Ok, here’s a very verbose review (apologies for the length!).
My search for a DAC started when my Marantz CD63mkII KI Signature CD player developed transport problems. I was mortified, as I loved this player…until I realised you could replace the transport for just £12 and did so! However this, combined with the work Cyrus and other manufacturers were doing around improving CD transports and the differences they made, I decided an upgrade could be an option! But, given the rise in media streamers and bit-accurate ripping software, was a new CD player the way to go? If the CD transport in a player is such a weak link, why not use a less error prone method of extracting the CD data?
So, I decided to rip all my CDs to a hard disk as I knew it would take a while and in parallel, look for a network music streamer. I ripped everything to FLAC (loss-less) to my NAS via dbpoweramp, which is a must-have app for anyone ripping CDs, it’s bit accurate and also has a database of other users’ CRC check codes to ensure what you have ripped is good.
Someone lent me a Sonos ZP90 and I was hooked. The iPhone, Android and especially the iPad app for it were fantastic, SO easy to use and instantly responsive. Functionality aside (having all my music at my fingertips), comparing it to the KI CD player was interesting. The Sonos sounded good, bags of detail and sounded technically better than the KI CD which “missed” things in comparison. However, the KI CD, despite not giving as much in some areas, vastly made up for it in warmth and depth…and could make the hair stand up on the back of my neck, which the Sonos couldn’t. My girlfriend always said she’d prefer to listen to the KI CD.
So, I wasn’t there yet, but what was clear, not just a good “transport” makes the difference, it had to be the DACs in the KI CD being better than the Sonos ones. So, a DAC was the next option.
I looked at the Arcam rDAC, but was prepared to pay more. At the time there was the Rega DAC and the Audiolab M-DAC had just got an excellent review in WHF. I went to trial the M-DAC, but no one had it, instead I borrowed the Rega DAC for an evening. I didn’t have it long, but it showed me a new DAC was the way forward, it VASTLY improved the Sonos’ sound. But, for £100 more, I could get the M-DAC which had more features than the Rega DAC and also matched my existing Audiolab kit. So, I decided to wait and last month I managed to persuade my local hi fi shop to sell their single M-DAC demo unit to me when it arrived, instead of keeping it in the shop.
After about a week of burn in, it settled down and now sounds stunning. The Sonos through the M-DAC now sounds better than any other combination. Vocals are full and rich, bass is extremely deep, but so controlled. The sound-staging is wide and encompassing. You can hear fingers on guitar strings, pianos echo through the room and the detail in drums, especially hi-hats just makes you grin from cheek to cheek. I think someone else made a perfect comment on another review which I am going to echo here. Other DACs bring one instrument out which you can hear throughout the music, the M-DAC brings out every instrument. Ultimately, it manages to give you everything, whilst still sounding musical and integrated. I’ve landed on Optimal Transient XD as the filter as it seems to sound “fuller” than the others. Minimum Phase was also the other filter I liked, that gives you EVERYTHING, but can sound a bit un-natural in some recordings (to my ears).
I also have my AV receiver inputs going into it to be re-clocked and de-jittered. This has made a difference to them too – I really wasn’t expecting this!
I have still yet to try it in pre-amp mode, namely due to the dependence on my single analogue input for the Surround Processor. I have also tried USB and foobar, but kept getting a bit of drop out, this could be due to my long (and probably not USB 2.0 compatible) cable though.
So, in summary, a cracking product, well worth the wait and I am very much looking forward to the HQ power supply and the source re-naming coming along in a future firmware upgrade!
I have a couple of questions, John, if you get a second:
1) My Sonos output frequency varies plus/minus 5Hz, whereas the KI CD doesn’t vary at all. There are some modifications you can get to the digital output stage of the Sonos, do you think these would “cure” this, or is it too insignificant to bother?
2) Will the HQ PSU mean I can finally do away with the Audiolab pre-amp as it has an analogue pass-through as a selected input? (I think you have me on your list of pre-orders?).
3) Where can you download the bit-perfect files from?