[elnero]

I've found the M-DAC's amp decently capable but it does seem to work better with some phones. I quite liked it with the LCD-2's but prefer the W3000's out of my vintage Harman Kardon receiver. It's funny, I would have expected the opposite. That said, in general terms I think the internal headamp does a decent job, there's definitely going to be better standalone amps, I think that's a given, but it works well as a stepping stone or in a secondary situation.

 

[rizakasela]

how is it compared to dacmini?
 

 

[hduong]

The headphone amp is not the selling point.  It's a great value as a stand alone DAC.  I find the headphone out decent and never lacking any power even when pushed to higher then normal listening levels.  This is on a HD800.

 

[elnero]

Quote:

how is it compared to dacmini?
 

 
I didn't have the two side by side so take this with a grain of salt. My personal feeling is the M-DAC offers a lot more versatility with more input, output options, filter selection to fine tune the sound, remote, etc. In regards to sound I also prefer the M-DAC, to me it feels smoother, fuller and more spacious. I'd say detail levels are similar but the M-DAC comes across as being more natural. The only headphone I used with both extensively was the LCD-2, both seemed to power them without issue but again I tended to prefer the LCD-2 via the M-DAC's headphone amp, whereas I eventually went searching for another amp when I had the DACmini. Again though, that's not a side by side comparison so take it with a grain of salt.
 
I think both a very good, in some ways it will be personal preference, the DACmini is likely to come off as a bit brighter and more forward with the M-DAC being fuller and smoother. The difference is in functionality shouldn't be counted out either, the M-DAC is pretty much unrivaled at it's price point.

 

[danofdanger]

Read through the whole thread and have some questions about the m-dac, as i have read the DAC's digital preamp affects the sound quality and when you bypass it, it improves the quality.
Can someone shed some light on why as i would have though being attenuated on a digital level that it would or shouldn't have a effect on sound output.
 
Thanks.

 

[zenpunk]

Yon can't bypassed the preamp, only disable the volume. 

 

[danofdanger]

Yon can't bypassed the preamp, only disable the volume. 

As far as i know this dac only has a passive preamp as there is no actual amplification stage at the outputs, so what i am asking since its not a active preamp and is just a digital potentiometer what kind of differences are there when you bypass the PASSIVE preamp audio quality wise.

 

[zenpunk]

Not sure what you mean. 

 The signal out from DAC HAS to be amplified to line level. Anyway, John Westlake made clear their was no difference between "disabling" it and using the knob to leave it at 0dB. The signal in both cases goes through the same circuitry.

 

[elnero]

I'm not sure if this is what you're referring to, there has been mention that using the M-DAC as a digital preamp where it's volume needs to be quite low, in the -40db region I believe, is not optimal. The designer, John Westlake has given an explanation for this on the Pink Fish Media forums. From my understanding this doesn't affect the headphone output.

 

[danofdanger]

Quote:

Not sure what you mean. 

 The signal out from DAC HAS to be amplified to line level. Anyway, John Westlake made clear their was no difference between "disabling" it and using the knob to leave it at 0dB. The signal in both cases goes through the same circuitry.

Yea but this is not classed as pre amplification, its just the source signal.

 

[danofdanger]

Quote:

I'm not sure if this is what you're referring to, there has been mention that using the M-DAC as a digital preamp where it's volume needs to be quite low, in the -40db region I believe, is not optimal. The designer, John Westlake has given an explanation for this on the Pink Fish Media forums. From my understanding this doesn't affect the headphone output.

Il have a look into that thanks.

 

[drewTT]

Are there any import fees to the US if purchased from Planet of Sound Distribution?  How long does it take to receive? 

 

[TheGrumpyOldMan]

Don't recall paying import fees specifically unless they were rolled into shipping cost. It's shipped with the postal service, so you can get an estimate on their site. Anyway it'll have a tracking # so you'll know where it's at during shipping. Mine took a little over a week.

 

[Chris J]

Has anyone tried comparing the single ended to the balanced analog outputs?

 

[danofdanger]

Currently just been discussing that over on pinkfish media forums, it has been said the balanced outputs do give better sound quality and they have been discussing relative theory's why this is. Good read.