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At last... (Audiolab) - part VII

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The evidence comes from the positive reports coming back from those who have had their units upgraded. This may not be certain enough for you but it suffices for me and most others.

I am so confident now in John's claims that I will happily pay the £350 or so for the Cross output stage upgrade without hearing it first.
 
Steven Toy said:
The evidence comes from the positive reports coming back from those who have had their units upgraded. This may not be certain enough for you but it suffices for me and most others.

I am so confident now in John's claims that I will happily pay the £350 or so for the Cross output stage upgrade without hearing it first.
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That's the thing, as you rightly point out, I don't consider that 'evidence'... it's simply heresay.

I require something a lot more sub-sub-substantial.

Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab me
Today I need something more sub-sub-sub-substantial

A can of beans or black-eyed peas, some Nescafe and ice,
A candy bar, a falling star, or a reading of doctor Seuss
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You require certainty. This is not healthy.

Heresay is only an issue in criminal cases brought before the courts where certainty is a necessity. Choosing a hi-fi component is not such a life and death situation.
 
JohnW said:
Hi Mike,

The MDAC offers more features, much higher sound quality, larger display and upgradeable in the future with a "Compatible" PSU.

MDAC Features over DQ:-

CROSS Analogue output stage
D3E Digital Domain Decorrelation Engine
Bit Perfect test
Level Meters in dB
USB Buffer Level indication
CD Track and Time on large Display
LSB Restoration - allows Bit Accurate Playback with Windows XP (using WMP)
Real Sampling frequency display with 1Hz Resolution
Large OLED display
Software upgradeable via the user
Clock-Lockable to External sources
Word-Clock Output
Re-clocked SPDIF Digital outputs (Jitter Attenuated SPDIF outputs)
USB to SPDIF Output
SPDIF Input to USB conversion (Via Future software build)
USB to AC3 / Bitstream Output (Via Future software build)

There will be a "Compatible HQ PSU" for the MDAC that will offer an upgraded PSU and also add AV bypass (Single-ended and Balanced) & 12V triggers.

Apart from the DQ’s Analogue Pre - the MDAC is a MUCH better DAC and is also cheaper...

John
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You win: MDAC is being ordered :eek:. No gloating please :p

I'm going with Steven's plan (nice one Steven). I still need the HT bypass, Analogue pre and disc spinning of the CDQ for now, but the MDAC sounds too good/interesting to not have a play with - at least until the CDQ Cross upgrade is ready (don't forget the clock out though John!).

It'll be the very first time I've bought any serious hifi without having heard it, but I reckon the MDAC should hold it's value in the very unlikely event that I can't live with it, so it's low risk. And my experience is that Mr W has got pretty good ears ;)

Oh, and it will save me buying an expensive soundcard to rip all my SACDs with....
 
Thanks Basil, for bringing a bit of humour as sadly this tread suffer badly from fanboyism. Most people seems to be completely subjugated by John and nobody seems to dare questioning his claims. I haven't seen many measurement so far or concrete evidences that the MDAC would sound any better than any other DAC in the same price range.
 
Steven Toy said:
You require certainty. This is not healthy.
Heresay is only an issue in criminal cases brought before the courts where certainty is a necessity. Choosing a hi-fi component is not such a life and death situation.
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What? Now you are joking?

Yes I require certainty when I ask how often a surgeon has performed a certain operation? I'd say that was a very healthy attitude.

And of course hi-fi doesn't matter, which is why this ridiculous 'subjectivist' attitude continues... it simply doesn't matter what a few fruit cakes think affects the sound that emerges from their speakers, as long as the major studios don't adopt this 'fad'... and there's no sign of this happening...
 
TimR said:
You win: MDAC is being ordered :eek:. No gloating please :p

I'm going with Steven's plan (nice one Steven). I still need the HT bypass and Analogue pre of the CDQ, but the MDAC sounds too good/interesting to not have a play with - at least until the CDQ Cross upgrade is ready (don't forget the clock out though John!).

It'll be the very first time I've bought any serious hifi without having heard it, but I reckon the MDAC should hold it's value in the very unlikely event that I can't live with it, so it's low risk. And my experience is that Mr W has got pretty good ears ;)

Oh, and it will save me buying an expensive soundcard to rip all my SACDs with....
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Wow - was not expecting that :)

Today's been a good day all round!!! (this Morning I had some very good news from China that I can talk about in a few months ;) )

Now Dominik's going to have to add the SPDIF to USB function (Don't worry via a user upgradable software update)

If you DON'T like the MDAC - I'll give you the CDQ CROSS update for free when its released (but no cheating) :) !!!
 
seranil said:
Thanks Basil, for bringing a bit of humour as sadly this tread suffer badly from fanboyism. Most people seems to be completely subjugated by John and nobody seems to dare questioning his claims. I haven't seen many measurement so far or concrete evidences that the MDAC would sound any better than any other DAC in the same price range.
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I actually think he loses as many sales as he makes.

There must be many who simply read pink fish but never bother to join, who are looking for guidance buying a sensibly priced hi-fi, and reading the amount of, well fiction is the kindest way I can think of putting it, must send them to their nearest Curries or Richer Sounds.

That's just my opinion, man!
 
@Toy,
You sound like you are. he just mentioned better bass and here you are ready to spend another £350 or more without any questions.
Let's have a look at the measurements with and without the new PSU and let's all agree if it is worth it..
 
Baz,

I actually think he loses as many sales as he makes.

There must be many who simply read pink fish but never bother to join, who are looking for guidance buying a sensibly priced hi-fi, and reading the amount of, well fiction is the kindest way I can think of putting it, must send them to their nearest Curries or Richer Sounds.
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I've not heard John's CD player* -- so I'm reserving judgement on its sound -- but it is reasonably priced.

In any case, if people don't like the CDQ or don't hear any difference between it and what they have, I suspect it won't sell. But given the interest in the CDQ I'm guessing it's rather good.

Joe

* No local dealer in my part of Canada, unfortunately.
 
. I've not heard John's CD player* -- so I'm reserving judgement on its sound -- but it is reasonably priced.

In any case, if people don't like the CDQ or don't hear any difference between it and what they have, I suspect it won't sell. But given the interest in the CDQ I'm guessing it's rather good.

Joe

* No local dealer in my part of Canada, unfortunately.
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The voice of reason. Consensus is the most powerful argument there is.
 
Well I guess until these land I'm the only person who's heard one back to back in his normal set-up vs his normal dac other than reviewers, potentially. Suffice to say i quickly sold both my Young dac and the rather OTT linear power supply that I had built for it to make way for the Mdac. The difference in sound between the Mdac, using it's digital pre and the Young using my B1 buffer wasn't subtle. When I heard the CDQ in my set-up I wasn't overly impressed with it, it was decent but absolutely no better than what I had already.

I don't think anyone on the thread is subjugated. Those who are prone to fantasy and wild rhetoric, still are, and those who take a more balanced view still do. Of course the thread is littered with spammers who support/work for other brands, what thread with 500,000 hits wouldn't be!
 
I still have questions about the 'CROSS' output stage. Can someone point me to a page or thread which might have more information about how this relates to other implementations of a discrete output stage? I definitely will not be purchasing another product which has opamps as their output stage, but I am a bit fuzzy about how this jfet output might vary from other topologies used in dacs like burson, audio-gd, etc.

thanks,
 
JohnW said:
rtrt,

Yes, the MDAC will De-Jitter the inputs - so the Digital outputs are a "De-Jittered" pass-thou of the selected Digital input.

Note - if the D3E (Digital Domain Decorrelation Engine) is enabled (Full or partial suppression) then this will also process the SPDIF outputs.

John
Click to expand...

thanks for clarification John
 
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