Tim -
I have heard the EMM labs stuff, on several occasions. Heard his prototype transport @ CES too. Not bad looking, finally - still smacks of pro-gear look though, which IMHO is not really expected @ the price point it is at. (BTW, $5k was not mentioned as a price point. I expect it might be higher? The people in the room with it (Tenor?) didn't have any info at all.)
I have owned an SACD1000 and later sold it - didnt' care for the build quality. The sound could be the best thing in the world, but if I can't live w/ the physicality of the transport, it's a moot point. Reliability was iffy at the time too, this before the 'fix' was well known.
I like the work he has done, I just don't see the justification for the price points. I'd love a normal, stripped down (no preamp) version of the DCC2. It should sell for about $2k - $2500 max. Beyond that, I just find it hard to justify the price.
"Any idea which DAC chips are used by Meitner?"
"They are proprietary. That is what makes them unique."
...rrrriiiiiight. Sure. Like any chip manufacturer is going to tool up a whole separate chip to sell maybe a couple hundred of them? Not likely. It's probably just the implementation that is unique. Maybe they are unique but seems highly unlikely to me.
"If he isn't careful he is going to get trounced and forgotten once things pan out."
This could be a very possible scenario in the longer-term, once standards solidify and more players get into the game. there are also some very nice one-box players on the horizon or already here. (Esoteric/Teac, Luxman, something from Wadia by the end of the year they say...)
" It's highly unlikely hes the only individual on earth capable of advancing the SOTA."
Clearly. Of course he is not. He is one of the pre-eminent ones doing work in this area, though, and he has a relationship with Sony apparently, which gives him closer contact with their stuff than nearly any other outsider, or so it seems. It just needs to be more affordable, if it truly is as good as it is claimed to be. There's no reason it has to cost as much as it does - recouping/amortizing the cost over a few units @ high price point will not play out as well as lower cost and slightly higher volume and market share.
" Create a quasi monopoly while you still can Ed."
Seems to be trying, or at least he has a good head start. Still, it could be done better (marketing/sales/pricing/etc.), I think, as outlined above.
Time will tell...
-Ed
