Micromega MyDAC and Touch

[Zombie]

Have listened a little today.
There is no difference between the MyDAC output and the Touch analogue output. The MyDAC was fed an optical/coax signal from the Touch.
The USB out is more difficult to compare as a restart is necessary between the two modes.
Would be interesting at what price level any differences are noticeable between an outboard DAC and the Touch internal DAC.

 

[earwaxxer]

Was the MyDac new, fresh out of the box, or was it 'burned in'? I would expect a modern DAC of reasonable pedigree to best the Touch.

I just bought a Gungnir. It bests my Transporter analog output. By a good margin!

 

[lennyw]

Zombie, what have you listened to (classical/jazz/rock/hiphop)?
As a former happy owner of a Micromega CD player (the damn philips mechanism let it down), I've been keen to hear this, especially based on some of the positive reviews I've read -- the CDP had a wonderfully warm/vinyl sound to it.
I've found the arcam rdac, CA DACm100 both sounded better than the internal DAC, as did the Peachtree DACit, which I held on to as it was the best of the three (by some way). This was listening to classical music though, which IMnotsoHO is the only type of music worth using in such tests.

 

[Zombie]

earwaxxer: it was new out of the box. It has been on for two days now. It sounded a bit "hard" in the beginning, but that disappeared after an hour.
The USB seems to give an improvement, if any, but difficult to compare.
lennyw: the kind of music shouldn't make a difference. I have listened to different kinds of music of good quality, that I know well.
Maybe the linear psu and the triode tweak improves the sound in the Touch itself...or my ears or my stereo can't distribute the difference...

 

[lennyw]

the kind of music shouldn't make a difference. I have listened to different kinds of music of good quality, that I know well.
Maybe the linear psu and the triode tweak improves the sound in the Touch itself...or my ears or my stereo can't distribute the difference...

Only really noticed the difference between the DACs in an A/B/C/... when listening to orchestral music (for solo piano, for eg, the differences where negligible, for rock/jazz no difference). I would try some Mahler, Shostakovich or Rachmaninov to make comparisons, as this will really push the DAC. I found a section in the 1st Sym of Rachmaninov (last movement just after the fanfare) and 2nd Sym of Mahler (1st mov, about 10mins - 14mins in), in both of which what one is listening out for is not only how it is dealing with the complex combinations of instruments, but also the tone of each instrument, which often have short solos in these segments.

Let me know if you end up wanting to sell the Micromega. I'd like to try it in comparison to my current sub-£400 favourite.

 

[Zombie]

Only really noticed the difference between the DACs in an A/B/C/... when listening to orchestral music (for solo piano, for eg, the differences where negligible, for rock/jazz no difference). I would try some Mahler, Shostakovich or Rachmaninov to make comparisons, as this will really push the DAC. I found a section in the 1st Sym of Rachmaninov (last movement just after the fanfare) and 2nd Sym of Mahler (1st mov, about 10mins - 14mins in), in both of which what one is listening out for is not only how it is dealing with the complex combinations of instruments, but also the tone of each instrument, which often have short solos in these segments.

Let me know if you end up wanting to sell the Micromega. I'd like to try it in comparison to my current sub-£400 favourite.

Well, if you can't hear any difference apart from the above...save yr money