[Chris J]

Ah I see. What an awesome amp the BHA-1 is!
There is definitely a difference in noise between the balanced / SE.
When I was using SE input, at max volume, I was hearing some static noise (little, but still some). Using XLRs, it was dead silent at max volume!

Enough of the BHA-1 in the M-DAC thread though..
Coming from HRT MusicStreamer II+, the M-DAC seems to be an amazing improvement though it is difficult to tell just how much because I got both the BHA-1 / M-DAC nearly at the same time.

Actually I'm really enjoying your BHA-1 and M-DAC comments as I am thinking about getting that combination myself!

Tell us more, please!

 

[Namkung]

Quote:

Actually I'm really enjoying your BHA-1 and M-DAC comments as I am thinking about getting that combination myself!

Tell us more, please!

 
!!
I'm loving the setup. Can't wait for my balanced cables to arrive.
I thought I knew how big the soundstage was on the HD800s but when I heard it with this new setup.. it was as though I was listening to my HD800s for the first time.
For the first time, I also felt music "being in my head". It's hard to describe in words but listening to this, I was giggling like a little kid in a candy store.
And the detail is awesome too. I think it's maybe more technical than musical but that's the sound I was looking for.
I listen mostly to classical or soprano / vocal works and listening to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2 / Hayley Westenra just left me speechless!
 
Also really loving how things look with the M-DAC on top of the BHA-1.
They look nicely together

 

[Chris J]

!!
I'm loving the setup. Can't wait for my balanced cables to arrive.
I thought I knew how big the soundstage was on the HD800s but when I heard it with this new setup.. it was as though I was listening to my HD800s for the first time.
For the first time, I also felt music "being in my head". It's hard to describe in words but listening to this, I was giggling like a little kid in a candy store.
And the detail is awesome too. I think it's maybe more technical than musical but that's the sound I was looking for.
I listen mostly to classical or soprano / vocal works and listening to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2 / Hayley Westenra just left me speechless!

Also really loving how things look with the M-DAC on top of the BHA-1.
They look nicely together

Hey, thanks man!
Sounds like that's the sound I'm looking for!

 

[Taliesin]

Has anyone tried a Beyerdynamic T1 straight out of the Mdac's headphone socket? this would be temporary before i get a proper tube amp.

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

eww I heard the icon audio hp8 sounds awesome with the T1. 

 

[Chris J]

Has anyone tried a Beyerdynamic T1 straight out of the Mdac's headphone socket? this would be temporary before i get a proper tube amp.

I have heard the Beyer DT880 600 Ohm thru the M-DAC headphone jack in a 20 minute audition, I've never heard the DT880 sound better, it brought some added neutrality, clarity and smoothness to the DT880.

 

[Baxide]

It sounded to me like a lack for current to drive the bass, which was even more pronounced at 600 Ohms.

 

[Chris J]

600 Ohm DT880 headphones do not pull much current.
Current draw would be 12 mA RMS at 100 mW continuous power.
Voltage required to drive 600 Ohm headphones at 100 mW = 7.74 Vrms.

Ref: http://www.head-fi.org/a/headphone-impedance

 

[TheGrumpyOldMan]

I haven't tried this particular headphone on the M-DAC but another one with high impedance, and it didn't sound that great, both in general compared to  my other mostly low(er) impedance headphones, as well the same headphone on a tube amp with switched to Hi-Z.
 
That being said, since you mentioned it being temporary, the M-DAC headphone out will be perfectly serviceable. And if you're going to spend extra $$$ on a separate tube amplifier, an improvement should be clearly audible

 

[Namkung]

Does anyone know if using both the single ended and the balanced out on the M-DAC would somehow degrade performance on either of the outputs?
I'm using the balanced out to my headphone amplifier and single ended out to an integrated amplifier for my speakers.
I can't seem to hear any audible difference from when I was only using the balanced out but just wondering if there's any downsides to doing this. Can't seem to find anything about it on the manual.

 

[Chris J]

  Does anyone know if using both the single ended and the balanced out on the M-DAC would somehow degrade performance on either of the outputs?
I'm using the balanced out to my headphone amplifier and single ended out to an integrated amplifier for my speakers.
I can't seem to hear any audible difference from when I was only using the balanced out but just wondering if there's any downsides to doing this. Can't seem to find anything about it on the manual.

 
 
It shouldn't make any difference, the load the integrated amp presents to the single ended output is negligible.

 

[Namkung]

   
 
It shouldn't make any difference, the load the integrated amp presents to the single ended output is negligible.

I see.
Thanks for the info!
You've been very helpful

 

[drewTT]

I would like to ask someone who really knows DACs to help me understand why the M-DAC sounds better directly hooked up through USB to the computer rather then to my ASUS Essence STX sound card through coaxial.
 
I was under the impression that the STX was acting only as a bridge and just passing a signal.  I was using the STX as a bridge because it could pass 192khz through coax.  However,  I recently removed the STX and just plugged the M-DAC to USB and to my ears it sounds better.
 
What is going on?  Was the ASUS STX actually doing any conversion prior to sending it to the DAC?

 

[shane55]

  I would like to ask someone who really knows DACs to help me understand why the M-DAC sounds better directly hooked up through USB to the computer rather then to my ASUS Essence STX sound card through coaxial.
 
I was under the impression that the STX was acting only as a bridge and just passing a signal.  I was using the STX as a bridge because it could pass 192khz through coax.  However,  I recently removed the STX and just plugged the M-DAC to USB and to my ears it sounds better.
 
What is going on?  Was the ASUS STX actually doing any conversion prior to sending it to the DAC?

 
 
Interesting...
I also have the STX. I'm using optical out to the M-DAC.
I'll have to try USB and see if I can tell a difference. Off the top of my head (a poor place to start, I know), I can't think of why it should sound worse. I would honestly think the COAX or Toslink identical to the USB... (or maybe minutely better?)

 

[Flognuts]

Even the guy who made it said USB sounds better.