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MDAC First Listen (part 00110100)

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Rune, ripping does work fine indeed, and I'm happy with the solution as it stands. Some other folks may not have a proper NAS/Server set up, and may be lured to the MDAC2 by its rare ability to be an audiophile SACD deck with this combo... but this is just dreaming and far from necessary for me.

I presume clock-locking would not be an issue between the player and the DAC (in this 'idea' clock locking would take place within the DAC and its 'streamer' board).
From the code snippers I've seen, these SACD players have a linux-based system inside, so assuming you would get ie. iSCSI running, you could make the optical drive remotely accessible from anywhere (your PC, the FDAC, etc.). Looking at the ripper code, all of the decoding is done by the drive firmware - the "ripper" then simply reads the drive and that's it. Basically the "ripping" to iso could be as simple as
Code:
dd if=/dev/cdrom of=file.iso bs=8M
without a need for any specialized sacd_ripper.

So all you need on the PC/FDAC/MDAC2 is some software that can decode the track metadata on-the-fly and play the raw DSD bits. Basically any player able to play a ripped ISO directly would be able to do this.

No clock-locking needed, the data path is fully controlled by the player software.
 
MQA wants all that info because it will optimize (or have to optimize) their software code inside dac to that specific product. After that designer will have very limited options to do something with sound what he thinks is good. So the whole advantage of having FPGA could be lost. It is much more simple include MQA code into that small and simple device like Dragonfly dac than more complex devices with many alternative filters and sound processing ways like FDAC. That is my understanding about it.

^^..this is my understanding too...MQA need to map the whole DAC audiopath to create a sonic signature of the device and then attempt to fix its failings with MQA....this leaves no room then for further tweaks to the design without going back for another MQA scan....too much hassle and restriction in my opinion.

THIS!!!!! So well said!!!
 
I'm guessing there's an NDA in place (otherwise John would have already shared the news with us).

Just being a realist - I expect this line of enquiry will lead nowhere.
 
Yes but we can have fun guessing.

Besides John said he might be able to arrange a discount for us which would kind of give the game away ..
 
.........
I could go on but I'm working on the MDAC2 design - I'm having an internal "race" with Jarek who is also working on a design :)

So, who won?

Also, friendly reminder, there are now 127 days to Munich show. Not that I am counting or there is any pressure :)
 
So, who won?

Also, friendly reminder, there are now 127 days to Munich show. Not that I am counting or there is any pressure :)

Lets say its more like a Marathon with 127 days hard running still to go :)

No pressure no pressure.... and I need a trip to China for Detox sometime in between!
 
Yes but we can have fun guessing.

Besides John said he might be able to arrange a discount for us which would kind of give the game away ..

Can't wait to hear more about the smaller desktop DAC, its capabilities, and price point. May have some interested parties here in our audio society...unless it is an EU only design?!
 
John
I'm looking ahead: The output from my Aries Mini streamer is passively split and then sent to a pair of these
https://www.minidsp.com/products/opendrc-series/opendrc-di

one for the left channels and one for the right. These DSP engines only have SPDIF, AES/EBU or Toslink outputs. I will not therefore be able to utilise the Detox and USB inputs of my MDAC2s. So my question is which non-USB input of the MDAC2 should I ideally use if I can't use USB, or does it not make any difference to SQ?

Alternatively, if it's possible (??), could I convert, say, the SPDIF output to USB to allow use of the Detox / USB input. Would that be preferable, if it is in fact possible?
 
John
I'm looking ahead: The output from my Aries Mini streamer is passively split and then sent to a pair of these
https://www.minidsp.com/products/opendrc-series/opendrc-di

one for the left channels and one for the right. These DSP engines only have SPDIF, AES/EBU or Toslink outputs. I will not therefore be able to utilise the Detox and USB inputs of my MDAC2s. So my question is which non-USB input of the MDAC2 should I ideally use if I can't use USB, or does it not make any difference to SQ?

Alternatively, if it's possible (??), could I convert, say, the SPDIF output to USB to allow use of the Detox / USB input. Would that be preferable, if it is in fact possible?

I suspect Coax is your best bet with MDAC2 as it has an isolated Coax input.

I'm weary of MiniDSP algorithms as we recently listened to there HDMI AVR box in "flat mode" just oversampling to 96KHz and its was not great. But then you have to balanced the advantages of Digital crossover verses the negatives.
 
Soon we will have a small DAC manufactured by a 3rd party brand - its a VERY good design (PCM 768KHz, DSD256, Dual ES9038 Mobile, Colour OLED display, remote control) its only significant failing is lack of XLR outputs - its not in MDAC2 class but better then MDAC. As you currently have no DAC, I can arrange a unit for you FOC or for very minimal cost if your interested? (as soon as they come off the production line).

Hi John,
Great. That's a very kind offer I'd like to take you up on!
Looking forward to this (and Detox) with my Squeezebox.
 
Our internal code names for the DACs are L1 to L3,based on the same PCB they have the identical digital inputs (USB, Optical & Coax).

Support PCM to 768KHz via USB

Native DSD512

Self powered via USB or optional external 5V DC via Micro USB. A decent external PSU brings a big improvement in sound quality.

L1 (~ GBP129)

ESS9038

Fixed RCA output


L2 (~ GBP169)

ESS9038

Fixed or variable RCA output

Variable 6.3mm Headphone output


L3 (~ GBP249)

Dual ES9038

Fixed or variable RCA output

Variable Headphone output

Full Colour OLED display

Remote control

The digital support is "over featured" as the design is based on our MDAC2 / FDAC development board :)

Ironically, these DACs really benefit from the Detox :)

I cannot give details on US pricing, but I can personally arrange units for you.

Thanks, John. Have just shared content of this post with society members and will apprise you of interest. May buy one for show-and-tell (and hear) so members know what they are buying.
 
JohnW,

It seems like the proposed L3 gives us most of the FDAC/MDAC2 features for ~250gbp and not ~1200-1500gbp which we are paying for the FDAC when it arrives.

Do i read this right that there will be a product on the market earlier than the FDAC at 1/5th the price?

thanks for any thoughts on this line of thinking

Edit: i see your response in that you think it will sound between the MDAC and MDAC2 but not equal.. mulling.
 
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