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MDAC First Listen (part 00110110)

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Discovery said:
Well HarryB, it's the absolute essence of hi-fi alchemy. It takes an ordinary music signal in on one side and scrubs all the unwanted electronic blemishes and artifacts from it, pushing out a cleaner, brighter, purer signal on the other side.

It will have a limited one-off production run (around 100 are expected to be produced) and, of course, only the lucky recipients will ever experience the expected improvement in sound quality. Those who have listened to the prototypes already attest to the performance so the only unknown is the impending delivery date.

I'm assuming you're here because you, too, like your music systems - of course you do! So how's it going to feel when you read on this most-active-of-threads that the owners are so happy with their products, knowing that you were around when you had the opportunity to get one yourself? Only you can answer that question.

All the best...
Click to expand...

Haha. Magic. My ignorance is greater than I'd imagined.

I understood hardly any of that.

I have a CD transport and I have a DAC. If I had a detox where would it go to do this "scrubbing of blemishes etc"?

Apologies for being so dim.

PS I've had Hifi systems for almost 50 years and have a 3,000+ CD collection. I'm fanatical about music and sound quality.
 
It's always good to talk to a fellow music lover.

It is USB in/USB out. If your CD player has (or could have) a USB out, it would go in between that and the DAC.

Go on, you know you want one... ;)
 
I also have two DACs. Neither of them has a USB out.

Sounds like it's a whole system Detox I need.

I wouldn't care but it sounds fabulous.
 
Chris, I want to do anything to improve SQ. That's how this whole current nonsense I'm going through started.

I want to be able to hear Tidal Masters. I can't do that using an iPad or a phone. I can't do it on my old Mac. I can't do it on my old PC. I'm pissed off by it.

Then I thought a Bluesound Node 2 or Vault 2 was the solution. It would be. But . . .

To get the full MQA unfolding I'd need to use the analogue outs on the Bluesound. So far so good. But then the wheels come off as neither of my DACs have analogue inputs.

The madness of Hifi. It's on this thread in all its glory. It's also in my head.
 
Very glad I didn't buy an Auralic Aries Mini ...I thought it would be perfect mate with this DETOX

http://support.auralic.com/hc/en-us/articles/222512427-Will-MQA-support-comes-to-AURALiC-device-

HarryB said:
Chris, I want to do anything to improve SQ. That's how this whole current nonsense I'm going through started.

I want to be able to hear Tidal Masters. I can't do that using an iPad or a phone. I can't do it on my old Mac. I can't do it on my old PC. I'm pissed off by it.

Then I thought a Bluesound Node 2 or Vault 2 was the solution. It would be. But . . .

To get the full MQA unfolding I'd need to use the analogue outs on the Bluesound. So far so good. But then the wheels come off as neither of my DACs have analogue inputs.

The madness of Hifi. It's on this thread in all its glory. It's also in my head.
Click to expand...
 
Hi johnw,

I'm not attending to munich show but i'm sur my hifi dealer will. Do you think feasible that he catches my dtox/mdac2 to bring them back to toulouse. I'm not afraid with DIY installation.

Bests,
 
HarryB said:
Chris, I want to do anything to improve SQ. That's how this whole current nonsense I'm going through started.

I want to be able to hear Tidal Masters. I can't do that using an iPad or a phone. I can't do it on my old Mac. I can't do it on my old PC. I'm pissed off by it.

Then I thought a Bluesound Node 2 or Vault 2 was the solution. It would be. But . . .

To get the full MQA unfolding I'd need to use the analogue outs on the Bluesound. So far so good. But then the wheels come off as neither of my DACs have analogue inputs.

The madness of Hifi. It's on this thread in all its glory. It's also in my head.
Click to expand...
If you really want to improve sound quality ,look at your speakers and the way they interact with your room, speakers and room are where the really large gains are to be found, not in a proprietary form of drm.
Keith
 
Purite Audio said:
If you really want to improve sound quality ,look at your speakers and the way they interact with your room, speakers and room are where the really large gains are to be found, not in a proprietary form of drm.
Keith
Click to expand...

Keith, you're like a stuck record. It may surprise you to hear that I spent a lot of money on my speakers and before I spent that money I did a lot of research and listening. I also spent a lot of time positioning them and furnishing the room. I'm very, very happy with the sound of my system. My quest is to establish if MQA offers something extra.

Thanks for your input. I'm hoping Pigeon Audio want be landing on this thread again.
 
hluga said:
Hi johnw,

I'm not attending to munich show but i'm sur my hifi dealer will. Do you think feasible that he catches my dtox/mdac2 to bring them back to toulouse. I'm not afraid with DIY installation.

Bests,
Click to expand...

roflcoptor, ah bless.
 
Well HarryB, FDAC is a full-width DAC incorporating the fruits of four years of research into how to produce the very best DAC that John Westlake can design.

A little context is required here. Originally, owners of Audiolab MDAC DACs were to receive an updated PCB to replace the original one, thus retaining the case, front panel, etc. However, last year John realised that all his improvements couldn't be squeezed into the original form factor without sonic compromise so took the project in the direction of a full-width form.

Whilst building working prototypes, it was then realised that most of the advantages could still be achieved in the original PCB form so the MDAC2 board became a reality again. The prototypes have proved to have very high quality sound (John suggests comparing them with £4 - £5K DACs). The interesting challenge now is how to make the FDAC significantly better to justify the extra expense - John is now working on the idea of a tube DAC design.

Some will be content with the MDAC2. Others will wait for the ultimate expression of John's ideas which will be the FDAC.

And a very small number will be also waiting for the VFETs but that's another story...

Delivery expectations: DETOX Q2; MDAC2 Q2/3; VFET Q3/4; FDAC Q4. These are my current interpretation and are liable to change/slip/challenge/ridicule (delete as applicable to your interest, hope or bias). However, those of us who have closely followed what John has researched and prototyped over the past few years have confidence that the end result will be worth it, and unobtainable at sensible money anywhere else.

So HarryB, if you want to hear TIDAL Masters, you appear to be in the right thread. John has recently visited MQA in my home town of Huntingdon and is satisfied that it is compatible with his own objectives so it will be incorporated in MDAC2 and FDAC. The only question appears to be how you would wish to feed your DAC with the TIDAL stream (as you detest PC's) but other solutions exist, as I expect you will now discover. I use a Raspberry Pi to great effect, and an industrial variant of this is being incorporated in the MDAC2 and FDAC designs - this makes it self-contained and helps sound quality due to close integration with the other components.

I hope this helps.
 
A brief addendum about DETOX. In my highly-technical description of its capabilities yesterday, I omitted to mention that it can also be clock-locked to the MDAC, MDAC2 or FDAC.

This means that the DAC becomes the master timing device and directs the DETOX to release its musically-charged electrons into the DAC in a very orderly fashion (a bit like a digital drill sergeant, if you like). This further contributes to sound quality, apparently.

Others who know far more about this than me might describe this as addressing the time domain aspects of the signal but I'm unqualified to comment further so I'll leave this to the boffins.
 
Discovery said:
A brief addendum about DETOX. In my highly-technical description of its capabilities yesterday, I omitted to mention that it can also be clock-locked to the MDAC, MDAC2 or FDAC.

This means that the DAC becomes the master timing device and directs the DETOX to release its musically-charged electrons into the DAC in a very orderly fashion (a bit like a digital drill sergeant, if you like). This further contributes to sound quality, apparently.

Others who know far more about this than me might describe this as addressing the time domain aspects of the signal but I'm unqualified to comment further so I'll leave this to the boffins.
Click to expand...

Since I got my order in for the Detox I have taken a different turn and no longer have an MDAC. I am feeding my current DAC from an SoTM 200 streamer (USB out). The computer is in another room. Will the Detox between the streamer and DAC provide these musically charged electrons or will the drill sergeant not turn up for parade at all.
 
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