MDAC first listen (part XVII)
- Thread starter Sebbyp
- Start date
- Status
Frank Hardly
Member
Lived with my MDAC about a year and it was a good intro into computer audio. Appreciated the support and info of this forum - esp. impressed with John Westlake's support, but it was time for a different flavour - so I sold the MDAC.
Went for the new Chordette QuteHD. Things I like about it relative to the MDAC are its simplicity - no guessing and re-guessing which filter is best as it doesn't give you choices; the naturalness of music presentation - its very neutral and the MDAC seemed to brighten my already somewhat bright speakers; 192 khz sampling over usb (MDAC limited to 96khz); the Chordette does some really magical things with redbook CD's. Read a couple of reviews which indicated this, but hearing is believing - it makes them sound hirez; finally I'm future proofed with DSD capability as its the latest rave (even though I won't pay the exhorbitant price at what DSD downloads are priced at).
The Chordette is twice the price of the MDAC so it has to be better and I won't be upgrading in the forseeable future.
Went for the new Chordette QuteHD. Things I like about it relative to the MDAC are its simplicity - no guessing and re-guessing which filter is best as it doesn't give you choices; the naturalness of music presentation - its very neutral and the MDAC seemed to brighten my already somewhat bright speakers; 192 khz sampling over usb (MDAC limited to 96khz); the Chordette does some really magical things with redbook CD's. Read a couple of reviews which indicated this, but hearing is believing - it makes them sound hirez; finally I'm future proofed with DSD capability as its the latest rave (even though I won't pay the exhorbitant price at what DSD downloads are priced at).
The Chordette is twice the price of the MDAC so it has to be better and I won't be upgrading in the forseeable future.
Jo Sharp
Pulls on doors marked push
You can run IPeng on your Ipad and that makes the Ipad a streamer over wifi from your NAS or Vortexbox etc...
misterdog
Not the canine kind
So what is the future ?
SACD ?
24/192 seems quite limited in availability, and expensive.
Neil Young's uncompressed PONO
DSD ?
Red Book looks most likely to me.
DANOFDANGER
pfm Member
I have a question about sigma delta modulation which i am only researching purely for more broadening understanding behind the sabre dac and other dac technologies.
If someone who has enough knowledge on the subject wishes to help me out i would sincerely appreciate it, if no one does then i fully understand as its not something that is taken lightly to discuss about over the web.
John will remember when i was asking him about digital attenuation and how this corresponded to audio output, i stated that because the sabre 9018 had 32 bits of word length that a 24bit PCM could be quantized without any error down to about 48db iirc and a 16bit PCM could also be quantized to about 78db.
Apparently i was wrong however and john said this was due to noise shaping.
Before i go on i just want to say that a lot of what i am saying is purely assumptions and corrections are more than likely going to be needed as i am not a mathematically minded and use a lot of common sense to get me through these technical complications.
Anyho this is my breakdown
Sigma Delta Modulation
I can only assume this is just a type of algorithm or as it states a modulation form for improving the signal to noise ratio, how this works exactly is beyond me and its definitely something you cannot visualize i think but just something you understand through mathematical equations. I do however think i have some sort of understanding in my head but its not something i would try explain as i would probably embarrass myself. But the bottom line is that it improves the signal to noise ratio.
Noise Shaping.
In order for sigma delta modulation to work i would assume it needs noise shaping due to the amount of quantization error emitted from the SDM (either some form of rounding or truncated data i would believe), so this error essentially needs to be filtered out of the audible frequency range and is done so using this technique. If i understand correctly the sabre 9018 is a 5th order SDM per bit and each bit must run at roughly 2.8mhz and for 32bit it would come to about um... 84mhz or something ??.
So thus me trying to understand sigma delta modulation i still couldn't grasp the understanding why my theory above about digital attenuation was not correct in how bit reduction schemes work with noise shaping.
Should the m-dac be able to reach -48db with 24bit files before resolution is lost ??.
Any help much appreciated.
If someone who has enough knowledge on the subject wishes to help me out i would sincerely appreciate it, if no one does then i fully understand as its not something that is taken lightly to discuss about over the web.
John will remember when i was asking him about digital attenuation and how this corresponded to audio output, i stated that because the sabre 9018 had 32 bits of word length that a 24bit PCM could be quantized without any error down to about 48db iirc and a 16bit PCM could also be quantized to about 78db.
Apparently i was wrong however and john said this was due to noise shaping.
Before i go on i just want to say that a lot of what i am saying is purely assumptions and corrections are more than likely going to be needed as i am not a mathematically minded and use a lot of common sense to get me through these technical complications.
Anyho this is my breakdown
Sigma Delta Modulation
I can only assume this is just a type of algorithm or as it states a modulation form for improving the signal to noise ratio, how this works exactly is beyond me and its definitely something you cannot visualize i think but just something you understand through mathematical equations. I do however think i have some sort of understanding in my head but its not something i would try explain as i would probably embarrass myself. But the bottom line is that it improves the signal to noise ratio.
Noise Shaping.
In order for sigma delta modulation to work i would assume it needs noise shaping due to the amount of quantization error emitted from the SDM (either some form of rounding or truncated data i would believe), so this error essentially needs to be filtered out of the audible frequency range and is done so using this technique. If i understand correctly the sabre 9018 is a 5th order SDM per bit and each bit must run at roughly 2.8mhz and for 32bit it would come to about um... 84mhz or something ??.
So thus me trying to understand sigma delta modulation i still couldn't grasp the understanding why my theory above about digital attenuation was not correct in how bit reduction schemes work with noise shaping.
Should the m-dac be able to reach -48db with 24bit files before resolution is lost ??.
Any help much appreciated.
Hubert481
pfm Member
Where to order the PSU in CZECH or AUSTRIA?
Could only find http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/power-supplies/523-linear-power-supply-for-audiolab-m-dac.html
Thank you!
Could only find http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/power-supplies/523-linear-power-supply-for-audiolab-m-dac.html
Thank you!
Anyways the future goes with music digital format, i hope that it will reverse to more good sounding equalization.
Some 44/16 SHM CD sounds gorgeous and made other things flat. Some SACD extraction doesnt sound good as well imo.
So the most important if not the final format but the initial material...
Which psu?
If you mean the mpax, then it doesn't exist yet (hasn't been designed yet) so you can't order it yet
Hubert481
pfm Member
What a dangerous assumption!
If ever you want to sell a product regardless of its quality, make sure you offer it at the very highest price because "it has to be better".
sam_cat
C'est Crounchifique!
Thats a DIY project, same as my external PSU.
LittleToast
pfm Member
Last year I was using a HP laptop loaded with jriver and I use the usb out to the mdac. It was very inferior compared to the usb output from the ipad. Perhaps the usb port of the HP machine is really very inferior.
LittleToast
pfm Member
I use an app in the ipad called 8Player. That is able to stream music files direct from the NAS. I have not tried IPeng. From what I hear, playing a file that resides in the ipad sounds better than streaming from nas then played.
LittleToast
pfm Member
Yeah. The audio driver is a problem. A long time back someone here suggested that I go buy a used mac mini. Perhaps finally that is really what I will do. I don't see a more viable way. Ipad's 64G is just too small and I agree that AAC does not sound the same as WAV or AIFF. All of my files are actually in WAV or AIFF.
finesensations
pfm Member
That's your personal choice but if a Windows PC is set up/configured correctly, and passes the Bit perfect test, IMO, it's about as good as it gets.
For anyone not sure how http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/Intro/Configuring_intro.htm
delange
pfm Member
iPeng basically turns the iPad / iPhone / iPod Touch into a Squeezebox. iPeng streams music bit perfect so it shouldn't sound any different than the original rip or a local file on the iPad (if the format is the same). With iPeng playback feature enabled there is no need to store music on the iPad but instead leave it on the NAS (or other storage in the network).
sq225917
Bit of this, bit of that
it is IMHO of course, but the Mac worked out of the box with no extra software or configuration required and has continued to work that way for four years. My Windows pc's have never achieved that.
- Status