MDAC First Listen (part 00111010)
- Thread starter JohnW
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No need to be concerned!
USB 3 has no relevance when streaming DSD. USB 2 has at least 3x the bandwidth needed for streaming DSD512.
I can stream DSD512 through the Ministreamer using wired 100mbs connection.
So those advertising USB 3 as necessary is into snake oil marketing! or just trying to differentiate their products even thou it has no real world benefit when streaming audio.
Space is the Place
pfm Member
I feel very sorry for the people that are £3k plus in the game ?!
I think i made 3 payments of £100 (but i'm struggling to remember as it was that long ago!)and had a salvaged MDAC, which i have and still works OK.
Have there been any MDAC2 boards made? or did these along with all the development, end up in the Project Dac?
I think i made 3 payments of £100 (but i'm struggling to remember as it was that long ago!)and had a salvaged MDAC, which i have and still works OK.
Have there been any MDAC2 boards made? or did these along with all the development, end up in the Project Dac?
adamdea
You are not a sound quality evaluation device
Cognitive dissonance is not uncommon among disappointed investors but here it seems to have been elevated to an art form.
Why no delivered products? Why new obstacles being thrown up all the time? Think people. Think.
Are we "closing in"? is there a clear list of things which need to be completed? Is that list finite and closed? is there a timeframe for the completion of the items?
No one asked John to set up his own cottage industry production line. OK it has problems, who would have thunk it?
The mdac2 was always supposed to be slot in board replacement for the mdac. It never needed a new case.
Are any of these things reasons for delay or excuses for delay?
Ultimately actions speak louder than words.
if anyone really believes these products are going to be delivered can they kindly take my investment off my hands at 50p in the £. If we are dealing with the inevitable delays of genius and have not been had then you will be bound to make your money back handsomely.
Why no delivered products? Why new obstacles being thrown up all the time? Think people. Think.
Must it? Why assume he is investing in this stuff to complete the project? It is at least as likely that it is a mixture of dicking around and working on other projects.I believe John is closing in on some of these things, the physical investment in the Lab must mean he is serious?
?
Are we "closing in"? is there a clear list of things which need to be completed? Is that list finite and closed? is there a timeframe for the completion of the items?
Or obfuscation. See previous 4 years. About 18 months ago I made the suggestion that John just tells us what it will cost and lets us consider advancing the funds against clear undertaking to finish things off in sensible time frame. This was refused in favour of some idea about a streamer. And what do we have? Not even the streamer. Why is the streamer prioritised over the products people do want? No idea. This will be the case even if the streamer actually is delivered.
Not only not obvious, but probably not the case. John is still apparently changing the design. The manufacturing process may be a problem but it is not the only problem. And a good part of the manufacturing problem is changing the design.
No one asked John to set up his own cottage industry production line. OK it has problems, who would have thunk it?
The mdac2 was always supposed to be slot in board replacement for the mdac. It never needed a new case.
Are any of these things reasons for delay or excuses for delay?
Ultimately actions speak louder than words.
if anyone really believes these products are going to be delivered can they kindly take my investment off my hands at 50p in the £. If we are dealing with the inevitable delays of genius and have not been had then you will be bound to make your money back handsomely.
ti33er
pfm Member
I think everyone is frustrated, well beyond, with these continuous delays...but two people do have Streamers (testing them at least) and one person got a Superior Board, so it’s not complete vapourware
My better judgement says John is not a con-Artist at least, but easily distracted...
My better judgement says John is not a con-Artist at least, but easily distracted...
How can someone be a “brilliant designer” if he has not actually designed anything tangible? Where’s the finished “brilliant design”? Taking money in good faith from folk who haven’t got much spare is pretty low. I’ve watched this project from the start. There is no way an originally reasonable proposal to crowd fund a better M DAC PCB should ever have been allowed to change into building a small scale electronics production facility somewhere in East Europe that actually hasn’t produced anything in five years.
JTC
PFM Villager...
I’ve a few pounds in this but mainly due to my participation in the earlier L2 mods. For sure, I’d like to see something back from my flutter, but I'm very happy with my current DAC and system and so I’ve largely given up any hope of seeing anything out of this. Now, I may well be wrong - and I hope I am - but equally if I’m right I am not upset to any real degree. It would just be a bit of a shame, that’s all. Maybe it’ll all come good, though, let’s see...
DimitryZ
pfm Member
Obviously new to the entire multi-year effort and find it fascinating on multiple levels...
Design directions all seem interesting and worthy, but the time frame for development and manufacturing headaches seem off.
I work for a large defense electronics company. While we own a sophisticated PWB production facility, we typically send more challenging designs (mixed RF, logic and power, dozens of layers, microvias, etc.) to specialty manufacturers. There is just no shortage of quality outfits that will pump out your boards to any reasonable specification...
Similarly, getting a metal fabricator to produce a simple, well finished metal box in aircraft aluminum or common steels is both available and affordable. Delays of months or years is simply unheard of.
I don't know how these crowdfunding projects work or even if there is any contract law governing them. However, buying capital equipment, should have never been part of the effort, unless disclosed upfront - this is a general business investment that contributors to a specific design project really should not have to pay for.
However, if the designs are ever made real and produced, I look forward to seeing reviews and technology advancement that may come from them. I certainly wish the entire project success and the investors to have excellent hardware sent to them.
I find the Pro-Ject S2Digital box to be an excellent DAC and use it often in my bedroom system. It's perfect for a small footprint system and plays well above its' modest price. So that would be good empirical evidence that the designer is, in fact, very good at his job.
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Space is the Place
pfm Member
Shirley the whole point was just to take the original MDAC -which performed very well- and make it sound better.
I always thought it sounded a bit "mechanical" for want of a better description compared to competitors Dacs, but the MDAC had better dynamics and was/is a really functionally brilliant piece of equipment for the price. The whole point was to drop in new board and add and improve its already good sound.
Simple.
Who'd have thought the time it took we'd be faced with a dictator as president of the USA, the UK was heading towards becoming a banana republic without the bananas (tinned pineapple anyone?)
My hunch is that John has taken the money and has retreated to a lab complex perched on the side of a mountain and is building a range of amor, not unlike a slightly paler/thinner version of Tony Stark!
This is a picture of him trying to get the oven up and running...
I always thought it sounded a bit "mechanical" for want of a better description compared to competitors Dacs, but the MDAC had better dynamics and was/is a really functionally brilliant piece of equipment for the price. The whole point was to drop in new board and add and improve its already good sound.
Simple.
Who'd have thought the time it took we'd be faced with a dictator as president of the USA, the UK was heading towards becoming a banana republic without the bananas (tinned pineapple anyone?)
My hunch is that John has taken the money and has retreated to a lab complex perched on the side of a mountain and is building a range of amor, not unlike a slightly paler/thinner version of Tony Stark!
This is a picture of him trying to get the oven up and running...
adamdea
You are not a sound quality evaluation device
£550 I think.
Conceivably 450.
I paid up for a tricked out MDac 2 with adc and a detox
Joe
pfm Member
I am not a participant in this mess but what strikes me through it all is that JohnW never answers a direct question from specific disgruntled members.
If some one has directly asked for their money back ( for instance ) he should at least have the good manners to reply.
His only replies seem to be "jam tomorrow".
If some one has directly asked for their money back ( for instance ) he should at least have the good manners to reply.
His only replies seem to be "jam tomorrow".
Space is the Place
pfm Member
Space is the Place
pfm Member
Yes the developing has been going on a bit, still we'll be thankful for it when he saves the world from the Crimson Dynamo! 
adamdea
You are not a sound quality evaluation device
As for you, Morrel, this is the secret of my conduct towards you. There is
neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison
of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest
grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt
what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of
living.
“Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never
forget that until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to
man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words,—‘Wait and
hope.’—Your friend
neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison
of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest
grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt
what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of
living.
“Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never
forget that until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to
man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words,—‘Wait and
hope.’—Your friend
Joe
pfm Member
Very difficult for lurkers here not to jump in, so my two cents.
Given his Project work, it seems that John is capable of producing work on time, so the perfectionist genius explanation given by some here to account for MDAC2 delays doesn't wash. I suggest John arrange for Project Digital boxes at a decent discount for his funders here, and just close the books.
My credentials? I own and am very happy with an MDAC. Was tempted to jump into the MDAC2 project about two Munichs ago when the product seemed imminent, but thank goodness I'm a ditherer and stalled long enough to realize it was another false alarm.
Good luck to all!
Given his Project work, it seems that John is capable of producing work on time, so the perfectionist genius explanation given by some here to account for MDAC2 delays doesn't wash. I suggest John arrange for Project Digital boxes at a decent discount for his funders here, and just close the books.
My credentials? I own and am very happy with an MDAC. Was tempted to jump into the MDAC2 project about two Munichs ago when the product seemed imminent, but thank goodness I'm a ditherer and stalled long enough to realize it was another false alarm.
Good luck to all!
ti33er
pfm Member
No thanks, I need an MDAC2 with AVBypass ...imperative to my system (it’s why I signed up).
I’m sure John will deliver eventually, so long as he doesn’t suffer a nervous breakdown from all these messages first (I hope John can just take away the positives from these rants - the core message is that people are tired of waiting, so rather deliver the MDAC2 board as close as it is to being perfect, as it will never be perfect, very soon)
Sincerely not intended to come across as insulting
I’m sure John will deliver eventually, so long as he doesn’t suffer a nervous breakdown from all these messages first (I hope John can just take away the positives from these rants - the core message is that people are tired of waiting, so rather deliver the MDAC2 board as close as it is to being perfect, as it will never be perfect, very soon)
Sincerely not intended to come across as insulting
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