If the Eastern Electric comes close to the performance of the Neko Audio D100, I must say we have a real winner on our hands! |
The EE DAC playing out of my SB Touch - getting signal via wifi from MacBook Pro, Apple Lossless - so far is in the same league as my Cary 308T. It has a slightly different mix of attributes and I'd probably say the Cary leads by a small margin to ME because I value coherence over detail and sound-staging. EE Dac sounds very natural. BTW i'm using tube output stage exclusively. I tried the SS output stage for around 90 seconds. SS output is very slightly less veiled and very slightly more mechanical.
Caution: EE DAC does seem very cable-sensitive. |
Thanks Artmaltman, I look forward to reading your comments as you put some more 'break-in' hours to your EE Dac. |
I got so into it that I posted a review on 'gon.
See:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?rdgtl&1286673518&openusid&zzArtmaltman&4&&
Art |
Thanks Art! Keep posting until break in is over. Posted a question on the review. Where shall we keep posting, here or there? |
Hi - I'm wondering if anyone has used the EE dac with a blu-ray player as a transport - I have a pioneer bd-05fd that plays cd and bluray and wanted to know if the EE dac would improve the sound of my pioneer - especialy playing redbook cd thanks, mike |
I will keep updating the review if there are changes. I lose track of all the other conversations. |
there have been allusions to the house sound of the ee dac. i found that with certian tube gear, the sound was on the warm side.
you can seee what equipment i used on audiophilia.com . |
Mrtennis,
How would you compare the EE Dac to the Neko Audio D100? I know the latter is much pricier, but if the EE comes close to its performance it's a real bargain in my book. |
i had both dacs but did not compare them directly. considering the relative prices, i bought the ee dac and was not at all impressed with the neko dac.
i'm not criticizing any aspect of the performance of the neko dac, but there was nothing outstanding about it.
the ee dac is very versatile and offers the opportunity to use at least two different 12 volt tubes, namely 12au7 and 12atz. note, the section of the ee dac that useses a tube is a gain stage not a buffer stage. be careful of the gain of the tube you use. i am not sure that a 12ax7 would work as well, as it is a higher gain tube than a 12au7. you might also try a 12ay7.
i had the opportunity to buy the neko dac, reviewed it and sent it back. you can read my review on audiophilia.com.
my system is a bit attenuated in the highs, so i am currently using an rca 12at7. |
I have tried Telefunken smooth plates, GE BP Triple Micas and Mullards Box Plates. The Box plates a way more musical than any tube I have tried. The Teles were fantastic in a previous pre-amp but were very disappointing in the EE. The soundstage disappeared but the imaging was sharp and precise. The GE improved the soundstage and the mullards really excelled in overall musicality, imaging and soundstaging. |
Hi - I have the same question (and the same gear)as an earlier poster - anybody listen to a pioneer blu-ray with the EE? I'd be interested in how this would sound with redbook cd as the primary source.
Thanks all. |
it is my observation that the ee dac is not tube sensitive. while changes will occur when subsituting different tubes, i believe the chnages are small and not significant. |
My experience with using an Oppo 80 as a transport, as well as my MacMini>Hiface, showed the Oppo to be a decent transport except the EE didn't like the optical out from the Oppo. I experienced drop-outs. The EE liked the coaxial. I don't know if the Oppo has a lot of jitter that the EE can't handle, or a problem with the optical inputs on the EE, or the Oppo is defective. Doesn't matter to me since I switched the Mac to BNC and used the coax input for the Oppo. Now I am using a Sony SACD player with optical into the EE with no dropouts. So, I am blaming the Oppo for the mismatch, not the EE. I moved from a PS Audio DLIII to the EE and am ecstatic. I have now had it for 2 months and every day I listen to it, I smile! Wonderful sound. |
I also had some problem with the optical input to the EE DAC. From the optical output either an Apple Airport (a later jitter-prone model) and/or a Macbook. Don't recall the specifics of which was problematic or if it was both. |
