advertisement


MDAC first listen (part V)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Carlos68 said:
Thanks for the reply, its the inactive message that i get when switching on and as i say switch it off and back on cures it so maybe thats doing the same as unplugging and re-inserting the USB.

Next time it does it i will try unplugging the USB instead of powering off !
Click to expand...

Mine happens after a good hour or so at least (when it occurs) not at switch on.

I may try a session without isolator . Maybe it has something to do with power from the USB getting disrupted by the Olimex . Although the MDAC does not require any power it uses it somehow as part of the signal ( a few posts back John detailed this.)

I'm not to bothered as I'm waiting for the development of the MTRNS with Isolated USB to optical 192khz conversion.
 
arthur said:
Dudes, no wish to be contrary here but...:)

Why not just use itunes? Plug and play as they say,

No shagging about with setting loads of faff stuff, and sounds as good as the rest as it's bit perfect and therefore has to.
Click to expand...

Maybe if it had support for FLAC I'd consider it, but as it doesn't I've not really paid much attention to it other than we need it for various portable devices and phones.

I did play around a bit with it previously and from my recollection another problem with iTunes is getting it set up to use exclusive mode.

J River wasn't actually that hard to set up, there's some good guides out there and it does give a fair amount of control which I guess can be both good and bad.
 
I'd recommend Pure Music for this, but (a) it's a little pricy, and (b) it crashes from time to time, which is a pain to restart on a headless system. Otherwise, good bit of software which allows FLAC in iTunes and Exclusive mode, auto sampling rate changes etc.
 
JTC said:
I'd recommend Pure Music for this, but (a) it's a little pricy, and (b) it crashes from time to time, which is a pain to restart on a headless system. Otherwise, good bit of software which allows FLAC in iTunes and Exclusive mode, auto sampling rate changes etc.
Click to expand...

Isn't that for Mac only?
 
arthur said:
Really? Hi res what? Flac?

I'm puzzled :confused:
Click to expand...

Hi-res WAV or ALAC (Apple Lossless). Not FLAC unfortunately.

However, one can download free software that first converts (with zero quality loss) FLAC to ALAC if need-be. Not ideal but it only takes a minute or so to do, and once it's converted just import into Itunes and its done.

For Mac the superb XLD will convert just about anything. For PC I believe dbpoweramp is the go-to converter.
 
On a Windows PC, iTunes software is nothing more than a pain-in-the-ass shopfront for the iTunes license-to-milk, and is of marginal competence as a media player. It is one of those programs that attempts to take over your machine, your world and your life as far as media is concerned. While someone who knows what they're doing can work around this, for a novice it's likely to be hook, line & sinker.

iTunes on the PC - just say no!
 
If using the MDAC's balanced xlr into an integrated amplifier with an input sensitivity of 130mV, am I likely to need some form of attenuation?? Is possible to calculate??

Apologies if this is an obvious question. Am I also right in thinking the M-PAX will allow changes to be made the xlr output voltage???
 
How much attenuation you'll need will depend on other factors too, such as the sensitivity of your speakers and how big your listening room is (i.e. how far are your ears from the loudspeakers). This assume that you're not saturating the input of your integrated amplifiier, which is a reasonable guess.
 
Here's a word of warning: don't mess with the filter button when you're raising volume by holding vol+ down, the volume keeps going to full...
 
EIffel said:
How much attenuation you'll need will depend on other factors too, such as the sensitivity of your speakers and how big your listening room is (i.e. how far are your ears from the loudspeakers). This assume that you're not saturating the input of your integrated amplifiier, which is a reasonable guess.
Click to expand...

Eiffel thanks for your response. I'm actually feeding a pair of earspeakers from the speakers taps, and these have a sensitivity of 77dB and an impedance of 50 ohms. The hifiman HE-6. Amp is a Nait5i.

Its the saturation of the input that I would be worried about. Using the RCA out I am using the Naits volume at 9 O'clock....so with the xlr's higher voltage I need some inline attenuation????
 
Canmanbryan

use the mdac on its own, with its internal volume control
find out what attenuation you use in practice
Then buy suitable attenuators if you need them
 
ChrisPa said:
Canmanbryan

use the mdac on its own, with its internal volume control
find out what attenuation you use in practice
Then buy suitable attenuators if you need them
Click to expand...


Chris thanks....obvious when you think about :rolleyes:. So enable preamp on the MDAC, and find the value (if any) required to get a sensible range of use on the Nait's volume...

Much appreciated!
 
I'm a bit out of my depth here, but it seems that to maintain the same volume level, you'll need to add about 6 dB of attenuation with a balanced connection, as the output voltage doubles compared to an unbalanced connection (RCA: 2.25V RMS,XLR: 4.5V RMS), assuming the input sensitivity of the amplifier doesn't change (which seems likely)

This is just the result of comparing how much attenuation is needed using this formula for different output voltages: 20 * log(MDAC Output voltage / 130mV)

Of course this may be completely wrong... but there is no harm in testing this (starting with even more attenuation)
 
Thanks Eiffel. I'll see if I can borrow an unattenuated cable from David at flashback, work out the amount needed by using the MDAC's built in pre, and then return the cable to David for the appropriate adjustment.

Cheers.
 
Plutox said:
On a Windows PC, iTunes software is nothing more than a pain-in-the-ass shopfront for the iTunes license-to-milk, and is of marginal competence as a media player. It is one of those programs that attempts to take over your machine, your world and your life as far as media is concerned. While someone who knows what they're doing can work around this, for a novice it's likely to be hook, line & sinker.

iTunes on the PC - just say no!
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more!
 
Oktane said:
Here's a word of warning: don't mess with the filter button when you're raising volume by holding vol+ down, the volume keeps going to full...
Click to expand...

Okatane

Could you pls. give me more detailed information - how did you increase the volume and change filter at the same time?

If we can recreate the issue - and can confirm the bug then we can fix the issue in the pending software release.

Thank you for the feedback,

John
 
bigmarcelo said:
just checking on the firmware update - any news? thanks.
Click to expand...

A qucik update:

Dominiks been having problems with the uploader - and still has not got it to work reliably.

The uploader work in two stages;

1. Updates the Mainboard processor (this works OK).

2. Updates the front panel processor - this is causing us grief...

Dom's back working full time on the software, so hopefully we will see progress very soon,

Sorry for the delay,

John
 
JohnW said:
A qucik update:

Dominiks been having problems with the uploader - and still has not got it to work reliably.

The uploader work in two stages;

1. Updates the Mainboard processor (this works OK).

2. Updates the front panel processor - this is causing us grief...

Dom's back working full time on the software, so hopefully we will see progress very soon,

Sorry for the delay,

John
Click to expand...

thanks for the update John.

Cheers,
 
Status
Not open for further replies.


advertisement


Back
Top