Blurpapa
Formerly known as swishbrade.
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New Audiolab DAC
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Yeah but even so..... I loved my DacMagic for a couple of years, it served me very well but as soon as I plugged every thing in it was clear that the M-Dac was a different class. Plus the features such as variable output level (via pot) and a sweet dedicated high current Headphone Amp and the filters are amazing. No one in their right mind could compare the two, there must have been other reasons for keeping the DacMagic over the M-Dac....
Blurpapa
Formerly known as swishbrade.
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Spud. With comments like that, the countdown to receiving my own unit becomes even more painful to bear.
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Haha, yes sorry. Got on my soapbox a little didn't I. Hope you get it soon 
BoogieWoogie
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No other reason that was it. It just sounded better in his system he says. The others didn't like the clinical dried sound it seems.
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Strange, oh well each to their own.
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Just went to audition it today and bought it on the spot. It absolutely makes fun of my DACmagic and call me crazy but the built in headphone amp is crazy good. I don't think it's as good as my GS Solo SRG II but tbh I wouldn't mind if I just used the M-Dac by itself.
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Btw does anybody know if I should keep it on all the time?
Amarphael
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Why would you want to do that? It's no Class A device dependant on extended warm-up in order to bias it for optimal work..
It'd be nice for some in-depth comparo with the DACmagic if you have the time.
It'd be nice for some in-depth comparo with the DACmagic if you have the time.
Blurpapa
Formerly known as swishbrade.
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Hi Spud. I read that you made your own 3P female XLR connection from the MDAC to your headphones. May I know if the pin configuration from the MDAC is as per the standard layout? Do we leave one pin unused? Thanks!!
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Yeah, for headphone just use pin 2 (Pos) and pin 3 (neg) only use pin 1 (ground) for interconnects. I terminated mine with a Hirose female because I've had balanced cables for a few of my phones to suit my PB-2 BD-2 Rig....
Balanced is a subtle improvement, the differences are there for sure but it's not a HUGE step. Worth it though.
Balanced is a subtle improvement, the differences are there for sure but it's not a HUGE step. Worth it though.
Blurpapa
Formerly known as swishbrade.
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Thanks Spud. Appreciate it. So for me to hook the MDAC up to a Protector male pin to feed a balanced signal to my SR71-B, I can leave out the ground? I'm so excited that i went out to buy some Furutech XLR females even before my unit has arrived.
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OK cool I'll turn it off at night then, I was just wondering about burn in and that stuff (Ya I know burn-in is probably bs). I'm basically a baby when it comes to higher quality audio equipment and my audio terminology is pretty abysmal. I might not make any sense so I can't really go into that much detail but I'll try and probably embarrass myself in the process. Btw if there's specific words for anything I'm describing then please do tell as they'd be cool to learn.
I don't have the DACmagic on me for an A/B comparison but from memory and in 1 word I would say the DM sounded congested. It just sounds like the guitarists and drummers are like conjoined triplets playing their respective instrument as close as they possibly can or as if they are playing inside a closet. With the M-Dac there is a right and a left and there is depth so the soundstage is just immense in comparison.
Instrument separation with the M-Dac is also in a different league. At any one time you can focus on any part of the music and follow it with ease. If anybody knows Golfer vs Boxer by Amon Tobin then you'll know how crazy that track is but somehow the M-Dac makes it sound ordered and not a jumbled mess that it sounded like on my first listen.
After listening to the M-Dac you also realise just how much additional bass it produces (Pretty sure everybody knows this). With the M-dac bass is there when it needs to be and when it's there it's controlled. You know it's better in so many other ways so just take your pick and raise the bar a bit. The first thing I thought when I first heard the M-Dac is that everything sounded effortless. That itself impressed me a lot and a few minutes later I knew I was probably going to buy one. If anybody is interested go demo it if you can and see what's up. There's no doubt that there are better machines out there but IMO £600 is a steal especially as the headphone amp is pretty decent.
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I'm feeding my phones directly from the M-Dac xlr's because you can control the output, for headphones you leave out the ground (pin 1). How many pins does the connector of the 71B have? The Hirose is 6 pin so for an interconnect from the M-Dac to my PB-2 I would use all 6 pins 2 x Pos / 2 x Neg / 2 x Grd
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