anubisgrau
pfm Member
thanks!
MDAC first listen (part III)
- Thread starter John_73
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thanks!
John_73
pfm Member
Question to JohnW: I know that one can use an iPad with the MDAC, but can one plug an iPod classic into it too, thereby serving as a DAC for the iPod? It would be cool to be able to take the MDAC on trips/holidays (it's just small enough) and be able to plug an iPod into it and make use of the MDACs DAC and (by all accounts) superb headphone stage. I believe a direct digital feed can be taken from the iPods dock connector?
Cheers,
- John
Cheers,
- John
To do this, I believe you have to have a license from Apple - the digital output is encrypted and you need the license to get the decryption codes - something like that - which is why there are so few proper digital iPod docks.
In fact, more or less anything to do with (modern) iPods is encrypted so Apple can "keep it in the family". CopyTrans is the honourable exception.
Is it not possible to use a hdmi 'de embedder' or one of a few 'digital docks' such as Cambridge Audio's ID100?
http://www.cypeurope.com/Audience/AU-11SA-V1.3-HDMI-to-HDMI-Repeater-with-Audio-Decoder.html
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=605&Title=iD100 Digital Dock for iPad & iPhone
The last time I bought an Apple product was 15 years ago, so I can't vouch for these solutions
http://www.cypeurope.com/Audience/AU-11SA-V1.3-HDMI-to-HDMI-Repeater-with-Audio-Decoder.html
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=605&Title=iD100 Digital Dock for iPad & iPhone
The last time I bought an Apple product was 15 years ago, so I can't vouch for these solutions
John_73
pfm Member
Quite pricey, but thanks for the link - guess that's the only way to get the digital signal out of the iPod then. Spent out after ordering an M-DAC, but that'll go on my future wish list
Bump...
I really want the option to switch off, or at least dim the display, hope this update comes soon...
There's certain (psychedelic) times when i like to have no lights in my room at all with music playing, having no lights is imperative
Quite pricey, but thanks for the link - guess that's the only way to get the digital signal out of the iPod then. Spent out after ordering an M-DAC, but that'll go on my future wish list
Personally I'd spend the £150 on a SB Touch rather than an iPod dock, and use the iPod for controlling the system rather than playing!
John_73
pfm Member
Personally I'd spend the £150 on a SB Touch rather than an iPod dock, and use the iPod for controlling the system rather than playing!
I only wanted the iPod functionality for things like going on holiday - would have been a nice little high quality system for headphone listening, and portable too. For home use yes I agree SBT would be the way to go.
PM me with a standard e-mail address and I'll attach the java that makes them...it's tiny.
Finally I had some time to spend with playing with the configurations...
Using WASAPI I pased only the 16/44,1 test but not the 24/96.
Using Asio4all I never passed any test
But I'm quite sure to have followed all your suggestions
Now I will try with another pc
I've just checked out the new ASIO plug-in for Foobar and my simplistic and quick testing suggests that it may not be capable of passing the M-DAC bit-perfect test.
I am referring to "ASIO support 2.1" - which has recently been re-written to become version 2. I don't think there is a real issue here, but I cannot get the test to pass using this new module - certainly not consistently. The problem looks as though there is some instability with playback for the first second or three.
To prevent hours of frustration and angst, I would suggest that the bit perfect test file be rewritten to include a few seconds of silence on the front to allow the playback environment, whatever it be, to stabilize before the business commences.
Important update
I've prepared a version of the M-DAC bit-perfect test files with 4 seconds of silence on the front, to allow the playback system to get its act together before testing commences. My findings on the current version of the Foobar ASIO module (2.1) indicate that, with my set up at the very least, it isn't possible to obtain a pass result. Changing over to WASAPI output passes without a problem. Likewise, the older version (1.2.7) of the ASIO component appears fine.
So, I have some currently uncorroborated evidence to suggest that the current ASIO component for Foobar doesn't pass the M-DAC bit-perfect test. Your mileage may, of course, vary.
I am referring to "ASIO support 2.1" - which has recently been re-written to become version 2. I don't think there is a real issue here, but I cannot get the test to pass using this new module - certainly not consistently. The problem looks as though there is some instability with playback for the first second or three.
To prevent hours of frustration and angst, I would suggest that the bit perfect test file be rewritten to include a few seconds of silence on the front to allow the playback environment, whatever it be, to stabilize before the business commences.
Important update
I've prepared a version of the M-DAC bit-perfect test files with 4 seconds of silence on the front, to allow the playback system to get its act together before testing commences. My findings on the current version of the Foobar ASIO module (2.1) indicate that, with my set up at the very least, it isn't possible to obtain a pass result. Changing over to WASAPI output passes without a problem. Likewise, the older version (1.2.7) of the ASIO component appears fine.
So, I have some currently uncorroborated evidence to suggest that the current ASIO component for Foobar doesn't pass the M-DAC bit-perfect test. Your mileage may, of course, vary.
Hi Plutox
My tests corroborate yours. It does appear that if you want to use foobar with asio and pass either the 16bit or 24bit test, you need to use foo_out_asio v1.2.7 (or go wasapi). If readers want to get v1.2.7 just google
"foo out asio 1.2.7"
Clive
Thanks, I will try older version 1.2.7 of the foobar component
I downloaded foobar ASIO v1.2.7 and finally i Passed both tests using this configuration:
ASIO driver (ASIO4ALL)
-Asio Buffer size set to 2048 (max )
-Kernel Buffer=4 (MAX)
Foobar SW:
under Preferences/Playback/Output
- Buffer LEnght =100 ms (with 50 ms I had an error after one minute of the 24/96 file)
I hope this could help people with same problems.
Thanks Plutox
andrea
It's interesting about getting Foobar to work well with USB direct devices via WASAPI...
"Everybody" knows that big buffers give greater stability at the expense of memory usage. But it appears that USB via WASAPI benefits from a fairly small buffer size and frequently doesn't work at all if the buffer > 100mS.
JRiver appear to have this aspect very well sorted and over on the Foobar forum there are some trying desperately to get the Foobar author to accept that his baby is currently less good when driving USB directly than it is when driving a sound card.
JohnW
pfm member
HI Plutox,
Sorry for the delay, just got back from CES.
OK, I've forwarded your comment to Dominik, he's working on the software update over the next couple of weeks.
Dom's also updating the Bitperfect test file to include a small delay at start of test.
John
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