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MDAC First Listen (part 00111010)

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beammeup said:
Oh, while I remember, I also have the sPS 500 power supply - there is an output selection for 19V, will that be safe John to use with your 18V connection in the Streambox? May as-well supply clean power if there's a chance I can do so with equipment I already own.
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As long as you dont connect a USB powered DAC or any heavy Current load to the Streamer you will be OK :)
 
beammeup said:
Well I will check this all out with Volumino first - to see if there is a limitation with the Spotify plug-in - it's good to know that it's not just me with this issue.

JohnW has passed my email address to the Volumino support engineer for me.

I'm going to be stressing the Streambox out to its limits because I am experienced with other streamed solutions - so if am likely to find all the warts if there are any - just keep an eye out on my posts if you need any updates on this. I would also welcome any other feedback from Streambox users.

My other streamed solutions are as follows:

Yamaha CD-N500 (CD player come streamer)
The humble Google Chromecast Audio
Auralic Aries Mini
SOtM sMS-200 Ultra

Oh, while I remember, I also have the sPS 500 power supply - there is an output selection for 19V, will that be safe John to use with your 18V connection in the Streambox? May as-well supply clean power if there's a chance I can do so with equipment I already own.
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Would you care to share your thoughts on the SOtM, this is something I was considering as a streamer. Does it sound better than the Streambox? Thanks.
 
dtd said:
@beammeup can you force your mini-streamer to use 5Ghz wifi band if you have it available? 2.4ghz can get congested. But as mentioned wired ethernet is ofcourse trouble free.
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The WiFi module in the Ministreamer is just 2.4GHz band - we do have an option for dual band WiFi but I'm not really happy with have an RF transmitter in the MDAC2 so its not something I spend much effort on.

Lets see if Wired LAN connection helps, or the issue is else where...

I don't experience dropouts here in Czech Rep. on Classic FM, and that's with a WiFi link - and we only have a shared 20Mb internet connection to the house / lab...
 
JohnW said:
As long as you dont connect a USB powered DAC or any heavy Current load to the Streamer you will be OK :)
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OK - so just to be sure - have you any examples of USB powered DACs? I have a Chord Mojo which is battery powered, and a Meridian Explorer 2 which is a tiny DAC that I think is USB powered.
 
timola said:
Would you care to share your thoughts on the SOtM, this is something I was considering as a streamer. Does it sound better than the Streambox? Thanks.
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I haven't had a chance to listen to the Streambox seriously yet. If you want a comparison of the two for now watch this YouTube video...

 
beammeup said:
OK - so just to be sure - have you any examples of USB powered DACs? I have a Chord Mojo which is battery powered, and a Meridian Explorer 2 which is a tiny DAC that I think is USB powered.
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I'm not sure of the Mojo - but the Meridian Explorer 2 takes its power from the USB port. With a 19V PSU, the extra input voltage will increase the heat dissipation of the streamer internal regulator = the unit will get hotter... its a judgment call if damaging...
 
beammeup said:
I'm really going to persevere with the Streambox until I get either one of these two issues working:

Spotify showing my playlist which is does not after I logged in.
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Sorry bad news from MA on the Spotify issue:-

"this is a limitation of the spotify plugin. It cannot show the user's playlist, Spotify removed this functionality around February this year"

Unless we can commit to a minumum of 100K units, Spotify will not talk with us so we are forced to scrape the bottom of the barrel for a "workable" solution...

That said, there is a 3rd party Volumio Spotify connect plugin making the rounds, so maybe we might have a better solution in the near term...
 
JohnW said:
That said, there is a 3rd party Volumio Spotify connect plugin making the rounds, so maybe we might have a better solution in the near term...
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Actually Spotify wants it's users to use Spotify Connect and might remove the others ways of streaming from Spotify at some point.

So it is a good thing there is a Connect plugin for Volumio that can be substitute the Spotify functionality in the streamer sometime in the future. :cool:

IMHO Spotify Connect is the best way to use Spotify and how most Spotify users expect it to work. (at least all the non audiophile users)
 
Rune said:
Actually Spotify wants it's users to use Spotify Connect and might remove the others ways of streaming from Spotify at some point.

So it is a good thing there is a Connect plugin for Volumio that can be substitute the Spotify functionality in the streamer sometime in the future. :cool:

IMHO Spotify Connect is the best way to use Spotify and how most Spotify users expect it to work. (at least all the non audiophile users)
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Well it might be true, but demanding 100K units makes it impossible for the smaller guys like our project...
 
OK so that's a Spotify limitation I can report back to you all - you cannot access your playlist - so this streamer is compromised a little in this respect - I will keep testing and see what other limitations are on the cards.

I will say that if you unplug the Streambox and then put the lead back in again with the plug switched on the wall you get a helluva white 'sparkler' like spark - it happens every time! I'm not sure if that's a good thing. The safest way to plug in the Streambox so you are not presented with a white spark is to plug the lead into the Streambox before you plug it into the mains.

I forgot the long Ethernet lead from work to test the wired against the wireless connection. I can say for sure though that if I put Classic FM in as a custom web radio under 'My Web Radios' with a URL of http://media-ice.musicradio.com/ClassicFMMP3, this is far more reliable than the Classic FM choices from Volumino - work that one out if you can?

Anyway here some pics of my streaming setup comparing the Yamaha connected via its wireless sky connector (streaming flawlessly), and the Streambox siting humbly between the SoTM pair. Anyway keep watching as I continue to test this unit out.





 
Now trying Qobuz - that seems to work OK. Only minor quibble here is that if you add a playlist to Qobuz you need to restart the Streambox to see it kick in.

Funny how Qobuz set to the highest possible quality in the Streambox is more reliable than the web radio. Can't be anything wrong with my Wi-Fi ... odd !

Anyway, with Qobuz streaming this will be my source for comparing the other streamers when I go head to head with them - especially the SOtM Ultra.
 
beammeup said:
I will say that if you unplug the Streambox and then put the lead back in again with the plug switched on the wall you get a helluva white 'sparkler' like spark - it happens every time! I'm not sure if that's a good thing. The safest way to plug in the Streambox so you are not presented with a white spark is to plug the lead into the Streambox before you plug it into the mains.
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An anti-surge circuit has been fitted to later units - the first 7 Beta units where built before the design change.

The Ministreamer purpose is to debug the software and serve as development units - there are no plans for further 'production' beyond the beta units. The MDAC2 streamer hardware is rather more refined but based on a common (Lakewest) software.
 
JohnW said:
An anti-surge circuit has been fitted to later units - the first 7 Beta units where built before the design change.

The Ministreamer purpose is to debug the software and serve as development units - there are no plans for further 'production' beyond the beta units. The MDAC2 streamer hardware is rather more refined but based on a common (Lakewest) software.
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OK John but I did spend £300 on this unit nevertheless, I do at least want it to be safe and not something fresh out of the experimental lab. Are there any other Beta nasties I need to be concerned about that could be dangerous - or shorten the life of this player dramatically? Or any other compromises under the hood that would compromise / hinder the sound quality compared to the later units?

And for Hi-Fi quality tracks surely Qobuz can be recommended too?
 
My unit also gives a spark if I unplug the barrel plug. But there is a easy fix, turn off/unplug at the wall insted.
So really not a big issue while you are aware of it.

At first my unit crashed a lot because of overheating which was a combination of a software bug/to small heat sink on SOC.
The software issue is now fixed.
And fixed the heat-sink issue by taking it out of the case until I get a bigger heat-sink.
These are only minor issues considering I got the very first PFM beta unit.

Overall I am very satisfied with the unit.

The streamer solution and software adds tremendous value to the MDAC2.
 
Rune said:
My unit also gives a spark if I unplug the barrel plug. But there is a easy fix, turn off/unplug at the wall instead.

So really not a big issue while you are aware of it.

At first my unit crashed a lot because of overheating which was a combination of a software bug/to small heat sink on SOC.
The software issue is now fixed.

And fixed the heat-sink issue by taking it out of the case until I get a bigger heat-sink.

These are only minor issues considering I got the very first PFM beta unit.

Overall I am very satisfied with the unit.

The streamer solution and software adds tremendous value to the MDAC2.
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I would be OK with this Rune, but I think I was a little naive when I first committed my £300 to the development of the Streambox. I actually thought because I (we) helped to fund this project to get it off the ground that I (we) would end up with a properly finished product and not something that physically looks inferior to the fully fledged solution, and with remaining bugs like surge issues etc. I just expected more royal treatment as investors in this regard. But that's just me not knowing what I was letting myself in for I guess - and not fully understanding the situation.

I thought (again naively) that we would at least get the fully finished fully furnished Project Streambox for at least cost price (or for the £300 we invested) as a reward for helping to fund the project to help get JohnW get off the ground with all this.

So I can only assume those here that helped to fund the MDAC development ended up with a similar unfinished beta-like box (rather than the fully finished item) as their reward too?

I will read the small print next time - because I would much prefer the fully finished item no doubt about it.
 
beammeup said:
OK John but I did spend £300 on this unit nevertheless, I do at least want it to be safe and not something fresh out of the experimental lab. Are there any other Beta nasties I need to be concerned about that could be dangerous - or shorten the life of this player dramatically? Or any other compromises under the hood that would compromise / hinder the sound quality compared to the later units?

And for Hi-Fi quality tracks surely Qobuz can be recommended too?
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The design is not dangerous by any means!!! its just less then ideal operation, you just need to plugin the DC barrel jack into the rear of the mini-streamer first then plug the AC adapter into the mains power socket - this is hardly a big issue ground breaking issue.

It has no impact on product life, as mentioned above if your concerned, then you just connect the streamer to the power adapter first then plug into the mains AC - in most use cases the adapter is going to be rarely unplugged from the Streamer. Many other units also spark when connecting the DC jack when powered... its hardly uncommon.

The ProJect streamer retails for 750Euros - so for less then GBP300 for a Beta Lakewest unit offers significant saving on its direct equivalent. I have STRONGLY targeted these few units to Beta testers - hence the Beta name!

There has NEVER been ANY suggestion of offering a ProJect branded streamer as Beta units (its not my Brand / place to do that) - and in fact the Lakewest Ministreamer predates the ProJect streamer being known publicly so this could NEVER have been understood to be the case. As the ProJect streamer was designed after the Lakewest Ministreamer we redesigned the ProJects DC input circuit to prevent sparking.

Beta means Beta... for "expert" users who are prepared to live with a few niggles (hence the reduced cost) - User experance from these Beta units gets feedback into the full production units (in this case the MDAC2 + internal streamer option).

Qobuz is a recent addition (I have no experience of Qobuz), when the Streamer was originally designed Tidal, Roon, and Local playback where consider the hifi usage scenarios - Bluetooth, Webradio & Spotify have been added for convenience and as such are secondary features not intended for true HiFi listening due to there compressed lossey data format. I often have Webradio streaming in the background while working so its a nice service to have :)
 
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