First impressions of the ERC-1

[frenchmon]

You want to complain about looks. You should see my plain jane Van Alstine gear. Its a throw back to the 60's and 70's. Definitely not for someone wanting flash. But it keeps the cost down is what Frank VA says.

Yeah, I've seen some of his gear at his web site. I think the MF has it beat in the looks department.

frenchmon

[frenchmon]

Mr Peabody...I was just looking at the specks on your T+A CDP and it shares the same Dac's with the Musical Fidelity X Ray v8. I wonder what else they share.

frenchmon

[Mr Peabody]

Well one thing for certain they don't share are looks I don't know if The CD Player looks are any better but it and the MF sure are different.

[LeRoy]

Well I do have a thirty day window to return the Musical Fidelity. It has already out classed the the Rotel which is not a bad player. So after we have the shoot out between the Musical Fidelity and the Emo, I'll have the last player standing. I was thinking of returning the MF, because of the looks, but the way it sounds at this discounted price point, I would have to spend more on a player that sounds as good. But if the Emo beats the MF down, I'll have to send the MF back. See you next week Mr P.


frenchmon

Frenchmon, don't give the M.F. up for looks...it's to musical to give up for that reason alone.
I happen to find the unit pleasing to the eye and ear just the same...I probably in the minority on that point. Enjoy the shootout.

LeRoy

[frenchmon]

Frenchmon, don't give the M.F. up for looks...it's to musical to give up for that reason alone.
I happen to find the unit pleasing to the eye and ear just the same...I probably in the minority on that point. Enjoy the shootout.

LeRoy

No I wont...and yes I think its very musical. But I'm sure Mr Peabody having that trained ear could tell me where it really shines or falls. Im looking forward to it. But if I did get another player and it was not the Emo, I'd have to get another MF seeing that the X-RAY shares a lot with there higher priced players. I cant say the MF is dark nor can I say it bright. Its very balanced and the rhythm is unbelievably detailed and smooth. I just cant believe how they make the Canton's sound. Its like I have new speakers. My last upgrade will be some floor standers. I do have a few SA CD's so my next upgrade will be a SACDP only machine, perhaps the Marantz 8001 and then new speakers and cables. That will be it at least for a few years until I can go totally nuts and spend some real money. There is a reaon I still drive my 1992 Saturn.

frenchmon

[frenchmon]

Well one thing for certain they don't share are looks I don't know if The CD Player looks are any better but it and the MF sure are different.

Actually the T+A looks like a CDP, The MF looks like computer equipment. Even down to the digital display.

frenchmon

[winston]

Winston, you have an ERC? What equipment follow it? It is airy.
Mr. Peabody i used some old ACURUS'S for my stereo listening' i have the ACT-3
PRE/PRO, THE 100X3, & 100X2. (ERC-1> MONOPRICE RCA RG6 CABLES> ACT-3> 100X2> KLIPSCH SYRNERGY B-3 BOOKSHELF.)

in terms of AIRY-i was referring to the spaciousness,openness and especially the instruments' i am surrounded by this large reflective space.it gets even better when i connect the creek OBH-21 & THE SENN HD-650 to THE ERC-1.... I'm in love with Diana Krall Voice and i have about 60% of her work's and to me the interactions between voices and instruments sounds wonderful coming through the ERC-1 (compare to my denon DCM-390....the ERC-1 rules!!)

[Rudy Gireyev]

Mr. P.

After all the evaluations are done. I'd like to hear whether you have chosen to go with the ERC's DAC or the Amp/PreAmp DAC or some other option.

Rudy

[frenchmon]

Winston, you have an ERC? What equipment follow it? It is airy.
Mr. Peabody i used some old ACURUS'S for my stereo listening' i have the ACT-3
PRE/PRO, THE 100X3, & 100X2. (ERC-1> MONOPRICE RCA RG6 CABLES> ACT-3> 100X2> KLIPSCH SYRNERGY B-3 BOOKSHELF.)

in terms of AIRY-i was referring to the spaciousness,openness and especially the instruments' i am surrounded by this large reflective space.it gets even better when i connect the creek OBH-21 & THE SENN HD-650 to THE ERC-1.... I'm in love with Diana Krall Voice and i have about 60% of her work's and to me the interactions between voices and instruments sounds wonderful coming through the ERC-1 (compare to my denon DCM-390....the ERC-1 rules!!)

Oh man Winston....I find that you and I really share the same musical taste. I love Diana Krall as well. I had a chance to see her in San Diego and passed it up.But that was 10 years ago. But sense then I too have grown to love her and Elaine Elias who is my favorte. The look of love SACD by Krall is outstanding.


frenchmon

[Feanor]

Mr P, just let me slip in my congrats on the Emotiva -- sounds like a great option for anybody looking for a reasonably priced CDP.

But I must note that it's not a relevant option for me. For me the relevant options in order of priority are:

1. DAC, since I listen to 95% computer-sourced music nowadays.
2. SACD player, preferably multi-channel, since the other 5% is SACD.

[Mr Peabody]

Rudy, I'm keeping the ERC. The T+A is still my reference and I don't listen to music through the AV8003 very much and when I do it's usually concert DVD or Blu-ray. I was originally looking for just a decent quasi budget player for use with headphone amp and other tasks, also wanting to remain some what portable, meaning moving around the house without great difficulty. I didn't expect the ERC to perform like it does. So the ERC may end up in my second system or I may just keep it for it's original intention and just listen to headphones more. It's really a great player. Now I'm using DAC's in my second system and that whole rig wouldn't be very portable.

If I could sell my DAC's I might even buy another ERC.

[Rudy Gireyev]

Sorry Mr P. I think I may have confused you with my question. I would like to know if when using the ERC, you are going to use its onboard DAC. Or another DAC like one in your preamp or perhaps an external DAC.
I'm trying to determine how good the DAC is in the ERC, and how much money it would take to best it.

Rudy

[Mr Peabody]

Definitely, keeping with the ERC's internal DAC. I haven't heard everything out there but I bet you'd be hard pressed to find anything $1k or less to better it. I think you'd be well satisfied with the ERC as is. Look, I was the skeptic, this is an amazing player. I'm hoping maybe Blackraven will get one so I can see if he feels it's better than the Cambridge 840. It's better than my older CJ DAC. The CJ has more bass but the ERC's bass shows more detail. The ERC has more air around instruments, larger sound stage, better clarity and focus. It exceeded the NAD 545 by a long shot. If anyone wanted true high end CD playback on the cheap they better grab one of the ERC-1's.

A couple user side notes, on the last track if you hit "skip" forward you will go to the first track but the player stops if you let the last track play through.

The audible fast forward on the remote has 3 speeds,tap once for fast, again for faster, yet again for fastest, and hit it again you will resume regular play.

[blackraven]

here's a half ass review of the ERC-1 from Affordable Audio

http://www.affordableaudio.org/aa2009-10.pdf

[Mr Peabody]

I wanted to see what they said but my computer wasn't dealing with the pdf very well at all.

[Luvin Da Blues]

I wanted to see what they said but my computer wasn't dealing with the pdf very well at all.

I don't think you would be surprised by anything said since you have 1rst hand experience. He did say that it had true balanced connections which apparently isn't true.

This unit has perked my interest also but since I don't really need a dedicated player I'll just sit and wait for a bit.

[RoadRunner6]

here's a half ass review of the ERC-1 from Affordable Audio

Here's a full ass review of the ERC-1 from Secrets of Home Theater and High-Fidelity


http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cd-pl...cd-player.html

[Mr Peabody]

Thanks for posting that review. He had many of the same results or observations that I had. The only thing that differed is I believe I did notice a break in time and although using different brands of cables I thought the RCA output sounded better. I'm going to go back and play with that again.

[sticknstones]

Hello everyone! I too own the ERC-1 and bought it this past summer. I spent a few weeks documenting my evaluation and intended to post on both AVS and on the Emotiva forum but they use different Bulletin Board code and I had a lot of data tables so doing the conversion was too much.

I heard about your activities on the ecoustics board and you all have a good group of posters.

Here is my personal evaluation on this player.

http://emotivalounge.proboards.com/i...ay&thread=5776

I have since ordered but not received the USP-1 and will be anxious to see what additional benefits that I may receive.

In short I really love the player and it is the best that I have owned.

Here are some other threads with some folks talking about the ERC as owners and potential owners.

Club Polk: This one is really interesting as a group of members all chipped in to buy one unit, ship it to each other, wait till everyone was finished then start posting impressions. They also had a drawing to see who would get to keep it. Good group and many mixed reviews, but there was not a single evaluation style so it was open ended.
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/show...=1#post1205948

ecoustic: This one is new with mainly those curious about the player but good folks.
http://forum.ecoustics.com/cgi-bin/b...=coYbSGegapsiM

A ERC owners thread was started on AVS but gheesh it went South fast and became unrecognizable as having anything to do about the ERC. I will spare you this one!

[blackraven]

Thanks for the info! It looks like there are some mixed reviews.

[Mr Peabody]

Well the reviews on the ERC have always been mixed. It depends on what you are comparing it to. I'd be surprised if anything under $1k normal retail can touch it. That makes the ERC one hell of a value at it's selling price. Those who have issues telling it apart from a DVD player either don't have the gear to benefit from such a player or thay have untrained ears. I was really impressed with the ERC at it's price. If the ERC had more tonal richness and low end authority even higher end players would have cause to run scared. The ERC can really give a budget audiophile a taste of the high end. What the ERC does offer is incredible large sound stage with ample air and transparency. It simply does not sound like a budget player. And, this coming from one of the ERC's former skeptics.

[sticknstones]

Well the reviews on the ERC have always been mixed. It depends on what you are comparing it to. I'd be surprised if anything under $1k normal retail can touch it. That makes the ERC one hell of a value at it's selling price. Those who have issues telling it apart from a DVD player either don't have the gear to benefit from such a player or thay have untrained ears. I was really impressed with the ERC at it's price. If the ERC had more tonal richness and low end authority even higher end players would have cause to run scared. The ERC can really give a budget audiophile a taste of the high end. What the ERC does offer is incredible large sound stage with ample air and transparency. It simply does not sound like a budget player. And, this coming from one of the ERC's former skeptics.

I was impressed as well and spent several weeks drafting my review. I played a disk the other day that had water damage from being on my sailboat in the cabin and I could see right through it in places and thought I was going to have to buy another one. The ERC played it without error and I continue to be amazed with the error correction abilities. I used the Check CD system in my review plus other bad disks I own. I do not see this type of test used often in CD reviews and I think it is important. I did a fair amount of research on how to evaluate a CD player and did as much as I could to have a plan with qualitative and quantitative tests.

Thanks for your comments!