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MDAC First Listen (part XXIX)

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Asphaltradler

Asphaltradler

pfm Member
Hello John,
I just made the 2nd installment but forgot to enter my nickname in the form.
(Paypal notification received 13. Dez 2013 00:32:39 MEZ).
Can you nevertheless allocate it?
If not where can I send you a PM to, I hear your box is normally full...

Asphaltradler
 
jirij said:
John might also accept alternative currencies, like bricks. Avoids the value losses when converting bricks -> money -> bricks. :D
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I would cover currency losses that are actually very small in the street exchange offices in Olomouc compared to UK bank tourist rates.
 
Asphaltradler said:
Hello John,
I just made the 2nd installment but forgot to enter my nickname in the form.
(Paypal notification received 13. Dez 2013 00:32:39 MEZ).
Can you nevertheless allocate it?
If not where can I send you a PM to, I hear your box is normally full...

Asphaltradler
Click to expand...

Whoops, I think I might have done the same thing.
John, I have emailed Renata with the Paypal transaction details, sorry for that.
 
TimR said:
Whoops, I think I might have done the same thing.
John, I have emailed Renata with the Paypal transaction details, sorry for that.
Click to expand...
Totally forgot I had an emai from Renata the last time.
Yes, found it at wrote to her, so it shouldn't be a problem to allocate.
 
misterdog said:
See link in my post 651.
John has not officially launched stage 2 payments yet but the Paypal button is activated.
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We added the PayPal button at the request of a PFM'er who was going away on holiday until end of January and wanted to pay before he left as he would miss the official opening of the second stage development instalment.

I thought nothing else of it until others started posted here they had sent funds - then going to the PayPal account we found we had already received 21 payments!!!

Thank you for everyone who has paid - 3am this morning I completed the Analogue stage prototype PCB design and will send it out for manufacture on Monday – So A big thank you for those who have sent there payments unbeknown to me alittle ahead of schedule!

Renata will reply to all those who have paid by this afternoon - she has been completing her first semesters "Freshman" exams last week so has been a little preoccupied...

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/86116171/MDAC2 Analogue stage Prototype Stg1a.jpg

Above is an overlay of the PCB layout - the designed is on a 4 layer PCB - you can see the component overlay (White) and first copper layer (Red)... there are about 500 components in this small area - the result of miniaturisation of today’s Surface mount technology. The design is basically 4 Class A amplifiers for the stereo balanced outputs – it’s a test PCB which will be initially attached to a MDAC design for first listen and performance verification.

Unfortunately as we approach the Christmas period I’m guessing I’ll not get the boards back from manufacture until “next year” – early January! In the meantime I’ll continue with the design – and am considering issuing a further prototype PCB ASAP once the Twin ESS DAC sections have been designed to reduce risk of the “complete” design.

Once again a very big thank you to those who have already sent the second instalment - a nice surprise!
 
JTC said:
JohnW: two questions...

1) you mentioned sending me a repaired mainboard that I can install myself - I assume that this will be a vanilla one (i.e. no mods) or do you have any spare modded boards you're not using ;)
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Sorry it will just be a serviced Mainboard from one of the salvaged units I have sitting here - I dont even have a modified MDAC for myself - otherwise I'd have sent this to you.

Last week we listened to Jiri "Toy" unit against my unmodified unit (Phils ex black MDAC) and the unmodified unit was a large step down... :(

If you ship your failed Mainboard back to me (once you have installed the temporary replacement board) - I repair it and then return it back to you.

I also send you the relevant Torx driver to disassemble your unit – I’m presuming it’s a black unit?


JTC said:
2) When it comes to MDAC2 time, are we locked into our choice of toy or fusion already, or can I change (might be feeling very flush by then,.... then again, might not!)
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There will be a few options (Remote Sense versions etc) so once it comes to pay the final "At Cost" payment there will be multiple payment options in PayPal - you can choose at that time.

JTC said:
Oh, sorry, one more... (and this goes out to ALL MDAC2 brethren...)

3) Is there going to be a bulk buy option on the various toy and/or fusion bits? I seem to recall this being mentioned at one point, but I assume it's gone no further...
Click to expand...

I'll discuss this with Charcroft as on the prototype PCB I'm going to try Surface mount versions of the Vishay Bulk foils - we will source these directly if they prove better then the more standard though-hole PCB type.
 
jirij said:
You know - there's a roof tile shop really close to you - I was walking past it the day I visited - they have lots of stuff visible from the outside, they even rebuilt the (public) pavement outside their shop. :D
Though I imagine there are better places to buy such stuff ...
Click to expand...

A few years back I had an opportunity to buy a huge batch of Oak (IIRC 850 Cubic meters) - this has been in storage since - unfortunately the larger logs we need for the main support beams for the Lab are at bottom of the pile(s) – it takes time to move everything about to get to these logs!... Oak is unbelievably heavy!

All this effort for a 5m squared lab (2 floors though) - the maxim size that can be built here in CZ without planning permission :(
 
@home said:
Can we pay the £370 in one go or does it all have to be done in instalments.

I've been away from this thread awhile so -

Do we send our unit to JW and he puts all new internals or are we buying a whole new unit?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Just to clarify, the £370 payment option (available only to European customers) is ONLY for a salvaged MDAC which we remove the mainboard and add the new MDAC2 PCB at an additional cost.

This option is only for those who don’t already own an MDAC or who don’t wish to cannibalise there existing unit.

The MDAC2 PCB cost 3x £100 development payments paid in instalments as the project progress, and the final “At Cost” payment which covers the Cost of the PCB and shipment etc – we will not know the final cost of this until the design has been completed – there will also be various options (Toy / Fusion / Remote sense versions). The base level version is projected to cost around £200 + shipping, although I dread the final quote as I have little experience of “recent” manufacturing cost in Europe…
 
JohnW said:
If you ship your failed Mainboard back to me (once you have installed the temporary replacement board) - I repair it and then return it back to you. I also send you the relevant Torx driver to disassemble your unit – I’m presuming it’s a black unit?
Click to expand...
Yep, it's a black one. Thanks for the offer of a repair of my own board - much appreciated (though maybe unnecessary depending on the gestation time of the MDAC2 boards...) - do you still have my address, btw?
 
tunkejazz said:
I must have missed something. What does "remote sense" mean (for the mdac)? :confused:
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Remote Sense (RS) option is an extension (expansion) of the XLR balanced interface where a pair of 5W XLR connectors are used in place of the standard 3W XLR's on the MDAC2's rear panel and a special cable with 4 signal conductors allows the MDAC's internal feedback loop to pick off the analogue feedback signal at the “Amplifier” end of the XLR cable (The Amplifier end of the cable can be a standard 3W XLR). This allows the MDAC’s to sense any signal degradation as a result of the Connectors and interconnect cable and reduce these errors by its feedback loop – thus resulting in the very highest quality interconnection to balanced amplifier.

Its offered as an MDAC2 option (The RS option) as obviously the 5W XLR balanced interconnection is not standard – and you would require a custom cable but I believe the benefits outweigh the hassle of the custom cable (I’ll test how well it works on the prototype Analogue PCB I’ve just designed).
 
JTC said:
Yep, it's a black one. Thanks for the offer of a repair of my own board - much appreciated (though maybe unnecessary depending on the gestation time of the MDAC2 boards...) - do you still have my address, btw?
Click to expand...

Could you Pls. PM it as I delete all such records for the sake of security.
 
Steven, PM me and let me know how much you want paid in, i'll forward you my bank details.
 
I will be earning the requisite lolly over the next 18 days or so. As a Level 2+ owner I don't think I have to pay anything yet.
 
Just back from spending over a month "up t'north" - music services supplies by a Sony CD/Radio/iPod dock etc. Sounded remarkably OK. I really started to think that all this HiFi malarkey was a bit of a con - ordinary (budget) stuff sounds pretty good these days.

Now back in my Snug with the MDAC L2, into NVA amps and my re-re-furbed MKI ES14's.

I was wrong.

It sounds bloody marvellous.

Not sure what I expect from the MDAC2 - but if its better than this it will be really very special.

Keep going John, it's too cold for building, you need a nice warm inside job for a month or two ....... designing, even testing maybe.

Cheers

Ian
 
JohnW said:
Just to clarify, the £370 payment option (available only to European customers) is ONLY for a salvaged MDAC which we remove the mainboard and add the new MDAC2 PCB at an additional cost.

This option is only for those who don’t already own an MDAC or who don’t wish to cannibalise there existing unit.

The MDAC2 PCB cost 3x £100 development payments paid in instalments as the project progress, and the final “At Cost” payment which covers the Cost of the PCB and shipment etc – we will not know the final cost of this until the design has been completed – there will also be various options (Toy / Fusion / Remote sense versions). The base level version is projected to cost around £200 + shipping, although I dread the final quote as I have little experience of “recent” manufacturing cost in Europe…
Click to expand...

So now my understanding is that if my friend in the UK can purchase the salvaged MDAC + a base level MDAC2 mainboard at a cost of 370 + 200 + shipping pounds?
 
PCB been issued and now in production - with any luck the bare board should be back on Friday - just before the Christmas shutdown - Guess I'll be building and testing the board over Christmas :)

Now that the PCB been issued I'm back working on the VERY last of the MDAC updates - while trying keep myself awake working on these units - I discovered Ben Poole on Youtube:-

Pretty good recording considering Youtube Audio compression....


F***ing amazing! I loved his playing…I really loved his playing!” -Jeff Beck

“A Really great player!” -Gary Moore

“This is a young man to look out for as he is no doubt a rising talent and should be supported when he comes to a local venue.” -’Blues Matters’ Magazine

http://www.benpooleband.com/bio/
 
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