Maverick Audio DAC/Amp - Page 3

Just a teaser -

I received my Maverick yesterday afternoon, only 3-1/2 days after I ordered it. That was pretty fast... it can take that long to get a domestic letter. It's smaller than I thought it would be, but looks nice. All the switches have a nice feel to them and the volume control is stepped, something I wasn't expecting. Inside the package you will find all of the cables you would need to hook it up. Even though they may not be of the quality that you would want to use permanently, it does allow you to to get it up and running immediately.

I have yet to try it out or open the top. I may get to do that this weekend but I have tests in 3 classes next week so I am going to be too busy to spend any real time with it for a while.

Get some pink noise running through that so it is burned in by the time you are done with your tests (good luck on those!).

Nice to hear how quick the shipping was.

Good luck with your Maverick, it looks nice.
Please post some results when you can.

Looks interesting. Need a cheap but worthy upgrade from onboard.

jmzzz01
Photos please!
I'm also very interested on this DAC

Here are two photos... the first will give you an idea of the size,...



...and this is the best I can do for the circuitry.



More later....

Thank You. So can You write impressions after using this DAC for about half-year?

but how does it sound?!!?

S3am, jmzzz01 got this about 5 days ago. Hopefully we get some SQ impressions after his tests this week.

Oh sorry, 10.02 is not the same as 02.10, sure

Ok, I am still intrigued by this DAC/Amp, especially when the looks and price are factored in (I just don't want silver/aluminum). I have been digging for impressions wherever I can find them and I started talking to a guy who had purchased one that I found through ebay. Really great guy and he has shared not only his impressions with me, but also some news very pertinent to anyone on the fence about one of these. As has been mentioned before, this is VERY similar to a couple other existing products, including the Pacific Valve Xiansheng DAC-01 and the Grant Fidelity Tube DAC-09. Well, because of these similarities, very soon (within a week or two), Grant Fidelity will be the only place to buy this DAC/amp, and they normally charge $390 for it. My new audio buddy has said that he thinks it is worth it. Below are his impressions:

"Sonically, it impressed me for the price. It's worth the $400 that Grant charges. At $200 it's a true steal. I figured at $200 it was a throw away if it sucked (I guessed it would suck). D/A has gotten pretty easy these days, and if you couple it with the right op-amp/dac and keep the noise out, many new, inexpensive designs can outperform $2k dacs that are 5 years old. It's not perfect and it can't complete with a new big-buck dac in some areas. But it's not an insult to listen to and it really helped with my Sonos. It's much better than the onbaord dac in the Sonos. I'm not using it in my main system, but it resides in another room with a Sonos (mostly uncompressed files) into the dac then directly into a vfet yamaha B-2 amp and into Cornwalls or DIY Altec VOTT. I wanted a tube dac to smooth the highs a bit and warm the mids. I burned it in for about a week (tuned the sonos on into the dac, but didn't have the B-2 on).

It's quiet enough for the horns (which can be a problem with cheap tube equipment). It's a bit tubey which I wanted, but I will be tube rolling for mroe tube magic. Either Bendix or Western Electric is what I'll buy first. The tube output has plenty of bass response (which can also be a problem with tubes).

In all honesty, I even like the sound of Rhapsody being streamed from the Sonos. I don't critically listen to Rhapsody streams, but I would have thought I'd be tearing my ears off trying to listen to mid-bit-rate streams through Sonos through transistor amp to horn speakers. With the dac, it's pretty good. Certainly good enough for casual/background music.

It'd be interesting to hear it side x side with a Scott Nixon dac. But I don't have one.

Hey, it's $200 (if you hurry). You'll never lose money since once it's gone, the identical Grant is $390 and is worth it at that price IMO."

He hasn't used it as a headphone amp, but the power specs at least seem to be up to snuff. He also wanted to pass along that the volume only controls the headphone amp as configured. The Grant Fidelity version can control the lineout (if using as a preamp) using a pin switch, but this one cannot. For me, that is irrelevant because I need an all in one solution. Just wanted to pass that along as a heads up.

So in short (too late!) If you want one at $200 shipped, buy now. Otherwise, you will have to pay double to try it from a different source. I am still on the fence, as $200 is still a big layout and Nuforce (who for purely irrational reasons I really like), is coming out with a new DAC/amp in November (albeit for $400) that I am intrigued by.

Oops, got some stuff confused.

"points of clarifiation.

1. A friend of mine has the Grant version. He's using it with cans and it works well.

2a. You got the volume thing backwards. The Grant ships in Dac-only mode so the volume controls just the headphone jack. The outputs are fixed. IF you change a connection point on one of the internal wiring harnesses, the volume will control the RCA outputs as well (Grant's website has .pdf instructions on what to do).

2b. The Maverick version is shipped with the RCA outputs and the headphone jack both variable. There is no easy way to remove the volume pot (electrically) from the circuitry like the Grant. Moving the harness to the other set of pins does nothing. The volume always controls the headphone jack and the RCA outputs. No biggie, but a cleaner signal path is always good. I'm trying to get info from the factory on how to do it. I do know it will involve some soldering or de-soldering."

Have you had any time to listen to this with your headphones?

I have been reading reviews on the Grant Fidelity DAC-09 and it gets very positive reviews as a DAC and compairs favorably with much more expensive equipment. And this is coming from people who paid near $400 for it. However, only one person addressed it as an amp. He had a couple pairs of lower tier AKG (K241 I think), and Sennheiser (some 400 level), but he said that the amp did very well, and did just as well as a $1000 amp he has had in the past.

All in all looks like a very good deal. I just wish it could be compared to some of the more mainstream stuff around here. God, two years ago or three years from now, it would have been a no brainer...

Anyways, please post your impressions. I need one of us to chime in

Hi folks. First post and I claim no real expertise so be gentle. I've been lurking and reading what I could about this amp as well as the Grant Fidelity DAC-09. Yesterday I read a post somewhere saying that the headphone output on the DAC-09 was not routed through the tube. I sent an e-mail to Maverick to confirm and this is the reply I got.
I apologize if you guys are already aware of this. I was not and I thought it might be an important detail for headphone enthusiasts.

I found that out yesterday from an email from Ryan as well. He did echo sentiments that it has a slightly warm sound. Ryan's reference headphone is the HD600, so the headphone out has no problems with those. I had asked specifically about the warmth of the sound because I am interested in getting the K702's as my next step. The amp should have more than enough power based on its spec sheet to handle the AKG's and he said that he has sold to a few AKG owners and they have enjoyed the product.

At this point, I am sold that it is a good product at and incredible price. The reviews on the Grant are all positive and compare this device to ones costing twice as much.

I just don't have a lot to spend and I figure it makes more sense to get the cans before the amp. So tempted.