advertisement


MDAC First Listen (part 00110101)

Status
Not open for further replies.
jirij said:
Well there's always a master and a slave, we never managed to get ess=master + h3=slave working, but ess=slave + h3=master worked (as far as Jarek told me). The issue is that any control (switching clocks, sample rates, volume, filters, etc.) needed to be done via i2c manually, not via any "standard" means (ALSA mixer interface) that audio players would understand.
Click to expand...

Yes, but this is useless to me, we need DAC as clock Master.... I've given up with the idea and just go with USB in the future - I DONT trust getting anything complex done with Linux as its never proved as easy as I'm led to believe.

Beagle was underpowered, H3 proved a disaster, RPi3 / CM3 via USB is the safest, least risk option with the best community support :)

I've spent so much development funds and time on the Beaglebone / H3 "DAC" PCB's, software etc. (not to mention your time with the H3) - the coming of CM3 has been a saving grace.

I even went so far as visiting the H3 vendor in deepest China!
 
For MDAC2/FDAC, sure, CM3 via USB, but if you already have the H3-compatible i2s board, it would be shame if it just went to waste, which is why I wanted to re-purpose it, even if it would be H3-clocked.
 
Hello folks,

I´m selling all my MDAC2/FDAC investments with an 10% discount.
For sale are:

  • FDAC L3 MMC.....540 GBP (=600 GBP)
  • FDAC slave..........270 GBP (=300 GBP)
  • Detox...................45 GPB (= 50 GBP)
  • Detox...................45 GPB (= 50 GBP)
Easily PM me

Greetings
Superior
 
All very interesting info. thanks for the replies.

As an MDAC owner for a good while, running in conjunction with a dedicated laptop I bought at the same time for streaming purposes I've enjoyed the way it has performed very much, especially after the work John did on it. On more than one occasion I've chatted with lads about buying their share as I was as stated well happy with MDAC, however I always felt that only wanting a possible increase in SQ the other bits would be wasted on me.

My main problem with the MDAC (and not its fault) was it having to be tethered to the streamer via USB, and the hassles associated. No qualms with SQ in any way, it was lovely.

I then decided to look at a full blown streamer to fix the problems but first off bought a CCA to get my head around streaming wirelessly and also to make sure our semi rural none fibre optic phone wires could cope, it did.

I then started asking what the best sub 1000 streamer was.

It was then so many people said "just try a PI" first which I have.

That is why I'm interested again now I know the new dac incorporates one of these.

Mine sits there now playing faultlessy and giving excellent SQ which I personally did not even dream it could muster, playing Tidal and any rips on my hard drive with no trauma.

Only wires connected to it are the Ethernet and power chord, and a 2 x phono to Naim 5 pin for back of the pre amp, so bloody simple.

So, my question is why is there so many issues and hard work being put in to all these USB ports etc, won't most people just hook up the phono's or XLR's to the back of the amp and job done? I can see the need for an optical and coax for some but the Mdac already has them sorted.

What am I missing here? I can't think of a reason I'd want to stick another USB lead in to the RPI, it does everything without one, save for its mini usb power link.

Hence my question a few pages back. A plug in"MDAC mini board" for the RPI would be a great seller I'm sure, and I'd assume far simpler and easier, all whilst attracting worldwide interest.

I'm not a full blown "Audiophile" so as I said earlier I may be missing one huge point.
Apologies if that's the case, just thought I'd ask the question in more depth.

Many thanks.
 
Does anyone know roughly how much an MDAC weighs in its original packaging minus psu? Just packaging up mine for a visit to its maker and i don't trust my kitchen scales! I think its 3.?
 
kennyh said:
What am I missing here? I can't think of a reason I'd want to stick another USB lead in to the RPI, it does everything without one, save for its mini usb power link.
Click to expand...

External harddrive, USB thumb drive, wireless lan, ...

Edit: There is not much work involved with these connectors. They are directly wired to the RPi compute module.

Edit2: Forgot to mention human interaction devices :)
 
kennyh said:
A plug in"MDAC mini board" for the RPI would be a great seller I'm sure, and I'd assume far simpler and easier, all whilst attracting worldwide interest.
Click to expand...

The trouble is I cannot except compromises. Its IMPOSSIBLE to design such a small dac without too many compromises - a fact brought to my attention with the little L1 - L3 dacs we designed based on our MDAC2 / FDAC evaluation boards.


If the DAC's going to be less then perfect then I'd rather leave it to other company's - there's no value I can add.

I'm struggling to squeeze everything into the MDAC2 chassis - and in fact its already really a two box design with the external PSU.
 
killie99 said:
Isn't this the reason we ended up with FDAC as it wouldn't all fit in one box?
Click to expand...

Yes indeed - and the uproar it created by going a single box solution....

Looking at the BOM (Bill of Materials) for the MDAC2 and the second most costly parts used are the Polystyrene Capacitors - we are having custom made caps manufactured for MDAC2 / FDAC to make them "affordable".

MDAC2 uses almost US$40 worth of PS capacitors!
 
JohnW said:
Yes indeed - and the uproar it created by going a single box solution....

Looking at the BOM (Bill of Materials) for the MDAC2 and the second most costly parts used are the Polystyrene Capacitors - we are having custom made caps manufactured for MDAC2 / FDAC to make them "affordable".

MDAC2 uses almost US$40 worth of PS capacitors!
Click to expand...

I guess they are aluminium foil versions, there used to be some NOS copper foil parts out there word on the street was they were somewhat better but never managed to find any at a value I could use. Maybe an option for FDAC :p
 
fusion5 said:
External harddrive, USB thumb drive, wireless lan, ...

Edit: There is not much work involved with these connectors. They are directly wired to the RPi compute module.

Edit2: Forgot to mention human interaction devices :)
Click to expand...

Yes, in fairness all options I can add when I liked as and when, and if needed.
 
Originally Posted by JohnW:
"... the new Capacitors are now fitted to your original MDAC PCB. Feeling bad at the cost of the repairs 1 days work) I reopened your unit and added a few extra Audio tweaks so its now even better then when new."

John, that was very kind of you, and it does sound impressive! It's just sad to think that this PCB (recapped and improved in early October) will go to waste once I get my MDAC2! Perhaps the PCB can be installed in one of your spare MDAC units for resale? Or perhaps be sold as spare?
 
JohnW said:
The trouble is I cannot except compromises. Its IMPOSSIBLE to design such a small dac without too many compromises - a fact brought to my attention with the little L1 - L3 dacs we designed based on our MDAC2 / FDAC evaluation boards.


If the DAC's going to be less then perfect then I'd rather leave it to other company's - there's no value I can add.

I'm struggling to squeeze everything into the MDAC2 chassis - and in fact its already really a two box design with the external PSU.
Click to expand...

Would those L1 L3 fit directly to an RPI or need modding John? A few of the available boards on the market sound pretty special through very decent hifi equipment, I would have thought there was scope for even better SQ in this high volume market.

It also I'd imagine would be easy to get a few "loan" samples in to circulation to get true and proper feedback which is difficult to do with a bloody big expensive box. At the end of the day all this is subjective, you can build what you think is the best DAC in the world and some won't like it, it would be a boring world if that was not the case I guess.:D
 
brab said:
When available?

Roy Hall?
Click to expand...

Gosh - no, not via Roy Hall.

We have really struggled working with "THE" company so we have thrown our hands up in the air and basically let them "dumb down" the design - they dont have the mainboard design so hopefully they cannot cause too much damage here (although component quality is a concern) - but they display a basic fundamental understanding of electronics and when we see what they are try to do with High frequency signals to the OLED Display etc. then it becomes all rather depressing.

We did design the whole product, but basically they kept messing with the design, and we no direction from the management as too who has design lead we have effectively and rather sadly walked away from working with them any further in the future.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.


advertisement


Back
Top