[renesis_au]

This DAC seems interesting, what is the cheapest way to get this?

Renesis

 

[Alucard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by renesis_au /img/forum/go_quote.gif This DAC seems interesting, what is the cheapest way to get this? Renesis

In australia, I think the cheapest would be COEM Audio maybe, or Ebay

 

[santacore]

I picked up one of these from iFi recently. They were great to deal with and shipped quicky. Once unboxed the unit looks good and feels nice and solid. There were however some minor defects in the silk screening on the brushed aluminum front plate. The menu's were a little frustrating at first but once I figured it out everything worked fine.

The first thing I did was burn it in for 2 days before any listening. I did sneek a peek a few times using a old pair of Sony 7506's directly from the unit. Even those worn out phones sounded great coming off the unit. I was optimistic for more. So after the second full day of burn I hooked it up to my main 2 channel system. Immediately upon plugging in all the cables, and before powering on the unit, there was a loud buzz in my entire system. I unplugged the power cord to the unit and the buzz was gone. I went through different plug in options but the unit produced loud buzz whenever connected. I tried passing signal and it worked fine if you get over the buzz. This was not good. I later found out that the RCA outputs are the culprit, not the power. I'm still not sure what's up but it's not going back into my 2 channel rig.

On to the headphone rig. I hooked it up to my Meier Corda Prehead II and all seemed well. No buzz. Weird. If I cranked up the Prehead I could hear a bit of buzz but not enough to bother me as I would never listen that loud. So it seems it likes headphone amps and not 2 channel amps at my house. Bummer.

I played through a number of different albums and the sound through my HD650's was nice, but I could couldn't help feeling like the high end was very rolled off and lacked air. The bass also seemed rolled off and not as extended as with my MSB Link III. I kept listening and although the sound was very pleasant I really missed the top and bottom. Soooooo, I switched back to my MSB and BOOM big bottom end, tons of air and detail on top. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as the MSB was probably just over 1K when new. I was just hoping the underdog small brand DAC would compete. I never expected it to blow away the MSB but i hoped it would hold it's ground and put up a fight. Not sure what to do, I hooked it back up to a spare CD player and put it back to burn. Maybe the high end will open up as some have hinted to. I have doubts that it will change enough.

I'm not saying this is a bad DAC, because it's not. It's very flexible and has a very pleasant sound. It just didn't hold up enough to the MSB Link to win me over. As advertised it is a warm sounding unit but at the expense of high frequency extension and definition. With some phones this might not be an issue but with my HD650's it's a big negative. I'd love to hear from more people about how the sound changed after a few weeks. At this point I'm not sure what to do. I guess I'll give it a bit more time and see what happens.

 

[SamNOISE]

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Wow, dudes - that was a lot of posts to read through before I dared ask these questions

1) Has anyone used this as a preamp-DAC for a main audio system for any extended length of time? That is: CD or PC > Power Amplifier > MD10 > Loudspeakers. I am keen to employ this unit in such a position, as such, am interested in hearing pros and cons of said setup.

2) Has anyone ever seen these units in black instead of silver?

3) Driverless huh...? So should work under Windows Vista then...? Anyone tried this yet? I have Vista Business Edition on one of my laptops and would like to try it in this way.

Tnx for your time lads!

Andrew D.
www.cdnav.com

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[laxx]

Hey SamNOISE, the link in your sig doesnt' work because of the placement for your BOLD tag. =T

I have a question. How do you connect the Power Amplifier to the MD10 when the MD10 only has optical input?

 

[santacore]

laxx, I think that SamNOISE meant MD-10 going to the power amp. Basically you would be using the MD-10 as a preamp using it's volume control to send the level to the amp and then the speakers.

Source>>>MD-10>>>Power amp>>>Speakers

I haven't tried this method as I prefer to use a tube preamp in the chain. It should work just fine although I don't know if it will sound the best.

 

[laxx]

That's what I thought the correct chain was supposed to be. I was just curious to see if he didn't mistype, then how would he connect it. =T

 

[SamNOISE]

Santacore

Quote:

It should work just fine although I don't know if it will sound the best.

You feel that the pre-amplification stage in this device is far from transparent?

Andrew D.

(PS: Tnx for the heads-up on the sig')

 

[santacore]

I actually have never tried using the MD-10 that way. Whenever I hook it up in my 2 channel rig I get a terrible buzzing sound throughout my system. This is without it ever getting turned on. I've tried switching out cables and it's the same result. I have all components going through a Equi-Tech balanced power supply so I don't think it's a power issue. Not sure what's up. In my headphone rig it works just fine, no buzz.

In general my experience has always been that a good preamp in the chain sounds much better then having a source go directly to an amp. From what I understand it's an issue of impedence matching. The preamp outputs a better matched signal. YMMV. I would love to hear how it sounds in your rig if you can compare it.

 

[SamNOISE]

Ya... thing is - I don't have one yet...

I figured that someone here would have one in place as a pre-amp / DAC, but I guess I'm in more of a headphone (duh), crown, as opposed to a full-system listening group.

With regards to your unit - I would suggest that its defective if it hums in your main system. What about sending it back for warranty / replacement?

Andrew D.
www.cdnav.com

 

[maximax]

I just joined the Musiland owner club. Mine is still breaking in so no comments on the sound quality yet. My setup is:

PC USB -> Musiland MD-10 -> Harman Kardon HK620 ->Nubert 390 speakers

The HK is an integrated and the 3V output from the Musiland is a bit hefty for it. No overdrive, but the volume control is oversensitive at -0db, so prefer to run it at -10 to -16 db. I couldn't really make out any sonic degradation from that digital volume control in the Musiland either (just as someone had stated earlier), are there any new insights on this?

I have some other questions to those in the know:

-What does this bit-depth thing really mean? Most Dac's adjust themselves automatically according to the bitdepth of the source, this one requires manual control. But can a 16bit signal be decoded with 24bit? Can a 24bit signal be decoded at 16bit? Maybe someone has a link to some useful info?!

-Does anyone run the Musiland via Asio4All and USB? I tried via Foobar but it showed an error, saying that it expected eight channels but the device only had two. I only tried to play a standard audio file.

-I run the Musiland via the normal Microsoft plug and play USB driver, and the sampling rate displayed in the Musiland display sometimes goes from 44.1k to 48k. All my music is 44.1k and I guess this happens when Windows plays some system sound. Unfortunately the Musiland never switches back to 44.1k until I switch it on and off, so some resampling must be happening then. Does anyone have a clue what is happening here and how to prevent a switch to 48k?

 

[SamNOISE]

From what I have read on Microsoft forums, I do believe that you are correct about the 44.1 > 44.8 K switching thing being caused by Windows System Sounds. The answer was: turn off Windows System Sounds. It’s an issue with KMixer, not the Musiland device per se. I wish to purchase one of these very affordable DACs as well - but I want one in black, guess I'll have to wait for the next revision...

Andrew D.
cdnav.com
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[SamNOISE]

... Admin - Can you enable us to delete accidental posts...?

 

[spacemanspliff]

I recently had to sell my MD10 to get the $$ for my Darths. I replced it with a Zhalou 2C. The MD10 has MUCH louder output (8 o'clock on the MD10 = 11 o'clock on the Z 2C) and overall detail is better than the Zhalou. I only paid $130 for the Zhalou so it is still a great deal used but the MD10 is a stellar DAC in it's price range.

 

[maximax]

The 44.1k vs 48k issue seems to be triggered by Skype on my PC. Gotta resample those ring tones...

There is no such thing as a black Musiland MD 10. Well, if you have a contact in China you could ask that person to call the factory and ask for a custom version, and deliver it to that person, who then would forward it to you. They sell ex-factory but only send to mainland China. But not sure if they would do a custom version. Any news on the supposedly upcoming MD-30?

Sound-wise, the break-in is not yet complete but it is definitely required. First it sounded hard and a little metalic in the highs (but not harsh or grainy), then it went to muddy, then the mids and highs cleared up and the bass was overblown, now the hardness is gone and definition is satisactory but still needs more break in. But I have to share the feeling that a great resolution is not a main characteristic of this Dac, mp3's sound too good, so to speak. But the desired amount of resolution is a matter of personal preference.