MDAC First Listen (part 00011111)
- Thread starter PhilCTTE
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Send it back to whoever you got it from - it's faulty
Edit:
they can sort it out under warranty if it's 2 months old
john duncan
pfm Member
For what worth, somebody is selling 'the £900 one' (whatever that means) on HDDAudio for £585.
Sorry, I meant 0.09
JohnW
pfm member
Thats an odd software build - it might be worth trying V0.90 or A08
I still not sure what software revision your unit has installed as 0.09 does not sound like a realise build - I suggest reloading the software.
I will get it right, eventually.
When I put 0.09 I meant vA.09. Don't think it is a software issue.
JohnW
pfm member
Please, some time ago somebody offered to send attenuators made by John using Vishay's resistors for a test.
Is it still possible?
Unfortunately can't find that post anymore....
My listening levels are 45-60db down, really wondering how it sounds with them.
I believe it was TonyB who has the Vishay Bulk foil attenuators...
Bigbobby666
pfm Member
Hi all.
I just got my MDAC that's to be upgraded and have had a peaceful days listening which has been fun!
I was just wondering; are there any posts that (try to) describe the difference in sound in the toy/fusion upgrades that have been done previously have? I'm just wondering what sort of sound the MDAC 2 will have compared to stock?
Cheers
Rob.
I just got my MDAC that's to be upgraded and have had a peaceful days listening which has been fun!
I was just wondering; are there any posts that (try to) describe the difference in sound in the toy/fusion upgrades that have been done previously have? I'm just wondering what sort of sound the MDAC 2 will have compared to stock?
Cheers
Rob.
misterdog
Not the canine kind
Considerably better (we hope) but not as good as when valves are added to the analogue output stage.
Truly transparent is the general goal.
Bigbobby666
pfm Member
Considerably better (we hope) but not as good as when valves are added to the analogue output stage.
Truly transparent is the general goal.
Yup Transparency is generally the goal! I guess I'm wondering what John/Dominic feel are the weaknesses in the stock MDAC, and if there have been any posts previously that describe them / explain the reasons and fixes.
I guess I should start at the beginning of the first 'MDAC first listen'. thread and read for the next couple of months
That's approaching it back to front. It's not "what's wrong, we've got to fix it". It's "what's the best we can do for the budget". Where "best" means engineering best based on prior experience of designing for audio quality. I haven't yet seen anything that John's done that hasn't ultimately been geared towards an improvement in specification and measured performance. (He may confess otherwise)
Mdac2 is different budget, different playing field, different freedom to design without constraints (or with only self imposed constraints).
I guess I should start at the beginning of the first 'MDAC first listen'. thread and read for the next couple of months
Oh yes.
Bigbobby666
pfm Member
Yup, makes sense! I guess my judgements are based on 'end product' as I have little (very very very little) understanding of the make up / process of the inner workings. However I also produce products (in a very different landscape) and generally I like to understand the strengths and weaknesses of my last project so that they can be improved in any subsequent product in the same field/application. It's these general musings I'm curious about.
Tho I guess you have to be careful about describing the qualities of something that is not real yet, which is what your saying Chris
BTW great sounding DAC the MDAC have been enjoying playing around with it for the past week, it's just made me curious to know what are the sonic differences that you guys are aiming for?
Exactly
I understand/interpret the aim to be to "get out of the way" - higher linearity, lower distortion. "Transparency" if you wish. But, other than lower distortion, not on the basis of any design mantra or flavour of the month such as "single ended", "valve", "minimum components" etc.
As to the sonic differences - que Sera, sera
Better - whatever that is
jamjar784
Heavy Up
Yup Transparency is generally the goal! I guess I'm wondering what John/Dominic feel are the weaknesses in the stock MDAC, and if there have been any posts previously that describe them / explain the reasons and fixes.
I guess I should start at the beginning of the first 'MDAC first listen'. thread and read for the next couple of months
John would be best to advise the entire MDAC story - maybe there's a book in there? There have been issues with locking on some dodgey inputs which other DACs seem to handle (some firmware versions available address this), the left channel Sabre bug (ESS to blame), change in SQ with different firmware, slight loss of SQ at low volume (>40dB) when driving into high gain amps. Attenuators seem to affect SQ so this was found not to be the ideal solution (to be resolved by 'gain structure' feature in MDAC2). The biggest bugbear seems to be poor QC in manufacturing which gave John a massive headache when working through the L2 > Toy > Fusion upgrade trail. Hence the decision to create MDAC2.
These issues have arisen in a minority of cases and it is worth stating that the original MDAC didn't win a multitude of awards for nothing: it was a truly excellent product at a very good price.
No need to start reading right from the beginning if you're just after reviews of the upgrade: http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showpost.php?p=2032446&postcount=379 There are several reviews of the benefits of Toy and Fusion upgrades from this point onwards and I think the consensus is a more holographic sound stage.
Not sure if 'transparency' is a good answer to your question (theoretically of course it is). From a practical point of view how can we measure it, how can we discern it in listening tests if we don't have an absolute reference?
Once we have the MDAC2 with ADC to make recordings of live music we can compare with the original and see if anything is missing or altered by the electronics. It was only when I got my Fusion upgrade I found out I was missing some detail from the soundstage. So when MDAC2 arrives who knows what will then be found to be missing from the current design?
Bigbobby666
pfm Member
Thanks for the Link JamJar interesting reading!
More holographic soundstage sounds good! I A/B'd the MDAC against my own Musical Fidelity DAC and felt that the MF had the edge, the clarity in the midrange seemed clearer with the MDAC's vocals seeming slightly recessed. I was tho impressed with the MDAC's ability with bass definition!
Wide soundstage, tight bass, clarity everything i look for in a woma... DAC!
More holographic soundstage sounds good! I A/B'd the MDAC against my own Musical Fidelity DAC and felt that the MF had the edge, the clarity in the midrange seemed clearer with the MDAC's vocals seeming slightly recessed. I was tho impressed with the MDAC's ability with bass definition!
Wide soundstage, tight bass, clarity everything i look for in a woma... DAC!
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