Is the EMM DAC6e or DCC2 /CDSD the best out there?

I have had a chance to compare head-to-head, in the same system EMM DCC2 + CDSD vs dCS Verdi LaScala / Elgar Plus for over two weeks (both on loan for home audition), and to my ears, the latest dCS stuff clearly outperformed EMM on Redbook CD.

Note #1. I didn't have a chance to compare their SACD performance - I have no software, and do not really care about SACD.

Note #2. I have heard that older dCS stuff is nowhere near as goog as DSD upsampling Verdi La Scala, so my expirience and an expirience of other AudiogoNers that tried older dCS stuff may differ.

Note #3. dCS stack was 50% more expensive.

Note #4. dCS worked perfectly, wheres EMM didn't (it has some static noise probnlems, also reported by other users)

Note #5. You can further improove dCS performance with an external Verona master clock.

Just my 0.02c worth.

Elberoth2...well I guess we just disagree on what we respecitvely heard. (...) EMM to me has far more "openess" and sense of air around the instruments...and that is what I like about it.

Henry, that is EXACTLY what I have said before:

To my ears it is the EMM that was a resolution and openess champ. (...) The EMM was almost "too open" for it's own good, his midrange lacked body and texture compared to latest dCS offerings.

:-)

dCS goes even further in terms resolution, detail to my ears but again lacks the special air around the instruments or color of timbre.

Henryk -> an interresting comment. To my ears it is the EMM that was a resolution and openess champ. The dCS was slightly behind EMM in that regard, but offered much better balanced sound overall. The EMM was almost "too open" for it's own good, his midrange lacked body and texture compared to latest dCS offerings. I found EMM cold and uninvolwing in comparision.

Both me and my audio buddy were to buy EMM after reading all the internet rewiewvs (hey - I even got the proforma infoice for EMM at the time), but after comparing it extensively to dCS for over TWO WEEKS we decided against it.

My buddy eventually got the latest dCS stack (which was twice as expensive as EMM) and since I could not afford dCS at the time and did not like the EMM, I got AA Capitole mk II instead and upgraded it to SE status.

Mgottlieb -> are you referring to the original dCS Verdi transport or the newer Verdi LaScala ?