[SirBenn21]

Quote:

Personally I am finding V.09 much to my liking. The soundstage is much more wide as I hear it from my HD800. Before I went back I was on A.10. It was not easy going back to V.09 as I am on a Mac and had to do the whole bootcamp windows thing but it was worth it for me.

Is that directly from your MDAC or ultimately though your SPL auditor? I don't think the MDAC has enough power to drive the HD800 efficiently and I'm sure the SPL auditor adds to the dynamic of what you hear at the end of the day. If you read on the"Pink Fish Media" forums, most of the people that like V.09 are speaker listeners.  I found easy to drive headphones like my COP's sound flat and thin on the V.09.
I'm sure it will differ from person to person depending on what they experience with all the different gear they use.

 

[zigy626]

Nope I dont have the SPL auditor just a humble Meier Jazz connected to the M-Dac. To my ears the soundstage has improved since I moved back to V.0.9. before it was more focused on centre-right now its more wide and balanced (i.e. left-centre-right). A much more enjoyable experience through the HD800. I think I will only update the firmware if the developer John Westlake would either add 24/192Khz through USB or let the unit play DSD files. Sabre32 1908 chip is capable of doing both those things. Now that is will be a real worthwhile firmware upgrade. I have read in Pink fish media forums that he personally likes V.0.9 SQ.

 

[Hubert481]

I was using a10 some weeks but returned to 0.90 - it is the best sq for me with 0.90

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

Quote:

Personally I am finding V.09 much to my liking. The soundstage is much more wide as I hear it from my HD800. Before I went back I was on A.10. It was not easy going back to V.09 as I am on a Mac and had to do the whole bootcamp windows thing but it was worth it for me.

 
The newest firmware is available for mac now ... link was few pages back. 

 

[zigy626]

Quote:

 
The newest firmware is available for mac now ... link was few pages back. 

Sorry I got wrote the wrong firmware in the earlier post the one I went back to was V0.90. It is the orginal shipping version that came with the M-Dac. This one is only available in Windows Download format via the wiki at http://wikkii.org/wiki/M-DAC
 
The designer of M-Dac has said that he prefers the SQ of the original firmware and I agree with him. Really enjoying the wider soundstage on the unit after going back.

 

[fengwei007]

Joined the club a few days ago    Had the 8200CD player before, sold it due to not playing CD much nowadays, but really missed its sound. Now I'm glad to have the same (or even improved) sound back.
 
The headphone output on M-DAC is really good. I A/Bed this w/ my V200 in the past a few nights, really hard to tell the difference. When I swap my T1 between the two headphone outs, it's almost like I just unplugged the headphones and replugged it in the same amp. Same sound signature, same sound level (10-11 o'clock on V200, -15-17db on M-DAC). The only difference I can tell is that the headphone output on M-DAC is a little bit more forward, but the difference is really small.
 
And I feel I like the M-DAC's headphone out better than the V200 when connected with my RS1 due to its slightly forwardness, which makes RS1 sound even engaging.
 
Now I don't mind selling the V200 and simply keep the M-DAC as all-in-one solution.

 

[zigy626]

Quote:

Joined the club a few days ago    Had the 8200CD player before, sold it due to not playing CD much nowadays, but really missed its sound. Now I'm glad to have the same (or even improved) sound back.
 
The headphone output on M-DAC is really good. I A/Bed this w/ my V200 in the past a few nights, really hard to tell the difference. When I swap my T1 between the two headphone outs, it's almost like I just unplugged the headphones and replugged it in the same amp. Same sound signature, same sound level (10-11 o'clock on V200, -15-17db on M-DAC). The only difference I can tell is that the headphone output on M-DAC is a little bit more forward, but the difference is really small.
 
And I feel I like the M-DAC's headphone out better than the V200 when connected with my RS1 due to its slightly forwardness, which makes RS1 sound even engaging.
 
Now I don't mind selling the V200 and simply keep the M-DAC as all-in-one solution.

Very interesting to hear that. I personally have had exactly the same experience with my Meier Corda Jazz and M-DAC. The different between the two is very subtle. But my amp cost half of what the V200 costs, and I did expect a bit more from the V200. Just recently I was thinking of upgrading my Jazz to a V200, but after reading your post I have had a complete change of mind. Please can you list all the parameters that you tested when doing the A/B test (bass response, soundstage, instrument separation etc)? Thanks

 

[seekadds]

Quote:

Very interesting to hear that. I personally have had exactly the same experience with my Meier Corda Jazz and M-DAC. The different between the two is very subtle. But my amp cost half of what the V200 costs, and I did expect a bit more from the V200. Just recently I was thinking of upgrading my Jazz to a V200, but after reading your post I have had a complete change of mind. Please can you list all the parameters that you tested when doing the A/B test (bass response, soundstage, instrument separation etc)? Thanks

 
 
I am also using the M-DAC as an all-in-one. However, my hardest to drive headphones are only Denon D5000's. I think the M-DAC amp is underrated. Many people look to the amp to color the sound slightly, and the M-DAC as a unit is designed to sound transparent, so those people prefer other amps. The M-DAC amp might be too weak for the most demanding headphones, but for most pairs I think it provides a nice, clean sound. It's more than adequate for me. 

 

[SirBenn21]

Quote:

Joined the club a few days ago    Had the 8200CD player before, sold it due to not playing CD much nowadays, but really missed its sound. Now I'm glad to have the same (or even improved) sound back.
 
The headphone output on M-DAC is really good. I A/Bed this w/ my V200 in the past a few nights, really hard to tell the difference. When I swap my T1 between the two headphone outs, it's almost like I just unplugged the headphones and replugged it in the same amp. Same sound signature, same sound level (10-11 o'clock on V200, -15-17db on M-DAC). The only difference I can tell is that the headphone output on M-DAC is a little bit more forward, but the difference is really small.
 
And I feel I like the M-DAC's headphone out better than the V200 when connected with my RS1 due to its slightly forwardness, which makes RS1 sound even engaging.
 
Now I don't mind selling the V200 and simply keep the M-DAC as all-in-one solution.

I was also thinking of getting the V200, but as zigy626 has said. I am thinking twice now. At the moment I have the WA6 which I have only had for a few months. Maybe I should rather think of upgrading the Tubes and the M-DAC itself. Funny thing is I prefer to listen just though the M-DAC with my COP's and T90's on most days. 

 

[zigy626]

Quote:

I was also thinking of getting the V200, but as zigy626 has said. I am thinking twice now. At the moment I have the WA6 which I have only had for a few months. Maybe I should rather think of upgrading the Tubes and the M-DAC itself. Funny thing is I prefer to listen just though the M-DAC with my COP's and T90's on most days. 
 

SirBenn21 are you saying the you prefer M-DAC headphone out to the WA6? In that case I should just forget about all my upgrade plans.

 

[fengwei007]

Very interesting to hear that. I personally have had exactly the same experience with my Meier Corda Jazz and M-DAC. The different between the two is very subtle. But my amp cost half of what the V200 costs, and I did expect a bit more from the V200. Just recently I was thinking of upgrading my Jazz to a V200, but after reading your post I have had a complete change of mind. Please can you list all the parameters that you tested when doing the A/B test (bass response, soundstage, instrument separation etc)? Thanks

Well, I tested with all kinds of musics I have on my disk, from classic (piano, guitar and etc) to soft vocals, it's really hard to tell the difference, if there is any, it's the tiny bit forward sounding w the M-DAC. The bass/soundstage/instrument separation are all quite similar between theses two, I really can't tell which amp I'm connecting to unless I look at them. So far I haven't felt that T1 needs more juice to drive w either one.

I don't like to listen to those orchestra with big dynamic ranges on headphones, most times use my Aktimate Mini+ speakers for those kinda musics. You might be able to hear difference when playing this kind of musics. But I played a few, still can't tell much difference.

The V200 is the best amp I've ever had, it'd be a hard decision to let it go. But I think I won't miss it much even if I sold it.

 

[zigy626]

Quote:

Well, I tested with all kinds of musics I have on my disk, from classic (piano, guitar and etc) to soft vocals, it's really hard to tell the difference, if there is any, it's the tiny bit forward sounding w the M-DAC. The bass/soundstage/instrument separation are all quite similar between theses two, I really can't tell which amp I'm connecting to unless I look at them. So far I haven't felt that T1 needs more juice to drive w either one.

I don't like to listen to those orchestra with big dynamic ranges on headphones, most times use my Aktimate Mini+ speakers for those kinda musics. You might be able to hear difference when playing this kind of musics. But I played a few, still can't tell much difference.

The V200 is the best amp I've ever had, it'd be a hard decision to let it go. But I think I won't miss it much even if I sold it.

Wow this is a real eye opener for me. Thanks for saving me around 850 Euros. I guess I made a real good choice to go with the M-DAC. 

 

[SirBenn21]

Quote:

SirBenn21 are you saying the you prefer M-DAC headphone out to the WA6? In that case I should just forget about all my upgrade plans.

Well you must remember that all my cans are low-mid impedance headphones which the M-DAC runs with no problems.
 
I was planning on getting myself the Grado 1000GS which the M-DAC would not drive well.
 
As for the WA6 vs the M-DAC sound signiture. I prefer the M-DAC, but only by a small margin. I find it depends on the music I am listening too. At the moment I only have the stock tubes in the WA6. So who knows what I will think if I upgraded? But then the question is value for money. Upgrading the WA6 vs upgrading the M-DAC, I am leaning towards spending my money on the M-DAC first.
 
I think the M-DAC is a very under rated headphone amplifier.

 

[TheGrumpyOldMan]

I have always liked the headphone out of the M-DAC quite a lot, and use it often with most of my headphones...
 
So if you're on a budget, the only real consideration to get a separate amp is if you try to use difficult-to-drive headphones (mostly on either extreme end of the impedance range). Examples in my case would be Audezes because they're so power-hungry (though they will sound OK at moderate level) or high-impedance ones (Fischer Audio FA-2 LE/HE) which really, noticeably do not sound good straight out of the M-DAC. Sensitive MA IEMs might have some issues, though a couple I tried were actually OK.
 
A more minor consideration one would be if you're looking for a specific sound signature (i.e. "tube sound" or similar)

 

[SirBenn21]

How do you find the Beyers T1's on the M-DAC? Does it need more amplification?