Musical Fidelity V-DAC Owners? - Page 57

Hi.  First post.  I've had my v-dac for a couple of months now, hooked up to my old dvd/cd player and apple tv.  I'm using both digital inputs only (dvd player via coax and atv via toslink).  I just realized that whenever I first turn on the cd player, no sound comes out of the speakers until I remove the toslink cable.  Once the sound comes on I can put it back.  Is this a known problem.  Btw, when I turn the dvd player, the apple tv is off.  So, both inputs work, but I just don't get why I need to remove the other cable in order to get sound from the cd player.  Also, this doesn't happen when I turn on apple tv, sound comes out with no problem.  Please help.

Just got off the phone with audioadvisor, I didn't realize that the digital inputs are meant for just one source.  So technically I'm supposed to only connect either the apple tv or the cd player in the digital input.  But since it's only a minor inconvenience, then I'll leave my connections as is.

if you just turn off the dvdplayer -instead of removing cables- then the apletv will be on and sound will come out from it and vice versa . dont pull out cables

 

 

Yes, that's right. "Don't believe in everything, what you read". V-DAC is Hype. Test multiple dacs before buy in anything.

I don't like v-dac, when listening rock, hard rock ....

Examples the firestone dac doing every bass line and bass drum better. Jazz with the Vdac sound good.

 

And I don't like V-DAC, when listening my headphones (beyerdynamics dt990, grado sr-80). Firestone dacs sound better with headphones , I think.

(Firestone -> Cmoy/headphone amp -> headphones).

 

:) Markku

 

The V-DAC is definitely not hype. While it's not the end all, be all when it comes to pace, rhythm and timing, it is most certainly amazing with other things musical. I reiterate that it does natural timbre and texture amazingly. The tone of acoustic instruments is spot on and it's rendition of orchestral complexity is without question. If your music is classical, jazz, bluegrass, or anything unplugged or without electronic manipulation, you'll love the VDAC. Definitely not hype.

I was hoping for some more weight in my sound when I got the V-dac II. Just used the built in dac in my M1 HPA amp before and now I run it with the v-dac II and guess what, I lost some weight in the sound instead... But I did get a more airy sound and a bit softer in the high freq. But its not what I really wanted, just wanted a bit more weight and thump. 

Not a keeper for me. 

 

As a V-II owner,I do not miss the low end.

 

I got really thundering deep notes out of my V-II, that is, with another PSU.

 

The bass from my JBL L7 really shakes the floorboards, and it is my first bitstream DAC, that I have not removed the output capacitors from the DAC.

 

On some good records I can feel the thumping bass notes in the whole house, actually better than in the listening room..

 

/SWIN

Well this is wierd. I now tried the USB connection instead of optical and the sound got smoother and more thick. Can this be a cause of the 10$ optical cable i used ?

 

This may be a keeper after all.

Trying an optical cable from bluejeanscable.com, and really like the soundquality compared with coaxial.

 

The V-II is really sensitive to all kind of electrical noice, and it sounds like the BJC optical cable cleans up the sound a bit.

 

Just charged up an old car battery, optical + battery power must be the optimal configuration.

 

And, please note, that the V-II takes about two hours from cold, or about 25 min from "on but not working" to sound optimal.

It sounds cold and clinical at first, but warm and fat after proper warm up.

Edited by SWIN - 5/9/12 at 10:18am

DAC's yeah I confirm I have personally tested many DAC's. I found that they seem to more suited to enhance PC music. I have found the best way that really works. I send a pair of anologs (Components used as RCA'a) out from my main dedicated CD player into a Pioneer PDR-609 (a dam fine respectable CD player & recorder too! only the richness is week.) recorders DAC, then a coaxial link (Component used as a coaxial) to my Sony MDS-JB930 QS. Then another pair of anolog leads out to my big Nad C370. Note I find IXOS XHS 756 bi wire speaker cable has full clear power and no drawbacks, at all. (IXOS 806 cable on rears/ mulit channel not surround sound!)I use CMC silver banana plugs, mains condioners 9.5% silver solder. AS gel pads on main font speakers and those brilliant tweeter upgrades a pair SUPER titanium dome tweeter, KO XT25. Plus a Niles amp switch, made in the US.

What you get is everything and it goes up to 11. Full depth & detailed Midrange like I have never heard in anything bar the very highest 5.1 SACD format. Infinite depth & body & full bass & vocal perfection in a nutshell. Latest brilliant must get into rock Cd's I listen to go with this are = Don’t Explain by Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa and Within Temptation - The Unforgiving. Plus that not so new Fleetwood Mac DVD-Audio (in 2 channels pls 4 DVD-A formats) disc Say you will, played on probably the best music multi disc player ever built (less the built in CD player/lack of space for It.) a Pioneer Dv 868 Avi. I also use silver plated RCA spurs to send my turntable ect.. Through this set up. = contact cleaner, copper lines, silver plated mains wall socket, silver plated IEC kettles, adhesive heat shrink tubing, Silver conducting PCB paint on any visible nickel contacts internally.

I confirm this set up is not a random list of Kit. I suspected the 609 would be better than the 930 as a DAC, so I got both! The 930 has the upper hand as its detail & full body but has poor treble & clarity without the 609. The 930 is an excellent recording machine. What a team these two make. I'm no electronics engineer so I can only guess this combo sounds so good because of the bit staging and volt to current conversions. I don’t know how you see Hi-fi as Status or getting the most out for the least but, if this combination can be bettered you'd need to be a chief electronics engineer or a millionaire or to even to take a PhD for a work out, well these people do exist. I've even listened to the latest £800 cd players as well as 3K ones.

It's out of my budget but I'd love a very rare HI mini disc player as the DAC instead of the 930, but I understand they are serious second hand money and may only be available from Japan, if at all.

But for now, my audio quest is finally complete, I have surpassed what I thought was remotely possible.

(remember if one has not heard, then one cant credibly compare.)

Mission completed.

Running my PC through my V-DAC to a Woo Audio 6 then to Denon D2000, my bass is just fineeeee.

Hi Everyone,

 

I use the V-DAC II bought second-hand at ~ $200 for a few months now. By means of some recent upgrades of $50-60 now it wipes the floor with my Densen Beat 400 PLUS. Here are the changes:

1. Bought a regulated linear PSU with 2A (4A peak) current - Voltcraft FSP-1122

2. As it's humming a little bit, I have decoupled by means of 3 metal cones sticked to the bottom of the PSU and put it on 3 metal shoes to protect the shelf.

3. I use a Russ Andrews DC power cable (practically Kimber PBJ) with proper (1.3mm inner diameter) plug.

4. I have made a little "table" out of a roughly 1 cm thick wooden plate (orig. for eating purposes :-) by sticking 3 pcs of similar cones on the bottom + shoes again and I sticked the V-DAC by some Blu-Tack on the top of it.

The result is simply breathtaking, especially in the lowest registers. Feeding from my Sony BD player (BDP-S370 for the record) via QED Qunex P75 digital interconnect it has clearly deeper and yet more defined bass then my Densen player (no slouch either). The dynamics are much wider just as the soundstage.

 

I can assure you the V-DAC is not just "Hype". Anyone stating this clearly has no real experience with this little gem.

 

Gyula
 

For what it's worth, I ran a V-DAC II and the V-PSU II for 3 months to my Audeze LCD-3s before I found myself wanting more.  Ultimately I went with another DAC (Schiit Gungnir) that was less than 2x as expensive as the V-DAC II+PSU II combo, but I noticed a night and day difference in what I heard and felt between the two, out of the box.

 

While I won't comment on one's decisions to purchase the V-DAC II, nor the circumstances that dictate one purchase over another, I will say that if you think you're going to spend large chunks of time into listening, I'd suggest going with a different DAC as you can get much improved performance without having to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on a DAC.

 

My regret was the outlay for the V-DAC II+PSU II, then not being totally satisfied, spending more money, and finding myself in a position of having to sell the V-DAC II+PSU II.

Edited by sinkr - 2/14/13 at 9:04am

I have been using a musical V-DAC I for the last couple years, using both toslink (connected to an old cdplayer of Teac CD P3450SE ), coaxial (connected to a dvdplayer) and usb (connected to a laptop) through my Primaluna Prologue One amplifier.

For a couple months now, I bought V-PSU II to accompany both my V-DAC and V-LPS (I don’t own a lot of vinyl so I just wanted a cheap phono stage to do the job-cost was 90 €).

The V-PSU II made significant improvement into to sound especially recognizable in the VDAC – the stage was wider and a little more detailed. I thought, on the other hand that made treble a little crispier which I don’t appreciate that much but maybe its the combination of more detail with a not so nice EL34 tubes I have been using lately.

In general, for my humble opinion its worth to put some money into a decent psu –an aftermarket psu, a battery or even the most expensive – but yet more attractive- V-PSU II .

I also came to the conclusion that coaxial can deliver better sound than optical –unless you experience hum’s and noises so you should go with the toslink- which was also the advice of Musical Fidelity’s Greek dealership.

As for the usb connection still no definite conclusions (maybe a better usb cable, or laptop etc not of course in high range of money).

Apparently only talking about low priced dacs 

Since, they are two different dacs, they will sound different.  When you say "night and day" difference, can you tell me what those differences were and what kind of music you were listening to.  I know that Schiit gear tends to be almost artificially punchy and fun sounding.  If you were listening to Rock, I woudn't be surprised if you like the Schiit better.  The V-DAC is a great value for the money.  The Gungnir is 850 bucks, which puts it in a whole 'nother category of price range.  Just because you find something "better"....

 

I don't think any one is touting the V-DAC as being a thousand dollar DAC killer.  It is a really good 300 dollar DAC.  You bought close to a thousand dollar DAC - yeah, it's gonna sound better.  How much better is up for debate.  I personally do not like the hyped up sound of Schiit products.  They obviously cater to the Rock group.  Yes, they are also good value for the money, but neither are they "giant killers".  

 

I'm listening to a well recording folk/bluegrass recording through my V-DACII with V-PSUII and am just blown away by the detail, flow, and musicality of the this little combo.  I really am wanting for nothing....prolly helps that it's connected to a Burson Soloist - great pairing right here, man!