[taylor]

Bought mine a couple weeks ago, very happy with it.

I'm running AKG K340s, a beastly can that's 2x400 ohm, even higher impedance than the famous HD650.

My serial number starts with 2009.

Has anyone dimmed or replaced the LED? I like having an indication that my equipment is on, but the blue LED is so bright that I can't look at it without seeing spots. Being that I have it on a shelf to the side of my monitor near eye level, that isn't a good thing. Right now, I have about half a dozen layers of scotch tape over the LED, and it's bearable, but I'm curious if anyone else has had problems with this or has done anything about it. I'm tempted to either replace the resistor, or replace it with a dimmer white LED.

Aside from that, has anyone tried adjusting the gain?

I figured that with my difficult-to-drive high impedance cans, I'd have to crank it (and was actually worried the headphone section wouldn't be enough for them), but it's the opposite. There are 30 notches on the volume control. At 0, 1, and 2, there is no audible music. At 3, it is slightly above a normal listening level, and at 4, it's too loud. Oddly enough, with my Shure E2Cs, there is also no music at 0, 1, and 2, but 3 is way too loud.

Otherwise, there is a lot of background noise on this thing, but I think it's just dirty AC power, because every amp I've used in this building has had this scratching buzzing hum noise when nothing was playing. I'm thinking about picking up one of those $60 Furman power conditioners. My friend has one, so I was planning on bringing the D1 over there and testing it with and without the power conditioner to see if it does anything.

 

[techenvy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruffle /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not disclosing what D/A it uses is bogus. As it's been said already on Head-Fi repeatedly, cloning a DAC is far more involved that just using the same parts. And if an engineer wanted to clone it, he could figure it out anyways. So if anyone wants to purchase, I'd personally wait until more information can be found about the DAC/Amp. Starky thinks it's a Sheng DAC-01 clone... personally would want to know what I was buying.

weird, when i saw the seperate tube output on this i immediatley thought of this

Pacific Valve & Electric Company Xiansheng DAC 01

 

[cheaphifi]

i can buy a maverick dac for 170$ is it worth the price or not ?
I'm already owner of a Yulong DAC but i want to try the tubey sound...

Do u think maverick D1 is a good option ?

 

[_Spanky_]

Oh boy, it's good to see there's quite a few people interested in this still

I've owned mine for about 4 months without any issues, well, I did have 1 issue. I got bored a while back and decided to replace the top with plexiglass. Bad idea. For the longest time I would get weird noise/faint sounds in the left channel of the headphone out. I started moving my hands around the unit and noticed the sound would lessen but I wasn't touching anything. EMI/RFI. I put the metal shell back on and both channels are quiet. Just a heads up to those that want to mod like that

I'll try to answer/help a few people here.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Hypnotique /img/forum/go_quote.gif yes its 2010

Yea, you definitely have the gain reduced model then. I hope you enjoy it for a long time!


Quote:

Originally Posted by taylor /img/forum/go_quote.gif Bought mine a couple weeks ago, very happy with it. I'm running AKG K340s, a beastly can that's 2x400 ohm, even higher impedance than the famous HD650. My serial number starts with 2009. Has anyone dimmed or replaced the LED? I like having an indication that my equipment is on, but the blue LED is so bright that I can't look at it without seeing spots. Being that I have it on a shelf to the side of my monitor near eye level, that isn't a good thing. Right now, I have about half a dozen layers of scotch tape over the LED, and it's bearable, but I'm curious if anyone else has had problems with this or has done anything about it. I'm tempted to either replace the resistor, or replace it with a dimmer white LED. Aside from that, has anyone tried adjusting the gain? I figured that with my difficult-to-drive high impedance cans, I'd have to crank it (and was actually worried the headphone section wouldn't be enough for them), but it's the opposite. There are 30 notches on the volume control. At 0, 1, and 2, there is no audible music. At 3, it is slightly above a normal listening level, and at 4, it's too loud. Oddly enough, with my Shure E2Cs, there is also no music at 0, 1, and 2, but 3 is way too loud. Otherwise, there is a lot of background noise on this thing, but I think it's just dirty AC power, because every amp I've used in this building has had this scratching buzzing hum noise when nothing was playing. I'm thinking about picking up one of those $60 Furman power conditioners. My friend has one, so I was planning on bringing the D1 over there and testing it with and without the power conditioner to see if it does anything.

I believe someone swapped the LED out but I don't remember who or where the post would be

You can search this thread for that though.

For the gain, yea, it's pretty easily modded. The noise you get is from the gain being so high. Noise exponentially increases with gain so if it's reduced a little bit, the noise will drop a lot. There's a lot of info on this in my condensed thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/mav...thread-470639/


Quote:

Originally Posted by techenvy /img/forum/go_quote.gif weird, when i saw the seperate tube output on this i immediatley thought of this Pacific Valve & Electric Company Xiansheng DAC 01

Yup, already gone over dozens of times. It was originally a clone but the latest version has improvements in looks, design and function.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheaphifi /img/forum/go_quote.gif i can buy a maverick dac for 170$ is it worth the price or not ? I'm already owner of a Yulong DAC but i want to try the tubey sound... Do u think maverick D1 is a good option ?

I think it would be worth it if you sold your Yulong DAC. I don't want to knock the Maverick but to me, it's really good for beginners, people that like to switch sources and someone that's looking for a DAC and tube pre-amp combo. It's a great unit for the price and I'm happy with what I paid. I think there's better (yes, more expensive as well) separate units out there that when combined can sound better than the Maverick D1. You already started that with the Yulong, you could probably pick up a pretty nice dedicated tube amp for the $170. Speaking of which, Ryan (for those that don't know, he's the owner of Maverick Audio) is designing a full tube headphone amp and power amp combo. You may want to hold out for this unit.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Legis /img/forum/go_quote.gif My Maverick, after 3 months of working ok, started yesterday to make this quite loud noise/sizzling when there's no input to any of the inputs. Both line output and tube output make the same noise regardless what input is selected from input selector. As soon as for example optical input starts to send data (the optical input is chosen from the input selector) the noise reduces significantly but it never goes completely away. Noise does not reduce/go away either if I unplug all cords but power and line out cords. I also tried to change both the op-amps and the tube to new, but it did not fix the problem. It seems that there is some kind of hardware malfunction.

Definitely contact Ryan if you haven't. I don't think he would hesitate in sending a new board out or at the very least, working hard on identifying the problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raguvian /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't want to read the entire thread, but does anyone know what the internals of the D1 are? Also, if I use the D1's headphone out, I won't be using the tube part, right? The tube is used only in the tube pre-amp output, if I'm understanding it correctly. Finally, would you guys recommend this over the EF2A or the Audinst HUD MX-1? They are all about $20 within each other's price. Thanks.

Pictures and info here: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/mav...thread-470639/

 

[ninjikiran]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheaphifi /img/forum/go_quote.gif i can buy a maverick dac for 170$ is it worth the price or not ? I'm already owner of a Yulong DAC but i want to try the tubey sound... Do u think maverick D1 is a good option ?

Another option would be to use the Yulong DAC and find a true tube amp. Might be cheaper if you don't want to sell your yulong dac.

At the same time the Maverick has a ton of options which you might enjoy. So I would say its worth every penny of its price.

 

[_Spanky_]

Hey everyone, I created a product page and wiki for the D1. Post your reviews there if you want or just rate it Check it out:
http://www.head-fi.org/products/maverick-audio-tubemagic-d1

 

[elwappo99]

 
Quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruffle /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not disclosing what D/A it uses is bogus. As it's been said already on Head-Fi repeatedly, cloning a DAC is far more involved that just using the same parts. And if an engineer wanted to clone it, he could figure it out anyways. So if anyone wants to purchase, I'd personally wait until more information can be found about the DAC/Amp. Starky thinks it's a Sheng DAC-01 clone... personally would want to know what I was buying.

weird, when i saw the seperate tube output on this i immediatley thought of this

Pacific Valve & Electric Company Xiansheng DAC 01

 
The maverick dac is literally that exact same device. The original one was the exact same device with a "Maverick Audio" logo put on the from by Xiansheng. The newer version, ryan altered the design a bit by putting in the direct input, and headphone bypass. Will still sound the exact same.
 

 

[Zoltan99]

I have low impedance cans, the Audio-Technica ATH-A700. I have read most of this thread and I am looking for a Amp/Dac mainly for Rock/metalcore music.  The Maverick looks great, buy the hissing  really concerns me on low impedance cans.  Has this been fixed yet, can I do anything to solve this?  I am also considering the Audio-gd Fun/Sparrow and this hissing is really killing it for me.  Also do you still get much better sound quality if you replace the psu?

 

[Nakattack]

I'm running an Alessandro MS1, and the hissing doesn't effect normal listening volumes. It starts hissing at about 11 oclock with nothing playing, which is alot higher than what I'd listen to, and I like to crank it sometimes. If you are a quiet listener, I'd be more worried about the channel imbalance until 7 oclock on the attenuator, as if it's late at night this volume is just right.

 

[Zoltan99]

I'm not familiar with the channel imbalance problem and I am a medium listener.  Could you explain it to me if you have time?

 

[EraserXIV]

what's the next logical upgrade from the maverick d1 if you're still looking at a one-box solution? i'll be using it with hd600 and hd650.
 
i was looking at the audio-gd FUN, LD DAC_2. are these side grades? is there anything that is a surefire upgrade?

 

[Nakattack]

Quote:

I'm not familiar with the channel imbalance problem and I am a medium listener.  Could you explain it to me if you have time?

I'm not sure about exact mechanical reasons, but with most attenuators, there is an imbalance of volume supplied to each driver, until the attenuator is turned to a certain point. The quality of the attenuator will determine how far you need to turn it in order to have balanced volume. The Mav needs till about 8 oclock on my unit, which is about 3 steps. If that happens I usually just turn the amp up and lower my sources volume. In not so quiet situations I listen at about 9 oclock.

 

[elwappo99]

I Went from a maverick to a LD DAC_1, which requires a seperate amp.  Huge huge jump up.  However, I doubt you'll get the same jump going to a LD DAC_2, since it uses a lower quality amp inside. Your next upgrade may need a separate amp.
Quote:

what's the next logical upgrade from the maverick d1 if you're still looking at a one-box solution? i'll be using it with hd600 and hd650.
 
i was looking at the audio-gd FUN, LD DAC_2. are these side grades? is there anything that is a surefire upgrade?

 

 

[taylor]

I ordered a set of the resistors that Spanky recommended. Range from 3k to 15k.
 
I was going to solder two wires to either side of the resistor, then use it to test out values until I find one I'm happy with. Shouldn't require any modifications to the existing thing, as two resistors in parallel will work just as well 1/R = 1/R1 + 1/R2

 

[Rakim360]

Hello all i have a few questions, i am a Noob to all the DAC stuff however i have always had a love for a quality sound but am starting to find new ways for me to start enjoying my audio. I own a set of Senn' Hd595s and have always used them for gaming because of the quality sound they produce with music and movie audio i always felt they were a healthy medium. well i have always gotten my audio through the audio amp that came with my Logitech zx5500 set it has worked for pc and console gaming, movies and music no problem it has several inputs on the back for optical coax and the regular analog. well my 595s were damaged by my daughters puppy so i sent them in i ended up buying a set of skull crushers from skull candy to tide me over until the 595s came back and was kind of blown away by the amplified effect of the skull crushers the whole bass effect was ridiculous!
 
While it was a bit muddy it was crazy during my shooter sessions with Modern warfare 2 and other games what i did notice was that the voice is a bit overshadowed during the game when there are explosions are going off etc. i had that same problem with the 595s so i know it will be most likely an adjustment in the sound menu on the game,my wish is to get a similar effect with my 595s i know a dedicated sub-woofer is what makes the crushers different what i am wondering is if a similar boosting effect can be achieved and maybe even clearing up the whole sound a bit in the process by using the maverick DAC and if so should i put it ahead of the sound amp for the zx5500 ie: let it clean the signal and then feed into the zx5500 amp then connect my 595s to it as i always have or put it behind the amp as in let it take the signal from the zx5500 amp and plug my 595s into the maverick DAC. Or maybe even if you guys know of another solution that may suit my needs, please feel free to let me know i am as i said new to DACs and don't have a loyalty to any solution or brand my loyalty is to a quality sound. 
 
Sorry for the long post  and thanks in advance for any help you guys are able to offer!