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Emm Labs DAC6e-is it that good?

Looking to upgrade my system by adding a DAC. The question is will I be just spending $s without benefit? My current system consits of Bryston 7B-SST amps, B&W 802Ds, Arcam 27A dvd/cd player, Mcintosh MS300 server and Mcintosh MX135 pre/pro. While I do watch a lot of movies, I do a lot more two channel music. I have read many threads and reviews about the Emm Labs DAC6e but I wanted to know if any of you good folks could give me your thoughts before I make a major purchase of the Emm Labs DAC6e.
edkoz
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kgturner's avatar
kgturner
663 posts
 
tvad:

the emm dac6e has what appears to be 3 aes/ebu inputs for pcm which can be connected to any transport with appropriate cabling or adapters. granted, with the emm transport you won't get the full benefit of passing dsd, but it's a good starting point for those whose pocketbooks can't afford the emm labs combo all at once.
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lazarus28
339 posts
 
The DAC6 can be used with any source that can output via AES/EBU. It's magic is in the 3 optical cords it uses for clock and data for use with the CDSD. When used with the CDSD, the CDSD is slaved to the ultra high-quality clock of the DAC6 and all data from the disc is recovered using some algorithm that goes WAAAAY over my head to eliminate jitter, CD is converted to 2 times DSD, then is passed back to the DAC6 after having been separated into clock and data.

When used with a different source, the PCM is still converted to DSD in the DAC6, but it is relying on the clock of the transport, and all is being passed on one cable. There are at least a few people who say this sounds better. I disagree.
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