JohnW
pfm member
Phil, your Dac's still here in Czech.
Also your full kit of Fusion resistors has safetly arrived.
MDAC First Listen (part XXVI)
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Phil, your Dac's still here in Czech.
Also your full kit of Fusion resistors has safetly arrived.
JohnW
pfm member
Ian,
Yes, just check and do indeed we have your "Fusion" resistors - the split shipment caused confusion...
JohnW
pfm member
HumbleBy(DK)
pfm Member
Hi John,
Sent you a PM with notification of shipment of my defective M-DAC yesterday, but forgot to give the return shipping details. Those might prove important at some point
I sent it yesterday afternoon, but for some reason, its still not possible to find anything on the tracking number. Worrisome.
So, just sent you another PM.
Sent you a PM with notification of shipment of my defective M-DAC yesterday, but forgot to give the return shipping details. Those might prove important at some point
I sent it yesterday afternoon, but for some reason, its still not possible to find anything on the tracking number. Worrisome.
So, just sent you another PM.
I now have an M-Dac and its working perfectly, no more buzzing in my system since I cut the earth from the USB connection and started using XLR connections.
I'd like to get it upgraded but not sure wether to go for Toy or Fusion, can someone explain what the difference will be please?
I'd like to get it upgraded but not sure wether to go for Toy or Fusion, can someone explain what the difference will be please?
misterdog
Not the canine kind
Upgrade details are here,you can also add yourself to the list.
http://mdac2.referata.com/wiki/Main_Page
Toy/Fusion are substitutions of 'standard' resistors with higher tolerance 'bulk foil' Vishay ones. Higher cost and better sound.
Iv had the m-dac actually for nearly a year, when I first got it I tried all the filters and decided to stick with one I liked and get used to it before I'd try another. First initial impression at the time OS was quite revealing and open but just a tad bright. Sharp and slow rolloff were instantly displeasing and dull. Minimum phase was relaxing and comforting but not quite open or detailed as any of the OT.
So as I decided on OT I just chose to keep it on for a few months and only last month I had changed to OT XD and what a difference it was. What was great that I had chosen to stay on OT for all those months which made the difference very noticeable and satisfying.
After a few months I may change to OT DD and see how that one is, though from a quick comparison I think I'd be staying with XD.
Mikas
pfm Member
PhilCTTE
Senior mumbler
Thanks John...
Must be the missus phone at post office then.
Looking forward to some real hifi again.
Thanks for replying
misterdog
Not the canine kind
I'm just in the process of decorating my new listening room, initial thoughts were shades of grey, but on reflection I may now paint it silver to compensate for having a black M-DAC
On a more serious note do you know if all the silver units were from a single batch ?
Is the change in SQ similar to 'removing' the case from the black ones ?
On a more serious note do you know if all the silver units were from a single batch ?
Is the change in SQ similar to 'removing' the case from the black ones ?
JohnW
pfm member
Nick,
Hopefully you used a USB isolator to resolve the buzzing - not just simply cut the earth lead in the USB lead?
If you cut the USB's Earth connection you can damage both your MDAC / Computer - you need to use an USB isolator.
At the moment there will be no more MDAC upgrades offered, as soon as I've completed the backlog I'm going to start work on the MDAC2.
For MDAC 2, there most likely will only be one option - the Fusion upgrade as I've "designed out" the "TOY" component position.
More information for MDAC2 here:-
http://mdac2.referata.com/wiki/Main_Page
JohnW
pfm member
No there are many production batch's of Silver MDAC - there was a time when Audiolab could not ship silver units due to issues with the extrusion tooling, so when they resolve this issue they produced a big batch of silver units to cover the backlog.
The sound quality does not seem to suffer as much with the silver units as for the black when returning the PCB's back into the chassis - but theirs something else about the Silver units, a more organic sound... I must be going mad
I thought the M-DAC didn't use the USB power? The unit will still have an earth as it will just earth through the mains and the XLR connections through the amp, my computer won't need the earth from the USB so no damage will be done. I may try one of those ifi USB isolators.
sq225917
Bit of this, bit of that
There's a difference between not using the 5v, line and cutting the earth. There's no connection to earth via the psu block, it's live/neutral only, so the only earth would be via the signal earth and it's not optimal to force the power and signal gnd's to meet in a way not accounted for by the design of the unit.
Steven Toy
Accuphase newbie
It's now almost a month that I'm enjoying my MDAC L3 Fusion.
My impressions are subjective and apply to my situation only.
All in all I'm very happy with the upgrade. For me the most noticable characteristics are:
very little sibilance, natural sounding, excellent imaging, very detailed.
In short the best DAC I have heard so far; before I had Benchmark DACs and this is just so much better.
I listen to music more and find myself enjoying it more than before.
Having said that, from the beginning on some recordings something didn't sound right. A certain sharpness / harsness can sometimes be heard on female vocals.
I emphasise that this is on my system: MDAC -> NCore -> DIY speaker with SEAS Excel magnesium woofer and Stage Accompany planar tweeter.
Switched to A10 firmware; slight improvement. Filter change to OT (XD) clearly better. Jitter reduction auto sounds best.
Adding a 27kHz low pass filter did not help, if anything it even worsened a little.
I then replaced the NCore with an Hiraga Le Monstre (class A, 8 watt); sharpness immediately gone.
Just to be clear; before the MDAC upgrade I had not experienced this sharpness and the MDAC and NCore were happy together. The upgrade did improve sq considerably, so I'm happy with that.
I now have to consider next steps: I'm on the list for MDAC2 so I can wait for that and do nothing in between. The Hiraga is not replacing the NCore because overall (there's that word again) the NCore is better.
Another option would be to build a balanced class A amp with the best possible parts and matched transistors; I'm thinking Pass F5X or Circlotron. The Hiraga is not balanced and built with "regular" metalfilm resistors.
Or wait for the Lakewest amps; I'm pretty sure John will design amps to match the MDAC sq and maybe even offer Fusion versions....
Funny thing is I bought the MDAC to have better sq for less money; I'm ending up bitten by the bug again and spending more money.. On the up side sq has improved a lot so no complaints there.
Input on amp choices appreciated
Cheers,
Johan
My impressions are subjective and apply to my situation only.
All in all I'm very happy with the upgrade. For me the most noticable characteristics are:
very little sibilance, natural sounding, excellent imaging, very detailed.
In short the best DAC I have heard so far; before I had Benchmark DACs and this is just so much better.
I listen to music more and find myself enjoying it more than before.
Having said that, from the beginning on some recordings something didn't sound right. A certain sharpness / harsness can sometimes be heard on female vocals.
I emphasise that this is on my system: MDAC -> NCore -> DIY speaker with SEAS Excel magnesium woofer and Stage Accompany planar tweeter.
Switched to A10 firmware; slight improvement. Filter change to OT (XD) clearly better. Jitter reduction auto sounds best.
Adding a 27kHz low pass filter did not help, if anything it even worsened a little.
I then replaced the NCore with an Hiraga Le Monstre (class A, 8 watt); sharpness immediately gone.
Just to be clear; before the MDAC upgrade I had not experienced this sharpness and the MDAC and NCore were happy together. The upgrade did improve sq considerably, so I'm happy with that.
I now have to consider next steps: I'm on the list for MDAC2 so I can wait for that and do nothing in between. The Hiraga is not replacing the NCore because overall (there's that word again) the NCore is better.
Another option would be to build a balanced class A amp with the best possible parts and matched transistors; I'm thinking Pass F5X or Circlotron. The Hiraga is not balanced and built with "regular" metalfilm resistors.
Or wait for the Lakewest amps; I'm pretty sure John will design amps to match the MDAC sq and maybe even offer Fusion versions....
Funny thing is I bought the MDAC to have better sq for less money; I'm ending up bitten by the bug again and spending more money.. On the up side sq has improved a lot so no complaints there.
Input on amp choices appreciated
Cheers,
Johan
Hi Johan,
Also having nCores, reasonably happy with them. However reasonably is not good enough for me so been awaiting John's amp. Since It seems to be some time away I will take a chance and buy the JOB 225 based on Goldmund design due to be released in 230V version this autumn. Some nice reviews out there including a user review on Audioshark.org. Not too expensive amp for my wallet.
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