egosbar Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 hi all , havent posted for some time , i have my adelaide speakers set up with emotiva amp and pre , sounds pretty good thats for sure , im wondering how much difference a emotiva dac will make now , should it be noticible , im running mp3 mainly 320 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 What is your current DAC or source mate? Are you running the audio straight out of the motherboard or sound card on your PC jukebox setup? I recently bought an Emotiva DAC for comparison against my current audio-gd DAC, and overall I'm very impressed with the Emotiva. It presents a wide sound stage with plenty of detail. Not as 'organic' as the audio-gd, but then again, the audio-gd isn't as detailed as the Emotiva. It depends what kind of sound you prefer. I've used it with some 320kbps material and it sounds great. I'm likely to be moving it on in a few weeks once my new audio-gd DAC arrives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egosbar Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 the sound is coming straight from the sound card , cant remember the exact card now but it was an ok one if i remember but that was a couple of years ago the set up is usp1 , xda 1 , upa2 wish they would ship with aussie power cords im sure it would have to be better with the xda1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Yep, I bet it would offer better performance for sure. It's a nice bit of gear. A suitable power cord can be sourced for $5-10 so it's not too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egosbar Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 yah i had to get them for the pre and amp just a pain , thinking ill definitely upgrade to the xpa2 in time , would my 150wrms adelaide speakers be suitable , the upa2 heats up quite a bit over time im definitely an emotiva fan now they are value + im pretty sure their subs work in australia now so the 10 or 12 will make a nice xmas present thanks to sna and all the members who helped me finally pick a really good set up , i know we talked a lot about it before i decided and appreciate allt he comments great forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 What is your current DAC or source mate? Are you running the audio straight out of the motherboard or sound card on your PC jukebox setup?I recently bought an Emotiva DAC for comparison against my current audio-gd DAC, and overall I'm very impressed with the Emotiva. It presents a wide sound stage with plenty of detail. Not as 'organic' as the audio-gd, but then again, the audio-gd isn't as detailed as the Emotiva. It depends what kind of sound you prefer. I've used it with some 320kbps material and it sounds great. I'm likely to be moving it on in a few weeks once my new audio-gd DAC arrives. Hi Pete-mac, have you had a chance to compared the Emotiva dac with a EE min max dac? If you have I like to kmow youre impressions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Hi Pete-mac, have you had a chance to compared the Emotiva dac with a EE min max dac? If you have I like to kmow youre impressions. Hi mate, Unfortunately I haven't. I don't have any friends who have that particular DAC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Hi mate,Unfortunately I haven't. I don't have any friends who have that particular DAC. Hopefully you can let us know what your observations are between the emotiva and the ref 5 when ya get it. The Emotiva is great value for $250US and you can do away without the preamp, as a matter of fact have you run it direct to the power amp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 No Ref 5 for me unfortunately... my budget only stretches as far as the DAC19 DSP which has two of the PCM1704UK chips vs the 4 in the Ref 5. I'm pretty certain that the Emotiva will prevail in terms of outright detail, but I've learnt that there's more to music reproduction than detail retrieval (which is why I tend to favour the audio-gd 'house' sound compared to other uber-detailed DACs out there). I'm looking forward to the comparison! I don't run a power amp so I simply left the Emotiva on max output and used the analogue volume control on my amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bus_Boy Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) I hope you don't mind me posting, the dac from what i have read has an inbuilt volume plus a remote, has anyone played around with the volume with the dac connected straight to a power amp? Where does the 2 ch pre amp fall into place with a dac with this feature, would you still want one, or would it sound just as good without using a pre? I'm thinking of giving my processor the flick in favour of one of these, as i'm only using it to decode 2 ch, also my power amps have balanced inputs. Edited January 11, 2012 by Bus_Boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egosbar Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 pretty much wanting to know the same thing , i have the pre and the dac , can i use both or just the dac , which would sound better , where would my voulumes be set etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bus_Boy Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) \ Maybe also if your running a subwoofer, i don't think the dac has an output for a sub, but the pre amp sums the signal for you and provides a sub out (2 of them i think in fact) Edited January 11, 2012 by Bus_Boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcarp Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 I hope you don't mind me posting, the dac from what i have read has an inbuilt volume plus a remote, has anyone played around with the volume with the dac connected straight to a power amp? Where does the 2 ch pre amp fall into place with a dac with this feature, would you still want one, or would it sound just as good without using a pre?I'm thinking of giving my processor the flick in favour of one of these, as i'm only using it to decode 2 ch, also my power amps have balanced inputs. I'm using the Emotiva DAC connected directly to an integrated amp with volume on the DAC set to the maximum. I use the volume control on the amp. Sounds great especially with an Audiophilleo 2 in the chain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bus_Boy Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) I'm using the Emotiva DAC connected directly to an integrated amp with volume on the DAC set to the maximum. I use the volume control on the amp. Sounds great especially with an Audiophilleo 2 in the chain. I didn't mean with an integrated amp, but with separate power amps (in my case Behringer EP's) which require adjusting the volume individually on each channel unless i have a pre amp in place (which i currently do) There's a lot of info on the net about this dac, i'm still making my way though what i can of it all. I'm finding some mixed feedback about the volume control when connected directly to a power amp, some people it's bothered, others it hasn't. I'm also trying to figure out if the dac was replaced by a later version, due to some run out prices a while back would hint at a replacement model. But back on topic for the OP's question, i'd imagine it would offer a major improvement over a computers onboard sound card. Seeing as you allready have the pre amp, i'd try out both combinations. If the dac's volume control serves without any issues, you could probably sell the pre amp on at a reasonable price (not to mention a quick sale!) and recoup your costs, then buy more music !! Edited January 11, 2012 by Bus_Boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egosbar Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 or a emotiva sub woofer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egosbar Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 so do you use them separately or can you use them together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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