advertisement


how good is the m-dac

Steven Toy said:
JohnW has performed mods to a number of units that have improved them quite significantly. The MDAC is very good but it is by no means characterless. It should see off anything by Naim up to and including the CDS3/XPS though for the simple reason that it is a good modern DAC that punches well above its weight and price.
Click to expand...

RUBBISH

Having owned the Mdac for several months - i can honestly say the CDS3/xps (which i now own )- utterly destroys it - The simplest way to describe the difference is Mdac sounds like hifi and Cds3 is totally musical and involving - NO comparison at this level( i would not expect there to be)
 
Robert said:
Audibly, it will be perfect and you cannot better it because the specification means it does absolutely nothing wrong that matters even remotely, it's as clean as a whistle and utterly characterless.
There is no such thing as having a power amp which is too good, and the MDAC will never become a weak link.

104/2s are excellent but are nominally 4 Ohm, so need a muscular amp which you have so that all seems pretty much ideal.
Click to expand...

I have a Creative DAC that has 'superb specs', the MDAC sounds better.
 
ziggy72 said:
i've recently sold my krell pre-amp and pink triangle turntable and haven't owned a cd player in quite a while.
i have the m-dac hooked up to an old arcam alpha+ cd player which i'm using as a transport courtesy of my dad. i tried the m-dac into my laptop but it gives out lots of distortion. i've tried a friends laptop which was silent when connected.
i can quite happily live with the sound of the m-dac, i was just wondering if it's worth spending more and that it's not the limiting factor as i'd like to change my power amp as mentioned in my earlier post.
Click to expand...

Ah right I see what you mean. Well I like the sound of it. It is not quite as good as my cd player I sold last year which was a Copland cd823. That seemed to have a tighter control of the music and a bit more seperation but I don't see why it would limit a system. Have you tried a USB isolator as that tends to clear up USB noise problems?
 
IMO the MDAC is very clean, detailed and smooth sounding (XD filter). It lacks some incision and did not particularly make me want to listen to music.
 
S-Man said:
IMO the MDAC is very clean, detailed and smooth sounding (XD filter). It lacks some incision and did not particularly make me want to listen to music.
Click to expand...

It's the one digital source that's made me listen to music digitally.
 
S-Man said:
IMO the MDAC is very clean, detailed and smooth sounding (XD filter). It lacks some incision and did not particularly make me want to listen to music.
Click to expand...

Afraid to say, that's exactly how I felt with it in the end. Owned one for a few months, but realised I was listening to less and less music. My attention was wondering. Really wanted to love it as it has many useful features, looks nice and JohnW is a great guy! In the end though, after the initial 'new bit of kit' excitement had faded, I found it never really let the music 'flow', for want of a better description. Wasn't open-sounding enough and lacked bite. I was raving about it at first, but it didn't pass the 'long term' listening test for my tastes.

Interestingly, I have been extremely impressed with the (£300, but available at several outlets for £150!) Teac UD-H01. Bought it as a cheap stop-gap, but have ended up using it as my main digital source now. Not as detailed as the M-Dac perhaps, and not as well built externally, but far more cohesive sounding, full bodied and enjoyable in the long run, at least for me. 24/192 via USB too, which was a surprise bonus, and a rather nice headphone stage considering the price. A bit of a 'sleeper hit'...

Still VERY interested in the forth-coming BDAC though...
 
OK guys, I saw a lot of discussions about the new Schiit Gungnir DAC going on in Head-fi. This DAC is almost at the same price as the M-DAC, and someone in Head-fi said it is better than M-DAC. Has anyone here tried this product？ Although I like my M-DAC very much and won't let it go in foreseeable future, I am really curious about this Gungnir DAC.
 
I have compared the MDAC to a stock PS Audio link III , a cullen modified Link III, an Emotive XDA-1 and a V-dac with uprated Power supply.
The OVERALL sound of the mdac vs all of these is a much bigger soundstage with more airy HF detail , BUT the midbass of the MDAC leaves something to be desired compared to the others. Midbass especially is more diffuse and wooley and somewhat recessed on the MDAC - improves if you use the optimal spectrum rather than the OT filters (which give a much less pacey presentation)
I used a Mark Levinson 38s Pre to compare em all , it has individual input gain in .1db increments and I level matched all the dacs.
Albeit the other dacs had a more focused type sound with more mid bass slam, I and the others that have heard the setup always preferred the MDAC. It seems to present detail and micro detail that the other dacs gloss over.. a nice sense of space in the recording...
I keep the cullen PS audio and the V dac in the system and depending on the music , switch to the dac that presents the best for that recording.

My system is: Touch- dac of choice - ML 38s pre-Audiolab 250w monoblocks , Osborne epitomes...
 
linntroika said:
RUBBISH

Having owned the Mdac for several months - i can honestly say the CDS3/xps (which i now own )- utterly destroys it - The simplest way to describe the difference is Mdac sounds like hifi and Cds3 is totally musical and involving - NO comparison at this level( i would not expect there to be)
Click to expand...

I had a CD3 and XPS - it is better but in my opinion doesn't utterly destroy the M-DAC. I believe Steven Toy was refferencing to the modified one - would be interested to hear that.

That is my opinion though and I was pretty upset when I lost so much money when I re-sold it. Prob part to do with it!
 
Sebbyp said:
I had a CD3 and XPS - it is better but in my opinion doesn't utterly destroy the M-DAC. I believe Steven Toy was refferencing to the modified one - would be interested to hear that.

That is my opinion though and I was pretty upset when I lost so much money when I re-sold it. Prob part to do with it!
Click to expand...

I was referencing the modified one, completely forgetting that I had borrowed a standard one and was a little underwhelmed.
 
I would expect the MDAC to be excellent. I have a Young (& SQ PS) and, it too, is excellent. I don't find the Young to be completely without character, it is a little bright, and textural detail is rather 'in yer face'. It is like listening to the live performance in a lively room as opposed to flatter room.

It's full of life, exciting, vivace! I really don't want the extra neutrality, I love the character of the thing. From my brief experience with the MDAC (in another system - it was a 'Sovereign' version), it was absolutely as excellent as my Young, but without the same vivace. A little more grown up maybe?

It seems that at this level, most DACs are excellent (and as has been pointed out, should be indistinguishably competent). The differences won't be down to what is better, but what you prefer.
 
Markus S said:
So the Mdac sounds great so long as it doesn't sound like an Mdac you can buy?
Click to expand...

I think it's very hard to beat it at the rrp but with everything you spend more money your going to get something better.

Nothing touches it at 600 and under. Especially considering the functionality it has.

The upgrade will be available to every M-DAC owner eventually, at a much lower cost than say a naim upgrade.
 
Markus S said:
So the Mdac sounds great so long as it doesn't sound like an Mdac you can buy?
Click to expand...

A Sovereigned MDAC sounds a lot better than a standard MDAC. Make of that what you will!

I regret not having bought the MDAC for two reasons:

1) It would have been easier to carry than the CDQ on the aeroplane to the Czech Republic, not to mention buses, trains and trams.

2) The Sovereign mods widen the gap considerably between CDQ and MDAC. Whilst both benefit from the mods, the output stage on the CDQ is probably a limiting factor.
 
Sebbyp said:
but with everything you spend more money your going to get something better.
Click to expand...
Not so sure about that - especially in hi-fi!

As for the MDAC, I'm sure it's very nice, but there're DACs for considerably less than £500 that are more than good enough for domestic playback. The TEAC UD-H01, and the DAC Magic Plus being obvious examples. There £150 USB DACs from Audioengine and Arcam that're more than enough really.
 
hammeredklavier said:
Not so sure about that - especially in hi-fi!

As for the MDAC, I'm sure it's very nice, but there're DACs for considerably less than £500 that are more than good enough for domestic playback. The TEAC UD-H01, and the DAC Magic Plus being obvious examples. There £150 USB DACs from Audioengine and Arcam that're more than enough really.
Click to expand...

I haven't heard them - so not sure how good they are. The Beresford Bushmaster seems to be creating some hype on other forums.

It will be interesting to see where a soverign M-DAC with Mpax will sit. I wonder if it will be knocking on the doors of the weiss/renaissance (haven't heard either so not sure on what gains are there).
 
hammeredklavier said:
Not so sure about that - especially in hi-fi!

As for the MDAC, I'm sure it's very nice, but there're DACs for considerably less than £500 that are more than good enough for domestic playback. The TEAC UD-H01, and the DAC Magic Plus being obvious examples. There £150 USB DACs from Audioengine and Arcam that're more than enough really.
Click to expand...

"Good enough for domestic playback," eh? According to who? You?

Some of us have higher expectations and "good enough" simply isn't good enough!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top