Intro
http://shop.emotiva.com/products/stealth-dc-2The emotive dc-1 is a dac, pre-amp, and headphone amp that currently costs $500 and comes with a free 1m USB cable. Its initial price used to be $699 but was recently dropped to $500 most likely due to the increased sales from Gary’s comparison thread. Now as many of you probably know, Gary considered the dc-1 one of the “indistinguishables” along with the Schiit Gungnir. At $500 and with a very generous return policy, I thought that I should give it a try since I had the gungnir to compare it with.
Features & build quality
The dc-1 comes with various inputs, including AES/EBU, coax, BNC, optical, usb, and analog input so that it can be used with as just a pre-amp. All of the digital inputs on the dc-1 are asynchronous, however, the USB input does not have galvanic isolation so you may hear some noise from it when using sensitive IEMs. It has both a set of RCA and XLR balance outputs and can be set to either fixed-line out or pre-amp out using the built-in electronic menu.
The menus were easy to browse through using the two knobs on the front, which also act as buttons when pressed. The left knob is used to select inputs and to control the menu functions. The right knob is used for volume control and mutes the output when pressed down, and will put the unit on standby when held for 5 seconds. However, my unit’s right knob has a problem and would not press down properly. Luckily the metal remote included can be used for volume control and for turning on/off the unit.
The remote was a nice addition with the unit, however, the volume controls could be a little bit better. Because the dc-1 uses steps of .25db for volume control, the volume is either changed very slowly or very quickly (held down) with the remote. The remote is also used to switch the inputs for the dc-1.
The dc-1 is fairly well built, with a design that reminds me of the audio-gd offerings. It also does not take up much space on the desk and does not heat up too much, which allows you to stack an amp like the Vali on top of it.
While the dc-1 has two 3.5mm outputs for headphones, the headphone section is nothing to rave about. It is noisy when used with the USB input and CIEMs. It does an okay job at driving the UERMs and hd800s but the sound is very closed in and a bit on the bassy side. The dc-1 ships default with a 2dB boost @20hz for the headphone outputs and can be changed with a jumper setting inside the case. Unfortunately for whatever reason, emotive decided to put hex screws on the case. I did not have an allen screw so I could not access the jumper settings.
Sound
Equipment used:
Emotiva DC-1/Gungnir -> RCA switchbox -> Schiit Vali -> HD800 (anax 2.0)
Gungnir -> Emotiva DC-1 (as pre-amp and dac) -> Emotiva Airmotiv 4
I got the dc-1 on Jan 6 and kept it running continuously for five days. During that time, I used it as my sole dac and it sounded pretty good out of the box. I didn’t do any comparisons until that Friday and what I found wasn’t too surprising to me. As mentioned many times by Purrin, the differences between dacs are subtle and that’s what I found.
The two sounded very similar and I would definitely have trouble if I was asked to do a DBT. The main differences that I noticed when doing delayed A/B testing with the hd800 was that the gungnir was slightly livelier sounding. Its treble had some more splash to it on some tracks. The mids sound
ed the same to me. As for detail retrieval, I felt the gungnir to be a bit more superior. The biggest difference (though still subtle), and the most consistent one was that the gungnir had better bass texture, rendering, and impact.
My friend came over yesterday with his airmotiv 4s and we did a comparison together using the dc-1 as a pre-amp. We switched between the two dacs using the remote on the dc-1. When switching the two inputs, there is about a 1 second silence between switching the inputs. The results were pretty much the same. I noticed more differences than my friend did at first since I had already done the comparison using the hd800. This is what he had to say after we were done:
Finally got to try out Emotiva's Stealth DC-1 last night and I must say, what a good dac/amp for the current price. Using it to power my Emotiva ASM-4, it gave it a good balanced, and lively sound. My friend and I did a comparison between the Schiit Gungir and DC-1 last night and I was exhausted after an hour. We tested both of them out with electronic, lounge touhou, and some classic rock. The main difference I noticed was the bass impact, the gungnir had a more detailed low range; while the highs were more clear and precise. However, this is not to say the gungnir dominated the DC-1, those details were very minute. Sound quality to price ratio, I say the DC-1 wins over the Gungnir; the differences were so little that I would be very happy with the DC-1. The DC-1 also had headphone outputs so you wouldn't need to purchase an amp to power your headphones.
Conclusion
I agree. The dc-1 is much better value wise than the gungnir imo and is a little bit more polite sounding while not far with detail retrieval at all. I didn’t say much specifically about how the dc-1 sounds, but that’s because it just sounds good. I don’t doubt that Gary found that the gungnir and dc-1 were indistinguishable with his system. The differences to me were really minor and I had to try hard to hear it.
I will be returning the dc-1 as I don’t need a second dac right now. The gungnir does what it needs to as a dac and I’m hoping that Schiit releases some upgrades in the near future so that I won’t be tempted to buy another expensive dac.
