[praganj]

Can anybody measure the ouput voltage of the Little Pinky ? If possible with and without load.
Thanks

 

[Mink]

I have a question about the V-DAC
Would this DAC be a singnificant upgrade in sound for my Marantz CD6000KI?
I own a (cheaper) Marantz CD5000 as-well, if I use this DAC with the CD5000, would it sound the same as when I use the DAC with the CD6000KI?

 

[oldson]

does the v-dac use the same opamps as the benchmark dac-1 pre? (Ne5532)
or have i got this wrong

 

[userlander]

Would owners of the V-Dac say this is a warm or "tubey" sounding dac? It often seems to be described as warm-ish, but someone earlier in the thread was comparing it to valab and said it was "briefer," "tighter," more "upbeat," "more detailed," faster PRAT, etc. which makes it seem a little less full or rich sounding.

I'm also interested in comparisons between this and the NOS 151 dac by Keces. Is it apples and oranges, or do they compare at all? thanks.

 

[proximo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldson /img/forum/go_quote.gif does the v-dac use the same opamps as the benchmark dac-1 pre? (Ne5532) or have i got this wrong

The DAC1 PRE currently uses LM4562. Previous DAC1s used the NE5532. The V-DAC uses NE5532.

 

[pearljam5000]

Did anyone compare the V-dac with the Pico?

 

[xmas111]

I would like to thank everyone for all the great info I got from this thread on the V-DAC!

I ended up buying the unit a couple of months ago and was quite impressed with the performance of it. I've been using it with an OPPO 981 and a Sony CE-595 cd player. I had to by a switch for the SPDIF cables from the OPPO and Sony to the V-DAC so I could switch from one to the other. And that's working great.

Then I decided to dump the wall plug power supply that came with the V-DAC and build my own. I can with out a doubt it makes a nice difference in the performance of the V-DAC. And out of curiosity I put a DC milliammeter in the power supply to see just how much the V-DAC draws. It seems to run around 300ma.

I built the power supply in a 2U rack case so it matches some of my other equipment. I think it looks good with the other stuff.

And for the hell of it I added a couple pics for you guys.

Thanks again for giving me the inspiration to get this unit and build a separate power supply to run it!

John

 

[timb5881]

The current issue, and on the website, they have measurments of the V-DAC. Turns out it has really variable jitter with USB and Optical, and oddy enogh, really good with USB.

Tim

 

[xmas111]

Ok, thanks for the info. I'll read the article.

 

[alias71]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xmas111 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I had to by a switch for the SPDIF cables from the OPPO and Sony to the V-DAC so I could switch from one to the other. And that's working great. John

I am looking for a good SPDIF switch that does not degrade the signal.
Which SPDIF switch did you buy?

Thanks!

 

[xmas111]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alias71 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am looking for a good SPDIF switch that does not degrade the signal. Which SPDIF switch did you buy? Thanks!

I bought this one: switch

It's really a Component Selector but it also does SPDIF. There's plain SPDIF switches out there but I didn't like the look of them....kind of cheesy looking, plus no remote control. ie:manual switch

John

 

[zenzero-2001]

Hi everybody!

I have a V-DAC and am looking for a good replacement PSU for it. I tried this one from Maplin:

AC/DC Multi-Voltage 5/4A Switched Mode Power Supply : All Products : Maplin

Unfortunately, I can hear high pitched interference (RFI) coming through my speakers when I use this PSU, I believe this is because it is a switched-mode PSU.

I am interested in trying the PSU recommended by "oldson":

Mascot | Power Supplies | Power Supplies, Inverters, DC/DC Converters & Generators | External Power Supplies | AC Output & DC Linear |2083000058

It is described as a linear PSU. Is this really the case? Or is it a switched-mode PSU? If it is the latter, will I experience high frequency buzz through my speakers like with the Maplin PSU?

For reference, here is my setup:

Asus Xonar Essence STX -> IXOS XHD308 optical cable -> MF V-DAC -> Techlink Wires XS70 RCA -> KRK10s amplified subwoofer -> Techlink Wires XS70 RCA -> KRK RP5 G2 bi-amped speakers.

I'm using the MF V-DAC as my DAC instead of the Essence because I experience interference being propagated along the PCI bus (probably from the graphics card), whenever anything happens on screen. The only that I have found to eliminate this is with an external DAC connected via an Optical cable.

By the way, I prefer the sound from the Essence STX to the V-DAC - I find it more "airy". I am hoping that the PSU upgrade and maybe upgrading the NE5532 op-amp will bring the V-DAC closer to the Essence STX.

Thanks for reading all of that!

 

[lecky]

I've been really enjoying my v-dac for a while now. I just recently got an old Cyrus One, which has a very nice headphone out, and drives my orthos beautifully from the speaker terminals too. I found that with my Fostex t20(v2) the treble was quite hard edged and almost painful, yesterday I replaced the USB connection with an optical line for my v-dac and the hardness is totally gone, a very small difference which makes a big difference to listening pleasure. I conclude that the optical out is significantly better than USB if the amp and headphones are able to reveal the source sufficiently.

I'm going to upgrade the power supply now as I'm confident that I can hear detail in what the source is giving.

 

[MomijiTMO]

I got my v-dac yesterday. It was lightly used [person bought multiple dacs] and for me, a good buy. I had an Asus STX as I'm a computer nooblet. I was extremely impressed going from my on board sound [DFI X48 LT] which isn't the worse you can get to the STX. I was looking for a similar jump in sound quality but it didn't happen.

v-dac and the STX:

Test set up was as follows-

Asus STX -> Stereo out -> Keces 171 -> K701
Asus STX -> Coaxial out -> v-dac -> Keces 171 -> K701

This allowed me to switch dacs with the input switch on the amp as I could have both outputs working from the STX.

So differences? Well the STX is not as clear. It's almost like things are more or less painted with a splatter brush whereas things are much more well defined with the v-dac. So a MASSIVE plus to the v-dac. In a similar way, the v-dac seems to do a much better job at instrument positioning. Just going through some Deftones [White Pony] the guitars are coming from besides your head from the STX whereas the v-dac seems to put them nearer to the vocals. At first I interpreted this as the STX being louder and inherently better but after a while it clicked. I wasn't sure what was better. Yes the v-dac is technically doing a better job but it wasn't as fun or involving. Switching to Insomnium [Above The Weeping World] made me realise that 'fun' factor was gone with the STX and the v-dac is just better. I also found that the v-dac did a better job with those swirly sounds indicating that it had a wider sound stage but the gap was small.

At the end of the day, the STX is a great buy for a pc user. I'd easily recommend the v-dac over the STX as it does a more realistic job at sound staging and has better instrument separation. I guess it depends where you live. In this neck of the woods, the STX fetches ~220AUD whereas the V-dac is ~499AUD.

Things about the v-dac:
Fricken power switch. Ugh. It would be nice if there were some ventilation holes too. As everyone says, inputs and outputs on the same side would be nicer. You can understand why this VALUE dac is like this as it simplifies the design but it just seems like an inconvenience to remind you that this is the VALUE series from MF.

 

[mangamonster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by userlander /img/forum/go_quote.gif Would owners of the V-Dac say this is a warm or "tubey" sounding dac? It often seems to be described as warm-ish, but someone earlier in the thread was comparing it to valab and said it was "briefer," "tighter," more "upbeat," "more detailed," faster PRAT, etc. which makes it seem a little less full or rich sounding. I'm also interested in comparisons between this and the NOS 151 dac by Keces. Is it apples and oranges, or do they compare at all? thanks.

I think the VDAC sounds warm, rich and colored. Compared to my HRT Streamer and Nuforce DACs, it is the most musical of the 3. It truly brings out a higher level of dynamics that were absent in the streamer and nuforce.

It's an amazing DAC...especially if you plan on using it with an integrated amp and speakers. It demands a sitting session...at least several feet away