New EMM Labs DAC 2 or Accustic Arts Ref Tube DAC

Both are too new in the market for any to have tried yet. But based on the old versions of EMM compared to AA, I would recomment the latter. Firstly, the chassis of the AA is a solid piece of aluminium artwork compared to EMM industrial cheaper look, so you know which one looks more grand and appealing at that range of pricing ;-)
Soundwise, you would have read by Teajay's detailed review on how AA Tube DAC2 eats up other brands of DAC many times its price. Furthermore the performance of AA Tube DAC2 can be further improved by upgrading the manufacturer provided stock tubes with much better NOS tubes like Mullard, Amperex etc. You cannot improve the performance of an Emm DAC once you get it... unless you modd it.

Thanks, feedback is a bit light this weekend. I'm leaning towards the Accustic Arts Tube DAC-II..

The EMM is one of the very best you can get. With the EMM transport the DAC2 is the very best.

Hi Hotbird, I've read at the Accustic Arts website that the tubes in the Tube DAC are not located in the analog section of the DAC. So how can replacing the standard tubes with Mullards gives a different sound?

Chris

The idea of tube rolling a DAC sounds crazy to me. At those prices, couldn't designer get it right?

Dave