I may have been the one you are talkng about with regards to the EMC player being used as a transport with the Hermes tubed Dac but I did not receive an email so maybe I am not the one. The EMC is a great player but combined with the Hermes it brings redbook CD play to a supremely natural sounding level - in A/B comparisons with the EMC 's balanced output the combo beats it everytime and you really do not want to listen to the EMC alone. I changed the Hermes tubes from stock Philips to Telefunken Falcons and that made a difference to even a better level. The EMC as a transport is fantastic and I do a lot of recording so the no mechanical moving parts top loading helps to speed things up. My friend has the EMC with the upgrade to 24/192 but even that does not come close to the combo sound.
Kora Hermes VS Electrocompaniet EMC-1 MK1
I was wondering if any one has done A/B or had heard both of the Kora Hermes 24/132 Dac and the Electrocompaniet EMC-1 MK1 24/96. I know we are talking two different leagues here, with one being tube and the other being solid state as well one being a one box and the other a dac, But I could sure use your help.