EMM Labs or PS Audio?


Has anyone heard both the EMM Labs XDS1 SACD player and the PS Audio Directstream Transport and DAC combo? Since they are both DSD DACs, how do they compare?
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Showing 2 responses by rcprince

It has been a long time since I heard the PS Audio combo, so take this with a little grain of salt.  I own an XDS1 which I just upgraded to v.3 status, and before that I had a CDSD/DCC2 combination.  While I liked the PS Audio combination (particularly vs. most other non-DSD players I'd heard), I liked the EMM Labs house sound better--it seemed just a little more real, dynamic and extended at the frequency extremes to me.  Cost a lot more, though, even used.  I can say that the upgrade to v.3 is a real eye-opener, it seems to have a great increase in information retrieval while at the same time making the music more involving, a tricky balance that they seem to have done just right (IMHO). 
When mine was updated, I was told that one of the sections (digital or analog, I can't remember which) was virtually the same as the DV2, the other not.  I have no doubt the separate power supplies and additional space available in the DV2 would yield better performance, but I still am very happy with the XDS1.