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MDAC First Listen (part 00111001)

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mike9876 said:
Can we take a class action case for fraud because nothing has been delivered the evidence is damning on this forum with promise after promise. And when I signed up there was no mention of a dozen projects would be taken. I think I have been fraudulently scammed out of money. I know this post is strong but that is how I feel after promise after promise, Christmas after Christmas. But I find it suspicious that his design for the pro-ject has happened to be released this autumn. As a business a case in the small claims court would be valid throughout of the whole EU he would have to travel to the UK to defend it.
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Fraud? No. Easily distracted? Probably. I suspect JW is well-aware that many are losing patience. To me, the journey is merely interesting if a little long-winded - it's the destination that counts. The problem as I see it, is that the effort to develop a product against such a fast moving background is monumental for such a small team.
Project managing production is no easy task. I work in production testing for a company that went for China for SMT PCB production. The cost of reworking outstripped the added cost of going local in time alone. You have to tie down specifications so tightly with the Chinese otherwise they will use sub-standard components to make a profit. As a company, we are back on track with a reliable supplier here in the UK.
 
I have just been trawling through our "second forum", Facebook, and am shocked to see two new delays to MDAC2.

Somehow, despite me following this thread, I have missed how it has come about that there are now TWO different streamer products - a ministreamer and an MDAC2 streamer. And, despite the streamer being a prototype run so that the DIYers can explore the software, the production seems to have become held up by the fact that none of this Volumio / Moode -type steamer software is really up to scratch. I am surprised that the streamers are not just shipped without the Pi apps - the DIYers are more than capable of exploring different apps themselves. Indeed, I thought this was the main point of producing this hardware.

Even worse, I see there are two references to "knocking up" a display and front panel for the devdac.

This is hopeless. John - you must find a way to avoid this over-optimistic mission creep.
 
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Mark Dirac said:
The production seems to have become held up by the fact that none of this Volumio / Moode -type steamer software is really up to scratch. I am surprised that the streamers are not just shipped without the Pi apps - the DIYers are more than capable of exploring different apps themselves. Indeed, I thought this was the main point of producing this hardware..
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Just to clarify, production is not held up as the boards have already manufactured - the shipping is delayed as we tried to resolve a bug with the Atmel bootloader for the onboard MCU - and now finally we are completing the production calibration / testing software.

The Streamer hardware is designed to be an open platform so as you say any "Pi" based software can be installed with the correct dtblob and WiFi drivers for the MiniStreamer.

OpenHome is my preferred option ATM - maybe MA will fix the issues with Volumio....
 
While there remains challenges ahead (including parts availability, case manufacturing, actual sound tests, etc.), I do like the latest iteration of the MDAC2 design concept (a product which supports PCM and DSD and doesn't require a streamer, but with an explicit path to the FDAC, including upgraded PSU, ADC, streamer, etc.).

This seems to be a cost efficient way to develop and deliver what I was originally looking for (a very flexible DAC, with excellent sound, and a great companion to the upcoming VFET), without having to acquire intermediate products for which I will have little use.

There will be some learnings along the way, and thus possible delays, but I'm not sure how realistically these can be avoided.

I do look forward to the gradual product releases (and progress reports)...
 
Been keeping an eye on the thread, but not too closely as I'm interested in FDAC.

My FDAC interest is / was in these areas;

1. DSP - 'Tilt' basic tone control / Room EQ ala REW/MiniDSP functionality
2. Analogue - possibly for external phono stage - see below
3. Phono stage - possibly - see above

Another part of my interest too, is about moving to less boxes.

I dont see any references to DSP in recent posts John, so if thats no longer on the cards it'd be good to know. I can then look at alternates. even if it means an additional box.
 
ADC with Phono stage is certainly on the cards for FDAC - but no DSP at this time.

The MiniDSP boxes we tried had a very negative effect on sound quality - the issue seems to be the SharkDSP sample rate converter block used to allowing a single output sample rate and which ease the filter coefficient requirements.

The SharkDSP sample rate converter sounds REALLY bad.

We could customise a MiniDSP to directly interface with the FDAC if your where interested (once the FDAC is shipped).
 
I have had a MiniDSP2x4HD between MDAC and amp to correct room modes. The result was not very promising. Less boom but much less lively. I am back to passive room / loudspeaker treatments. I guess double DA/AD/DA is not the way to go.
 
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Just a thought about DSP: When you are used to a sound signature of a room when listening to music or just living in there with talking and all the other noises, DSP might make some room mode corrections but also might make it sound „wrong“/„inappropriate“ in a way. Any comments to this remote kind of perspective?
 
Just use EQ to reduce the energy of the frequency which causes the room mode, it is tempting to correct too much simply because you can.
Keith
 
I believe MIni DSP measure pretty well and so should be transparent you could try one of the new RME DACs/ADcs as they have built in EQ amongst tons of other features and aren’t expensive.
Keith
 
Purité Audio said:
Can you post the before and after measurements?
Keith
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Keith, how do you get the after measurements....I assume you mean what the filter is doing?

I've recently gone off DSP, the filter seems to compress the sound, I'd rather live with the room modes if the sound is more engaging.
 
Yes make the initial measurement with something like REW, create the correction, and then re-measure to confirm the efficiency of the correction.
Keith
 
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