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MDAC First Listen (part 00011111)

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sprint said:
Hi John

Payment has been made. Perhaps you could confirm at some stage that I am now fully on the list (internal?) and that you have received the payment.
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Andy,

Thank you, welcome to the project :) - Renata will send you a confirmation Email in the next few hours.
 
Bigbobby666 said:
Hey John.

I don't see myself on the list. I'm signed up for all the bells and whistles unit please!

Cheers
Rob
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Rob,

The List on the wiki page is not a 100% correct there are a few people who signed up in the early days and have not paid etc.

So long as you received the confirmation Email from Renata then your on our internal list - in fact a couple of weeks ago we went though all payments received to insure our list is correct.

Renata has just Emailed you once again as she did not receive a reply from you with information on the colour of your unit - it might be worth checking your spam folder in a couple of hours...
 
JohnW said:
Steve,

Cycling inputs forces the ESS to reset its SPDIF circuit.... so it follows that it will clear the lock issue at least for awhile.
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But it is strange that it works afterwards for such a long time and then starts to produce those artifacts in short intervals.

Too bad there is nothing you can do. Maybe the SPDIF receiver has an "extreme jitter input" setting? What did the ESS people do wrong that it only affects the left channel? The SPDIF PLL should be the same for both channels shouldn't it?

I am afraid that the MDAC2 upgrade is too expensive for me - the original M-DAC was already more than I planned...
 
Steve-O said:
But it is strange that it works afterwards for such a long time and then starts to produce those artifacts in short intervals.

Too bad there is nothing you can do. Maybe the SPDIF receiver has an "extreme jitter input" setting? What did the ESS people do wrong that it only affects the left channel? The SPDIF PLL should be the same for both channels shouldn't it?

I am afraid that the MDAC2 upgrade is too expensive for me - the original M-DAC was already more than I planned...
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As Chris has asked - are you certain you have tried both A08 & A10 software versions?

I dont recall the exact details as it was over 4 years ago that we investigated the issue, but its to do with the way the ESS SDPIF circuit samples the input data - its not really a PLL circuit - the left channel data block gets miss-sampled by the input logic. TBH, ESS should have really spun new silicon to fix this and a few other bugs.
 
JohnW said:
As Chris has asked - are you certain you have tried both A08 & A10 software versions?

I dont recall the exact details as it was over 4 years ago that we investigated the issue, but its to do with the way the ESS SDPIF circuit samples the input data - its not really a PLL circuit - the left channel data block gets miss-sampled by the input logic. TBH, ESS should have really spun new silicon to fix this and a few other bugs.
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Yes, I had A10 running when I encountered the issue.

I tried A08, but this version is quite bad as it displays "frozen input" when there are no sounds playing. It seems like it needs to relock as soon as a sound starts to play which leads to the first parts to be left out.

It is really sad that there seems to be no solution :(
 
Steve-O said:
Yes, I had A10 running when I encountered the issue.

I tried A08, but this version is quite bad as it displays when there are no sounds playing. It seems like it needs to relock as soon as a sound starts to play which leads to the first parts to be left out.

It is really sad that there seems to be no solution :(
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Steve,

Frozen input indicates that the source is outputting a fixed sample value - i.e. a DC value this is SERIOUS and can damage your system.

Stop using the input device that results in this condition.

A10 is a "return to basics" version and as such does not include "the Stuck Sample" detector.

I suspect you will have no left channel looking bug issues with A08, BUT THE DATA SOURCE OUTPUTS DC when "silent" (it will undoubtedly be holding and repeating the last sample value)- the MDAC with the "frozen input" message is just protecting your system!!!! and why you miss the first instance of the start of a new data stream - the MDAC is waiting for confirmation of a Non-DC input condition.

The MDAC is DC coupled - if you have DC on the input digital Data, then you will have DC on the output - I cannot stress how appallingly badly designed your Data source is.
 
Ok, that clearly does not shine a good light on the TV set.

I remember talking to you about the potential of DC output as I was worried to damage my speakers. Fortunately, you said my Neumann KH310 speakers reject DC at the inputs.

Still it is obviously an improper SPDIF implementation on the TV side. However I am not sure if my dealer lets me return the TV because of this issue...
 
It might have been resolved with a later software update - if its a smart TV that's connected to the Internet there's normally a "software update" option in the system Menu.

Yes, your speakers prevent the DC offset from causing any system damage - but its not a good thing.
 
JohnW said:
Rob,

The List on the wiki page is not a 100% correct there are a few people who signed up in the early days and have not paid etc.

So long as you received the confirmation Email from Renata then your on our internal list - in fact a couple of weeks ago we went though all payments received to insure our list is correct.

Renata has just Emailed you once again as she did not receive a reply from you with information on the colour of your unit - it might be worth checking your spam folder in a couple of hours...
Click to expand...

Hmmm.

I replied. Will check my sent folder.

Cheers
Rob.
 
John,

If the source is outputting a fixed sample value, will the A10 indicate on the MDAC display the bit-depth and the sample rate, while no sound is heard? I ask because I notice that when I stop my source (SBT with EDO), MDAC will go from displaying the bit-depth and the sample rate to just the last used sample rate.

Leon

JohnW said:
Steve,

Frozen input indicates that the source is outputting a fixed sample value - i.e. a DC value this is SERIOUS and can damage your system.

Stop using the input device that results in this condition.

A10 is a "return to basics" version and as such does not include "the Stuck Sample" detector.

I suspect you will have no left channel looking bug issues with A08, BUT THE DATA SOURCE OUTPUTS DC when "silent" (it will undoubtedly be holding and repeating the last sample value)- the MDAC with the "frozen input" message is just protecting your system!!!! and why you miss the first instance of the start of a new data stream - the MDAC is waiting for confirmation of a Non-DC input condition.

The MDAC is DC coupled - if you have DC on the input digital Data, then you will have DC on the output - I cannot stress how appallingly badly designed your Data source is.
Click to expand...
 
Leon,

A "stopped" USB host device will normally indicate the last selected sample rate - so you have nothing to be concerned about.
 
Hello,

While waiting for the third installment i decided to buy a shure SRH 1840 to assist my mdac. The result is out of what i've expected. I already have SRH 940, Senn 595 and 600, sony yba 3 but this one sounds so nice that i cant get out of my seat for hours !

Waiting for the MDAC 2 headphones output improvements with the fear that i will need a mobile power supply or i cant get out of my sofa !
br/
 
Today was also a landmark day for the MDAC2 project - I placed the first order for long leadtime components - the Crystals :)

I also want to QC each crystal so we don't have the same failure issues as we do with the current MDAC.
 
As my cd player seems now largely redundant, which of the various connection options between the laptop and my new MDAC2 is going to yield the best sound quality?

Presumably there's no point in hooking up the player's digital output to the MDAC/MDAC2.
Or is there?
 
davidjt said:
As my cd player seems now largely redundant, which of the various connection options between the laptop and my new MDAC2 is going to yield the best sound quality?

Presumably there's no point in hooking up the player's digital output to the MDAC/MDAC2.
Or is there?
Click to expand...

If you remove RF interference and Ground noise from the equation - then USB streaming from the PC should give the best result as the DAC is "Clock Locked" to the Data source.

MDAC2 will offer USB Ground isolation combined with improved Analogue / Digital domain isolation to reduce (and hopefully all but eliminate) sonic degradation as result of these external factors.

On the other hand - with CD you can be assured that the Data is bit accurate - with PC sources you can never tell without confirming with the MDAC's Bit perfect test.
 
davidjt said:
As my cd player seems now largely redundant, which of the various connection options between the laptop and my new MDAC2 is going to yield the best sound quality?

Presumably there's no point in hooking up the player's digital output to the MDAC/MDAC2.
Or is there?
Click to expand...

In the early days of my mdac i tried cd player and pc/mac (usb) into the mdac and couldn't hear a repeatable difference.

So I choose pc on the basis of convenience - I clearly remember being impressed that I could use the mdac remote to control the playlist :cool:

Not bought much music recently, but when i do I always get the CD so I can rip and keep it as a backup.
 
Not sure if I should post my question in this thread, but here it is:
Can the single ended and balanced analog outputs of the M-Dac be used simultaneously?
 
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