDSD / DCC2 - Initial Listening Session

With only 48 hours of burn-in on these pieces, this review is hardly definitive- but here goes...

I think old Ed (Meitner) has hit the cover off the ball with this, his latest offering in CD/SACD playback equipment. The following comments are based on comparisons to my previous front-end: Meitnerized Philips SACD 1000, Meitner DAC6, Meitner Switchman II and apply to both SACD & CD playback.

The CDSD & DCC2 - compared to the previous Meitner rig---

-Much deeper soundstage, much more layered, as well, width about the same.
-Hall ambiance retrieval is vastly superior.
-Tonal and timbral qualities are unsurpassed in any digital gear I've experienced. Piano reproduction is absolutely stunningly good!! Acoustic guitar has the string interaction/wooden resonance of the real thing.
-There is a "Bloom" to instuments, even voice, that seems typically absent in digital playback. This quality is very "Analog" like.
-So far, I sense not even a suggestion of stridency or digital fatigue- It is just not there. This new gear is just plain musical. That word is overused- but there is no other word to better describe the overall experience. There is a natural seamlessness and natural bloom to the music, as a whole, which reminds me of a live performance within a live venue. All of the elements of that live experience seem reproduced faithfully by the CDSD & DCC2. This is no small feat. In quantitative terms I'd say the new gear is 25%-35% better, in every listening category (it is about the same in soudstage width), than the earlier 3 piece set-up I had.

As the new gear continues to burn-in there will certainly be changes and refinements, probably for the better, which I will try to keep track of. But so far- Ooh, La, La!!!

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT:
Kharma Midi Grand
Tenor 300 HP
Jena Labs Pathfinder
Shunyata Anaconda VX & VX Alpha
fbhifi
hifinut
6 posts
 
Hi
I just got my DCC2 about 9 days ago. The remote was not functioning well and I was told that I will have to replace the microchip in the sensor. I have yet to pass the judgement as I compare it to my Audio Aero Capitole II. The soundstage sounds constricted, the mids are very dry. It sounds thin almost too perfectly sterile. I console myself that about 20 hours is still within breaking period. I certainly do not have the glowing experience of the other owners. I am running Meitner transport via Harmonic Tech digilink Platinum into EMM. EMM is connected via Jena Labs Symphony to Edge NL10 amp and via Kimbers bifocal XL to Kharma Midigrands. Any thoughts?
tireguy
1,964 posts
 
Hifinut- Try using the supplied digital cables(they should have come with the transport) and see what you think. Out of the box my DCC2/meitner transport combo outperformed my audio aero capitole mkII, the improvements were painfully obvious after the first song I listened to. In fact it was more like the first note I heard, there was a level of resolution and detail that I have never heard with digital. My soundstage has become HUGE, larger then with any other source I've used- and while I wouldn't call the mids lush they are, from all of my experience, not dry either more like accurate to the original recording.

Good luck getting everything straightened out, your in for a treat when you figure out what ever is causing the problem!
tvad
9,467 posts
 
How does one audition the EMM Labs gear in Los Angeles?
brucegel
148 posts
 
Here we go again with the ego inflated overpriced gear.By the way how many people say that something sounds "more like the original recording" and was actually at the venue while it was being recorded and who can remember anything going back in time more than a few minutes anyway.If something you purchased is satisfying just say it without hyperbole.No one learns anything when the words like giant soundstage or sounds more lifelike get tossed around.Good night.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
I disagree with Brucegel. Given the overall message in this thread, I think buyers are very happy with what they are hearing with this combo and more importantly for me, they find it better than the DAC6/Phillips 1000 combo which I have heard.

Greater realism is the name of the game, including a realistic soundstage, great dynamics, and involving music. As might be noted from another thread, words like dark may fail us as we are discribing what we hear, but until we can post sounds, it is all we have.

What is "ego inflated, overpriced gear?" What Brucegel cannot or will not afford?
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