MDAC First Listen (part XXVI)

[JohnW]

Will the M-DAC2 support 24bit/192Khz in windows?

Yes - via an open source Asio driver

 

[Mikas]

For those of you who are on the wiki list for a new condition salvaged unit - could you please state wither you require a silver or black unit (if you have not already done so).

Black unit.
I'm ok with having my nick (and name if needed) on the wiki list.


Thanks,
Michael

PS - I've seen my nick on #28 down the list on the first day, then moved to #29 on the second day and stayed there for some months, then yesterday #28 again and today is #29 again. Is it you?

 

[Boozyuzi]

1st payment instalment sent.

 

[travelfotografe]

Hi Lean - indeed

BTW, your arrived in the UK last week - so hopefully its should be on its way over to you

The package just landed at the airport and should be with the local courier soon. I expect to have it plugged back into the system next Monday or Tuesday

All the best with the MDAC2 and I am eagerly waiting for one!

 

[HumbleBy(DK)]

You'd be crazy to buy a replacement MDAC - presuming the fault is on the mainboard this 'issue' can be sidestepped by replacing with a MDAC2 PCB... Your DAC worked for over 6 months or so hopefully even if I cannot find the root cause it will be good for another 6 more months until MDAC2 PCB start shipping.

John,

I forgot to mention, that I more than likely will not be going the MDAC2 route, unfortunately, so hopefully my Sovereigned MDAC will work for many years to come after you've had a chance to do some surgery on it
Just hoping the fault will present itself on your testbed.

/Jannik

 

[PhilCTTE]

John ,

Thought I,d mention that I,ve never tried my headphone jack , but plan to, on its return with my newly purchased akg headphones, so if you have the chance , could you check that it functions.

Cheers

 

[ag66]

Payment sent!

Very excited about this project.

 

[JohnW]

John,

I forgot to mention, that I more than likely will not be going the MDAC2 route, unfortunately, so hopefully my Sovereigned MDAC will work for many years to come after you've had a chance to do some surgery on it
Just hoping the fault will present itself on your testbed.

/Jannik

Jannik,

I'll try to get your unit back out on Monday - if the fault reoccurs once we have started upgrading MDAC2 units we can always swap your board out with one of the exchanged MDAC pcb's.

 

[Fridi]

Project roadmap

Before presenting the planned project schedule, it is important to stress that any timeframes given are only our best estimates and cannot be relied upon completely. We are undertaking development of the very best DAC possible and that is the primary goal which necessarily takes precedence to meeting any self-inflicted deadlines. After all what good is a DAC delivered on time, but knowingly crippled? That said, let’s look at the milestones and projected timeframes and the related installment payment schedule.

Stage 1 (First £100 installment)

• Beginning of September ’13 – Official start of the project.

• End of September ’13 – Completed circuit design and simulations of new analogue stage and power supply circuitry.

• Beginning of October ’13 – Start of prototype PCB layout to verify the newly developed analogue and PSU circuits.

• End of October ’13 – Prototype PCB design finished and manufacturing data issued to PCB vendor.

Stage 2 (Second £100 installment)

• Middle of November ’13 – Prototype PCB built, tested and qualified on the bench, starting design of the MDAC2 mainboard.

• End of January ’14 – MDAC2 mainboard design finished and manufacturing data issued to PCB vendor.

Stage 3 (Third £100 installment)

• End of February ’14 – MDAC2 mainboard prototype built, tested and qualified

Stage 4 – The final stage “Production unit cost” £150 ~ £200 + optional Vishay Z-foil resistors + shipping etc.

• Beginning of March ’14 – placing orders for production quantities of material. Owners of Level 2 upgraded MDAC’s only get to pay the final installment that covers the production and shipping costs of the new Mainboard

• End of March ’14 – first MDAC2 mainboards coming off the production line

Hi John,

your project roadmap is very hardware related. Don't you need some time to modify the software and to write the firmware for the FPGA?

Fridi

 

[JohnW]

Hi John,

your project roadmap is very hardware related. Don't you need some time to modify the software and to write the firmware for the FPGA?

Fridi

In the first firmware release the FPGA will not be doing much at all - just reformatting the Data to the DAC IC's....

The plan is that with later firmware builds we will add functionality - utilising the power of the FPGA...

Firmware will be upgraded much like the MDAC's software... download the files from the internet and then upload to the MDAC.

Dominik has already started working on the software stack (for the MCU).

 

[HumbleBy(DK)]

Jannik,

I'll try to get your unit back out on Monday - if the fault reoccurs once we have started upgrading MDAC2 units we can always swap your board out with one of the exchanged MDAC pcb's.

Thank you for your reply, John. That could be an option if my dac keeps misbehaving.
Will the return costs be the same as last time and still the same paypal address?

/Jannik

 

[JohnW]

Thank you for your reply, John. That could be an option if my dac keeps misbehaving.
Will the return costs be the same as last time and still the same paypal address?

/Jannik

I'll PM you the details, as Renata well pay for the postage for your unit from her own account.

 

[JohnW]

John ,

Thought I,d mention that I,ve never tried my headphone jack , but plan to, on its return with my newly purchased akg headphones, so if you have the chance , could you check that it functions.

Cheers

OK noted - well do

 

[JohnW]

John, can you put a link to http://mdac2.lakewestaudio.com/ in your sig if possible? It's many pages back already, I'm going to bookmark it for future reference.

Nick,

We just added a "The project has begun" section to the Wiki page with the link.

 

[JohnW]

seems like quite a number have people have already sent funds for the first payment. John, can you let us know when we reach the magic '50' as I seem to remember this was the number that had to commit to make this project viable.

If it's the Easter Bunny delivering the goodies rather than Santa ship the MDAC2's with a cadbury's cream egg - that'll be a pleasant surprise for non Brits

We are now committed to the project irrespective of the total numbers - so too happy Easter Bunnies!

 

[JohnW]

Once again a very big thank you to everyone who has sent funds.

Renata will Email you within the next few days with a confirmation of first payment and possibly a request for a few details if they are missing from the MDAC2 list (such as colour of rear panel and PFM ID etc).

 

[JBoy]

Hi John,
I completed first installment.

But!!!!!!
I'd forgotten to write my PM name, real name and address on PayPal 'Review your information' !

 

[Adaptivemotion]

Hi John,

I'm currently number 86 on the wiki list.
Could you change my information there to "Adaptivemotion (New salvaged silver MDAC + MDAC MK2 PCB + Fusion + two European mains plugs)"

Thank you.

 

[misterdog]

Hi John,
I completed first installment.

But!!!!!!
I'd forgotten to write my PM name, real name and address on PayPal 'Review your information' !

Panic not- I have just had an e#mail from Renata, re-case colour for the new back panel. So you will be e#mailed via your Paypal e#mail.

 

[sq225917]

I think it's time we started a charity sweepstake. Guess the day, AM or PM, when the first mdac2 ships, winner gets there pcb free and one pound, euro , dollar per guess goes to charity.

John picks the charity....