Digital journey turnaround

[Haselsh1]

Way back when in the early 90's I owned a Meridian transport/dac combo but never really left vinyl behind. More recently I bought a Marantz CD6005 player but then bought a Beresford Bushmaster MKII due to the reviews. This morning I have sat and listened to Al Di Meola's Orange and Blue CD via my latest Audiolab M-DAC that I bought a day or so back via ebay. The difference to me is startling it is so obvious. I now have a sound that is just so plainly 'real' instead of being highly contrived and 'digital'. This extra realism is truly amazing over the Bushmaster. Here is one investment that has truly been worth it. I think I can now consign vinyl to second place.

[killie99]

MDAC is very good but just watch for the dreaded bulging caps problem. My MDAC started playing up recently and I opened it up to find around 20 caps were either bulging or had burst, including all 5 of the large power supply caps. Thankfully it wan't too difficult to fix, caps cost me about £15 from Farnell and a couple of hours of my time. It seems to be quite a common problem.

[JohnNB]

Hi Shaun. I use the Marantz CD6003, but played through a Arcam rDAC and I'm happy with the sound. I originally bought the cheapest Cyrus cdp but it was fussy about what it played, so I exchanged it and spent roughly the same price on the Marantz/rDAC combo (£800ish) and the 6003 plays anything I throw at it really well. It seems built like a tank and hasn't put a foot wrong in several years! I am looking for a replacement though as my back-up cdp is on the blink, so the Audiolab sounds like an option. Does it play SACDs? Otherwise I'll be tempted to go for the last Marantz.

[Haselsh1]

JohnNB, the Audiolab M-DAC is a DAC only so I have to rely on the Marantz to play CD's or SACD's. Although I liked the sound of the CD6005 it is not even comparable to the sound of the M-DAC. I use the transient DD filter with the M-DAC by the way.

[dave2010]

Re msg1 - you mean the M-DAC is preferable to the Bushmaster? Just for clarification!

Is this the kind of thing? - https://www.hificonfidential.co.uk/a...FeUV0wodGj8KUQ

Different price bracket though, so perhaps not directly comparable - but sounds as though you think it is worth the money.

[Haselsh1]

Yes, just to clarify, although there is quite a difference in cost, I find that the M-DAC is hugely more realistic in almost all areas than the Bushmaster MkII.

[Haselsh1]

No, the link is the M-DAC+, I am referring to the older M-DAC.

[SLS]

Audiolab released the MDAC+ in June 2016 for £800, but are still selling the MDAC, £550 to £600. The MDAC+ is significantly better due to the multiplier power regulators, the new power supply almost doubling the size of the unit. For reasons unknown, the new unit is only £200 more expensive.

I bought the MDAC+ on spec. It is superb, as is the volume control. It's actually up for sale elsewhere for £550 as my audio has gone in a radically new direction of late. I was thinking of giving it to my son, but he wouldn't appreciate it. He seems to adopt things of mine he likes, like my Leica M7.

So, this
or this?

[Haselsh1]

Ah yes, but mine was bought updated and secondhand for less than four hundred quid. Much more of a bargain.

[WAD62]

Ah yes, but mine was bought updated and secondhand for less than four hundred quid. Much more of a bargain.

Hi Shaun, which update/upgrade does yours have, I have an L2 'Toy', which I bought new as standard...the improvement in SQ post upgrade was significant!

Are you using it as a pre too?