[Herandu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golden Monkey /img/forum/go_quote.gif The OMZ was much more detailed, musical, weighty, and natural than either the Denon alone or the MD-10. All that aside, if you were looking for a good upgrade for an older CD/DVD player with lots of other cool features and did not want to purchase an amp, this would be a good choice.

I have noticed that you make frequent (almost daily) references to the OMZ and how good it is. Have you by any chance been able to compare it to the far cheaper Beresford TC-7510? I have read a couple of times that the OMZ is slightly better (and at more than 3 times the price of the TC-7510 I would hope so!), but not enough of a difference like the MD-10 to describe it as clearly as night and day. It might however be very useful for someone like yourself with so much experience of the OMZ to do an unbiased comparison between the two since they are both highly regarded in terms of value for money when you search the web for high-end killers and value for money DAcs. I would have loved to do such a review myself, but I am considered far too much a fanboy of the TC-7510, so my end verdict might be considered to be of no value if the TC-7510 came out on top

.

 

[Jerrycan]

Good point

 

[Golden Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herandu /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have noticed that you make frequent (almost daily) references to the OMZ and how good it is. Have you by any chance been able to compare it to the far cheaper Beresford TC-7510? I have read a couple of times that the OMZ is slightly better (and at more than 3 times the price of the TC-7510 I would hope so!), but not enough of a difference like the MD-10 to describe it as clearly as night and day. It might however be very useful for someone like yourself with so much experience of the OMZ to do an unbiased comparison between the two since they are both highly regarded in terms of value for money when you search the web for high-end killers and value for money DAcs. I would have loved to do such a review myself, but I am considered far too much a fanboy of the TC-7510, so my end verdict might be considered to be of no value if the TC-7510 came out on top .

Well, yeah, I make a lot of references to it because I OWN it, and am familiar with its qualities. I also have good things to say about the Little Dot MKV, Sennheiser HD650's and Ety ER-4's for the same reason. I tried different things, found what I was looking for, and have been happy with them. I have not heard the Beresford, so I have no opinions on it at all, but I understand it's a great performer for the price (as YOU so often state). I HAVE talked with people that have demoed the Beresford, MD-10, and OMZ, and let's just say the Beresford came in fourth...I also know that you and Ori have butted heads in the past, and your opinion may be slightly colored against the OMZ or any of its "fanboys", so I'll take your criticisms with a grain of salt...

The OMZ and the MD-10 are a ways apart in pricing, so this was not intended to be a direct comparison between the two - that's like comparing a Toyota 4-Runner to a Subaru STi...sure, they are both 4 wheel drive, but they are used for different things and are priced differently. My post was mainly to point out that in an A/B comparison between the MD-10 and the DAC in my DVD player, they were so close in performance that for my money the MD-10 would have yielded insignificant performance gains. I think it's a great DAC for the money, and would improve an older CD or DVD player well enough, or would fit the bill for someone on a budget looking for a nice DAC with good features and a decent enough built-in amp (provided you're not trying to drive difficult cans like HD650's or AKG 701's). I have nothing bad to say about it at all, other than it didn't do much in MY system and in MY opinion...

Comparing the OMZ and the MD-10 in the same way, I found that there was a big difference, and the OMZ stomped all over my DVD player in this regard. I haven't heard a stock Zhaolu 2.5A, so I don't know how much of an improvement the OMZ is over that, but I think I know what Ori's aiming for with his mods, and I feel he's hit a good compromise between performance and value. $529 is by no means a small price to pay, but you definitely get what you pay for, and I wouldn't hesitate to put it up against other DACs like the Lavry DA10 or Benchmark, both of which cost significantly more. To me, I could care less what something costs as long as it meets my expectations and represents itself as intended. Keep in mind that all these DACs are in the sub-$1K range, and are solid performers...by your logic, a $3K DAC should give you instant orgasms and cause the heavens to open and pour God's own light down on you, or would it (at three times the price, or 9X the Beresford), only sound slightly better than the Benchmark? Hmmm...

 

[audioguru1]

I have a musiland, its output is very high, I do end up having to use the volume with my classe cp-50 preamp - without the volume on the musiland, I have next to no volume control on the classe. However the volume on the musiland degrades the sound, it sounds leaner with more grain. I love everything else about the musiland, so Im looking for alternatives. The new audiomagus dac looks interesting.

 

[rappsy]

Well, I've been reading about the DAC's for a few days now and with the help of all these posts, I have narrowed it down to approx 1000 different models.

All seriousness aside, I have it down to a few in the $300 price range and need more opinions on them.

They are:

KECES 131

Musiland MD-10

Diyeden DAC's (March 2, SCDAC04 or 5)

I originally was looking to upgrade the sound of CD player, but after reading a bunch of posts, I realized that most of my music has been going on the computer and that is the direction I am going, but probably will also want to use my CDP as well. I know that the 131 does not have USB output, but I will get a card for it that outputs correctly.

The Musiland has all sorts of inputs so from that standpoint it will work on my CDP and the computer.

The Diyeden have USB's so I'm okay there.

Seems like the 131 has a lot of positive reviews but I need to know more from people who know the others and some comparisons if possible. I am ready to pull the trigger when I find it. My wife wants me to make up my mind before Sunday so she can give it to me (or at least have ordered it for Father's Day.)

How do they sound? I listen to everything, with Rock, Blues, Swing and Broadway as my main tunes. I can easily go from from Brian Setzer to Buddy Guy to Guys and Dolls.

Also, I was starting to put everything on my computer in MP3 320k format, but it seems that FLAC is something that everyone is recommending. More later.

Thanks very much.

Lenny...

 

[falang]

The great march 2 does not have a usb input, only the 1st great march dac does.

The Keces 151 has and is limited to a usb input, the Yulong dac, the Great march 1 (which I have modded and very happy with), the MD-10 are some other usb dacs with othe rinputs that come to mind.

 

[Ryu1]

how do you get an x-fi to output digital to the musiland? I tried connecting a mono 1/8 trs to rca adapter to the flexijack then connecting a coaxial cable from the adapter to the rca input on the musiland, then i set the input to rca on the musiland but I don't get any sound.
Is it even worth using toslink or coaxial over usb? Is there a noticeable improvement in sound quality?

 

[s1rrah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryu1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif how do you get an x-fi to output digital to the musiland? I tried connecting a mono 1/8 trs to rca adapter to the flexijack then connecting a coaxial cable from the adapter to the rca input on the musiland, then i set the input to rca on the musiland but I don't get any sound. Is it even worth using toslink or coaxial over usb? Is there a noticeable improvement in sound quality?

The Musiland sounded the same to me no matter which digital input I used.

And your above described method should work fine, just make sure you have the flexijack set to digital out instead of line-in (check this setting in the X-fi mixer; there is an option for it).

Also, if you have no luck with your adapter/RCA config ... you can pick up my old custom made mini to RCA coax; it's in the for sale section.

I've since purchased a Auzentech Prelude which has actual RCA's on the back.

Regards.

.joel

 

[Ryu1]

i don't have an x-fi mixer, just the creative audio console. Is there some additional software i need to download?

 

[s1rrah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryu1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif i don't have an x-fi mixer, just the creative audio console. Is there some additional software i need to download?

You should still be able to change the Flexi-Jack mode from the audio console; just dig around and look for anything having to do with digital output.

Somewhere there is a setting to toggle the flexijack between it's line-in and digital out modes. It has to be set to either one or the other.

I don't have the X-fi software installed any more or I'd look and give you some direction ... just keep looking for that toggle.

 

[Ryu1]

i had to install the x-fi console launcher. Since i can use ASIO when the dac is connected with coaxial wouldn't coaxial provide a better signal to the dac than usb?

 

[s1rrah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryu1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif i had to install the x-fi console launcher. Since i can use ASIO when the dac is connected with coaxial wouldn't coaxial provide a better signal to the dac than usb?

I chose to use coax over usb as well. Mainly because I have some quality RCA coax cables.

 

[SemiAudiophile]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herandu /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have noticed that you make frequent (almost daily) references to the OMZ and how good it is. Have you by any chance been able to compare it to the far cheaper Beresford TC-7510? I have read a couple of times that the OMZ is slightly better (and at more than 3 times the price of the TC-7510 I would hope so!), but not enough of a difference like the MD-10 to describe it as clearly as night and day. It might however be very useful for someone like yourself with so much experience of the OMZ to do an unbiased comparison between the two since they are both highly regarded in terms of value for money when you search the web for high-end killers and value for money DAcs. I would have loved to do such a review myself, but I am considered far too much a fanboy of the TC-7510, so my end verdict might be considered to be of no value if the TC-7510 came out on top .

I also own both the MD10 and the OMZ now v4.2. To me, the Musiland is an overall decent DAC. It looks really nice and the main reason why I bought it was for the USB. Sound wise like I said is decent. It just doesn't compare to something like the OMZ though. Compared with the OMZ, it just lacks impact, depth, soundstage, and overall tonal texture. When I plug my grados through the Musiland they sound fine, however, if I plug or more demanding headphone (like HD650 or K701) into the Musiland it just sounds flat and boring.

 

[jzhang1013]

Can anyone tell me how this compares to the Yulong dac? And is having the hp jack in the back a hassle?

 

[drapoel]

BUMP!
 
How this DAC compares to Audiotrak Dr DAC2 DX? What about its build-in headphones amplifier? I think this one has similar price range with Dr DAC. Thanks.