[hbuus]

Can it be true that this DAC released back in 2010 (I think?) is still a good choice today?
 
What Hifi still recommends it - it even won their "Best DAC £500-£700" award just last year (it was beaten this year by Chord Mojo).
 
There's got to have been released many new DACs since 2010, so it seems strange that the MDAC can still be competitive - or?

 

[Suopermanni]

It's not UNTHINKABLE for that to be the case. The MDac is a nice dac.

 

[drews]

I sold mine to go balanced (Oppo HA-1) but the M-DAC is probably my favorite audio purchase since joining head-fi (I should have just kept it) - it's a very flexible, well designed Sabre-based DAC and a hiss-free headphone amp.

 

[xdfjdkz]

I have had my MDAC for some time and love it, I use the balanced outputs from the rear to drive all my headphones and look forward to trying it out with my Kaiser 10s soon. 
 
John Westlake has developped the MDAC 2 based on the same platform. Taken from http://mdac2.lakewestaudio.com/
 

  The Dawn of MDAC2

The MDAC2 project is now officially commencing. Our thanks go to all of you whose pledges and support made it possible! In the following paragraphs we introduce the project’s design targets, development & production roadmap, milestones and related installment payments.

 

Design Goals

This project aims to design a completely new DAC in the same form factor as the original MDAC. There are many benefits to this approach. We can fully concentrate our effort and resources on the part of a product that determines the performance and features, while foregoing the otherwise necessary, lengthy and expensive industrial & mechanical design. Existing MDAC owners will not need to pay for an entire new product. The MDAC2 consists of a completely new mainboard and rear panel assembly. It is easily retrofitted into an existing M-DAC in place of the original mainboard, making use of it’s aluminum chassis, front panel complete with all the controls, OLED and microprocessor as well as the AC adaptor and remote control.

 

Features

 

Dual ES9018 Sabre32 DACs, one dedicated chip per channel for true dual mono operation. Brand new discrete Class A analog stage design. Redesigned on-board power supply circuitry guaranteeing optimal performance using the stock AC adaptor. High Speed USB 2.0 controller for asynchronous USB Audio Class 2.0 with 32 bit resolution and up to 768 kHz sampling rates. Driverless operation under MacOS X and Linux as well as Windows with UAC 1.0 fallback (up to 96 kHz). Optional open-source ASIO driver for Windows to support UAC 2.0 capabilities. DSD 64Fs supported via USB as well as S/PDIF with DSD 128Fs and higher available via USB (DoD standard). FPGA on board, opening the doors to limitless customization and further improvements delivered via software updates. Ability to bypass all internal processing in the Sabre32 and replace it with custom LakeWest developments down to the noise shaper. RAM buffer for memory play without ASRC for S/PDIF sources. Asynchronous USB and transport ClockLock interface ASRC free playback or optionally S/PDIF playback with ASRC without memory buffer induced latencies. Passive AV bypass unbalanced inputs allowing coexistence of analog preamplifier / surround processor with the DAC’s own digital preamplifier. 4W XLR Female on the rear panel for balanced headphone connection. Made in EU, each unit tested and qualified personally by JW

 

Specifications

 

While we don’t believe that basic audio measurements are indicative of audio quality – a few do purchase their products on technical performance alone, so here are the target and ‘worst case’ guaranteed performance specifications:

 

THD XLR 1 kHz: 0.00005% typ. (0.0001% max.) Dynamic Range XLR 20 Hz ~ 20 kHz: 135 dBA typ. (130 dBA min.) Channel Separation 1 kHz: >130dB Output Impedance: ~0 Ohm (limited by contact resistance) Driving Capacitance: stable up to 10 nF DC Offset: +/- 10 mV max.

Project roadmap

 

Before presenting the planned project schedule, it is important to stress that any timeframes given are only our best estimates and cannot be relied upon completely. We are undertaking development of the very best DAC possible and that is the primary goal which necessarily takes precedence to meeting any self-inflicted deadlines. After all what good is a DAC delivered on time, but knowingly crippled? That said, let’s look at the milestones and projected timeframes and the related installment payment schedule.

 

Stage 1 (First £100 installment)

 

Beginning of September ’13 – Official start of the project. End of September ’13 – Completed circuit design and simulations of new analogue stage and power supply circuitry. Beginning of October ’13 – Start of prototype PCB layout to verify the newly developed analogue and PSU circuits. End of October ’13 – Prototype PCB design finished and manufacturing data issued to PCB vendor.

 

Stage 2 (Second £100 installment)

 

Middle of November ’13 – Prototype PCB built, tested and qualified on the bench, starting design of the MDAC2 mainboard. End of January ’14 – MDAC2 mainboard design finished and manufacturing data issued to PCB vendor.

 

Stage 3 (Third £100 installment)

 

End of February ’14 – MDAC2 mainboard prototype built, tested and qualified

 

Stage 4 The final stage “Production unit cost” £150 ~ £200 + optional Vishay Z-foil resistors + shipping etc.

 

Beginning of March ’14 – placing orders for production quantities of material. Owners of Level 2 upgraded MDAC’s only get to pay the final installment that covers the production and shipping costs of the new Mainboard End of March ’14 – first MDAC2 mainboards coming off the production line

 

[Arniesb]

Do you guys Tried it with HD650? Wanted to improve clarity over my Fiio e10k dac. Now HD650 with Fiio e10k and Beyerdynamic A20 lack a bit clarity, but i think Fiio is holding me back... Can Mdac improve CLARITY, DETAILS and PRAT?

 

[Galenius]

Do you guys Tried it with HD650? Wanted to improve clarity over my Fiio e10k dac. Now HD650 with Fiio e10k and Beyerdynamic A20 lack a bit clarity, but i think Fiio is holding me back... Can Mdac improve CLARITY, DETAILS and PRAT?

Thas realy old thread but i also seek answer to that question....

 

[chrisjepson]

What is a close comparison of current DACs to the M DAC in terms of sound stage?

 

[derzemel]

This is a question for users who have used the Audiolab M-Dac.

I am a complete "n00b", so please be patient.

I have the opportunity to buy a good priced, used, Audiolab M-Dac (could be my first DAC) to which I will connect a pair of powered speakers but I will also use headphones often.

I have seen that most DAC/Preamps/Headphone Amps combos do not have a dedicated Output select button/switch (except the Fostex HP-A3).

So, my question is: how does the Audiolab M-Dac react when playing music through rear outputs and I connect headphones to it?

Does it cut the rear?

Do both front and rear play music at the same time?

Do I need to double click a button to select output?

 

Thank you!

 

[chrisjepson]

  This is a question for users who have used the Audiolab M-Dac.

I am a complete "n00b", so please be patient.

I have the opportunity to buy a good priced, used, Audiolab M-Dac (could be my first DAC) to which I will connect a pair of powered speakers but I will also use headphones often.

I have seen that most DAC/Preamps/Headphone Amps combos do not have a dedicated Output select button/switch (except the Fostex HP-A3).

So, my question is: how does the Audiolab M-Dac react when playing music through rear outputs and I connect headphones to it?

Does it cut the rear?

Do both front and rear play music at the same time?

Do I need to double click a button to select output?

 

Thank you!

 
Usually there is a front/rear or speaker/headphone switch/button. I wouldn't be very concerned. Go for it!

 

[eugenius]

  This is a question for users who have used the Audiolab M-Dac.

I am a complete "n00b", so please be patient.

I have the opportunity to buy a good priced, used, Audiolab M-Dac (could be my first DAC) to which I will connect a pair of powered speakers but I will also use headphones often.

I have seen that most DAC/Preamps/Headphone Amps combos do not have a dedicated Output select button/switch (except the Fostex HP-A3).

So, my question is: how does the Audiolab M-Dac react when playing music through rear outputs and I connect headphones to it?

Does it cut the rear?

Do both front and rear play music at the same time?

Do I need to double click a button to select output?

 

Thank you!

 
It cuts out the volume to the speakers when you plug in the headphones. But the volume levels are separate for headphones and speakers so there's no problem. The M-DAC is really good.

 

[derzemel]

   
It cuts out the volume to the speakers when you plug in the headphones. But the volume levels are separate for headphones and speakers so there's no problem. The M-DAC is really good.

Thank you very much!

 

[Hubert481]

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