MDAC first listen (part II)
- Thread starter mark.king
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John mentioned them a while back in the original CDQ thread. As far as I know;
Mono blocs with balanced input and 'cross' output. And I assume current delivery will be 'adequate'
Possibly class A too, but that's a guess. I hope they will be in the same sexy silver finish as my Mdac.
finesensations
pfm Member
John mentioned them a while back in the original CDQ thread. As far as I know;
Mono blocs with balanced input and 'cross' output. And I assume current delivery will be 'adequate'
Possibly class A too, but that's a guess. I hope they will be in the same sexy silver finish as my Mdac.
Thanks authur.
Will await further developments.
Hi John
I have been enjoying my mdac for about a month now. Only just tried the preamp and I am gobsmacked at the improvement over my existing pre. The only problem I have is needing an Av passthrough in my setup.
On that note could you please put me down for a Premium PSU upgrade in black please.
Congratulations on a superb value for money product BTW.
I have been enjoying my mdac for about a month now. Only just tried the preamp and I am gobsmacked at the improvement over my existing pre. The only problem I have is needing an Av passthrough in my setup.
On that note could you please put me down for a Premium PSU upgrade in black please.
Congratulations on a superb value for money product BTW.
sleepysurf
Member
Thanks. Tried to PM you back, but your PM box is full.
Thanks for asking mate, right now nothing is crashing & everything is working great, my PC was crashing due to a driver issue, in my opinion due to the MDac/USB connection being affected so much with all testing i was doing.
Right now its all working lovely apart from the USB playback seizing if i start switching on certain electrical appliances next to my MDac (old sub/hoover/cd player)
I can still play a CD via the MDac, but say im using USB, powering up the CD player can cause the USB connection to seize.
(bare in mind i also have amp/TV/cable box/PS3 near the MDac but they dont affect USB playback, probly due to cheap electrical shielding on the problematic items)
The way the 'USB seize' affects the media player is exactly as if i'd switched off the MDac mid-song via USB (the media player seizes & toggles with 1second increment)
All this points to the USB connection at the MDac's end of the chain being affected by electrical signals, not the PC. Im not saying it's not my room causing the electrical issue, but from my view its definitely the MDac/USB being affected, not my PC & laptop.
Hi, John,
Happy new year to yourself and all the PFM members!
Lots of developments here over christmas it seems! Very interested to read about the two analogue inputs on the MDAC PSU upgrade. Am I correct thatto connect both my turntable and HT bypass I would need just an RCA to XLR converter plus an in-line volume control ? If so, then the only benefit I can see for sticking with the CDQ over the upgraded MDAC would be remote volume control of the turntable. Did I understand correctly that (turntable-->phono amp-->pot-->mdac/psu-->power amp) offers a cleaner signal path than (turntable-->phono amp-->CDQ-->power amp) ?
If so, and if you still have room on your list, could you please add my name to your orders for a premium PSU upgrade in silver
Any suggestions for a suitable off-the-shelf volume pot + RCA/XLR converter?
Regarding the SBT clock lock upgrade, I for one would be more than happy to lose the analogue outputs, but it would be nice (not essentuial) to retain both digital outputs so I could dual connect it to the MDAC and also my surround processor.
All the best,
Tim
Happy new year to yourself and all the PFM members!
Lots of developments here over christmas it seems! Very interested to read about the two analogue inputs on the MDAC PSU upgrade. Am I correct thatto connect both my turntable and HT bypass I would need just an RCA to XLR converter plus an in-line volume control ? If so, then the only benefit I can see for sticking with the CDQ over the upgraded MDAC would be remote volume control of the turntable. Did I understand correctly that (turntable-->phono amp-->pot-->mdac/psu-->power amp) offers a cleaner signal path than (turntable-->phono amp-->CDQ-->power amp) ?
If so, and if you still have room on your list, could you please add my name to your orders for a premium PSU upgrade in silver
Any suggestions for a suitable off-the-shelf volume pot + RCA/XLR converter?
Regarding the SBT clock lock upgrade, I for one would be more than happy to lose the analogue outputs, but it would be nice (not essentuial) to retain both digital outputs so I could dual connect it to the MDAC and also my surround processor.
All the best,
Tim
-- TimR,
If you don't mind powering up the MDAC, you may actually be able to use its coax output and connect it to your surround processor for the equivalent of a dual connection (this would remove some of the jitter from the SBT)
-- JohnW, regarding the molded plastic or metal box on the back of the SBT, would an alternative be to do without a connector for the optical clock in and include an optical fibre cable (say 2m long) directly attached to the modified board inside the SBT? I guess some people may find this too long or too short and may not like to have a fixed cable hanging out... but this coould be a cheap/simple alternative which won't compromise functionality
If you don't mind powering up the MDAC, you may actually be able to use its coax output and connect it to your surround processor for the equivalent of a dual connection (this would remove some of the jitter from the SBT)
-- JohnW, regarding the molded plastic or metal box on the back of the SBT, would an alternative be to do without a connector for the optical clock in and include an optical fibre cable (say 2m long) directly attached to the modified board inside the SBT? I guess some people may find this too long or too short and may not like to have a fixed cable hanging out... but this coould be a cheap/simple alternative which won't compromise functionality
cooky1257
pfm Member
cooky1257
pfm Member
Hi Muzz are they the 'Q' or 'K' variety?
I've not come across a divided opinion on the 701's, on the contrary pretty unanimously favourable with the caveats about long run-in and deserving a good h'phone amp/section.
muzzer
Numb Nut
Mine are K's, they will sound great with the right amp usually one with good current delivery or they can sound detailed but a touch lightweight.
I have tried mine with the built in headphone section of my Pre which is good, my iBasso D1(much better) so hopefully the Asgard will be an improvement again.
I have tried mine with the built in headphone section of my Pre which is good, my iBasso D1(much better) so hopefully the Asgard will be an improvement again.
cooky1257
pfm Member
I'll just have to wait and see, good luck with the Asgard.
Oops, I hadn't thought of that - thanks... yes that would work fine for me.
Edit: Actually, my surround processor would require the HT mode of the MDAC PSU, so I'm not sure how this would affect the digital pass through of the MDAC
Feeding AKG K702 from MDAC works fine for me. Detailed yes, but that is how I hear the real world too and expect a neutral source feeding relatively neutral transducer to sound. Bass is tight, goes deep, a bit light perhaps but has quality in it and integrates well into rest of the audio band. When using iTunes I sometimes EQ the bass slightly.
Typically dial in about 30 dB of digital attenuation with headphones. Possibly doesn't matter, would be nice though to be able to step attenuate the analogue gain.
Hi John,
I'm in the same boat as sleepysurf and stellablues (pre-ordered an MDAC from the Canadian/US distributor, waiting for it to arrive, but still interested in picking up one of the upgraded PSUs when they're ready). If there is some way for me to order one do you think you could PM with details?
In any case, thanks for all of your efforts on the MDAC threads!
That all sounds reasonable. It is often very difficult to tell which end of a USB link is to "blame" for a problem because the link is a two way street and an irregular or corrupted response can cause the link to hang, awaiting something that will never come. If the data become corrupt because of a power thump or whatever, the link could fail and neither end may necessarily be blameworthy.
If you had a driver issue too (driver for what?), multiple faults can easily compound the problem and confuse the results.
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