DAC review: Exasound E20 32/384k DSD DAC mini-reveiw

rklein · « **Reply #20 on:** 12 Dec 2012, 04:04 pm »

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So what do you think of Native DSD in general?

I like native DSD presentations for what I perceive as detail retrieval in the recordings. Is there a lot of difference in quality? Well, not always. A perfect example of this is the Steely Dan "Gaucho" album. I have the HiRez 96khz recording and also heard the DSD version at Ted's place. They were very close. What I like about DSD is the wealth of classical recordings available. I know that there are people who lament the fact that there aren't more DSD avalable in other genres of music but I love classical so for me it is great. It amazes me every time I listen to the Mahler Symphony DSD recordings by The Bupapest Festival Orchestra conducted by Ivan Fischer.

In addition, I think that the argument about the merits of DSD is somewhat lessened by the fact that there are now very affordable DACS on the market that do RB, HiRez AND DSD. The Sonore DSD DAC at $1,295 comes to mind. Also the Mytek 192 DAC at $1,500. I was very interested in the NAD M51 DAC. However, with DACS able to accomodate DSD becoming more commonplace for $2,500 and under, as a consumer I want the most I can get for my money.

One other thing about my listening impressions regarding the Exasound E20. All of my gear(yes...all my gear including the NCores) are currently plugged into my newly acquired PI Audio Uberbuss.

Regards,

Randy

ted_b · « **Reply #21 on:** 12 Dec 2012, 04:17 pm »

And Randy is a classically trained orchestra musician who knows tone.

wisnon · « **Reply #22 on:** 13 Dec 2012, 11:45 am »

Randy, was Gaucho originally recorded in DSD or PCM? I will try to read it in the album booklet details later, as I do have the SACD at home.

I ask because it may have been recorded in 24/96 PCM, in which case it would be flattering to DSD if it bested the 24/96 version you have! The SACD issue of Guacho is legendary in its critical acclaim, so it may show that SACD done properly can somewhat overcome format decimation.

My issue with a DSD dac is that I need a competent one for not a lot of money, as I am unwilling to part with my L4 Gen4 Lampizator R2R multibit tube DAC. I wonder if the Korg is any good at $600, or if I should wait for iFI Audio to be convinced to join the bandwagon? Failing that, I will have to wait for prices to drop on the Chordette Qute HD.

ted_b · « **Reply #23 on:** 13 Dec 2012, 02:02 pm »

Gaucho was recorded on 24 track analog Dolby A encoded tape and mixed to analog as well. Howver, the SACD's were not analog -to-DSD (as are the greta Hoffman and Gary jazz remasters, etc) but instead went PCM years ago. It's good (as an SACD) but not great IMO.

wisnon · « **Reply #24 on:** 13 Dec 2012, 04:22 pm »

Hence why the PCM hiRez would compete well with the DSD double decimation!

The people at SACD.net love the SACD though...

audiofan12 · « **Reply #25 on:** 24 Feb 2013, 10:40 pm »

Randy,
I have been also considering the Exasound E-20. I assume you have received yours and have lived with it now for some period. Any new thoughts on it? Have you heard the Chord Chordette QuteHD? Thanks

rklein · « **Reply #26 on:** 13 Mar 2013, 07:49 pm »

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Randy,
I have been also considering the Exasound E-20. I assume you have received yours and have lived with it now for some period. Any new thoughts on it? Have you heard the Chord Chordette QuteHD? Thanks

I have not heard the Chordette DAC. I only have had the Mytek and E20 DSD DACS in my system. To me, the E20 is a bit more musical than the Mytek. But again, someone may think the Mytek sound really floats their boat. I go on what I perceive as what acoustical instruments should sound like both in tone and tambre.

In living with the E20 now for well over a couple of months, I have come to really enjoy its presentation. One thing that is very important to consider is that the E20 has a very capable Volume Control. This has allowed me to run the E20 balanced directly into my NCores. Now to be honest, I find the supplied apple remote to be a bit flaky. And that opinion is because of the utter joy of using the Bent Audio TAP preamp that Ted-b let me borrow for a while.

I could be perfectly happy with just using the E20 and its own VC. The sound is that good. I never got that feeling with the Mytek using its VC(both digital & analog). The Mytek absolutely benefited with the TAP passive in the audio chain. In fact, it was downright great.

As far as the sound... I would say that the E20 has a very open and full sound. ( I know, I know...what the hell does "open" mean...dunno so don't ask) The higher end of the spectrum is not quite as treble as say the EE Mini Max DAC. Sometimes, I felt that things like Cymbals, high notes on woodwinds, etc. was accentuated a bit much on the EE DAC. The E20 has plenty of detail but just seems more smooth with the higher frequencies not drawing attention to themselves. If you like the bottom end, you will not be disappointed. The best advice I could give you is to get the Mytek and the E20 in your home to listen to. George over at Exasound has a 30 day trial period.

Regards,

Randy

wisnon · « **Reply #27 on:** 13 Mar 2013, 09:23 pm »

Randy, I am trialling the ultrafi.biz Aubisque USB filter and have had very little play time with it so far. Will give my best feedback here when done.

The one thing I noticed so far is that it cleans up a before unnoticed TINY fuzziness in the High Freq on the Opus 3 DSD sample they offered...the Eric Bibb one. To make sure I was not imagining it, I swapped it out a couple time at the same volume level.

What I am saying is that this data line filter may be a magic bullet to clean up the HQ by that last 1%. Cost is $200.
Check it out.... http://www.ultrafi.biz/aubisque-usb-filter.html

wisnon · « **Reply #28 on:** 11 Apr 2013, 09:22 pm »

Here is a picture of the filter's innards:

mav52 · « **Reply #29 on:** 18 Aug 2013, 03:18 pm »

Really interested in this dac, the e20Mk111 version along with the W4S DAC2se model...... Any new reviews of the new version e20 ?

hifial · « **Reply #30 on:** 24 Aug 2013, 04:08 pm »

Hi Mav52.

I have had the e20 MK III for a few weeks and loved its performance on all resolutions. I had my MK III sent back to exaSound to have the new custom clock (.082ps) option. ExaSound has sent a MK III with the new .082ps clock to me and I will have it on Monday. I will report back on any differences in sound.

My previous DAC was the PS Audio PerfectWave MK II with Bridge. I was one of the original owners of the PW MK I.

Besides the DSD the e20 MK III with standard clock outperforms the PSA PW MK II from top to bottom. Also the e20 is DEAD silent were as with the PSA always had some noise coming through. Do not get me wrong, the PW MK II is a very fine sounding DAC, just that there are better one out there now.

More later.

Vic · « **Reply #31 on:** 9 Sep 2013, 02:35 pm »

Does the e20 run equally well using a Mac Mini running Pure music?

ted_b · « **Reply #32 on:** 9 Sep 2013, 02:54 pm »

Quote from: Vic on 9 Sep 2013, 02:35 pm

Does the e20 run equally well using a Mac Mini running Pure music?

Technically no. Why? Well, currently the exaSound OSX driver (like its Windows counterpart) is a custom driver. Unlike on Windows, it does "only" DSD64 and DSD128, and being custom it is not USB Class 2 audio compliant, meaning it won't allow integer support in A+. That all being said, for real world DSD64 and DSD128 in PM, go for it.

Vic · « **Reply #33 on:** 9 Sep 2013, 05:18 pm »

Quote from: ted_b on 9 Sep 2013, 02:54 pm

Technically no. Why? Well, currently the exaSound OSX driver (like its Windows counterpart) is a custom driver. Unlike on Windows, it does "only" DSD64 and DSD128, and being custom it is not USB Class 2 audio compliant, meaning it won't allow integer support in A+. That all being said, for real world DSD64 and DSD128 in PM, go for it.

Pfitt! Right over my head, sorry. So my DSD will be limited and/or converted to Pulse Modulation?

Basically, I'm looking for good to very good playback to better my Metrum Acoustics Octave NOS DAC for my redbook CDs and a few SACDs. Everything is ripped to Apple Loseless using Pure Music (or another player software if needed) using a Mac Mini and a Fire Wire or USB disk drive. With DSD not currently a primary concern would this still be a "go for it" situation using the e20? Has the manufacturer hinted at possibly developing Mac orientated drivers for the e20?

I'm reading rumors about an increase in DSD media availability in the near future. As much as DSD is currently not that important to me now I'd rather not get hamstrung with what might be my last DAC purchase.

My other short list DAC is the Wyred 4 Sound DSDse.

ted_b · « **Reply #34 on:** 9 Sep 2013, 05:26 pm »

The MAC is a fine source for the E20. It plays PCM fine, and will also play DSD64 and DSD128 (natively; I never said anything about it being converted to PCM). What it cannot do on the MAC (right now, yes George and team are developing better OSX drivers) is playback DSD256 (and those recordings don't really exist yet anyway) or allow Audirvana Plus (another OSX player) to use its integer-playback function (which seems to be a big deal for Audirvana Plus users). As I said before, as a Pure Music user on MAC feel free to play everything (aka go for it).

hifial · « **Reply #35 on:** 9 Sep 2013, 06:45 pm »

Vic, as Ted said the e20 will play all very well indeed. Also as Ted said George, from exaSound, is working on a driver for the Apple OS that will bring it in-line with the Windows Driver. It will be able to do integer, which only matters with A+, and the DSD256, and as Ted said is more in the future.

I have the e20 MKIII with .082 clock and can say it plays PCM, both Redbook and HiRez, and DSD extremely well. I use Pure Music, A+ and J River for W8. My Mac Mini has a SSD HD just for the OS that is Boot Camped so I can run in either Windows or Mac.

Good luck.

Vic · « **Reply #36 on:** 10 Sep 2013, 01:36 am »

Gentlemen, thank you very much for your time. It has helped me a great deal in moving forward with, hopefully, a better digital experience.

Vic

mav52 · « **Reply #37 on:** 5 Nov 2013, 05:40 pm »

Quote from: hifial on 9 Sep 2013, 06:45 pm

Vic, as Ted said the e20 will play all very well indeed. Also as Ted said George, from exaSound, is working on a driver for the Apple OS that will bring it in-line with the Windows Driver. It will be able to do integer, which only matters with A+, and the DSD256, and as Ted said is more in the future.

I have the e20 MKIII with .082 clock and can say it plays PCM, both Redbook and HiRez, and DSD extremely well. I use Pure Music, A+ and J River for W8. My Mac Mini has a SSD HD just for the OS that is Boot Camped so I can run in either Windows or Mac.

Good luck.

I wonder if George ever got the driver worked out to support integer and did exasound have any issues with Mavericks ?

ted_b · « **Reply #38 on:** 5 Nov 2013, 06:09 pm »

George has a new non-Mavericks driver listed as of a couple weeks ago, but I didn't get a chance to try it. He did, however, lament that like many DAC manufacturers, this new Mavericks has mucked up his USB driver spec and that his team is hard at work making it Mavericks-capable.

mav52 · « **Reply #39 on:** 5 Nov 2013, 08:41 pm »

Quote from: ted_b on 5 Nov 2013, 06:09 pm

George has a new non-Mavericks driver listed as of a couple weeks ago, but I didn't get a chance to try it. He did, however, lament that like many DAC manufacturers, this new Mavericks has mucked up his USB driver spec and that his team is hard at work making it Mavericks-capable.

Thanks Ted I knew George was working on it... And agree, Mavericks has appeared to muck up more than one DAC manufacturer USB driver spec....