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MDAC First Listen (part 00111001)

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In spite of fusion5's kind response, personally I'm still hazy on what my optimum set-up will be with 2xVFETs. And what I need to budget for.
 
davidjt said:
In spite of fusion5's kind response, personally I'm still hazy on what my optimum set-up will be with 2xVFETs. And what I need to budget for.
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David,

VFET's are a very special case - for optimal performance they will have internal DAC stages - controlled via an MDAC2 or FDAC.

Trouble is they will be later next year - so its will MDAC2 keep you happy until then :)
 
I'm sure it will, (+ Detox?) but will be guided by you as to which one to choose. Depending on cost, I'm thinking of the first available version, but not if it will be 'overkill' later on.
 
JohnW said:
Ian,'s

On one hand LF have very long wavelengths so some delay might not be too detrimental - but also consider the highest sampling rate via digital output is 192KHz with no DSD support.

Most of the MiniDSP boxes DSP's operate at a fixed sample rate of 96KHz - the SharkDSP ASRC used to up-sample sounds noticeably very poor... one of the reasons I'm not in too much of a hurry to implement DSP.

It boils down to - do the benefits of DSP outweigh the negatives so its each system to its own...
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John
I've suspected that the ASRC is a weak link. Do you think you could mod one of the miniDSP units to improve the ASRC performance ? ( In due course I mean, when you aren't quite so busy !)
 
A question for John or anybody else who might know: can anyone point me to detailed documentation of the filter options in the ESS Pro HyperStream DACs? I believe they offer no less than 7 options now, which look like they'll cover all the MDAC filter variants and more, except Optimal Transient.
 
ljmac said:
A question for John or anybody else who might know: can anyone point me to detailed documentation of the filter options in the ESS Pro HyperStream DACs? I believe they offer no less than 7 options now, which look like they'll cover all the MDAC filter variants and more, except Optimal Transient.
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The ESS Datasheets are under NDA - I suspect it will be hard for you to find information on the newer Hyperstream II filters.
 
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iansr said:
John
I've suspected that the ASRC is a weak link. Do you think you could mod one of the miniDSP units to improve the ASRC performance ? ( In due course I mean, when you aren't quite so busy !)
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I believe that the DSP operates at 96KHz default - and even then I'm not even certain that the ASRC is bypassed with a 96KHz input. Sadly, its the software thats the limitation - it would need to scale the filter coefficients for each sampling rate - instead the ASRC is used so that only a single set of coefficients are required. There is also the potential of limited DSP power (MIPS) at higher sampling rates.
 
davidjt said:
I'm sure it will, (+ Detox?) but will be guided by you as to which one to choose. Depending on cost, I'm thinking of the first available version, but not if it will be 'overkill' later on.
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Noted :)

You will still be able to have with the MDAC2 until the VFETs are ready :)
 
An update on the MiniStreamer Chassis:-

"We've checked, they will be finished around 10 days later. We will let you know once they are ready for shipping."

I've asked the vendor to forward pictures of the Silkscreen'ed Front and rear panels as soon as they can ...
 
JohnW said:
An update on the MiniStreamer Chassis:-

"We've checked, they will be finished around 10 days later. We will let you know once they are ready for shipping."

I've asked the vendor to forward pictures of the Silkscreen'ed Front and rear panels as soon as they can ...
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Hi JohnW,

Thanks for the update.

I am worried you won't be able to get the finished product(s) to me by the 12 Dec. If they ship in 10 days from China, when will YOU get them?

Also, how are the circuit boards production coming alone? Production equipment running smoothly I hope.
 
JohnW said:
The ESS Datasheets are under NDA - I suspect it will be hard for you to find information on the never Hyperstream II filters.
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The kind of thong I'm looking for are descriptions of the filter types, and ideally measurements of them - the sort of thing you could find in a detailed review or even in a good owners' manual (like your descriptions of the filters in the M-DAC owners' manual).
 
jadidih101 said:
Hi JohnW,

Thanks for the update.

I am worried you won't be able to get the finished product(s) to me by the 12 Dec. If they ship in 10 days from China, when will YOU get them?

Also, how are the circuit boards production coming alone? Production equipment running smoothly I hope.
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Jadidih,

Yes - I'm keeping tabs on the date - The vendor will ship the chassis by carrier once they are ready.

I worry about the silkscreen - there is some fine text, the vendor says no problem - but I'm not convinced. I'd not be surprised that once they try to silkscreen the panels they find high reject rates...

The PCB slides into the Chassis - so you only need to undo 2 screws to slide the PCB into the extrusions.

Worst comes to worst - we will ship the Streamer PCB + PSU to you before you leave, and send the chassis directly to Canada... there should be no duty or tax free its lessthen US$20, also its not an electronics item (being just an empty chassis)....
 
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JohnW said:
Jadidih,

Yes - I'm keeping tabs on the date - The vendor will ship the chassis by carrier once they are ready.

I worry about the silkscreen - there is some fine text, the vendor says no problem - but I'm not convinced. I'd not be surprised that once they try to silkscreen the panels they find high reject rates...

The PCB slides into the Chassis - so you only need to undo 2 screws to slide the PCB into the extrusions.

Worst comes to worst - we will ship the Streamer PCB + PSU to you before you leave, and send the chassis directly to Canada... theere should be no duty or tax free its lessthen US$20, also its not an electronics item (being just an empty chassis)....
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That's fine John. Thanks.
 
JohnW said:
PCB's reserved for the "Developers addition" DEVDAC & Streamer from the first production batch to be shipped in the next 30 days:-

Rune
Hluga
Stephen Grenfell
Jadidih101
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I've now had the chance to complete the costings for the DevDAC PCB + MDAC2 Streamer:-

DevDAC PCB with SPDIF + Optical input PCB & MDAC2 Streamer Interconnection PCB GBP299 + shipping

MDAC2 Streamer PCB with 4GB eMMC GBP249

If you have already purchased the MDAC2 streamer PCB then you will only need to pay for the DevDAC PCB & shipping.

WRT to the streamer software there are two options offered at the moment:-

Volumio and MoOde - we can ship with your preferred option (you can try both options by re-flashing the onboard eMMC)

Its looking increasing likely we will be transitioning to MoOde in the future. Both software's have there advantages and disadvantages- but for me its much easier to work with Tim from MoOde and it looks as if this will be the direction I'll be moving forward with in the future (hopefully).

We will supply a "get you going" 12V SWITCHING wallwart adapter - but for best sound quality a decent linear supply is recommended.

The PCB will be built over the next 5 days - we are waiting for the bare 2 layer SPDIF input board and Streamer interconnect PCB to arrived from China - hopefully they will arrive here later next week.

The "Streamer interconnect PCB" is used in place of the ribbon cable between the DevDAC and streamer boards with a more "professional" and stable solution.

Rune (Streamer Paid)
Hluga (Streamer Paid)
Stephen Grenfell (Streamer Paid)
Jadidih101

We will confirm with our records if you have already purchased the streamer PCB's and send you an Email with payment request.
 
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John,

Thanks for the update that is great news!
Guess I will take a look at MoOde and try it on a RPI while waiting for the DevDac and streamer.

Really looking forward to hearing the DevDac and streamer combination:p
 
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