Maverick Audio DAC/Amp - Page 39

I'm not sure what it is but it only lasts about half a second. It's not annoying, just kinda funky like that noise when going from coaxial to optical that was mentioned earlier.

I would just like to say that with the 25ohm denon d2k's there is no gain whatsoever.

Early Results are in:16/48 VS 16/44.1 and 24/96

I have had my D1 since Dec. 29th and I have been very impressed with the sound, features and build quality of this unit as well as the VERY professional and courteous email threads I have had with Ryan regarding his equipment.

Immediately after getting my D1 (with the upgraded tubes) I too was disappointed to find I could not set the soundcard to 16/44.1 as it has been said over and over in here.

So I connected it to a virgin install of Win7 to see what the native USB/Codec’s would allow me to do. Well that went nowhere. As a matter of fact, the choices to change settings in Control Panel were greyed out so I could not even force the change.

Being a Microsoft Developer for 15 years has given me a lot of tenacity on problem solving and I decided I would give this a deeper look on my development machine with the Windows SDK and VB.Net 2008 to see what I could do to first query the device USB interface, and then the data stream to see what I was allowed to modify as a custom filter to override the hardware signature sent to Windows.

What I found was that I was able to change my data stream to 16/44.1 but the soundcard buffer would not acknowledge the packets even though the USB/DAC chip Ryan uses in the first stage (soundcard) is fully capable of USB 1.0/12 MB/S data stream at 44.1/48 or 32 KHz.

I am still working on some code to create a custom filter (think of it as a codec) to set the USB device handler (USBAUDIO.SYS) to latch onto the 44.1 KHz setting before the hardware layer in Windows latches onto the 16/48 setting.

In the meantime, I also installed J.River's Media Center as this player allows you access to the same codec’s as Media Monkey/FooBar/etc. but it also allows you to tweak the DSP settings a lot more than any of those MPs.

I like to use the least layers in building anything, be it software or sound and although WASAPI is enjoyed by a lot of people, I prefer to use DirectSound from Windows if possible since it is not an abstraction layer above an existing layer and since Vista (and the move away from KMixer) the Direct Sound layer has evolved a lot to accommodate HD and multi-channel needs.

So in J.River I am able to set the Audio Output to "Direct Sound" and then in the "output Settings" and I am able to set the USB Device to 24/96 and
I have tested it with Flac, MP3, and WMA and the sound is very stable, and to my ears, it seems more relaxed with less semblance as I was experiencing with the 16/48 native settings.

I am hoping others (Bearmen?) will try the J.River/Direct Sound/24-96 settings as well and see if it works for them and if they too experience the slightly warmer, more relaxed sound (I use Denon D5000's and UE 10's at my desk).

So here is a link to download the 30 day trial of J.River:Media Center - J. River Media Center software

And here's a couple screencaps of the settings you need to change:Head-fi - Windows Live

And just in case, my machine is a Dual Quad Xeon/12 GB Ram/Windows Server 2008 with Rhapsody, Media Monkey, Media Player, Foo Bar2000, and Cowon Media Center on it as well as the J.River Media Center 14 of course.

Hi , at which position of the volumn knob sound comfortable to you ?

Well if I start at the 6 o' clock position(no sound) and then work my way up 4 "clicks" or "steps" that is where I usually like to keep it at. I can comfortably listen all the way up to the 9 o clock position though, but anything past that is too loud for me.

Our new production units already have gain reduced a bit compare to previous production. I am thinking to further reduce the gain of the headphone based on the feedback.

I just popped the LT1364 and LM4562 into my unit and I'm positive that the highs are less shrill. The bass and mids are about the same, maybe the bass has a little bit more clarity but I'm undecided. These are virgin units so they will need burn-in along with the whole unit (Probably around 20 hours use now).

I've got the LT1364 in the DAC (socket closest to the tube) and the LM4562 in the headphone amp.

The other question I want to ask you guys is the volume control.

I can make the volume control more "linear", means you will have bigger "range" to adjust volume from low to high. In my local head-fi community, people tend to like to have almost max volume at only 12 o'clock position, if you extend the max to further position, it will be considered that the unit is "under powered". However, from the feedback I've seen on here, people are like "more range" to adjust volume. Please let me know your opinion, it will help me to improve D1 in the future production

Personally I think an average headphone should max around 12 o'clock. This would give room for higher and lower ohm headphones. Also, I'm getting crosstalk when I have something playing via Coaxial and the source knob is on Analog, I can actually hear the music playing over Coaxial. It's very faint and for me only in the right channel, however it is louder than the background noise.

Something I'm kind of curious about if you're going to release a new version is maybe trading up? I don't know what kinda changes you're doing but would it be possible to either send our models in to have them upgraded or either count as a credit towards a new model?

No I am not going to release a new version any time soon. I just want to make some minor changes in the gain output value.

As for the crosstalk issue, I am going to do the test in my setup to see the result.

I agree with spanky. On a seperate note, Ryan I was wondering if HDAM's can be used in the maverick. I've been considering getting the opa-moon to try out in the amp section.

Alright. It could very well be my sound card. I'm using the analog and SPDIF out of my sound card to feed the Maverick for different applications.

I'm pretty sure they can be and I even emailed Kingwa about it. It would just be a matter of physical space which I have yet to measure. He said as long as the circuitry is modern (which this is) it should work. Kingwa has on his HDAM page a list of opamps that the HDAM can replace and the LF353 is on there, however the ones in the Maverick are LF353N. Whether there's a difference, I don't know. I'm going to let my whole unit with the rolled opamps burn in many more hours and then at that time think about dropping the $60 or so for 2 dual HDAMs.

Bit my finger and ordered one, can't wait to try it out.

Nice write up, looking forward to seeing your work. Would also like some of your wisdom being you are a more experienced developer

I would assume following your method might see some improvement in the audio stream considering it might only be re-sampled once in windows rather than once in windows (16/44.1k) then again in the device (24/92k). Just an uneducated assumption. Since any form of processing has the potential to corrupt the stream

regarding volume control:

As more and more headphones are sensitive and tend to have low impedance I think that the max volume should be reached by 3 o'clock! So average listening position would be around 12 o'clock, so that you have minimum channel imbalance through the volume pot.

If the max volume is already reached at 12 o'clock your average listening position would be around 9 o'clock. People who tend to listen to quiet music would have very little volume control...

just my 2 cent.

best regards.
bearmann

Great write up....I think. I have absolutly no idea what you just said.

Is there a way to translate this into a simple "what button to push" guide?

Yesterday my unit was at the sorting station in China and this morning it is in Cincinati (sp)...that was fast. Can't wait to give it a test drive. I ordered the tube upgrade but a friend of mine brought over 10 other tubes to roll in it including the Western and Windmill.

I have Grado SR60 but am not a big headphone guy. I will be using this as a DAC Pre-amp for my main system. Including:

• JBL 4530 scoop midbass cabs with JBL 2225 woofers
• JBL 2441 compression drivers with Radian Diaphragms and StereoLab CF400hz horns for mids
• Big Ass Heil for supper tweeters
• Active crossover
• Adcom 555 SS amp for the woofs
• Decware Zen amp for the mids
• Kegger EL34 PP amp for the Heils
• HP computer with 1.5TB HD for Music Server and internet radio
• DIY turntable
• Hagerman Octal Cornet phono Pre.

I run the MS wireless from my LZ-boy through my labtop.