ERC-4 Differential Reference™ CD Player and Transport

The Good, The Bad and The…honest truth

First let me start by stating that I really respect what emotiva is doing in the hifi space. The Erc 4 is beautifully built with robustness throughout. It feels like a serious unit that means business. As a transport it is a precise machine punching way above its price point. BUT some of the decisions that were made on the Erc 4 really irk me. Let’s start with the remote. Once you pry it open to put batteries inside, you quickly realize it didn’t need to be 10 inches long. Second, the dac used feels outdated and wasn’t as good as my existing dac, so using the balanced connection is not feasible. The user interface leaves a lot to be desired, including the awkward moments when you press the open button and it reads “close” but then it opens. Just feels clunky. And finally the most egregious of all is the lack of continuous playback on live concerts and albums like Abbey Road. This player places a split second in between tracks. Really taking you out of the moment of a live recording or the aforementioned beatles masterpiece.

The sound is amazing. I'm listening to all my cd's again and they sound better than they ever have!

Everything, fastest delivery ever, double boxxed!!!