General Information
We took on the audacious goal of modifying one of the best selling USB DACs of all time, the Musiland MD 10. Our design goals were to create a solid state version of our famed Brigatta without the need for the Windows DSP software so that MAC users could benefit from a state-of-the-art USB DAC. The result: we came close, very close. We ripped out the current MD10 power supply and supplied dual Noratel 15VA trannies and power supplies: one for the powering the Cirrus CS4398 chip and one for the analogue circuit. On the digital side, we took the 1ppm TCXO clock structure in our version of the Vanguard CDM12, regulated it with a separate power supply and used it to drive the conversion process. In addition to this, all caps in the digital domain were replaced with Nichicon “HD” caps. Next came the Analogue section where the Analogue Devices AD8599 OP AMP is replaced with an ultra low distortion, ultra low noise Burr Brown OP275. As a cap replacement, we used the highly musical Vishay BC high grade “136”.
