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MDAC first listen (part XXII)

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I'm awaiting delivery of XLR 1x4 and 2x3 way (noting plug or socket (£10.00)) and will be making up this balanced adaptation for my HD700s.

I should/hope be able to post some picks and a schematic that might/should help. In reality you just do not use the screen ground. Just the 'HOT' as + and the 'COLD' as the - per driver.....

"Just the 'HOT' as + and the 'COLD' as the - per driver" Yes that's correct.

So no sharing of the "Cold" with each driver etc.

Don't worry too much about the Shield connection (if the cable has one), it can be left unconnected.
 
Ok so after purchasing more parts to test properly the RCA vs HP output with headphones i can say there is a major difference.
With it connected to RCA the characteristics match what i find with it connected with speakers, the fatigue is gone and a better overall sound but not by much but enough to tell and take pleasure from.

Could my unit have a defective HP output ? or are there actually some circuitry that could still affect this, maybe the relay ???.
 
John - you obviously know a good few things about DACs looking at your history - any reason why you aren't implementing ladder DACs into your designs?

Reason I ask is because I've listened to a good few relatively expensive DACs - including the Wyred4Sound DAC 2 which houses the ESS Sabre chip - and find myself going back to an old Arcam Black Box 1 which I understand houses a pair of TDA1541A chips.

However tastes differ - and my want is for the DAC to deliver the emotional impact of the music rather than worry about the placement of instruments and grand scale of the sound-stage; also I don't bother with any playback resolution above redbook - and in fact also enjoy Spotify!! This old Arcam sitting back here on crutches wins on emotional delivery pretty much hands down.

Although I have not heard the MDAC in my own home before to be fair - but I have heard the ESS in the Wyred4Sound as mentioned above.
 
The 1541 chip is big, warm and cuddly sounding. Imho, things have moved on. A modern DAC should give both placement of instruments/soundstsge and emotional impact. It is called resolution. I like it.
 
The 1541 like many chips is a chameleon in implementation, a decent output stage can exert a lot of control over how they sound in practice.
 
I also find Ladder dacs to have a very characteristic sound, almost something tasteful and distinctive where as the oversampling dacs like sabre seem to me more linear and clean with no favoring signature. I know some dac's that use the sabre dacs are quite dull and non emotional and i believe its down to the build implementation, these dacs need love and require far more understanding into bringing out the raw dog deep inside.

Complicated they are they can be just average but with work they do IMO superseed any capability of non oversampling dacs.

I do have to say i love my wolfson dacs :p.
 
Hi Nick.

If you're anywhere near the NE of E I'll be happy to pop round with my Mdac and let you compare the two.

Thanks Arthur, and Wilky. I'm a native NE of E'er but now in N Ireland. I was considering a demo of an mdac at lintone in Gateshead (where I heard the cdq) next time I'm over. Currently using the cdq with Cyrus xpower and pmc tb2i. The amp will be the first change, would like to hear primare (no idea where) or take a shot on pmc ds-001, matched to the speakers. S/h market is likeliest means of trying out different combinations (NI hifi is limited to arcam, naim, Cyrus afaik).

Still keen to hear cdq mdac comparisons :)
 
Hi Nick.

If you're anywhere near the NE of E I'll be happy to pop round with my Mdac and let you compare the two.

Thanks Arthur, and Wilky. I'm a native NE of E'er but now in N Ireland. I was considering a demo of an mdac at lintone in Gateshead (where I heard the cdq) next time I'm over. Currently using the cdq with Cyrus xpower and pmc tb2i. The amp will be the first change, would like to hear primare (no idea where) or take a shot on pmc ds-001, matched to the speakers. S/h market is likeliest means of trying out different combinations (NI hifi is limited to arcam, naim, Cyrus afaik).

Still keen to hear cdq mdac comparisons :)
 
The 1541 chip is big, warm and cuddly sounding. Imho, things have moved on. A modern DAC should give both placement of instruments/soundstsge and emotional impact. It is called resolution. I like it.

The BB1 is certainly not warm and cuddly - if that were the case (like some boring and soft sounding valve amps) - I would have dismissed it long ago. And I'm not necessarily talking about the TDA1541A chip specifically, just the ladder dac design in general.

I guess I was just curious because it seems that some of the latest designs are using their own custom ladder dacs such as MSB - TotalDAC - Metrum Acoustics - AudioNote - preferring the directly wired sound from dac chip rather than listening to the artifacts of computational processing - plus having the advantage of low latency 'wired' speed via the resistors that make up the ladder. I'm no expert - but was just curious as to why John dismissed this type of chip.
 
Yes - 50% buffer is the normal operation - is the sound breaking up? have you tried the bit perfect test to insure your Data is not being manipulated by the USB host device?

I read manual book that says in the bitperfect test menu will says "awaiting trigger". But I tried in my mdac bitprfect test menu no "awaiting trigger"
Do you have video guide to test the bitperfect test.

Note: mdac fw v.10 and I already have the audio bitperfect test file.
 
Of those brands only MSB use custom silicon the rest use off the shelf parts. Metrum use an industrial D/A chip and Audio Note use a variety of chips but those are all old audio specific dacs.
 
Hi John,
I've had a change of plan and won't be getting to Prague this year unfortunately.

Would you therefore please re-instate me onto the list (assuming you removed me) and let me know when you wish to receive my unit for the upgrade.

Cheers for now,

Dave
 
Of those brands only MSB use custom silicon the rest use off the shelf parts. Metrum use an industrial D/A chip and Audio Note use a variety of chips but those are all old audio specific dacs.
I thought Metrum Acoustics Octave used R2R so no DAC chip? Isn't custom silicon another thing i.e. FPGA as used in John's tube DAC which he's started work on and Chordette QuteHD DAC? :confused::confused::confused:
 
I read manual book that says in the bitperfect test menu will says "awaiting trigger". But I tried in my mdac bitprfect test menu no "awaiting trigger"
Do you have video guide to test the bitperfect test.

Note: mdac fw v.10 and I already have the audio bitperfect test file.

You have to enter the BitPerfect test option in the menu, then press the knob - this will return you to the main screen + Awaiting trigger.

When "Awaiting trigger" then and only then replay the test file.
 
Hi John,
I've had a change of plan and won't be getting to Prague this year unfortunately.

Would you therefore please re-instate me onto the list (assuming you removed me) and let me know when you wish to receive my unit for the upgrade.

Cheers for now,

Dave

Sorry to hear your not coming to Prague - your position has been kept on the list.
 
I thought Metrum Acoustics Octave used R2R so no DAC chip? Isn't custom silicon another thing i.e. FPGA as used in John's tube DAC which he's started work on and Chordette QuteHD DAC? :confused::confused::confused:

Yes as I understand the MSB uses FPGA's & a resistor array - not so much a custom IC, rather custom firmware on the FPGA.

TDAC will be FPGA based + Resistor array... Think of a super Dacapo (Dacapo used 2 resistor elements per channel - TDAC will use 1024 per channel)...
 
Ok so after purchasing more parts to test properly the RCA vs HP output with headphones i can say there is a major difference.
With it connected to RCA the characteristics match what i find with it connected with speakers, the fatigue is gone and a better overall sound but not by much but enough to tell and take pleasure from.

Could my unit have a defective HP output ? or are there actually some circuitry that could still affect this, maybe the relay ???.

Only the relay and headphone connector - the rear panel RCA's also have a shorter signal path then the front panel HP jack.
 
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