EarMen Tradutto Review (DAC)

[DonR]

I would say amirm doesn't know the basics of professional audio equipment, and audio chain.

That is a pretty bold statement. I certainly would not agree with it.

 

[Berwhale]

I would say amirm doesn't know the basics of professional audio equipment

A bit about your host....

This is a bit about your host, Amir Majidimehr. I am writing this as to give more context to people reading my technical reviews and measurements. I have realized that without this context, many assume I am yet another blogger spitting out graphs. That is very true but let’s see if we can...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Doodski]

Is it fair to review a broken DAC?

Yes, it is. The unit was supplied as new this way and that is representative of the QC of the company. This should be a wake-up call to the company to get organized and not release duds.

 

[Doodski]

I think that Amirm sold his reputation to do bad marketing and bad reputation to earmen and Tradutto, that's very sad... I have Tradutto at home and it is simple amazing, build quality, remote controler, and sound is very neutral which is great. I dont need extra potentiometer, nor should the dac supposed to have one. I would say amirm doesn't know the basics of professional audio equipment, and audio chain. Dac(no volume control)->preamp(pot.)->amp(pot.). Now there is no need for the preamp because of the high signal levels which is great. Who else would do a review on a broken dac? I have a friend (audiophile) who though a 4.4mm line connector was used for headphones
I found a link where you can see the real measurements of Tradutto: https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/19qBeFoz1cn6c8-2114sNCyNYvaSIiIm_?usp=sharing

As I mentioned in another post the unit was supplied as new with a defective channel. What do you think should be done with a defective unit? Why is this @amirm responsibility now when the company cannot QC their own gear? You read like a fan-boy upset about a bad review due to bad QC and poor design..

 

[DonR]

As I mentioned in another post the unit was supplied as new with a defective channel. What do you think should be done with a defective unit? Why is this @amirm responsibility now when the company cannot QC their own gear? You read like a fan-boy upset about a bad review due to bad QC and poor design..

I would be upset as well if I had spent $800 on a pile of poo that couldn't outperform a $150 unit. The target of his rage is simply misplaced.

 

[Doodski]

I would be upset as well if I had spent $800 on a pile of poo that couldn't outperform a $150 unit. The target of his rage is simply misplaced.

I guess we are supposed to feel bad and rectify the situation for the company because that is apparently our responsibility.

 

[DonR]

I guess we are supposed to feel bad and rectify the situation for the company because that is apparently our responsibility.

"You're not holding it right."

 

[amirm]

Is it fair to review a broken DAC?

What was broken was the RCA connector in one channel. I could make it work by wiggling the cable. The rest of the DAC was fine and I chose to test the balanced output to avoid that issue.

So it all depends on what is "broken." In this case, what was broken did not impact the measurements.

 

[mike audiophile man]

Yes, it is. The unit was supplied as new this way and that is representative of the QC of the company. This should be a wake-up call to the company to get organized and not release duds.

I would not agree with you. This is done only if he wants to harm someone or wants to be non-objective.

 

[mike audiophile man]

Why are you here? If you don't like the test results then what is your purpose being here? Do you always pick and choose your test result(s)?

I'm not sure I understand your question! According to you, there can only be haters here. This is not a way to be objective or this is intentional

 

[Doodski]

I would not agree with you. This is done only if he wants to harm someone or wants to be non-objective.

The unit was tested as it arrived out of the box as new. If you read other test websites/magazines they test stuff that has issues too and they make a footnote about that just like was done by @amirm . No intentional harm was intended. How is this not being objective?

 

[Doodski]

I'm not sure I understand your question! According to you, there can only be haters here. This is not a way to be objective or this is intentional

Your reply makes no sense. You are apparently assuming you know my thoughts and intention(s). My questions was because you appeared suddenly in this thread and where advocating for Earmen and placing the onus for this screw up on ASR. We have trolls that do this often and they make a pain in the derriere of themselves until they get a thread ban or kicked. If you are so concerned about Earmen then contact the company and ask for another sample.

 

[mike audiophile man]

The unit was tested as it arrived out of the box as new. If you read other test websites/magazines they test stuff that has issues too and they make a footnote about that just like was done by @amirm . No intentional harm was intended. How is this not being objective?

I still don't agree with you. If the device has been broken, what is the purpose of measuring and testing. Readers are just being deceived. If the device is broken, you contact the company to request a replacement.

 

[mike audiophile man]

Your reply makes no sense. You are apparently assuming you know my thoughts and intention(s). My questions was because you appeared suddenly in this thread and where advocating for Earmen and placing the onus for this screw up on ASR. We have trolls that do this often and they make a pain in the derriere of themselves until they get a thread ban or kicked. If you are so concerned about Earmen then contact the company and ask for another sample.

You said, I quote: "If you don't like the test results then what is your purpose being here?"
How can that be objective?
Even worse, if I disagree with you, then I am "troll"
And now you are threatening to ban or kick me from the forum if I express my opinion?

 

[Doodski]

I still don't agree with you. If the device has been broken, what is the purpose of measuring and testing. Readers are just being deceived. If the device is broken, you contact the company to request a replacement.

There is no deception. Things are clearly up front and a statement was made regarding the state of the new unit. The onus is not on ASR to rectify poor product QC and design. The unit was tested using the balanced output so a different unit will still be tested using balanced output. If you are so concerned then email Earmen and get another unit to test. It would not be the first time a second unit is tested. It would not be the first time either if the test results are the same.

 

[Doodski]

You said, I quote: "If you don't like the test results then what is your purpose being here?"
How can that be objective?
Even worse, if I disagree with you, then I am "troll"
And now you are threatening to ban or kick me from the forum if I express my opinion?

Again you are making a statement about what I commented about that is not true. I don't moderate here so I don't kick or ban. I'm just a commenting person just like you are.

 

[mike audiophile man]

There is no deception. Things are clearly up front and a statement was made regarding the state of the new unit. The onus is not on ASR to rectify poor product QC and design. The unit was tested using the balanced output so a different unit will still be tested using balanced output. If you are so concerned then email Earmen and get another unit to test. It would not be the first time a second unit is tested. It would not be the first time either if the test results are the same.

You don't get the point. I'm not interested in EarMen or other testing. I wanted to buy this device, and I read various reviews that praised it, and quite relevant reviews, and then I came across a forum that claims the exact opposite. I wanted to know exactly what it was about, but as soon as I expressed my thoughts I was satanized. It seems that if you are not a donor, than you have no right to an opinion.
I'm sick of all this, I don't want to interfere anymore.

 

[Doodski]

It seems that if you are not a donor, than you have no right to an opinion.

Again you make up things.

 

[Purité Audio]

You don't get the point. I'm not interested in EarMen or other testing. I wanted to buy this device, and I read various reviews that praised it, and quite relevant reviews, and then I came across a forum that claims the exact opposite. I wanted to know exactly what it was about, but as soon as I expressed my thoughts I was satanized. It seems that if you are not a donor, than you have no right to an opinion.
I'm sick of all this, I don't want to interfere anymore.

Nearly all ‘subjective’ reviews praise, it is in no one’s interest not to, ASR only praises when justified.
Keith

 

[Deleted member 43441]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the EarMen Tradutto stereo DAC. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $770 from the company direct.

View attachment 184018

The Tradutto is extremely heavy for its size, having been machined out of solid metal. The corners are a bit sharp though for my taste. A chunky machined remote is also included:
View attachment 184019
The remote is rechargeable which is nice. What is not nice is that it has no volume controls (nor does the unit itself) so I don't know about its usefulness. On a desk I can just hit the same buttons myself. Another odd thing is using 4.4mm pentacon for balanced output. This kind of connector is use for balanced headphone output sometimes but hardly ever for line out. Sadly the company doesn't include an adapter for it to dual XLR.

Out of the box, one RCA channel was not working. I could feel the connector moving left and right and I could briefly get it to work if I held on to the cable. The other one did not feel very secure either.

EarMen Tradutto Measurements
Let's start with RCA output:
View attachment 184020

As you see, one channel is dead. That aside, note that the output is nearly 2.2 volts meaning it will be louder when you compare it to vast majority of DACs out there that output 2 volts. In subjective testing this could cause people to think the fidelity is better for Tradutto even though it is not.

I used a Frankenstein pair of adapters to go from Pentacon to 4-pin XLR and from there, to two 3-pin XLRs:

View attachment 184021

Company specs the output to be 4 volts but I am only getting 2.2 volts. Not sure if this is a problem with the unit or the adapter I have.

Distortion dominates the SINAD score, landing an average rating:

View attachment 184022

In its price range though, competitors do far, far better.

Dynamic range is along the same lines:
View attachment 184023

Multitone performance is decent:
View attachment 184024

Intermodulation distortion vs level shows classic ESS DAC IMD "hump" which other companies have solved for a long time now:

View attachment 184025

I expect a perfect response in this price class when it comes to jitter but we don't get it:

View attachment 184026

Linearity is also non-competitive:

View attachment 184027

There is only one filter and its response is poor:

View attachment 184028

This causes THD+N vs frequency to look really bad at low sampling rates:

View attachment 184029

Increasing the sample rate to 192 kHz eliminates the effect of the filter but still leaves us with non-competitive performance.

Finally to squash any comments about tonality being different, here is the frequency response:

View attachment 184030

Conclusions
A no frills desktop DAC with near perfect objective measurements goes for $150 or even less these days. The Tradutto charges five times as much but delivers worse performance. Money was spent on case and such which don't add value to performance of the unit. And frankly don't make it look any nicer either. Functionality is poor as far as lack of volume control. There is not one thing you can hang your hat on that would say you should buy this device. In a competitive market, it has no place.

I can't recommend EarMen Tradutto DAC. Company needs to do far better to improve performance and functionality.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

The first thing I noticed is it’s lack of XLR inputs and or outputs. I think at this price point any piece of audio gear should have them, and I know for far less money my Topping D30 pro has them.

I’m still looking for that elusive full featured, great measuring <$1000 XLR input & output
phono preamp. Something that measures like the Cambridge duo, but has much more adjustability. I’ll wait lol.