[smallcaps]

I just joined the latest drop for an SDAC. Figured this would pair well with the Liquid Spark I've got coming from Monoprice.

If you told me 10 years ago that I would be able to get a Sennheiser HD58X, Grace SDAC and Cavalli Liquid Spark for less then $400 I would have not believed you. It's amazing to be able to grab an absolute legends starter set for this price.

 

[Bazirker]

I just joined the latest drop for an SDAC. Figured this would pair well with the Liquid Spark I've got coming from Monoprice.

If you told me 10 years ago that I would be able to get a Sennheiser HD58X, Grace SDAC and Cavalli Liquid Spark for less then $400 I would have not believed you. It's amazing to be able to grab an absolute legends starter set for this price.

Seriously, it's ridiculous. I was at Canjam/RMAF earlier today and I heard a lot of gear at 2-5x the price of my CTH/SDAC/HD6XX rig where I thought it sounded good but wasn't really impressed, and it wasn't that way even 5 years ago in terms of price gap. Massdrop and Monoprice are just killing it when it comes to true, high quality mid-fi audiophile gear; it's making those $1000+ dollar items look a lot less appealing.

 

[snip3r77]

I gotten the o2 + sdac and I'm waiting it to be delivered next week

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

I also have an Eitr/Modi Multibit/Vali 2 stack at home. Both have different sounds. side by side and found that I prefer to run dynamics out of the Schiit and I like the versatility of the tube rolling options on the Vali 2 which lets me roll 12AU7 and 6SN7 with adapters. When it came to my ZMF Classic mk3 (T50rp mod), the MCTH was the clear winner. I don't feel the need to tube roll or tweak, I respect the fact that it's tuned to the stock EH tube, the sound is very detailed, coherent, spacious and well separated. A very clean sound overall. The MMB/Vali2 combo is warmer, thicker, more intimate, and perhaps more dynamic (but by no means super warm and super thick, just moreso than the MCTH). I love the tonality and timbre of MMB, it feels much more realistic than any D/S DAC in the same price range. I do wish I'd had the cash to jump on the Airist RDAC, because I feel like the D/S sound is likely the bottleneck of the SDAC+MCTH in terms of my personal tastes. That and the switching mode power supply, I am waiting on a linear power supply from China. That should improve the dynamics and noise floor considerably.

I actually lucked out getting the SDAC+MCTH combo for 250 on eBay, so in a sense the SDAC was free. The guy listened for two hours and decided he didn't like it... didn't even burn the tube in! So, even though I prefer R2R/multibit to DS, I can live with the SDAC. There's room for improvement, the DS sound is definitely there, but to be honest it does an admirable job especially for a built in unit, and doesn't really do anything wrong per se.

 

[DeltaRay]

Got the o2+sdac. Love the fact that you can RCA out and Aux out at the same time. ABA-ing the O2 with my Crack+SB is a fun experience!

 

[snip3r77]

Got the o2+sdac. Love the fact that you can RCA out and Aux out at the same time. ABA-ing the O2 with my Crack+SB is a fun experience!

Can you provide impression if you have any of the 58x/600/6xx variants with the sdac+o2 ?

 

[DeltaRay]

Can you provide impression if you have any of the 58x/600/6xx variants with the sdac+o2 ?

Well the main reason why i jumped on this was that my previous dac had a high pitch noise if i decide to crank the knob to max (nothing playing). With the o2+sdac i have none of this. This was an issue i had as the noise becomes more apparent when being fed to my BHC.

Sounds clean, clinical like a solid state should sound, i use a 6xx and i can listen comfortable on the o2's mid gain maxed, 11am on hi.

If I were to enter the mid-fi market today, just getting the 6xx and o2+sdac at the current prices is the biggest steal of the decade (maybe exaggerating).

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

O2 is ok, I used to own one. I would definitely reach for a Magni 3 or Liquid Spark before going back. I found it a little clinical and dry. Crack+SB is more warm, liquid, alive, layered, with superior sense of space. No veil ever. Capable of way higher detail retrieval with mods. High impedance headphones benefit from high voltages in amplifiers, ime 28-36 volts or more is ideal for the HD6*0. Iirc the O2 power supply is only 12V.

 

[Baten]

No veil ever. Capable of way higher detail retrieval with mods. High impedance headphones benefit from high voltages in amplifiers, ime 28-36 volts or more is ideal for the HD6*0. Iirc the O2 power supply is only 12V.

What a load of crap, the whole "veil" meme can really die already. I'm not going to say the magni or especially the liquid spark might not sound more "fun", but going by freaking power supply? Please, you have no clue as to what makes a great amplifier. The magni is 14V, the O2 is 15V. What exactly are you trying to say here?

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

Someone's cranky. Haven't had your coffee, or had too much?

My mistake on the O2 voltage. And FYI the Magni is 14VAC in from the wall wart, but the rails run at +/-17VDC.

Going from personal experience, the HD6*0 sound more lively and dynamic from headphone amps that can deliver high voltage swings. Feel free to disagree, but the whole personal attack angle makes it really hard to take you seriously

 

[Baten]

Someone's cranky. Haven't had your coffee, or had too much?

My mistake on the O2 voltage. And FYI the Magni is 14VAC in from the wall wart, but the rails run at +/-17VDC.

Going from personal experience, the HD6*0 sound more lively and dynamic from headphone amps that can deliver high voltage swings. Feel free to disagree, but the whole personal attack angle makes it really hard to take you seriously

I just truly believe there is too much pseudo science in this hobby. The iFi black label delivers more power than the jotunheim for god's sake, and it's battery powered.

 

[snip3r77]

Well the main reason why i jumped on this was that my previous dac had a high pitch noise if i decide to crank the knob to max (nothing playing). With the o2+sdac i have none of this. This was an issue i had as the noise becomes more apparent when being fed to my BHC.

Sounds clean, clinical like a solid state should sound, i use a 6xx and i can listen comfortable on the o2's mid gain maxed, 11am on hi.

If I were to enter the mid-fi market today, just getting the 6xx and o2+sdac at the current prices is the biggest steal of the decade (maybe exaggerating).

It arrived today . It’s better than fulla2 .
Bass are more taut , wider sound stage and more detailed/ bright .

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

Well, it seems that I will have plenty of impressions soon using the MCTH with other DACs...

...because the SDAC inside of mine is completely dead.

Edit: I tried different USB cables, ports, settings, etc. Nothing works. The only thing that gets the amp to make sound is using the RCA inputs in the back. I can even use another USB DAC, same computer same cables, into the CTH and it sounds fine.

I'm wondering if I could buy an SDAC and put it in the amp? This is my office rig and I really like having a one-box solution (although I'd make an exception for the RDAC).

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

Can someone familiar with the design of the SDAC (@CEE TEE?) tell me, if I buy a standalone SDAC, can I take the PCB out and use it as a replacement to the one on the inside of the CTH? Are the PCBs identical? Or do the standalone units lack the connectors that send the signal to the amp? I took a peek inside of mine just to see if there were any burnt or exploded components, which there weren't. I also tested the voltages at the test pads, all ok. I then thought maybe one of the oscillators had died, and tried switching to 48kHz sampling rate but no luck there either. The computer connects to the DAC and says that it's making music (the volume meter is bobbing up and down), but no sound emerges.

I realize that buying a standalone SDAC and letting it just sit on top is the easiest solution, but 1) I prefer having a one-box solution at the office, and 2) it says CTH+SDAC on the front plate and I'm kinda OCD.

 

[elira]

Can someone familiar with the design of the SDAC (@CEE TEE?) tell me, if I buy a standalone SDAC, can I take the PCB out and use it as a replacement to the one on the inside of the CTH? Are the PCBs identical? Or do the standalone units lack the connectors that send the signal to the amp? I took a peek inside of mine just to see if there were any burnt or exploded components, which there weren't. I also tested the voltages at the test pads, all ok. I then thought maybe one of the oscillators had died, and tried switching to 48kHz sampling rate but no luck there either. The computer connects to the DAC and says that it's making music (the volume meter is bobbing up and down), but no sound emerges.

I realize that buying a standalone SDAC and letting it just sit on top is the easiest solution, but 1) I prefer having a one-box solution at the office, and 2) it says CTH+SDAC on the front plate and I'm kinda OCD.

Have you tried contacting Massdrop support for repair options? It would be terrible if all the Massdrop made hardware were unrepairable.