iansr
pfm Member
John, will be interesting to hear your thoughts about the Calex. You may have missed my earlier post above
MDAC First Listen (part 00110000)
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John, will be interesting to hear your thoughts about the Calex. You may have missed my earlier post above
timola
pfm Member
To all the calex PSU multi-rail upgrade brigade,
I'm just wondering if there is any expectation bias in your SQ improvement finding? It's just that doing DIY on your equipment (especially when its fun and low cost) does have a large +ve expectation.
How are you doing the A/B demos....I'm assuming since the MDAC is now on Calex you cannot go back to standard PSU listening easily?
How would you score the increased SQ say out of 20?
And.....are you biasing John's finding with the Calexes...or Calexi...
I'm just wondering if there is any expectation bias in your SQ improvement finding? It's just that doing DIY on your equipment (especially when its fun and low cost) does have a large +ve expectation.
How are you doing the A/B demos....I'm assuming since the MDAC is now on Calex you cannot go back to standard PSU listening easily?
How would you score the increased SQ say out of 20?
And.....are you biasing John's finding with the Calexes...or Calexi...
davidjt
pfm Member
The pcb (with or without the surface-mount components attached) was a limited group buy on DIY audio. (See the links). Given sufficient demand, there may be a second run of bare boards only.
timola
pfm Member
That seems plain enough for me. Let's see what John finds when his Calexi arrive and maybe roll out a much easier/superior fully regulated upgrade.
I have the MCRU regulated linear unit cost £350ish and that was a marginal improvement if any in my opinion and I can A/B it fairly easily...the Calxi still intrigues me though.
I do worry about the aesthetics of upto 5 Calexi and drilling a hole in the MDAC.
I have the MCRU regulated linear unit cost £350ish and that was a marginal improvement if any in my opinion and I can A/B it fairly easily...the Calxi still intrigues me though.
I do worry about the aesthetics of upto 5 Calexi and drilling a hole in the MDAC.
adamdea
You are not a sound quality evaluation device
As long as the script goes- yes marvellous improvement but John's own (existing, does not need changing) design will be even better.To all the calex PSU multi-rail upgrade brigade,
And.....are you biasing John's finding with the Calexes...or Calexi...
davidjt
pfm Member
To all the calex PSU multi-rail upgrade brigade,
I'm just wondering if there is any expectation bias in your SQ improvement finding? It's just that doing DIY on your equipment (especially when its fun and low cost) does have a large +ve expectation.
How are you doing the A/B demos....I'm assuming since the MDAC is now on Calex you cannot go back to standard PSU listening easily?
How would you score the increased SQ say out of 20?
And.....are you biasing John's finding with the Calexes...or Calexi...
I don't think you need to worry about John being biased.
As for the rest of us, I'm aware of the possibility - but the all round improvement in definition, detail and presence was just too great to be all in my imagination. In addition, I was simply enjoying the music a few days later when I became aware that the soundstage had opened up - no bias there as I wasn't expecting any further improvement. Paul experienced the same thing. Before that I'd accepted that speakers take a while to burn in, but had been skeptical about any such effect elsewhere.
My rather limited experience does suggest that you need exceptionally good speakers or 'phones to fully appreciate these improvements. If you take the MDAC out of its case, plug everything back in and you don't immediately hear the difference, I'd stop right there.
iansr
pfm Member
To all the calex PSU multi-rail upgrade brigade,
I'm just wondering if there is any expectation bias in your SQ improvement finding? It's just that doing DIY on your equipment (especially when its fun and low cost) does have a large +ve expectation.
How are you doing the A/B demos....I'm assuming since the MDAC is now on Calex you cannot go back to standard PSU listening easily?
How would you score the increased SQ say out of 20?
And.....are you biasing John's finding with the Calexes...or Calexi...
If the difference was subtle then yes I'd be wary of expectation bias. However the difference is so dramatic that there is no question of that.
think most people are thinking of 3 Calices/Calexi, not 5; see John's connection diagrams, which only show 3. Even so, this will be quite a clunky as well as heavy box.
A while back (no. 832, I think) John mentioned "spinning a new board",which would allow DC input. If I have understood him correctly, this may get over problems with connections to the outside world and drilling holes; presumably this would use the present 9-way DIN socket. I hope he will be able to find time to explain a bit more about this soon.
timola
pfm Member
Wow....thanks guys! There is a clear consensus, that the MDAC can be greatly improved by replacing the standard PSU by a muiti-rail Calex power pack.
I hope John gets time soon to hook this set-up up and report back.
..hopefully with a neat way for the less experienced diy'ers like me to join your party.
...and whether it's possible/worthwhile to go further with the LT 3042 regulators as suggested by Paul which looks like a more miniature dual rail board...maybe a stack of these in a nice Detox style box could be tested and then offered by John.
Could be a challenger to the FDAC on SQ perhaps?
Hey John ... If you considered offering this an upgrade made by you, I think many would be interested if the cost could be reasonable....you could offer this after the FDAC launch in case people begin to worry about the FDAC time-line.....perhaps you could license Paul to do this for us?
I hope John gets time soon to hook this set-up up and report back.
..hopefully with a neat way for the less experienced diy'ers like me to join your party.
...and whether it's possible/worthwhile to go further with the LT 3042 regulators as suggested by Paul which looks like a more miniature dual rail board...maybe a stack of these in a nice Detox style box could be tested and then offered by John.
Could be a challenger to the FDAC on SQ perhaps?
Hey John ... If you considered offering this an upgrade made by you, I think many would be interested if the cost could be reasonable....you could offer this after the FDAC launch in case people begin to worry about the FDAC time-line.....perhaps you could license Paul to do this for us?
timola
pfm Member
As always Bob L you have a great knack of summarizing and correctly putting the exciting situation we have for the ageing MDAC. Maybe it was the likes of me that held back Paul and co from experimenting with the PSU much earlier...I'm willing to go for this, if it can be done well aesthetically (Detox style...just larger of course).
Every now and then i look at the PF forum, in the "MDAC First listen..." topic. I am very curious when the FDAC expects to be ready, i already sold my MDAC and now happy with a Naim Superuniti but i am still in the project, i can use the FDAC in another room.
Is there a new release date mentioned anywhere?
Is there a new release date mentioned anywhere?
JohnW
pfm member
Jeroengrt,
Sorry I recall you asking quite recently - I thought I had already replied.
We plan to the FDAC prototype in July - with the production process starting around August.
JohnW
pfm member
Well I just listened to RTRT Toy MDAC with external and internal Detox with triple Calex PSU's and first impressions:-
1. Bass is now much deeper and firmer - almost to being too bass heavy (I've not adjusted the Sub woofer to keep listening conditions the same).
2. I find myself listening at -19dB to -20dB where I used to listen at -23dB to -20dB
3. Sound now just comes from the speakers - with little Left to Right Sound stage
4. The "open" treble is now closed in, and with little macro detail - I guess what Steve Toy would call texture... its now just all about the Bass.
Maybe I need to let the PSU's run in - I could swear that the soundstage opened up more about 30 minutes into listening... I know the MDAC is bad for this, it really needs a warm-up period from cold.
I'm not happy that the MDAC is so sensitive to PSU - and really wonder where my detail and treble have gone I'll let the system warm up over night...
1. Bass is now much deeper and firmer - almost to being too bass heavy (I've not adjusted the Sub woofer to keep listening conditions the same).
2. I find myself listening at -19dB to -20dB where I used to listen at -23dB to -20dB
3. Sound now just comes from the speakers
- with little Left to Right Sound stage4. The "open" treble is now closed in, and with little macro detail - I guess what Steve Toy would call texture... its now just all about the Bass.
Maybe I need to let the PSU's run in - I could swear that the soundstage opened up more about 30 minutes into listening... I know the MDAC is bad for this, it really needs a warm-up period from cold.
I'm not happy that the MDAC is so sensitive to PSU - and really wonder where my detail and treble have gone
I'll let the system warm up over night...
russel
./_dazed_and_confused
Well I just listened to RTRT Toy MDAC with external and internal Detox with triple Calex PSU's and first impressions:-
1. Bass is now much deeper and firmer - almost to being too bass heavy (I've not adjusted the Sub woofer to keep listening conditions the same).
2. I find myself listening at -19dB to -20dB where I used to listen at -23dB to -20dB
3. Sound now just comes from the speakers
4. The "open" treble is now closed in, and with little macro detail - I guess what Steve Toy would call texture... its now just all about the Bass.
Maybe I need to let the PSU's run in - I could swear that the soundstage opened up more about 30 minutes into listening... I know the MDAC is bad for this, it really needs a warm-up period from cold.
I'm not happy that the MDAC is so sensitive to PSU - and really wonder where my detail and treble have gone
Analogue and digital earths share the same return path to the PSU?
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