Another temptation

[forbigger]

I swear to God I won't buy anything else if I can afford this

http://www.bladelius.com/products/bladelius/media-players/embla.html

Never heard of this brand. Anyone has?

[Tari]

I discussed this unit a couple weeks ago with Tim Ryan of Simplifi Audio (who I bought my Resolution system with.) The lower storage units are sanely priced but the 2TB version is 10K (Not all on SSD drives despite what the ad copy implies.) The issue I have with these types of media players is their proprietary storage systems mean re-ripping all your discs if you want to utilize the internal memory. If it allowed you to transfer the files from your computer (or NAS or what have you) it would save a whole lot of time. It works the other way too - once ripped into internal memory, no simple way of pulling it off and transferring to a backup drive. These issues are not unique to the Embla but are a major inconvenience in a unit that's supposed to be all about convenience.

It is beautiful though.

[forbigger]

I did audience it briefly when I tried out 009 before purchase. The seller uses this as source. With a mere srm 323, it blew me outta water. Can we use external storage connected to the unit fr additional storage? If this can be done, it will be perfect

[Tari]

You can hook up to a NAS via ethernet. Part of their whole pitch is how perfectly it plays back files located on its internal drive with proprietary software so it would be great if you could transfer the external storage onto the unit itself. Still a pretty great unit - Tim actually had to stop selling Resolution gear due to conflict of interest with the Bladelius line that he picked up. There's a whole lot of these music servers cropping up and the Bladelius does have a good balance of functionality and cost.

[forbigger]

Thanks fr the link. Didn't know there are so many choices now. Briefly skimmed the website, most of the music server took existing files. Very few that Have capability of ripping it directly frm the built in cd. But again, will look more into it. This thing has becoming more and more interesting

[blubliss]

Add these 2 to the list, Sonore & Auriliti. I might go with either of these before any of the others, but I didn't look that close at the others.

[forbigger]

Maybe the below link + external hdd or ssd + DVD drive to rip CDs + $20 dbpoweramp software connected to my existing dac would make an equally good solution?

http://liliputing.com/2012/05/more-fanless-netbooks-could-be-on-the-way.html

[guzziguy]

It might do the trick, Budi. The price to find out is low, why not give it a try?

[forbigger]

hi Ken, may try going down this route......the more i read this music server thing, the more i believe theres a cheaper alternative to achieve the same objectives through cheaper means

[forbigger]

Ok folks. I went to the store at HK to audition this Media player and the store owner told me that his display/demo unit is for sale at a very tempting price. After some intense negotiation, I walked away with it.

This is one heavy beast. 12kg or around 25lbs extremely well build. The unit I have is the basic version, 32gb CF, no touch screen with CDP built in (TEAC drive). There are 3 different versions.

Standard : no cdp, no internal memory, usb input from computer and usb input frm external storage

Basic : The one I have

Classic : bigger internal storage up to 2tb (I believe its 1tb mirrored to each other), touch screen, pre amp section, 2 more additional filters (one hardware which is kind of separate DAC section itself and another software modified section which is based on this DAC). For more tech spec, please refer to the 6moons audio review http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/bladelius/embla_2.html

The CDP can also rip CD inserted to the internal or external storage. The error correction software is done by this Swedish company http://www.moceanlabs.com/

To increase the storage I'm currently using a docking station with 128gb so that to keep the concept of "no moving parts". It sounded better compared if I stream it from computer (which is self explanatory).

I pair this DAC with BHSE and 007 and 009. I tried not to got overly excited with the new toy syndrome (and I suck big time at describing sound), but here's my impression SO FAR (bear in mind I did not do a comparison with the DAC I have in hand now - Neko D100 and Stello DA100):

Overall : It's a very neutral DAC. Very faithful reproduction. With a hint of brightness on upper mid.

With 009 : Some recording, it can be unbearable at slightly high volume. Like some of the folks, I found that 009 is a bright headphone or at least brighter than 007 so on the condition described, I found that the upper mid can be unbearable.

With 007 : Perfect. The hint of brightness actually helped this headphone to lift some of the "curtain" that sometimes can cover this headphones. Although the bass still did not extend as deep as 009 but I can listen to it longer than I can with 009.

This DAC make me prefer 007 to 009 on my setup. Now I wonder if the 009 will get more or same listening time to 007 (mk2.5 btw)

What I like about this DAC is the all in box solution and I don't have to use computer for playback anymore. One slight complaint is that fr Basic version all the interactions are done through remote control so if you have to scroll to find a song in a say 300 folders collections, it can be quite a chore compared to computer playback with eg. foobar. But outside from that, its a perfect one box solution.

I wouldn't buy this thing if it's full retail price (between $5-6k for my config). But for the price I got it for. It's a steal.

[forbigger]

Oh yes, 6moons reviewer said that this is the most analogue sounding DAC at the time of the review. I cannot comment since TBH, I have no idea how analogue sounded like compared to digital

To add, Embla cannot be considered a full fledge media center as it can only stream music through a wired ethernet port. It cannot stream wireless

Edited July 1, 2012 by forbigger

[Dusty Chalk]

Nice.

What about higher resolution files? Obviously you can't rip them, but can you at least play them?

[forbigger]

Yup. Up to 32 bits 192 khz

[HeadphoneAddict]

To add, Embla cannot be considered a full fledge media center as it can only stream music through a wired ethernet port. It cannot stream wireless

Hook the ethernet up to any Apple Airport Express that is set up to extend the network and Bazinga! you're wireless.

[forbigger]

yeah......didnt think of that. would the sq be compromised you stream it wireless like that?

[grawk]

why would it? You'd get a more transparent sound, because the wires are transparent.

[Tari]

A lot of these DAC's have trouble working wirelessly. I have my Cantata set up like this:

Which is how they suggest using it, (took the picture from their site,) but I do experience dropouts and occasional distortion. So in theory, shouldn't matter but either due to your network's bandwidth or the firmware of the DAC it might not always work like it should. This is especially true with hi-rez (which the Cantata can handle up to 24/96 over ethernet/wireless. - don't know about how other DAC's handle hirez over ethernet.)

[forbigger]

lol, got all the transparency i wanted , so i guess additional transparency wouldn't matter anymore

@tari,thanks but i'm not much into wireless streaming since my listening station at my working quarter is more or less stationary. just wondering only......

[grawk]

The only way I could see wireless being a problem is if your wireless network were on a congested channel, or you're using 802.11B, which is pretty old tech at this point.

[NekoAudio]

I had some dropouts with 802.11b but none since I switched to 802.11n.