exaSound e18 - e20 - e28 - Info and Experiences Post All Here

[tgx78]

My e20 MKIII with clock upgrade should arrived sometime next week.

Maybe I will borrow my friend's Chord QuteHD and Benchmark DAC2 to compare it again.

When I did comparison last time with e20 MKII, me and my friends all thought, sound signature wise

e20 falls somewhere between DAC2(fast attack, immediate, upfront & can sound bright in my system) and

QuteHD (relaxed, slightly laid back and slightly flatter presentation).

I am getting Teddy Pardo PS as well so I will chime in on how after market power supply

further improves already great sounding DAC.

[tgx78]

Hi tgx8. Which TP model did you order? Thanks.

 

Not ordered yet. You will need Teddy 12V 2A ps and if you have mki or mkii - inner connector size: 2.1mm

 

If you have e20 mkiii - connector size is : 2.5mm

 

I just received mkiii with .082ps clock upgrade.. After a quick listening session, I left it playing quietly to burn-in for few days.

I played DSD256 and some hi-res PCM materials that I am very familiar with and it sounded slightly different from e20 mkII I had before.

Not going to try describe the sonic differences yet.

[tgx78]

I am at around 50-60+ hours on the e20 mkIII .082ps now.

DAC's burn-in process is going well.. overall I would say sound is smoothing out nicely without losing detail.

Slight harshness I heard at the beginning with mostly stringed instruments are almost gone and

bottom end is filling in nicely with good amount of heft and texture.

It's been too long since I heard the e20 mkII with .12ps clock so there cannot be any valid comparisons,

but I do feel .082ps portrays soundstage depth slightly better than earlier version.

One example is Erich Kunzel conducting Cincinnati pops orchestra - Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture. Op. 49 (DSD 64X)

I heard this piece countless times on mkII and now I heard about 10 times on mkIII.

At around 14-15 mins. mark there is sound of live cannons blasting away and last few firings were heard from

4-5ft. further away back than I used to remember. But then again I might be wrong since I cannot do a direct a/b.

I will be ordering Teddy Pardo 12/2 within few days..

[tgx78]

 

Teddy Pardo 12/2 Power Supply arrived few days ago..

It's been continuously burn-in for 72 hours and settling in nicely.

using Nordost Vishnu power cable to the power supply, sound is simply crystal clear..

as matter of fact, I had to change my speaker position..

tweeter facing outside to calm down whole thing little bit.

[tgx78]

Hi guys! After hearing a large improvement in sound quality by using a lead acid battery from my UPS to power my E20, I decided to look for a more compact and convenient solution. In my search I discovered a lithium battery based portable power pack from Anker called the Anker Astro Pro:

 

Anker Astro Pro 14400mAh Multi-Voltage 5V / 9V / 12V External Battery Pack for iPad, iPhone 5 4S 4; Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, Note 8, Tab 2, S4 S3 [4 mobile phone connectors, 6 tablet connectors, 12V 1A adapter provided] - Black - Amazon.ca

 

It uses a DC-DC converter to select from 9-12v on the output and also has 2 USB ports for charging phones etc. Anker has various sized packs but I went for the 14400 mAh version as it has enough juice to power the E20 for several hours before it needs to be charged, and is compact in size. The unit comes with various sized DC tips, but the main 12V cord has the exact tip the E20 takes so no need to mess around with the adaptor tips. So now to get on with the sound. It came pre charged so I plugged it in and started listening to some DSD recordings with my Shure SRH 940 headphones plugged into the headphone jack. These headphones are extremely revealing so with them it's easy to detect subtle changes in sound quality. I was a bit skeptical about the DC-DC converter and thought that maybe it could have a detrimental effect on the purity of the power but I guess not because wow I was blown away instantly! Not only was the sound much better then the stock supply, it also exceeded the sound from the lead acid battery. Pretty much every area of sound quality was greatly improved. Another bonus is when I plug in the supplied charger into the pack while listening to music, I can't detect any change in the sound at all. So it probably could just be plugged in at all times. It seems like the power from the charger is buffered and filtered by the battery so the power remains pure. As far as life goes between charges, I'm getting from 6-7 hours listening to my headphones at quite high levels per charge. I can imagine that figure could be doubled using the rear outputs. So for $69 CND it's a no brainer for me. It also allows me to take my E20 anywhere without having to plug it in. It would be very interesting for one of you guys with a Paul Hynes supply to do a comparison

 

 

I tried Anker Astro Pro today.. Very nice indeed.

My TeddyPardo 12/2 PS is fully burn-in and comparing between the two,

it is very very difficult to tell which sounds better (Magnepan 3.6R)..

I will try headphones out tomorrow..

[tgx78]

Thank you for your recommendation Blizzard.

I think Anker Astro Pro's high grade cells and premium microchips working wonders here..

Further a/b listening reveals, Astro Pro providing slightly blacker background than TeddyPardo.

As well, vocals have slightly less digital artifact around it.

Tried stock PS as well.. but let's just say I will be putting it boxed away in a storage somewhere

 

[tgx78]

Great news!!! And thank you for confirming that my ear's aren't lying to me! I'm pleased to know that this cheap and portable supply outperforms far more expensive, larger and non portable solutions. Now all a guy needs to do is pop it in a fancy aluminum enclosure and it could sell for $500

 

Now that I tried both LPS and Battery on Headphones (HD800, HD598 & IE80) in controlled environment, I would not say Anker outperforms TeddyPardo power supply. My audiophile friend with slightly better hearing confirmed too that LPS provides better resolution and air between instruments.. better dynamics as well. Anker Astro still has slight blacker backround, but I would say in the end Teddy Pardo wins in terms of overall SQ.

However for something so cheap, Anker is really a great buy if you are looking for a quick upgrade from the stock PS.

[tgx78]

Lately I have been comparing different usb cables with my exaSound e20.

 

1) Light Harmonic Lightspeed

2) MapleShade Clearlink plus

3) Black Cat Silverstar

4) Wireworld Starlight 7

5) DH labs Silversonic

 

4) & 5) is clearly harsh and bright sounding in my system, so they are out.

 

Will report back with 1)$999 2)$135 3)$99 cables and how they compared to each other..

[tgx78]

Did anyone compare the Teddy Pardo 12/2 Power Supply with the Paul Hynes SR3-12 PS?

tgx78, what about your USB cable comparison for the e20? Any news?

 

I only have teddy pardo 12/2 and some 12v-2A Lithium Polymer batteries to compare..

Teddy Pardo gave better dynamics and freq. extension while battery powered e20 had a slightly smoother tone.

I prefer the Teddy Pardo.

 

USB cables, someone said it doesn't make any difference in his exasound DAC but I do hear differences.

I just received ifi iusb, ipurifier along with ifi gemini usb cable. I need to do more a/b listening before letting you know which is my favorite usb cable so far.

[tgx78]

In a few days I will have the Paul Hynes SR3-12, now I'm using a KingRex Mark II, I will report when the PH arrives.

 

Regarding USB cables (even if the question is not directed to me) I found exaSound is completely immune to this cables, and I have a lot!...

 

Now I'm breaking in a new exaSound e22 (previously had an e20) and I'm fascinated with its SQ: 3D soundstage, detail never before heard and the best and accurate bass in the industry!...

 

Roch

 

Roch,

 

before e22 you had e20 III .082ps? I was thinking if it's worth upgrading from e20 III (.082ps) to their new e22.

[tgx78]

 

after trying out many different options.. I am currently enjoying this setup the most.

 

 

0.6m black cat silverstar usb cable -> ifi iusb.. iso ground switch 'on', iusb 9v power fed by LiPo battery ->

USB A Male to Mini B Male Adapter -> e20 -> e20 powered by Teddy Pardo 12/2 ->

High Fidelity CT-1E RCA interconnects.

 

a very stable and accurate imaging is obtained with this combination..

background became blacker and very slight treble glare (redbook) is entirely gone now.

[tgx78]

I can confirm that using ifi ipurifier (usb filter) on exaSound made zero improvement on SQ.

In fact, I think ipurifier degraded SQ slightly by introducing another chain between the signal-path.

With it in place, I could not even play DSD256 materials.

 

I am currently in very old building with terrible power grid, so my main focus was to improve power delivery

to the DAC. I now have 6 PS audio Noise Harvester around my main system to clean out AC line noises.

Blue Circle audio PLC thingee to further clean out ac power going to Teddy Pardo power supply.

Battery powered iUSB to the DAC with short usb cable to the iusb and adapter from iusb to e20.

 

I think I reached my audio nirvana for now until I finally upgrade my speakers to the 20.7

[tgx78]

How do you upsample pcm to DSD 256fs in HQ Player? I tried every different settings, but it seems I can only upsample to DXD.

 

[tgx78]

Thanks Miska.. Finally got it to work now

 

and..

 

Oh WOW!

 

Sound quality is unbelievably good. (especially for redbook converted to DSD256.. I never heard them better, even on Chord Hugo)