EarMen Tradutto Review (DAC)

[Dr Schweinsgruber]

Amir, I did some extensive listening and also A/B-ed against the Cirrus DAC in my $1400 CAD Marantz SACD player...and found both pretty similar.

I could take the listening duty off your hands and compare the Tradutto to any $150 DAC that is superior in your opinion. Could even do a Youtube Video with a microphone recording in front of my speakers for everybody to see/hear. You must have a lot of these budget DACs lying around and I look forward to receiving a loaner from you.

Then we have a comparison of static measurements of steady-state sine waves against real music.

But this A/B-ing should have been your duty....you have excellent recording equipment.

Thankyouverymuch

 

[confucius_zero]

As you see, one channel is dead.

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.

It is on kind loan from a member

Can this member exchange his defective sample for functional one? I'm sure earmen would understand that he's got a lemon in his hands?

 

[amirm]

Can this member exchange his defective sample for functional one? I'm sure earmen would understand that he's got a lemon in his hands?

I assume so but he has a well performing Schiit DAC and is staying with it I think. He was swayed to try this DAC by youtuber video saying it is better. Not that he needed one.

 

[amirm]

Amir, I did some extensive listening and also A/B-ed against the Cirrus DAC in my $1400 CAD Marantz SACD player...and found both pretty similar.

I could take the listening duty off your hands and compare the Tradutto to any $150 DAC that is superior in your opinion. Could even do a Youtube Video with a microphone recording in front of my speakers for everybody to see/hear. You must have a lot of these budget DACs lying around and I look forward to receiving a loaner from you.

Then we have a comparison of static measurements of steady-state sine waves against real music.

But this A/B-ing should have been your duty....you have excellent recording equipment.

Thankyouverymuch

View attachment 184124

If you want me to help fund a test like this, then it needs to be done properly with levels matched, and double blind. Do you know how to do that?

And no, it is not my "duty" to perform such listening tests. Any of you can do that because you don't need expensive instrumentation that I have. You just need to follow correct protocol so the results are reliable. What you did with the Marantz is not as you involved your eyes in addition to your ears.

 

[solderdude]

Could even do a Youtube Video with a microphone recording in front of my speakers for everybody to see/hear.

What would this prove ?

Instead why don't you record the output of 2 DACs (same music) and post the 2 files ?
Why would anyone want to include changes made by a poweramp + speaker + room acoustics + microphone and add noise and garbage and then also expect youtube compression not to 'f things up.
When you believe a microphone can perfectly capture the differences then a direct recording would be even better.

 

[Killingbeans]

But this A/B-ing should have been your duty....you have excellent recording equipment.

A/B-ing is nobody's duty.

But if you did a video where you had a +/- 0.1dB volume match, made sure there was no clipping anywhere in the chain, did seamless switching, used comparable reconstruction filters and didn't show/tell which DAC was playing at any given time, that would be fun.

The amount of comments you'd get about your test setup being faulty or the lack of visual cues being "stressful" and ruining peoples abilities to hear things would be endless.

 

[gerG]

For me this design fails at the output interface. RCA connectors are typically fragile, especially if you plug in a beefy cable (which I have made the mistake of doing many many times). Chassis mount RCA are better, but still do not hold up as well as TRS or XLR. Mini-plugs are right out. They may work ok initially, but they always loose signal after a time. OK for headphones (barely) since you are always twisting the connector to clean the contacts, but in an installed device they are trouble-a-brewing. Even if they sorted out the performance issues, I would never consider a device that did not have solid and reliable output connectors.

 

[CedarX]

can anyone tell me why 2.5mm/4.4mm balanced inputs/outputs exist in desktop gears? I thought they were designed with portability in mind...

4.4mm balanced outputs exist because RCAs don’t always work: EarMen is proving it…!!!

 

[Dr Schweinsgruber]

If you want me to help fund a test like this, then it needs to be done properly with levels matched, and double blind. Do you know how to do that?

And no, it is not my "duty" to perform such listening tests. Any of you can do that because you don't need expensive instrumentation that I have. You just need to follow correct protocol so the results are reliable. What you did with the Marantz is not as you involved your eyes in addition to your ears.

Actually, I closed my eyes and sat on the same chair in the same position. But if I can upgrade a poor sounding DAC with my eyes, that's fantastic.

Considering the large price difference between a $150 CAD and an $800 DAC, there should be a huge sonic difference, I am not worrying about nuances...if the differences are small, the price difference is not justified.

If you need a complex setup to find differences, the Tradutto is not worth its money.

 

[amirm]

Actually, I closed my eyes and sat on the same chair in the same position. But if I can upgrade a poor sounding DAC with my eyes, that's fantastic.

Well, you can and happens every day of the week and twice on Sundays with audiophiles who don't know any better. Problem with it is that it won't last as the effect is not real. So sooner or later you think there is another DAC that sounds better. Or some other useless tweak.

Anyway, you closing your eyes is not enough. As I stated in the review, this DAC has 10% higher output than is the norm for other DACs so it can bias you toward liking it. Who knows what your Marantz is outputting (hence the reason no review is valid without measurements). This is why I said levels need to be matched.

The test also needs statistical rigor. I can guess the outcome of a coin: heads or tail. If I am right, it doesn't mean I can see the future in this regard. Please see this video I created for this purpose:

 

[amirm]

Considering the large price difference between a $150 CAD and an $800 DAC, there should be a huge sonic difference, I am not worrying about nuances...if the differences are small, the price difference is not justified.

If you need a complex setup to find differences, the Tradutto is not worth its money.

The $150 DAC is objectively better, putting a cap on the performance of Tradutto. However, since audiophile perception of distortion is far worse than instruments, then the expected outcome is that you can't tell them apart if you only use your ears and follow proper protocol.

To the extent you think the $150 DAC is worse, then the odds are way against you so only evidence that can be accepted is a controlled test. No amount of swearing up and down that you are right amounts to nothing.

 

[aj625]

Wow this is not even r2r dac and still people are trying to defend it ! Once measurements are done there is no need to compare with listening test. Do people think that still there is some other test left in which a poor measuring dac can magically beat other better measuring dac ?

 

[AndreaT]

View attachment 184108

Sì. Grazie molto.

Prego. Saluti!

 

[spigot]

Take a picture of these unique measurements and sell them as a NFT for $1,000. Hey presto, free DAC!

 

[Azathoth]

Paying quite a bit just for that Tradutta name I suppose

 

[antcollinet]

Wow this is not even r2r dac and still people are trying to defend it ! Once measurements are done there is no need to compare with listening test. Do people think that still there is some other test left in which a poor measuring dac can magically beat other better measuring dac ?

If the poor performance is audible, then someone might prefer the poorer measuring DAC. Some people like the sound of distortion. Of course, no audiophile would ever admit this - they'd just claim it was better.

 

[MarkWinston]

I noticed audiophiles like distortion, noise or some sort of non-linearity. Im goin to start bundling up all shit and sell them for 20x the price. I wont forget you folks when I become rich. Promise.

 

[Nichdroid]

But actually, it means "translator" in Italian.

Not really, "tradutto" hasn't a meaning in Italian.
The italian word for translated is "tradotto" and "traduttore" is the Italian word for translator, but yeah, it sounds kinda similar

 

[respice finem]

Not really, "tradutto" hasn't a meaning in Italian.
The italian word for translated is "tradotto" and "traduttore" is the Italian word for translator, but yeah, it sounds kinda similar

Yes indeed, wrong phonetic memory from my Italy trips

But it strangely fits the DAC, which doesn't quite "translate"

 

[JanesJr1]

Sigh... I might have given this a pass on performance (since it would still sound just fine), but the use of the 4mm Pentacon (especially for a line output) is a solid WTF in my book. Moving away from connector standardization is the last thing we need right now. Use XLR, or TRS if you need to save space and BOM cost.

Also, I won't comment on the dead channel. The sample size is too small to draw any useful conclusions about reliability.

The 4.4 mm is clearly the little-guy getting sand kicked in his face. For the record, I really appreciate the 4.4mm headphone jack on my compact amp! Clean, simple and compact.