Emotiva ERC-1

megasat16 · November 2009

I think we still need more reviews for ERC-1 and I haven't seen reviews posted by

retro152, nikolas812, jerryj12, and dane_peterson

If you are still preparing the reviews, please take time. But if you have a chance, I think the rest of us would like to read your guys impressions on the ERC-1 as well.

megasat16 · December 2009

I forgot to mention even a word about the metal ERC-1 remote so here is an addendum to my review.

ERC-1 comes with a heavy and solid remote enclosed in an Aluminum housing. It has a good feel to the hands but it's a little too wide than most usual remotes and the buttons are a little too small. I think the remote is something worth mentioning since it's not the usual piece of plastics remote you get with more expensive players.

Now, the slot loading drive seems to have a bit of problems (such as slot loader not ejecting discs) from what I've read in Emotiva Forum. But Emotiva customer service seems good and making things right for it's customer. But further down the line when the 5 years warranty is over and you have an issue with the slot loader, I don't know what you can do with it though. I hope Emotiva has some sort of cheap solution for it's ERC-1 owners even when the warranty is expired.

dane_peterson · December 2009

I appreciate the "Thank Yous" guys, but this demo was only a success with YOUR ears and YOUR reviews. So thank you to those of you who put in your time and energy to provide a fair and comprehensive overview.

With that said, I am afraid to say that my rig was more or less dismantled when I received the player. As a result, my review is brief and underwhelming. Here's what I was running at the time:

Pioneer 56TXi receiver
ADS L520 speakers

My previous player (shipped and gone by the time this player was connected) was the Oppo '80. A decent entry-level player, but not at all on the same playing field as the ERC-1.

As such, the Emotiva impressed. Clarity and detail were certainly its most obvious attributes, but I did feel low-end was more pronounced as well. Seems to be pretty on par with everyone else's input so far. I CAN honestly say that I heard things in familiar tracks that I hadn't before. If I had a dedicated listening room, my observations would have been more critical. But with my restricted speaker placement and shallow listening area, I couldn't shed light on the players imaging or depth.

Without a doubt, the Emotiva is one of the nicest pieces of equipment, both aesthetically and performance-wise, that I've used. At $400, if someone insists on buying new (and wants a dedicated CDP), this player should make the short list. I can't think of many others off-hand that offer not only the looks and performance, but warranty that Emotiva does with this player for under 4 bones.

That being said, I have no doubt that you can pick up a more versatile and better player for less if you look upon Audiogon or other used markets. But one day, the ERC-1s will be sold used... and whatever price they are at that time would be money well spent.

apphd · December 2009

Nice write up Dane, I agree it looks like everyone's opinion is pretty similar. While it was not everyone's cup of tea, it does sound like everyone came away with very close to the same feeling on it.

cnh · December 2009

I would like to thank everyone above for their parrticipation in this review...I, myself, contributed some money toward the player..but was not able to participate in the review...if one looks at the post history you will also see that I suggested a review take place regarding this player...and then Dane took the ball and put it all together....I'm never very good with follow through.

So I would also like to thank Dane personally for all his hard work and the wonderful job he's done here.

And I look forward to more reviews. I have PM-ed some of you so that I do have some more feedback about the Emo than is yet available,

And I continue to believe that such Demos are a good way to put some of the interminable THREADS we see on this site to REST!!

cnh

Retro152 · December 2009

Hey guys,
My apologies, havent really had the chance to sit down and write up any kind of review until now.

Great post cnh, you said it all. Many thanks to Dane again for proposing the thought of a demo to, like you mention," Putting an end to the interminable THREADS on the forum" in regards to Emo gear and the like. (Yawn)

Im not going to lie here to anyone regarding my time in the audio hobby, only about 2 years, with about a year here on the Forum, so i am intimidated a bit offering up a review on gear, so be nice! LOL.:rolleyes::D

Well, i think i have managed to put together a pretty decent system: Polk Rti-a9's, for fronts, Csi-a6 center, Rti-a1's for rears, the Klipsch sub-12, Pioneer sc-05, and my first introduction to separates, the Emotiva Xpa-3 3 channel amp. All wired up with Audioquest type 4, and the PS-3 thrown in for good measure for movies and games.

I had been using the PS-3 as my dedicated CD player, but started toying with the idea of a DAC to enhance play. Well, after some headaches with hookup and performance, i just decided to purchase a nice redbook CD player for music.

I decided on the NAD C-565BEE upsampling CD player, just out, and to the tune of $749. An impulse buy, (As i do like to research and hear reviews on gear). After receiving the unit, hooking it up, and with much anticipation.....i was sadly disappointed, via analog or digital connection, didnt make much of an improvement through my system or WOW me. Not knocking NAD at all! quality gear, and one of the best names in home Audio equipment. This is a very nice player, and being somewhat of a "newb", i now wonder if maybe i was at fault for its performance.

MY ERC-1 REVIEW: Thanks for bearing with me here. First off i need to state, i am NOT an Emo fanboy. The Xpa-3 amp was very affordable, and the "flavor of the month" at the time, and why not? quality build, performance ,sound. As the first reciepient of the unit in the Demo order, i was very impressed with the ERC-1 on arrival: Packaging was magnificent, double boxed, and done so with great care.

IMPRESSIONS: I really couldnt believe it! After unpackaging and setting up the player for a run, all my CD's came to life! Clarity, presentation, imaging. The NAD and PS-3 couldnt hold a candle to the performance of the ERC-1. Be it analog or digital setup this player really rocked. For $399 i was blown away. I would describe the player as neutral, as others here have stated, not too bright, or forward in its presentation.

Guys, not the best review in the world i know. Just trying to offer up some insight here on a pretty good buy for the money. Many thanks to a great Demo group, and congrats to Ben again for winning the unit. Many good thoughts to him, and wishing him a speedy recovery.

Pat.

kwikrnu · December 2009

Thanks for the reviews on this.

W WALDECKER · December 2009

I pulled the trigger on the ERC-1 based on comments from Pearsall001/phil and Mark who founded the Affordable Audio website and reviewed the ERC-1 using the Vista Audio i34 tube integrated.after spending a week with this player using a Vista Audio i34 with MAC Palladium IC's, PNF Symphony speaker cables and Audiophysic Spark IV loudspeakers i would have to agree 100% with Phil's take on the ERC-1. i too owned the Cambridge Audio 840C and in my opinion the sonic difference is miniscule between the two players. given the price vs performance ratio between them the ERC-1 is a steal. i hear no siblance or brightness whatsoever in my system but synergy means everything in a rig up to and including cable selection. the ERC-1 sounds much better than it should given the modest price.thanks....WCW III

kevhed72 · December 2009

I wonder how the ERC-1 compares to the Marantz 5003....Anyone, Anyone....

Face · December 2009

Probably more forward and detailed.

concealer404 · December 2009

Face wrote: »

Probably more forward and detailed.

This. Probably way more forward. The detail is really good on this unit, but almost approached being "etched" and sterile to me. But as they say, synergy is a ****.

RCduck7 · January 2010

W WALDECKER wrote: »

I pulled the trigger on the ERC-1 based on comments from Pearsall001/phil and Mark who founded the Affordable Audio website and reviewed the ERC-1 using the Vista Audio i34 tube integrated.after spending a week with this player using a Vista Audio i34 with MAC Palladium IC's, PNF Symphony speaker cables and Audiophysic Spark IV loudspeakers i would have to agree 100% with Phil's take on the ERC-1. i too owned the Cambridge Audio 840C and in my opinion the sonic difference is miniscule between the two players. given the price vs performance ratio between them the ERC-1 is a steal. i hear no siblance or brightness whatsoever in my system but synergy means everything in a rig up to and including cable selection. the ERC-1 sounds much better than it should given the modest price.thanks....WCW III

But i bet the Emotiva ERC-1 can't beat your tubed MHZS CD33. Someone else on an other forum compared it to it's DacMagic and his MHZS player. With the DacMagic it was close but the MHZS simply sounded better. It's still good for it's price though he mentioned. I personally tried the MHZS CD88E in my system and i favored this player over my Xindak DAC-8. So i think it would be hard to believe (if you compared) the Emotiva would be much better. But hey, every setup is different eh?

Emotiva ERC-1

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