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Thread: Your favourite DAC?

  1. #31
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: fuck off

    Posts: 2,033
    I'm fuckoff.

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    There aren't more than 10 filters on he mdac, more like 7.

  2. #32
    Join Date: Sep 2012

    Location: Vancouver, British Columbia

    Posts: 105
    I'm Paul.

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    Been using the MDAC for about a year now, and just yesterday installed the MCRU linear power supply for the MDAC. BTW, shipping was very fast, from England to Vancouver Canada in just 4 days.

    David Brook really has something with this power supply. The improvement in all aspects is astonishing. Really takes the MDAC up many notches. In Canada the MDAC sells for about $850 - 900 range. I would hazard this upgrade has improved things so much, I would be looking at spending $3K - $5K to get a significant improvement over this.

    The thinness and some of the upper treble peak that some comment on in regard to the MDAC, disappear and are replaced by a very rich and analog style sound, with many added layers of bass, timbre, and a real solidity and drive.

    Very impressive, and after 20 years of upgrades ranks in the top 2 - 3 I have upgrades I have ever done. Also very cost effective when the result is considered.

    I suggest that if you are using an MDAC, this is an upgrade you need to do before ever considering changing your DAC.

    I also have the MCRU power supply upgrade for the SB Touch, and that too is very good, but the improvements on the MDAC upgrade are on a bigger scale.

    I have tried removing the MCRU units and putting the wall warts back in, and "ouch", what a downgrade. Try the MCRU power supply upgrades if it's in your budget.

  3. #33
    MartinT Guest

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    Beresford Bushmaster for me, provided the plug-top switched mode PSU is swapped for a linear power supply. I use a Paul Hynes PR3 module with mine.

    The level of detail is astounding, together with real soundstage insight, strong bass and a natural, unvoiced neutrality. I am not a file-based audio chap, but whenever I try it (either with a local USB drive or streamed from a Logitech Touch), I am amazed at the quality of sound. It doesn't reach the giddy heights of my Ayre disc spinner, but the fact that it gets close at 5% of the price says it all.

  4. #34
    Join Date: May 2013

    Location: London

    Posts: 644
    I'm Peter.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rare Bird View Post
    Musical Fidelity 'Digilog' & the old Kingshaw 'perception' DAC
    Andre

    Agreed re Digilog - not a week goes by that I don't regret chopping in my £50 purchase for some nattier modern thing (name forgotten)! They were gems, except for the control buttons falling off!

    Peter

  5. #35
    Join Date: Nov 2010

    Location: Huddersfield

    Posts: 3,359
    I'm David.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ppat2 View Post
    Been using the MDAC for about a year now, and just yesterday installed the MCRU linear power supply for the MDAC. BTW, shipping was very fast, from England to Vancouver Canada in just 4 days.

    David Brook really has something with this power supply. The improvement in all aspects is astonishing. Really takes the MDAC up many notches. In Canada the MDAC sells for about $850 - 900 range. I would hazard this upgrade has improved things so much, I would be looking at spending $3K - $5K to get a significant improvement over this.

    The thinness and some of the upper treble peak that some comment on in regard to the MDAC, disappear and are replaced by a very rich and analog style sound, with many added layers of bass, timbre, and a real solidity and drive.

    Very impressive, and after 20 years of upgrades ranks in the top 2 - 3 I have upgrades I have ever done. Also very cost effective when the result is considered.

    I suggest that if you are using an MDAC, this is an upgrade you need to do before ever considering changing your DAC.

    I also have the MCRU power supply upgrade for the SB Touch, and that too is very good, but the improvements on the MDAC upgrade are on a bigger scale.

    I have tried removing the MCRU units and putting the wall warts back in, and "ouch", what a downgrade. Try the MCRU power supply upgrades if it's in your budget.
    Hi Paul,
    Thanks for the glowing report on the linear PSU, I hear audiolab have decided not to offer a separate PSU for the mdac, the new qdac also accepts the MCRU/LDA linear so all is looking good. You are right about the combo being that good you would have to spend serious money to better it, not me talking but many of the psu owners have said exactly that.

  6. #36
    Join Date: May 2010

    Location: Leixlip, Ireland

    Posts: 142
    I'm Martin.

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    I tried most of the usual sub 1K suspects when looking for a new DAC.

    Gatorised Caiman
    MDAC
    MF
    Rega
    Arcam

    For me two stood out above the rest, namely the Young and the (slightly more expensive) NAD M51

    Then I put my money where my mouth was and bought the Young.
    Analogue: Technics SL1210 M5G, AN Arm One/II, Blue Angel Mantis MC
    Amps: Devialet 200
    Speakers: Usher Mini 2 Dancer DMD
    Cables: Supra, Mark Grant, Reference Fidelity
    DIY System Audiosector Gainclone, Salas DCB1, AudioSector MC Phono stage

  7. #37
    Join Date: Apr 2013

    Location: Granes - Haut Vallee de l'aude - EU

    Posts: 2,831
    I'm Richard.

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    Where can I get to audition a young dac? Are they sold by any retailers? We had long lost college friends of my wifes round for a barbecue thiscweekend who were really interested in the record player and drooled over how wonderful it was - in spite of the arcam - and went on about how much better vinyl was, how much more real, natural, and like live music it is. So I put a cd on dacapo (rodrigo y Gabriella) and got the response "oh my god - its the same as vinyl". Its not, as I then demonstrated with the cd and vinyl versions of katie melua secret symphony, but as Wellington described waterloo, its a damn near run thing.

  8. #38
    Join Date: May 2012

    Location: Maidstone

    Posts: 977
    I'm James.

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    http://www.puriteaudio.co.uk
    The chaps name is Keith

  9. #39
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: Napier, New Zealand

    Posts: 1,519
    I'm Andrei.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Oldpinkman View Post
    but as Wellington described waterloo, its a damn near run thing.
    At the risk [*1] of being spat upon I can say that my Digital Front End - consisting of a highly tweaked PC and Wyred4sound DAC - is definitely better than my TT. The cost of the two in my system is approximately equal. Maybe analogue is better - blah blah - but if it is a pound for pound (or $ for $) comparison I think that digital is better. A good DAC based on the ESS Sabre 9018 chip produces such a good (analogue![*2]) output that I prefer it to my turntable.

    Of course there are other variables in the equation, such as the interconnects, resolution [33 rpm / 45 rpm : 44.1 khz / 192 khz], and especially the mastering. A well mastered LP will always sound better than an averagely mastered CD or SACD. Equally a well mastered 48 khz downloaded FLAC will always sound better than even a 45 rpm LP if it is poorly mastered.

    But back to my theme: I do like my turntable but what I have discerned is to get the real magic of LP costs a good chunk more than digital. An OPPO 105 or a PC plus Quality DAC combo is not expensive in HI-Fi terms. I used to run an Asus Xonar soundcard which is based on the same Burr Brown - Texas Instruments to be pedantic - chips as many current DACs. My giddy aunt! That was REAL Hi-Fi (no not high end or mid end, but HIGH FIDELITY none the less) for just a couple of hundred bucks.

    *1 'Certainty' may be a better word
    *2 It is a Digital to Analogue converter
    [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Sources:[/B] [B]1[/B][/COLOR] PC & Wyred4Sound DAC-2 DSDse   [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]2[/B][/COLOR] Oppo BDP105   [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]3[/B][/COLOR] Technics SL·1210 MK5 (Jelco 750D · Benz Wood).    [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Speaker Cable[/B][/COLOR] [COLOR=black]Nordost Frey.[/COLOR]    [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Interconnects [/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]Oyaide[/COLOR][COLOR=black] & [/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]Geisha [/COLOR][COLOR=black]Silver.
    [/COLOR][B][COLOR=#a52a2a]Phono Stage [/COLOR][/B][COLOR=black]Fosgate Signature V2. [/COLOR]   [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Preamp [/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]Ayon Eris[/COLOR][COLOR=black]. [/COLOR]   [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Power Amp[/B][/COLOR] [COLOR=Black]ATC P1. [/COLOR]  ​ [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Speakers[/B][/COLOR] Triangle Magellan Cello.     [COLOR=#A9A9A9]Oh Sting, where is thy death?[/COLOR]

  10. #40
    Join Date: Apr 2013

    Location: Granes - Haut Vallee de l'aude - EU

    Posts: 2,831
    I'm Richard.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Andrei View Post
    At the risk [*1] of being spat upon I can say that my Digital Front End - consisting of a highly tweaked PC and Wyred4sound DAC - is definitely better than my TT. The cost of the two in my system is approximately equal. Maybe analogue is better - blah blah - but if it is a pound for pound (or $ for $) comparison I think that digital is better. A good DAC based on the ESS Sabre 9018 chip produces such a good (analogue![*2]) output that I prefer it to my turntable.
    I wouldn't spit on you for that. I have legacy equipment, but I suspect if I tried to get equivalent analogue today I would be paying in excess of £5000, and that must buy a lot of CD player into a power amp. (Pink Triangle £1500? F5 £600, Pip £3000 ?). I am only currently using CD's - not other digital formats (well, not higher formats). I don't like the sound of cd players I have heard in shops recently. I nearly added more to that last sentence, and then realised it was complete.

    I know my current analogue set up can go better. Add £1000 for an FXR3 upgrade and £1000 for a Shelter 5000 MC cartridge (I shall be round with a shotgun Martin if I don't like it - kidding ), and sort out the power amp (which would be common to both sources) and I have £7000 of front end. Customise the PT as planned - tough to price, but if Pink Triangle or Funk were to sell such a deck, I would have thought over £4000 so add another £2000. £9000 front end - yeah, that buys a lot of CD player.

    Analogue of course is what we hear. I have analogue ears. I listen to analogue guitars, pianos, and soprano singing. And it doesn't sound like digital. Well - not red book digital. I am aware that just about everything I listen to that is modern vinyl will have been digitally recorded (the Katie Melua I referred to being an example). But 24 bit 96k or 192k, not 16 bit 48k. I remember the first public sighting of the Phillips Sony CD idea. Each Dac was the size of a large suitcase. If someone came up with the idea for the CD today, the standard would not be redbook. Because it is not very good - and we could easily, digitally do better.

    I have 24 bit recording software which Sue and I use for our home noodling Guitar and vocals stuff, and with good mikes it sounds "live". Well it doesn't sound stainless steel in the way CD does (to me). Maybe I need to catch up with the times and get better quality digital audio software (is there a noddy's guide how to do that - last time I looked I found it all too confusing, and couldn't find any of the music I actually wanted - but that was at least 18 months ago).

    So, as I have experienced listening to albums at home, analogue for me, using very good equipment, has satisfied me as being like live music. (Not EXACTLY like live - it hasn't sounded "different" in the way CD does). And it's that sound I like. And it's that sound, and - in particular, that lack of listening fatigue, which DaCapo 22 bit manages on red book CD. And whilst that is personal to my experiences, it is interesting to note that - unprompted - my wife, step son, and our friends (who happen to be trained classical musicians -so have heard a lot of live music to reference to - but otherwise are no more qualified than anybody else) all spontaneously made the same observations about the sound. (They didn't of course experience the fatigue thing - playing back to back vinyl for hours on end. They were just listening to a few bits to see the toys. Mostly they were stunned to hear the vinyl LP of their trinity college jazz band. Even with a muffling power amp!)

    I have a HiFi legacy of analogue I enjoy. Like the Irishman by an unsigned cross roads in the middle of the country asked the way to Dublin, who replied "Now, if I was after getting to Dublin, I wouldn't start from here", I suspect if I started wanting to listen to albums in high quality now, I may well have concluded that analogue was too expensive. I am about to spend £1000 on a gramophone needle. My wife thinks I'm certifiable. She may be right.

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