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MDAC first listen (part V)

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3dit0r said:
I was just reading the manual ahead of my weekend dem and noticed you can use an iPad as a source with the apple camera adapter- has anyone tried this? If it's bit perfect, the iPad might in theory be a reasonable source, as it's got a long battery life and you can turn off the screen and wi-fi - who knows in audio though, gotta listen, but would be worth knowing if it's bit perfect out. I have an iPad 2 lying around, but no camera adapter...
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We have had trustworthy feedback the the newer iPAD OS's support Bit Perfect playback to 96kHz / 24Bits :)

3dit0r said:
Lastly, does anyone know whether the upcoming transport will still have a CD spinner in it, or if not, does anyone know if you can modify a Rega Apollo to clock-lock?

James
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The Transport is a Slot loader CD player and has a 192kHz ASync USB port...

Not sure about the Apollo - just about any fixed frequency device can be clock-locked, just depends upon your modification / design skills... :)
 
To stream to ipad, I use itune on my pc. No problem what so ever. One good thing about using ipad is it's bit perfect (without the trouble of setup a mac or pc) and it's extremely low noise.

Mav

3dit0r said:
How do you stream to the iPad? I was assuming you'd put the music on the iPad itself...
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JohnW said:
We have had trustworthy feedback the the newer iPAD OS's support Bit Perfect playback to 96kHz / 24Bits :)
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Thanks John, I'm on the latest iOS so should be fine- will be interested to see what the sonic benefits, if any, are. Should be a nice interface in any case, and potentially mean I don't have to buy a SBT or similar :)


JohnW said:
The Transport is a Slot loader CD player and has a 192kHz ASync USB port...

Not sure about the Apollo - just about any fixed frequency device can be clock-locked, just depends upon your modification / design skills... :)
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Haha, sadly my mod powers haven't quite grown to that extent yet, at least not without a step-by-step :p

To be honest, if you're bringing out a unit with a disc spinner and async USB which is clock-locked to the M-DAC, I'll prob just wait for that.

The reason I was asking about the Apollo specifically is I know Rega employ proprietary software to attempt a very precise read of the disc. How are you planning to cope with that in the CDT? Just ordinary error correction, or does it use proprietary software to optimize for each disc (a la Rega/Cyrus) or multiple reads to a memory buffer (as Meridian), etc.? In fact, I'm not even sure I've read how you did it in the 8200CD... Or is it a secret? ;)
 
mavwong said:
To stream to ipad, I use itune on my pc. No problem what so ever. One good thing about using ipad is it's bit perfect (without the trouble of setup a mac or pc) and it's extremely low noise.

Mav
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Thanks Mav. How do you have your network set-up to do that? Are you streaming wireless?
 
JohnW said:
klipschman70,

Dominik believes he has found the issue with very rapid locking / unlocking events at higher sample rates (Oppo player) - I've Emailed you the update file if you would not mind to check it out before "Official" release..

Thank you once again for your feedback,

John
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Hello JohnW

Thanks for your continuous support! I have updated the firmware with no issue at all. I use Vista 32bit and the update process was a breeze :D

I only got a chance to test the MDAC after update only for few minutes with 192kHz file streamed from Oppo. It seems now the MDAC would play such files correctly (not only the first song in an album). However I think I noticed distorted sound for the first 0.5-1 sec when new file/ song being played. I will confirm this again, when I got home and have a chance to test again.

The software version indicated by MDAC is 0.94/0.93 instead of 0.94/0.94 as mentioned in your email.

Best regards

Harry
 
klipschman70 said:
Hello JohnW

Thanks for your continuous support! I have updated the firmware with no issue at all. I use Vista 32bit and the update process was a breeze :D

I only got a chance to test the MDAC after update only for few minutes with 192kHz file streamed from Oppo. It seems now the MDAC would play such files correctly (not only the first song in an album). However I think I noticed distorted sound for the first 0.5-1 sec when new file/ song being played. I will confirm this again, when I got home and have a chance to test again.

The software version indicated by MDAC is 0.94/0.93 instead of 0.94/0.94 as mentioned in your email.

Best regards

Harry
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Upon further listening and checking all connection between MDAC and other components I cannot hear distorted sound as I mentioned this morning... good news.
I guess now I can start burning in my MDAC and wait for the official release of the software.
Thumbs up for both JohnW and Dominik!:)
 
JohnW said:
Hi Kevin,

Dom's found a method to recreate the issue - so is now debugging,

Thank you for the very detailed feedback - its help us to 'Find" the issue in the lab,

John

Edit - ops, sorry this posting should have been for klipschman70 - my bad, I confused posters...
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Thanks John and Dominik,
Looking forward for it will be fixed on next patch!
 
Quick question- I know John reckons the CDQ is a big step up from the CD in terms of PSU, de-jitter circuits, etc., but is there any difference in SQ or tech specs between the CDQ and MDAC or are they really identical apart from CD transport section?
 
Well, just listened to the MDAC in the dealer's dem room. Interesting experience- the DAC showed much potential and is en route home with me for a proper listen. The system and room combo at the dealer's was so recessed and muddy I was unable to form firm opinions, except to say that even there I was hearing things I'd never noticed on familiar recordings, and there was no hint of hardness, and some nice natural sounds trying to find their way through (the room was a small box, so bass was a bit boomy). Most interesting thing for me so far- the MDAC fed by USB from my MacBook was better than the 8200CD feeding it, and USB sounded more solid than optical out of the MBP. I'll report more when I get it home...

I should add that even with their not too sensitive speakers driven by Audiolab power amp direct from the MDAC, I was till attenuating to round about 30dB with rock music (less with classical), so I'll almost certainly need attenuators in my system to run without a preamp...
 
3dit0r said:
Quick question- I know John reckons the CDQ is a big step up from the CD in terms of PSU, de-jitter circuits, etc., but is there any difference in SQ or tech specs between the CDQ and MDAC or are they really identical apart from CD transport section?
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'CROSS' output stage in the MDAC is meant to be better than the CDQ. HTH
 
3dit0r said:
I should add that even with their not too sensitive speakers driven by Audiolab power amp direct from the MDAC, I was till attenuating to round about 30dB with rock music (less with classical), so I'll almost certainly need attenuators in my system to run without a preamp...
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What's the problem with attenuating to -30db?????
 
Interzone said:
What's the problem with attenuating to -30db?????
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I don't know, you'd have to ask John- he advised that if going lower than -30dB to use attenuation. My guess would be that past that point one is beyond the point where the SNR would come into effect attenuating in digital domain- say if the DAC had 130dB SNR, then by the time you get to beyond -30dB you can start to hear it in the rest of the system? That is literally just my guess though, best ask him if you want the real answer!

Thanks for the CDQ/MDAC info, btw :)
 
Ah, maybe the extra bits run out at -30db. Though I thought it would be lower personally. Fortunately I can attenuate via my (active) speakers so isn't a problem for me.
 
If it's already been posted then I apologise, but it takes bloody ages to sift through these threads. Is the non-beta software update now available to download?
 
Interzone said:
Ah, maybe the extra bits run out at -30db. Though I thought it would be lower personally. Fortunately I can attenuate via my (active) speakers so isn't a problem for me.
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iirc it's not about the number of bits - think you have to go a lot lower for that to be a factor. it's more about the audio signal being reduced whilst the digital noise level stays constant - at least thats how i remember it.
 
John

A lot of people on here are running the updated software. What's the delay in getting it released official. I am not desperate that is why I haven't asked to beta test it but do want to run my PVR through the MDAC for music programs and concerts insteafof my AV amp.

Sorry to go on about it again :)

Cheers
 
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