MDAC First Listen (part 00101011)

[BrianPK]

Excellent John. They look fab. especially the FDAC which is my only interest.

 

[jiminsd]

Will the FDAC be black or silver? If silver is a choice I much prefer that.

 

[JohnW]

Excellent John. They look fab. especially the FDAC which is my only interest.

Brian,

Thank you for you FB and continued patiences

 

[JohnW]

Will the FDAC be black or silver? If silver is a choice I much prefer that.

Jim,

Also available in Silver, so the opposite colour combination of the Black version - Silver Face plate 'Cheeks' with Black centre display bessel.

 

[fred sonnen]

So FDAC mechanical design is completed (sans the rear panel connector arrangements and PCB hole mounts as I've not completed the PCB designs).

I'm very happy with the FDAC design - I hope I'm not alone

Hi John

I like the design. A clean appearance.
One might underline this look with a retractable knob?

regards
F.S.

 

[moosemeat]

I'm very happy with the FDAC design - I hope I'm not alone

Looks great John. Simple works!

 

[JohnW]

Hi John

I like the design. A clean appearance.
One might underline this look with a retractable knob?

regards
F.S.

Fred,

I'd like to keep things as simple as possible until we can expand our capabilities - so a retractable knob complicates matters - but we could try reducing the Knob depth to sink to closer to the panel....

Its a good point and these details can be adjusted once we have a prototype on hand to play with

Also, I think the knob should be positioned closer to the headphone jacks, this will make it a little more balanced.

Actually thinking about it, we did reduce the height of the Knob & move it closer to the Jacks but I can only guess we lost these modifications during one of many system crashes / Windows7 restarts! ProE Creo is rather unstable.

 

[JohnW]

Simple works!

Agreed - I like the clean lines of apple designs

 

[tull_hifi]

Excellent, i really love this design, simple and solid !

One remark : is it a good idea to use a slot-in type CD drive for the FDAC ? OK for the refined design, but i have encountered some problem with this kind of mechanics, specially on the Musical Fidelity M1CDT i own.

 

[JohnW]

The Musical Fidelity M1CDT uses a horrid plastic consumer slot loader supplied by StreamUnlimited - with the same NXP servo chipset we used on the 8200CD / CDQ and in my experience its performance is marginal.

We developed our own CD servo solution using memory buffer / re-read process & an automotive grade fully metal body "harsh environment" slot loader - its NOTHING like the plastic wonder supplied by StreamUnlimited. The StreamUnlimited loader is not design for harsh environments - rather for slot in DVD players in Flat Screen TV etc. Ironically, StreamUnlimited charge silly money for the solution - so its not MF being cheap!

The Metal body loader is designed to work on the higher vibration and heat of an automotive environment - we are using it in a benign domestic environment where by comparison it lives a life of relative bliss

We have used it on the Creek CD player and its proved VERY reliable - I've not read of any problems with the new Creek CD player WRT to the slot loaders Disk reading abilities.

 

[KevinNZ]

John,
I've noticed that with my car slot-loading player, there is a strip of either 'brush' type fillaments or a piece of material behind the slot (presumably to limit dust entering the unit). I no longer play original copies of my discs whilst driving because I noticed them getting progressively more and more scratched (I am extremely meticulous about keeping them mint). Is there anyway around this for the FDAC?

I suppose it could be the car vibrating the whole player, rather than the material causing this...

Anyhow, regards from NZ!
Kevin.

 

[JohnW]

John,
I've noticed that with my car slot-loading player, there is a strip of either 'brush' type fillaments or a piece of material behind the slot (presumably to limit dust entering the unit). I no longer play original copies of my discs whilst driving because I noticed them getting progressively more and more scratched (I am extremely meticulous about keeping them mint). Is there anyway around this for the FDAC?

I suppose it could be the car vibrating the whole player, rather than the material causing this...

Anyhow, regards from NZ!
Kevin.

Kevin,

I'd be guessing to say its dirt on the rubber rollers - the cars a nasty environment - I've used the same test CD on the production line and in our lab during development and there are no obvious scratches due to the loader - only the production line workers mishandling the disk.

I'd say that tray loaders cause more damage as the disc still spins as the draw ejects - rubbing the test CD's with "indentations" of the draw - these CD's are loaded and unloaded x1000's of times a day...

 

[Michaelxaudio]

John,

Looks great! No complaints. Less is more. A silver unit would go great in my setup which is very clean and minimal.

I’m a graphic designer so I took a look at your images to see if anything caught my attention and naturally, the screen does.. I do realize this is a rough comp and the screen is not the focus now, but the chases is, but here are my thoughts. Its layout looks fine overall but there are some fine tweeks that could be done regarding alignment. Also, Some of the type is too small. The centered Lakewest logo and topbar looks great. Font choice is crucial and probably biggest decision here.

P.S. - if u need any design work you can message me.

- Michael

 

[Bob L]

Fred,

I'd like to keep things as simple as possible until we can expand our capabilities - so a retractable knob complicates matters - but we could try reducing the Knob depth to sink to closer to the panel....

Its a good point and these details can be adjusted once we have a prototype on hand to play with

Also, I think the knob should be positioned closer to the headphone jacks, this will make it a little more balanced.

Actually thinking about it, we did reduce the height of the Knob & move it closer to the Jacks but I can only guess we lost these modifications during one of many system crashes / Windows7 restarts! ProE Creo is rather unstable.

John, I too am very happy with this design! I also agree with your comments about knob height and position- just don't make the knob so shallow that the arthritic fingers which some of us will have (it's a lifetime purchase!) won't cope.....
I would suggest about 2/3 of the current MDAC knob height as a minimum.

When will we get to see an outline rear panel? I'm starting to think about system layout and cable lengths.

 

[JohnW]

Michael,

The Display is only a rendering kindly provided by NuTron here on PFM - its only an example and in no way reflects the UI - in fact the release UI will be very basic as the software will only be a "get you going" release and we will improve the software / UI over time which will be user upgradable via USB as with the MDAC software.

The display is also Colour - so I'm sure we will have much discussion here on PFM as to how to format the display / UI which we will happily take into consideration. I'm not suggesting a Christmas tree lights arrangement of colours - but something simple and tasteful

My priority is to release and ship the hardware - then we can play about perfecting the Software

 

[JohnW]

When will we get to see an outline rear panel? I'm starting to think about system layout and cable lengths.

Gosh - reality is I have much to do on the analogue PCB - I've pulled apart the original "MDAC2" style Analogue board - redesigned one channel, but still much more to do.

Once its completed then I can release the connector arrangement for the Analogue side - the design of the digital board will realistically not be started until after Christmas.

By the end of this year I'd like to start the analogue PCB production and the chassis - at least the prototype chassis. The Detox PCB was reasonably quick to design (so much easier then working on the FDAC analogue PCB) - I expect the same with the FDAC digital PCB.

The Analogue PCB is really the heart of the FDAC and the most complex - so once this is completed - the remaining Digital / PSU / Front panel PCB's are a "forgone conclusions", the PSU and Front panel are simple affairs.

 

[EIffel]

Jim,

Also available in Silver, so the opposite colour combination of the Black version - Silver Face plate 'Cheeks' with Black centre display bessel.

Great work especially for the FDAC (I'm still not sure about the 'V' on the side of the amp although I'll live with it )!

In the "Silver" versions, will the case still be black or will it be silver? I seem to remember that there was some potential issue with heat dissipation with, I believe, silver cases...

 

[fusion5]

Wow, I absolutely love the design

 

[iansr]

John
I like them both. I think the V on the VFET is one of its best features. In fact it looks so good from the side that I will want to make sure the sides are visible when they are sat next to my speakers.

 

[Stunsworth]

At the risk of adding 'noise' to the thread, can I just say the FDAC design is looking good. Black for me please <grin>.