[Don Quichotte]

... 4 days ago, but I didn't have the time to share some initial impressions until now.

I'm still in the process of cables making, choosing the best way to connect it, geting an SLA battery and even burning in (although it already has about 50 hours). My other source is much cheaper and I didn't have the chance to compare the Apogee directly to a better source. Therefore, take this with a grain of salt.

The sound seems well balanced with a bit too much treble (a bit bright for my Stax). Good transients, clarity, soundstage (good depth; sometimes I felt it was very large, other times rather narrow, so not sure about width). I wouldn't call it warm, but it's definitely not on the cold side. Sweet treble. On the negative side, the not burned in Mini-Dac had a rather congested midrange, too proeminent upper mids. The Cambridge D300 is much more relaxed, and this does not mean only "darker". The burning in helped, but I can't say how much at this moment.

Moving from a no name digital cable to a DIY Belden 1505A made for an obvious difference: better clarity, more relaxed sound, stronger bass, etc. A short digital cable (about 0.25 m) sounded fuller in the bass and a bit laid back in the treble (only by comparison) than a long cable (about 2.7 m) that was lighter and perhaps a bit more relaxed sounding. I prefered the short one because it's a better match for my Stax combo.

The XLR output (used with unbalanced cables) seems better defined, more relaxed, with tighter bass, while the mini-jack has fuller bass, more treble and upper mids energy and seems more confuze. The headphone amp pairs very nicely with my AKG K501 and is a bit on the warm side (using the back panel minijack for the AKG resulted in a better defined, but more congested sound).

The USB connection seems on a par or just a bit better (fuller and more relaxed) than the Cambridge CD player as transport + the old no name digital interconnect. Haven't compared with the new Belden cables yet.

Has any of you tried to use the Mini-Dac connected via USB at more than 5 meters distance ? (I need 7 meters)

Thanks again to all of you who took the time to advice me on my source purchase! I will post a detalied review in a few weeks.

 

[Don Quichotte]

A little update.

I opened the unit to switch the minijack output to "fixed" and I found the pot is from ALPS. A nice surprise. Also, the sound difference between "fixed" and "variable" is too small for this non-instant A/B switching (at least on the minijack output). Maybe, just maybe, the sound is a bit warmer with the pot engaged.

The same comment for the battery powering. I used a SLA 12 DCV 7A and the difference from the Apogee adaptor was minimal. Maybe the electricity was very clean at that moment, but I doubt it as it was Sunday evening around 8:00 PM. I'll experiment with this a bit more, though.

I connected it to the computer with two attached cables (1 meter + 4.5 meters) and it worked flawless.

I know nothing about electronics, but for what it's worth: the PCB looks very nice, with lots of surface mount components, with an AD 1955 and a big Xilinx Spartan ICs.

I forgot to mention: I even ripped a CD using the CD player as a CD ROM (CD player --> Mini-Dac with USB --> computer - foobar). It's 1x, but I think it's cool, I don't know why.

 

[flying dyn]

Do enjoy!!!

 

[tejas gordo]

Apogee told me the only difference between fixed and variable output is just that, fixed v. variable, as both outputs run through the same components. Setting the output to fixed simply sets the volume to maximum out of the mini jack on the back; it does not create a true line out. However, you can still use the volume pot to adjust the volume of the 1/4" headphone jack on the front of the Mini-DAC. That way, two people can use the Mini-Dac at once using independently adjustable listening levels. One person can use the 1/4 headphone out, adjustable through the normal volume knob of the Mini-Dac. The other can run the output from the rear of the Mini-Dac into a headphone amp, adjustable through the amp's volume knob. That also makes it easier to try to A/B a dedicated amp versus the Mini-Dac's internal amp alone. Again, enjoy.

 

[DukeTogo]

Don Quichotte, been following your posts closely since I've been lurking on the edge of getting a MiniDAC myself now for some time. So please keep posting away. I'm glad you are enjoying it.

I wonder how the MiniDAC would work if you attempted to use the USB output to feed a device OTHER than a computer. Not sure WHY you'd want to do that exactly, since the only benefit would be the digital format conversion.

eg.

Source --toslink--> MiniDAC --USB--> USB-enabled device (*)

* ie.
USB-enabled headphone amp (eg. PS Audio / Meier Audio /..)
USB-enabled pre-amp/receiver (eg. Outlaw Audio 990)

It's just such an audio Swiss-Army knife, that's its fun to imagine the possibilities.

eg.
PC--ethernet --> Airport Express --toslink--> MiniDAC --USB--> Stereo/Amp

 

[Don Quichotte]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tejas gordo Apogee told me the only difference between fixed and variable output is just that, fixed v. variable, as both outputs run through the same components. Setting the output to fixed simply sets the volume to maximum out of the mini jack on the back; it does not create a true line out.

Doesn't the "fixed" setting bypass the pot? This is what I thought. And what does "a true line out" mean? Anyway, Apogee told me there is no sound difference between the mini-jack and the XLR outputs, and yet I find a quite noticeable one. Could it be strictly because of the different connectors? Cause I doubt it... Also, I doubt the amplifiers (the Stax' and the monitors' amps) would show such a clear difference just because they are being fed with a hotter signal via XLR (with unbalanced cable).

Quote:

Originally Posted by DukeTogo I wonder how the MiniDAC would work if you attempted to use the USB output to feed a device OTHER than a computer.

Honestly, I have no idea, but I kind of doubt it would work without a computer processor in between. Maybe others can help more here...