Hi Mac I bought the ECD1 DAC second hand a couple of months ago for a very good price !
The main reason I bought it is that I am toying with the idea of a streamer of some sort and I wanted a dac that would make it sound as good as my EMC1up Cd player , and as you know the the ECD1 dac is almost identical to the one in my Cd player .
I wanted to test it after it arrived to make sure it worked ok ( ebay purchase *smile* ) so I connected it to the digital output of my EMC1UP then connected the dac to the input of my pre amp so that I could compare the same Cd through the internal and the external dac's .
But for some strange reason the preamp muted the source when it tried to feed both dac's simultaneosly so I pulled my Monarchy Audio DIP ( digital interface processor ) out of the cupboard and connected it between the digital output of the EMC1up and the ECD1 dac digital input . I did this because I know the DIP completely isolates the Cd player from the dac electrically and hey presto I could listen to the Cd and switch between the two dac's to make a comparison .
The MA DIP buffers the digital signal then re - clocks it and boosts the strength of the signal going to the dac , it's primary use is between a transport and dac to reduce the amout of jitter .
Surprisingly connected this way there is a very small improvement , everything just seems a little smoother and more detailed especially with vocals, the soundstage appears to be a little wider and deeper too.
It's not a massive difference but definitely audible with well recorded music but I would be happy either way *smile*
Ah I see... interesting. I'm considering getting a Sonos streamer mainly for Spotify and Internet radio, would be keen for it to be as good as, or as near good as the EMC1Up, so this DAC could be the answer?
Mac
www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net
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