Hi Tim,
Yes - thats the idea...
Perfect!
If it also had the option of fitting your high quality phono pre-amp (as an extra internal module?), that would be the icing on the cake.
MDAC First Listen (part XXIX)
- Thread starter Asphaltradler
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Perfect!
If it also had the option of fitting your high quality phono pre-amp (as an extra internal module?), that would be the icing on the cake.
And then you can rename MDAC2 as TDAC ?
Hi Tim,
Yes - thats the idea...
NICE !
Julf
Facts are our friends
I agree.
It does look cool - and shows that integrating the required functionality doesn't take much space or money. Another proof is stuff like the electric imp.
Would you be able to match the (black) mdac case in looks for this external passive preamp? Also, how many inputs, single ended and/or balanced, are you thinking?
moosemeat
pfm Member
Good call!
I'm not sure I would recommend the Pi for usb1 dacs. But other small linux arm based devices such as Wandboard will work fine as a streamer which is able to emulate a squeezebox.... [actually an enhanced squeezebox supporting PCM up to 384k and DSD/DOP] You may think it is a little geeky though - http://www.communitysqueeze.org/image_gallery.jsp
JohnW
pfm member
The Olimex works well for MDAC as it can only support USB1.0 (so Audio sample rates to 24/96KHz).
For higher sample rate support, MDAC2 requires USB 2.0, and as far as I'm aware there no "cheap" isolation solution - so there will be added complexity within the MDAC2. I'm NOT certain if its feasible as we require 2 way traffic with the MDAC2's USB controller to support the Media player remote control and other features...
Also, the Data rate would be limited to 384Fs sampling rate (I had planned to be able to support upto 1.4MHz PCM sampling rate)... However as the MDAC2 Digital section will be replaceable we could offer options...
JohnW
pfm member
Yes matching case as the MDAC - SE and Balanced inputs supported - only limited by space on the Pre's rear panel to mount the required connectors.
It would be semi active to support the Phono card options + Buffered output (maybe selectable).
My khozmo preamp has arrived. It took exactly the week not to bad!
... and the conclusion is that it has made a big improvement over using the pre in the mdac. My normal listening levels would be 35-45 db.
Now the music sound more natural and dynamic.
The sound stage has improved and it sounds more natural. The base tighter and deeper and there are more high frequency details.
I had expected it to be bright sounding with the silver wiring, but not at all with my speakers and amps (dali epicon 8 and ncores)
Now I can finally listen at lower volume without the music sounding flat and unemotional which is a big plus.
Can't wait to hear the mdac2 in my system
... and the conclusion is that it has made a big improvement over using the pre in the mdac. My normal listening levels would be 35-45 db.
Now the music sound more natural and dynamic.
The sound stage has improved and it sounds more natural. The base tighter and deeper and there are more high frequency details.
I had expected it to be bright sounding with the silver wiring, but not at all with my speakers and amps (dali epicon 8 and ncores)
Now I can finally listen at lower volume without the music sounding flat and unemotional which is a big plus.
Can't wait to hear the mdac2 in my system
Beat me to it! But - now - any of a dozen similar boards also. If you subscribe to the view that all 'USB transports' work the same, then of course the cheaper the better. In our experience there's rather more to it than that; simple isn't always good.
john dolan
pfm Member
My khozmo preamp has arrived. It took exactly the week not to bad!
... and the conclusion is that it has made a big improvement over using the pre in the mdac. My normal listening levels would be 35-45 db.
Now the music sound more natural and dynamic.
The sound stage has improved and it sounds more natural. The base tighter and deeper and there are more high frequency details.
I had expected it to be bright sounding with the silver wiring, but not at all with my speakers and amps (dali epicon 8 and ncores)
Now I can finally listen at lower volume without the music sounding flat and unemotional which is a big plus.
Can't wait to hear the mdac2 in my system
Just as I found when I tried my M-dac through my AS passion very glad it also works well for you.
Give it a try with the onboard digital preamp deactivated that sounds better again to my ears but you will lose the remote control of volume on the M-dac but if you got the khozmo remote version that's np me I have to get up and turn it the old fashioned way lol.
Glad your enjoying you new pre.
@ JohnW: interesting to see a few dual-Sabre DACs on the market now - including the Exasound and Mirus converters. We're integrating a twin-chip DAC in our fourth-generation computer products and DIY recipes: it wouldn't surprise me if other early-ESS adopters follow suit in 2014: I'd like to hear the Wyred 4 Sound DACs designed around a summed D-A engine . . . When's the Mark 2 due for release? Apologies if the question has been covered elsewhere - or if that's currently a bugbear: I feel your pain.
The streamy bit should, IMO, be inside the DAC, not a separate box. A raspberry Pi feeding a DAC via USB is nearly as silly as a pc feeding a DAC via USB. Does your printer need a raspberry Pi to print?
My khozmo preamp has arrived. It took exactly the week not to bad!
... and the conclusion is that it has made a big improvement over using the pre in the mdac. My normal listening levels would be 35-45 db.
Now the music sound more natural and dynamic.
The sound stage has improved and it sounds more natural. The base tighter and deeper and there are more high frequency details.
I had expected it to be bright sounding with the silver wiring, but not at all with my speakers and amps (dali epicon 8 and ncores)
Now I can finally listen at lower volume without the music sounding flat and unemotional which is a big plus.
Can't wait to hear the mdac2 in my system
Unusual this phenomenon...im sure it shouldn't be the case.
John, do you think this may have anything to do with the dac flinging RF abuse into class D amps?
john dolan
pfm Member
Arthur my amps are either my Cyrus class AB or WAD class A no class D in my system.
Its just the way digital preamps work when run at low volume setting they throw away detail and dynamics but when run at high volume settings the sound is better the higher the setting.
In my system with 250 watts into 4ohm and 90 db speakers the volume setting on my M-dac when fed direct with the onboard pre was down in the 50 db to 40 db range on the m-dac display.
When I then run the M-dac through my Passion - Audio Synthesis passive and run the M-dac +3 and use the passive to attenuate the volume im getting optimal M-dac sound full detail full dynamics full volts and current.
Better still to my ears is to disable the M-dacs preamp and attenuate the volume with a analogue preamp.
Its just the way digital preamps work when run at low volume setting they throw away detail and dynamics but when run at high volume settings the sound is better the higher the setting.
In my system with 250 watts into 4ohm and 90 db speakers the volume setting on my M-dac when fed direct with the onboard pre was down in the 50 db to 40 db range on the m-dac display.
When I then run the M-dac through my Passion - Audio Synthesis passive and run the M-dac +3 and use the passive to attenuate the volume im getting optimal M-dac sound full detail full dynamics full volts and current.
Better still to my ears is to disable the M-dacs preamp and attenuate the volume with a analogue preamp.
So I think it comes down to a couple of things:
1) is there a completely universal streaming protocol which everyone uses is well understood and which supports all features hifi boxes need? For example many DLNA implementations don't do gapless properly? How many really support highres and DSD? [Squeezeboxes have their own protocol etc.]
2) do you want your dac designer to spend lots of time integrating the software and supporting it (and do they want to do it)?
JohnW
pfm member
Listening at -35dB to 40dB is an awful lot of attenuation, -40dB is x100 Attenuation!!! or you can look at it as a x100 increase in RF level relative to your audio signal... "amplifying" RF levels is never wanted in an Analogue system - forget by x100...
Care has been taken with the design of the MDAC2's Analogue stage to provide passive RF attenuation before it reaches the Active gain stage... TDAC with its Tube front end will be more tolerant of unwanted RF modulation (Tubes behaviour more linear then semiconductor devices in the presences of RF energy).
A design defect of the ESS modulator stress the RF rejection performance of the Analogue stage - we will resolve this issue once we release the MDAC2 firmware upgrades (via software) that implements our own FPGA modulator design. So MDAC2 performance will progressively improve further as we introduce later "Software" upgrades.
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