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Anyone have experience with the new ELAC DDP-2?

I've been seeing tiny bits of news about the ELAC DDP-2 streaming DAC since early last year and only recently has it become available online at a few retailers.  However, there isn't a single review of it that I can find anywhere.  With previous Audio Alchemy products getting great reviews, I can assume a certain level of quality nearly enough to go out on a limb and buy it for a 30-day trial, but I wanted to see if anyone has already taken that leap of faith.

From what I've read it combines the external DC power supply of the DDP-1 internally and uses AKM DACs in a balanced setup with onboard DSD and MQA decoding, upsampling, Spotify Connect and Roon and a headphone amp.

Anyone?
rickallen81
tweak1
3,679 posts
 
About a year ago I bought the DPA-1 first, then a couple months later the DDP-1, sans PS 5. It took 5 months to acquire a solo PS -5 direct from factory, as no one wants to sell it separately and WOW what an improvement the PS 5 made/makes.
I am feeding it with a slightly moded Oppo 105, where the incoming power and IEC were upgraded as well as replaced the crappy SMPS with a aftermarket LPM from Ebay. I also have a Marantz HD CD-1 that I bought to use as a transport, but it's skipping and I haven't gotten around to finding out the problem, and the Oppo sounds pretty damn good, though far from a TOL transport

FYI I have seen a DDP-1 + PS 5 for sale at the ridiculous price of $1100
aberyclark
1,357 posts
 
The Elac vs Teac 505 would be a great read.
canibefrank
406 posts
 
@aberyclark 
I agree.. I think these two DACs have similar price points and functionality... would also like to read about some listening impressions
aberyclark
1,357 posts
 
The teac is the better looking of the two. 
echolane's avatar
echolane
112 posts
 
I’ll chime in as the owner of a DDP-1 with separate PS-5 upgrade power supply.  The DDP-1 was initially recommended to me as being of exceptionally good audio quality, especially considering its price point.  The fellows who recommended it do ultra ultra high end audio installations and really know good audio.  
I have a pretty nice old-fashioned stereo setup headed by Quad ESL-63 Speakers and I had just added the Naim Uniti Core for a music streamer when I bought the DDP-1.  I needed a DAC in between the Naim and my Integrated amp.  They were right - the audio is phenomenally good!
I just noticed ad ad in a catalog for the DDP-2 and looked for a review and found this thread instead.  I was amused by the comments about how plain the box looks.   I liked it a lot because it doesn’t shout at me like the DDP-1 does.  That u-g-l-y external design is the ONLY thing I don’t like on the DDP-1.  The new DDP-2 will have a lot to beat to sound better than the DDP-1.
I am just about to audition a $20k DAC and I’ll be surprised if it sounds a lot better than the DDP-1.
I’m no expert but I think the streamer built into the DDP-2 must have been designed to appeal to first timers to streaming.  I don’t think it will turn out to be a good marketing choice, especially without great software to back it up.  And even then, separates are almost certainly a better idea.  

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