New exaSound e32 and e38 DACs with DSD 256 at TAVES Show This Weekend

[exa]

Hi Exasound - I have a question about using a linear power supply. Is it ok to use a 13.8V 4A supply? It is my understanding that electronics will not pull more amps than they need and that most designers allow for some voltage variance.

 

Thanks

 

Yes, it is a universal law of electricity. Devices pull out just what they need regardless of the maximum current rating of the power source. But when you raise the voltage they pull more current...

 

In practice 13.8V is fine, except in extreme circumstances. You will be exceeding the voltage requirement. If you exceed another one, for example ambient temperature you can get in trouble.

 

It makes sense to use a battery that operates in the range between 11 and 14 Volts because batteries are excellent power sources and this is the way they work. With a battery the DAC is not exposed all the time to higher voltage. It is not a good practice to use a regulated power supply that is rated for higher than 12V. Further if your power supply is not regulated you shouldn't use it.

 

Another concern is safety. To comply with safety codes you need to use an 1.5 Amp fuse on the output of your power supply.

[exa]

@exa:

 

Why not offer E38 with 1/4 balanced connectors ? They fit in the same size and they are standard in the pro community. Cables are easy to find compared to mini-xlr.

 

OR

 

You never think to make it bigger case to put full size XLR connectors ?

 

I REALLY MISS WORD CLOCK IN/OUT ... when we use 8 channels, we probably use dsp room correction too. The only manner to deal with acoustic phases is having the same clock on the recording interface and the dac to avoid clock drift.

 

Having 8 dac chip will be awesome! each channel having it's sabre32 internal volume will be fantastic. Able to sum all the 8 channels into 1 for better quality ... for sure buyers for that.

 

Actually Mini-XLRs are much smaller on the inside than 1/4 connectors.

 

A word clock will cause jitter increase. Further it goes against the very idea of asynchronous operation. We've made our DACs on purpose asynchronous, or not synchronized with the outside world. In our view this is the best way to maintain the highest timing accuracy. If we do it the other way the sonic fidelity won't be the same.

[jmdesignz2]

Actually Mini-XLRs are much smaller on the inside than 1/4 connectors.

 

A word clock will cause jitter increase. Further it goes against the very idea of asynchronous operation. We've made our DACs on purpose asynchronous, or not synchronized with the outside world. In our view this is the best way to maintain the highest timing accuracy. If we do it the other way the sonic fidelity won't be the same.

 

hi - just started using my e28 with max os x el capitan and don't see the dashboard to control levels on each channel?

[exa]

Please contact customer service - exaSound Audio Design > About Us > Contact Us.

[wisnon]

I'm aware of that. Using HQP to upsample was exactly what I intend to try. The issue is finding good DACs that will handle DSD512.

 

The only ones I know of are:

T+A DAC 8 DSD: DAC 8

 

Matrix Audio X-SABRE Pro Matrix Audio X-SABRE Pro

 

Are there others?

 

- Richard.

The Lampizators can and sound incredible at dsd512...Chipless dsd.

[OldBigEars]

This is already a very big advantage.

 

Can't hear the difference on my system.

[wisnon]

I completely agree with you. I pointed out the poor value of the NADAC in another thread and got a rather poor reception from Dominique Brulhart himself. At the moment, if you need a multichannel DAC, you have very little choice. But if you need a 2 channel DAC, then the 2 channel NADAC can be laughed out of the listening room. It is ludicrously poor value.

Why about Illusonic's IAP16? 16 channels of 4D sound. they have smaller processors too.

 

ILLUSONIC - Audio Innovations

[jmdesignz2]

Please contact customer service - exaSound Audio Design > About Us > Contact Us.

 

done

[exa]

done

 

 

I am glad it worked

[jmdesignz2]

I am glad it worked

 

Well - my issue is not resolved if there is one? Anyway, "done" meant I sent info via your contact link

 

Anyone want to give me tips on how to set up my two subwoofer channels on the e28 ?

 

I am not having any luck finding anything in the manual or online...

 

Using Decibel latest version . El Capitan Macbook Pro

[Bob Stern]

@jmdesignz:

 

You configure multi-channel in Audio MIDI Setup, not the Dashboard.

 

Since exaSound doesn't have a setup guide for Decibel, I suggest you look at their guide for Audirvana and follow the steps involving Audio MIDI Setup:

 

exaSound Audio Design > Blog > Guides

[louisxiawei]

Has anyone tried exasound e32 yet?

 

How does e32's DSD256 sound with HQplayer compared to T+A DAC8 DSD under DSD512's sound with HQplayer? Any idea?

 

 

I'm currently an e12 user. For me, if exasound can support DSD512 in the future, I will be more interested!

[bmoura]

Has anyone tried exasound e32 yet?

How does e32's DSD256 sound with HQplayer compared to T+A DAC8 DSD under DSD512's sound with HQplayer? Any idea?

 

Check out the new review of the exaSound e32 by Steven Plotkin at Audiostream:

 

"I was very impressed with the level of performance delivered by the new e32 DAC. Given its price of $3499, one is getting a DAC with sonic performance unobtainable several years ago at this price point. For a relatively small amount of money, one can add a good linear power supply to the mix for an additional bump in performance. The e32 has richness to the sound that is natural and not overly warm or full sounding. In fact, the basic sound of the e32 reminds me of the analog type sound that I have heard in DACs costing far more than the e32. Basic sonic characteristics also included a very well controlled dynamic low end, a wide and deep soundstage, a deep black background, and good detail retrieval in the midrange and high end. The e32 is totally fatigue-free and very musically engaging.

 

I heard equally good performance with PCM and DSD files. The DAC’s ability to play DSD256 files was exemplary with no drop-outs or other extraneous noises using Roon or JRiver for the software player. The e32 had absolutely no problems moving from different formats or sampling rates. The ASIO driver I used for Windows was rock stable and worked flawlessly with a non-optimized (slimmed) Windows OS. Used with an optimized Windows OS (Audiophile Optimizer) contributed to additional sonic improvements.

 

The e32 has demonstrated how to build a DAC that not only handles PCM files, but DSD files in a first-class manner with custom high performance Mac OS and Windows ASIO drivers. My compliments to George Klissarov and his design team for the superb evolutionary improvements found in the new e32 DAC."

 

The e32 is available from exaSound for $3,299 or from the NativeDSD Gear Store for $2,899 with 6 Free Albums of Your Choice from the NativeDSD Music store.

 

exaSound Audio Design > e32 > e32 DAC Overview

exaSound e32 Stereo DAC - NativeDSD Gear

[watts]

Check out the new review of the exaSound e32 by Steven Plotkin at Audiostream:

 

 

The e32 is available from exaSound for $3,299 or from the NativeDSD Gear Store for $2,899 with 6 Free Albums of Your Choice from the NativeDSD Music store.

 

exaSound Audio Design > e32 > e32 DAC Overview

exaSound e32 Stereo DAC - NativeDSD Gear

 

It looks like it is 3295 euro from NativeDSD; and $3499 US direct from exaSound. Perhaps with the new CETA deal it gets better for the europeans?

[bmoura]

It looks like it is 3295 euro from NativeDSD; and $3499 US direct from exaSound. Perhaps with the new CETA deal it gets better for the europeans?

As has been previously noted on the forum, the reason the US price is $2,899 is that US customers do not pay the VAT that applies to European customers. The 6 Free Albums of Your Choice from the NativeDSD Music is a nice bonus.

[Linefader]

On 10/29/2016 at 2:55 PM, vortecjr said:

 

Do the new units provide Linux support for standard / current Linux Kernels?

.. any news about Linux compatibility?

In an interview from 2014, exasound announced "Linux drivers to be available in the very near future"

[Dr Tone]

5 hours ago, Linefader said:

.. any news about Linux compatibility?

In an interview from 2014, exasound announced "Linux drivers to be available in the very near future"

 

With the release of the Playpoint I doubt general Linux drivers will be made available.  From a business sense it's the smart move, for an owner not wanting to purchase a Playpoint, it sucks.

[exa]

We use a proprietary driver with closed source code. This makes us very bad Linux citizens. Since the driver cannot be compiled at the client side, it becomes very difficult for us make and support the drive for every popular Linux distribution. We simply don't have the resources to do it.

[Evo-No-Revo]

On 11/11/2016 at 9:50 AM, exa said:

The Mini-XLRs that we used on the e28 are less convenient than classic XLRs and had limited appeal. We can custom-make a balanced version of the e38 DAC, but we won't have it as a standard stocked model.

 

My new to me, 2014 Plinius Odeon channel amp sounds way better via XLR than RCA.  It is no contest..  The e38 with balanced output would be perfect.  I don't want to spend the money right now on the NADAC MC-8.  Even used if you can find one they are around 7.5K.

 

Can you explain exactly what you guys do to make a custom exaSound e38 with balanced output...and the cost?

[bmoura]

9 hours ago, Evo-No-Revo said:

 

My new to me, 2014 Plinius Odeon channel amp sounds way better via XLR than RCA.  It is no contest..  The e38 with balanced output would be perfect.  I don't want to spend the money right now on the NADAC MC-8.  Even used if you can find one they are around 7.5K.

 

Can you explain exactly what you guys do to make a custom exaSound e38 with balanced output...and the cost?

 

I bought the earlier e28 from exaSound with the mini-XLR option. 

An e38 with full XLR would be an excellent buy.