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Emotiva ERC-3 or Music Hall C-DAC15.3 / connections?

Hi,
first time post. Not an 'audiophile' per say, just a guy who appreciates good sound.

I'm looking at buying a new CD player and the Emotiva ERC-3 is on my short list. I've read good reviews and the 5 year warranty is a big plus.
I'll be hooking it up to an Anthem MRX 710 AVR. The Anthem doesn't have balanced inputs and from what I've read the ERC-3 sounds best using balanced connections.  So, would there be any advantage in using an XLR to RCA cable? Or am I going to get the same sound using RCA-RCA?

The Music Hall C-DAC15.3 player is also under consideration.  My speakers are Paradigm Studio 100's v2 
With the Anthem , which would be a better bet, the Emotiva or Music Hall?

Thanks!
kfoxian
213runnin
914 posts
 
My apologies kfox, I should have noted that in your budget, and probably any cd player under $1000, op amps would be pretty common.  I will say that the Music Hall unit looks pretty sparse under the hood, while an Emotiva has much more circuitry, as does the mid level Nad C546BEE.

With your Anthem MRX 710, you'll have the option to let the Anthem do the digital to analog conversion.  I heard one of the lesser Anthems driving a pair of Totem Dreamcatchers in two channel mode.  It was quite impressive to say the least.  I expect that Anthem's room correction is very good, and you'll be quite pleased with the result.
kfoxian OP
6 posts
 
@213runnin
I thought the same thing, that the Music Hall internals look sparse, but then found out there’s a large circuit board, reportedly the CD drive controller board, hidden under the drive itself.
see here: http://audio.com.pl/images/0/8/5/29085-max_music_hall_c_dac15-3_a15-3_2.jpg
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Yeah, the Music Hall is VERY sparse internally. In addition, they have two completely separate DAC chips, I/V stages and clock sections. They are probably thinking that the Burr Brown sounds better for 16 bit CD source and the Wolfson does better for hi-res and everything else. It’s just an added expense for you. Each of these sections has its own completely isolated power supply (a wasted cost in my opinion). The power supplies are very sparse as well. My guess is that this is not going to sound as full and nice as the Emotiva.

One thing I like about Emotiva is that their designs are very good. The choices they make about how they design the actual circuits show a lot of thought. They just use lower cost components (electrolytic and film capacitors, op amps, etc.). The power supply section is very beefy and can supply a lot of current. The result is something that is very nice for the amount you spend on it, but there are always better equipment at a higher price, lol.

Upgrading the electrolytic/film caps as well as upgrading the output buffer op amps will give you an excellent CD source. Bump up the main power supply caps to as large as you can, upgrade all caps to Nichicon Muse or KW. Upgrade op amp negative feedback film caps to film-on-foil (Kemet PFR). Upgrade output op amps to Sparkos discrete op amps.

auxinput
2,920 posts
 

I took a quick look at your Anthem MRX 710 AVR.  If you are wanting an analog CD player, make sure to set the "Process Analog Audio Input" to NO and "Anthem Room Correction" to NO.  This will disable any digital processing and do a pure analog "pass through" in your Anthem.

If you want to use Anthem Room Correction and/or a subwoofer with your CD player, you might be better off getting a CD transport such as the Cambridge CXC and connect it to a COAX digital input on the Anthem.  If you like the DACs in your Anthem, this might be a better way to "play" your CDs.

kfoxian OP
6 posts
 
@auxinput
the Music Hall has separate DAC chips, clocks, etc because it's a combination 3-INPUT DAC and a CD player
http://musichallaudio.com/c-dac15-3/

Knowing there's a another circuit board UNDER the disc drive, you still think the interior is sparse?
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