[raysclim1568]

Hello all 
 
Does any M-Dac user finding it get warm on the chassis after a short time ? what is the reason of this ? anyone got a photo of how it looks like internally ?
 
I am comparing this with other DAC that I owned e.g. Rein Audio X-DAC .
 
Thanks 
Raymond Lim 

 

[adamlau]

Yes, the M-DAC gets warm fast. That's why the top of the case is vented in two locations. I took a look at the internals of my M-DAC last week, a series of heatsinks are located directly below the vents. There is an image at PFM of the internals of a demo model (its close enough to the current model, a few caps and diodes are different as far as I could tell). Mainboard, separate power board and separate display board. A lot of caps, but the spacing of the solder points at the bottom of the boards should make it fairly straightforward to recap, if need be. Mainboard is slot-fit into the solid chassis and sits atop two rubber spacers/vibration dampeners. 

 

[raysclim1568]

Yes, the M-DAC gets warm fast. That's why the top of the case is vented in two locations. I took a look at the internals of my M-DAC last week, a series of heatsinks are located directly below the vents. There is an image at PFM of the internals of a demo model (its close enough to the current model, a few caps and diodes are different as far as I could tell). Mainboard, separate power board and separate display board. A lot of caps, but the spacing of the solder points at the bottom of the boards should make it fairly straightforward to recap, if need be. Mainboard is slot-fit into the solid chassis and sits atop two rubber spacers/vibration dampeners. 

any photo to share ？ another questions , M-DAC remote have control iTunes track forward . Pause ...etc only when preamp is turn off ？am i right ？and displaying track information is only available when connected to Cd player or transport ？
I have tried connected with MacBook iTunes with usb , nothing shown ,
I have also tried connect with cambridge audio Id 100 to iPod , nothing shown too ,
Can someone also explained to me on D3E ？
It seems it always shown on oled diaplay but i dont know what it does . Can it be switch off ？
Thanks
Raymond

 

[elnero]

Quote:

any photo to share ？ another questions , M-DAC remote have control iTunes track forward . Pause ...etc only when preamp is turn off ？am i right ？and displaying track information is only available when connected to Cd player or transport ？
I have tried connected with MacBook iTunes with usb , nothing shown ,
I have also tried connect with cambridge audio Id 100 to iPod , nothing shown too ,
Can someone also explained to me on D3E ？
It seems it always shown on oled diaplay but i dont know what it does . Can it be switch off ？
Thanks
Raymond

I would again suggest checking out the M-DAC threads on the Pink Fish Media forums, John Westlake, the designer, participates on a regular basis so there is fairly detailed information on most of the M-DAC's functions straight from the designers mouth.
 
 

 

[raysclim1568]

Hello all,I recently purchase a cambridge audio ID100 as a source transport for my ipod classic ,The ID100 have several output option to DAC.Which are AES/EBU digital XLR out , optical toslink , spdif coax .Which will be a better choice to connect to M DAC ？ i am currently using a digital coax cable and just wondering if AES/EBU digital audio output will give best signal to M-DAC .M-DAC does not have a AES/EBU digital audio out. , does it make sense for me to custom make a cable to link AES/EBU digital audio output from ID100 to digital coax input of M-DAC ？Please help to adviseRaymond Lim

 

[Cambridge Audio]

 

Hi there,
 
Using the AES/EBU connection would give you the best audio quality given that your device has a AES/EBU digital audio out. 
XLR cables use a flying earth cable to balance the signal and therefore greatly reduce distortion over the length of the cable. It's this robustness that makes them popular in the professional field. However, if you use a custom made cable we cannot guarantee this would get the best possible performance, in fact it may not make a difference to using your digital coaxial connection and as such would recommend you use the coaxial connection on your iD100 and DAC.
 
Kind Regards,
Cambridge Audio

 

[raysclim1568]

Quote:

 

Hi there,
 
Using the AES/EBU connection would give you the best audio quality given that your device has a AES/EBU digital audio out. 
XLR cables use a flying earth cable to balance the signal and therefore greatly reduce distortion over the length of the cable. It's this robustness that makes them popular in the professional field. However, if you use a custom made cable we cannot guarantee this would get the best possible performance, in fact it may not make a difference to using your digital coaxial connection and as such would recommend you use the coaxial connection on your iD100 and DAC.
 
Kind Regards,
Cambridge Audio

thanks cambridge audio for the response.
I guess I will stick with coax to connect ID100 with Audiolab M DAC.
another major issue that I am facing is that clocking with M DAC kept dropping off and it seems like MDAC is constantly scanning for ID100 , engaged for few seconds and drop off and connect again .
 
anyone is using ID100 with MDAC and have the similar issue. I am not able to use them together now . I confirm that it is MDAC issue as ID100 works perfectly with my other DAC .
 
bumper....
 

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

Is there any conclusion yet on the sound signature of the mdac? I would pair it with an SPL auditor, and Senn HD650s. I am looking for a DAC which will
give the SPL a more analogue sound, as the auditor doesn't colour the sound at all. I currently have the Dacmagic. Senns help though a bit with colouring. 
 
Dan

 

[vrln]

I don't have an MDAC, but I once had the 8200CDQ which is quite similar (mostly the same design, different output stage, sounds worse according to the designer). The 8200CDQ sounded very different depending on which filter you were using. The optimal spectrum one sounds quite similar to a Benchmark DAC, neutral and detailed. The optimal transient filters have a more analog sound. The 8200CDQ, using any filter, is considerably better sounding in every way than the Dacmagic if you ask me. Different price league too though, so it should be.
 
Try to see if you can find a way to audition the MDAC? Audio is subjective, I'd never buy anything blind anymore.

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

Yeah I heard M-DACs have good filters. the ones on the dacmagic are subtle at best. I know it is subjective, but do most people on head-fi prefer transparency
and accuracy in their amp, and phones, leaving filtering and colouring to their DACs and sources? 

 

[adiZero]

Anyone compared the MDAC to the Rega DAC. I am currently using the Rega DAC and I love it! But, I need a new Headphone amp to drive a set of K701/HD 650.
 
The main reason for being interested in the Audiolab is the Headphone amp. If the DAC is at the level as the Rega and the headphone amp is able to drive a set of AKG 701 or HD 650, then I might be willing to try it.
 
Comments anyone?

 

[raysclim1568]

Anyone compared the MDAC to the Rega DAC. I am currently using the Rega DAC and I love it! But, I need a new Headphone amp to drive a set of K701/HD 650.
 
The main reason for being interested in the Audiolab is the Headphone amp. If the DAC is at the level as the Rega and the headphone amp is able to drive a set of AKG 701 or HD 650, then I might be willing to try it.
 
Comments anyone?

i am using m dac with violectric and sometime uses the hp output from mdac as well.
The sound is more forward and brigther , but it drive my q701 very well . Actually enjoying Q701 With M DAC ALONE .
Enjoy it..

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

Well i have the 650s and have tried both the lehmann linear (but it broke!) and replaced it with an SPL auditor which is a lovely amp. But as i asked recently
on the thread, I think the SPL is so transparent and clear that it should have a better DAC than I currently have (Dacmagic) .. so maybe the M-DAC would be a good bet. I 
know im eyeing it up, I just want to hear more about its sound signatures...as apparently audiolab has really good filters which make it a super versatile little
DAC! What amp are you using with the rega DAC now? what were your old cans? The 650s are really nice. lovely low tone ... but totally precise. really musical! plus i read
of all the cans out there in their price range, they seem to get remarkably better depending on upgrades to other parts of a setup. 
 
Dan. 

 

[FortisFlyer75]

Has any one tried the Mdac with either the JH16Pro's or Sony Z1000 headphones? 
Interested to know how good the amp side of the Mdac is and how it scales to my Naim Headline2 amp I had (if anyone by a long shot has heard that also)
 
Getting the impression that there is still a back log order for theMdac as there does not seem to be to many impressions on here of late.
 
Want to try and audition them at a hi-fi shop here in the UK if possible but is there an alternative head amp/dac that is comparable in this price range that anyone reckons is on the same level of SQ? 
 

 

[raysclim1568]

Does anyone have the amp portion specification of mdac ？i am prefering to output voltage at 32 ohm , 50 ohm ...etc
Also the THD %？

Just want some indication of amp portion performance of MDAC .
Thanks
Raymond