unclemack Posted November 1, 2013 Posted November 1, 2013 i'm soon going to explore a couple of DACs. These two because I can get them for a very attractive price and I hear that they are both good things... I'd like to hear some opinions on these two... Cheers M
Gordon Macfarlane Posted November 1, 2013 Posted November 1, 2013 (edited) Hi UM , have heard neither though I did like the Pink Triangle dacs John Westlake designed. John now has his own website for a series of upgrades to the Standard MDAC. Will see if I can find the linkage. Here you go : http://mdac.referata.com/wiki/Main_Page Edited November 1, 2013 by Ozcall
Lil Caesar Posted November 1, 2013 Posted November 1, 2013 (edited) Owned both. Liked both. Felt the m-dac was a little too analytical and clinical with detail retrieval via d-class power - you will probably fair better with solid state a/b or better yet - valves. The m51 just seems smoother and and a better all-rounder. To improve on the m51 I went to a Meitner ma-1 so it's extremely good value for money. Both have digital volume - don't be afraid to try it. The improvement in overall transparency is remarkable IMHO. Edited November 1, 2013 by Lil Caesar 2
Stereophilus Posted November 1, 2013 Posted November 1, 2013 I'd check out Arcam and Rega as well at that price point. Rega seems to be getting good reviews.
unclemack Posted November 1, 2013 Author Posted November 1, 2013 Owned both. Liked both. Felt the m-dac was a little too analytical and clinical with detail retrieval via d-class power - you will probably fair better with solid state a/b or better yet - valves. The m51 just seems smoother and and a better all-rounder. To improve on the m51 I went to a Meitner ma-1 so it's extremely good value for money. Both have digital volume - don't be afraid to try it. The improvement in overall transparency is remarkable IMHO. Thanks for all the responses.. I'll be using it via a valve amp and quite relaxed speakers presentation-wise. so the M-dac might work well..I think I can get the Mdac on loan but not sure about the NAD... Cheers M
unclemack Posted November 1, 2013 Author Posted November 1, 2013 I'd check out Arcam and Rega as well at that price point. Rega seems to be getting good reviews. Thanks mate..I'll keep them in mind. Cheers M
Midori Posted November 1, 2013 Posted November 1, 2013 In that price range, I personally am considering the metrum octave.
WhakPak Posted November 2, 2013 Posted November 2, 2013 Why do you want a DAC, are you not happy with the sound from your source player?
PorkBun69s Posted November 2, 2013 Posted November 2, 2013 Owned both. Liked both. Felt the m-dac was a little too analytical and clinical with detail retrieval via d-class power - you will probably fair better with solid state a/b or better yet - valves. The m51 just seems smoother and and a better all-rounder. To improve on the m51 I went to a Meitner ma-1 so it's extremely good value for money. Both have digital volume - don't be afraid to try it. The improvement in overall transparency is remarkable IMHO. Have to say that digital preamps have come a long way. I ditched my preamps for the digital attenuator on my amr dac, it was the more transparent than both my previous pre's. would love to hear the meitner dac one day, it has a good rep for a solid state dac! 1
unclemack Posted November 2, 2013 Author Posted November 2, 2013 Why do you want a DAC, are you not happy with the sound from your source player? Good question. I'm probably more curious than anything and probably inappropriately so, given that Vinyl is my main source and I'm running a fairly low level phono-stage... My CDPs are all older units that I'm enjoying but I'd love to know if by adding a dac, will I get significantly better playback from CD? I don't use file based digital so this is only something to improve the sound from my CDP (s). Cheers M
WhakPak Posted November 2, 2013 Posted November 2, 2013 ...if vinyl is your thing you might be better off with one of these: http://www.psaudio.com/shop/nuwave-phono-converter/ ...or invest in a new CD player.
THOMO Posted November 2, 2013 Posted November 2, 2013 I tried a lot of DACs over the last 18 months and none of them sounded as good as a decent CD player. I have heard the M51 and it is OK but where is the image depth?If you are used to half decent vinyl replay you will notice this straight away. I heard a Marantz CD60004 CD player a while back.This is a very affordable CD player and thought it sounded excellent.I would be very surprised if either the M DAC or M51 sounded as good and they cost a lot more. 1
WhakPak Posted November 3, 2013 Posted November 3, 2013 ...it's easy to get caught up in the DAC phenomenon. I've tried a few, up to the $5k price point, none sounded better than my CD player so I decided not to buy any of them. But I would like to get my hands on a Bricasti M1, although we're talking ridiculous money for one of those. I just want to find out about which price point you need to get to in a DAC to get better performance than a good CD player. I think in most cases the good CD player option will be cheaper... Where a DAC comes into play is if you want USB functionality that a CD player can't do. If you have a collection of vinyl and CD then a USB DAC probably doesn't bring anything to the party for you, unless you want to invest in a library of HD Tracks downloads. 2
unclemack Posted November 3, 2013 Author Posted November 3, 2013 Thanks guys, an interesting perspective and one which, frankly, I am surprised by after everything I've read aboput DACs and they way in which they can improve CDP performace... When I get my latest CDP on board I'll have a fiddle. Might just end up looking at Phono stages instead... Cheers M
unclemack Posted November 3, 2013 Author Posted November 3, 2013 ...if vinyl is your thing you might be better off with one of these: http://www.psaudio.com/shop/nuwave-phono-converter/ ...or invest in a new CD player. Very interesting machine.... Will keep an eye on this. Cheers M
WhakPak Posted November 3, 2013 Posted November 3, 2013 I don't know if Magenta have the PS Audio NPC yet, or if they intend stocking it, it was only released very recently. I know that PS Audio pre-sold their entire first production run and demand outstrips supply, maybe stock hasn't filtered through to Australia yet? Suggest you give Magenta a call and express your interest, by the sound of it this product is a better fit for your needs than a DAC.
unclemack Posted November 3, 2013 Author Posted November 3, 2013 (edited) I don't know if Magenta have the PS Audio NPC yet, or if they intend stocking it, it was only released very recently. I know that PS Audio pre-sold their entire first production run and demand outstrips supply, maybe stock hasn't filtered through to Australia yet? Suggest you give Magenta a call and express your interest, by the sound of it this product is a better fit for your needs than a DAC. Looks like Krispy have it.... But I'm a little confused by this product after reading a little more. It isn't a DAC? It's a phono stage that can...do what exactly? I just thought it was a combined dac and phono stage but I'm clearly wrong here. tell me why this would be a better fit than a dac? Cheers M Edited November 3, 2013 by unclemack
Guest JohnA Posted November 3, 2013 Posted November 3, 2013 (edited) Looks like Krispy have it.... But I'm a little confused by this product after reading a little more. It isn't a DAC? It's a phono stage that can...do what exactly? I just thought it was a combined dac and phono stage but I'm clearly wrong here. tell me why this would be a better fit than a dac? Cheers M yep, it does look confusing when reading it. now having a good look, and looking at the back of the unit via pic it seems to be the following a phono stage, which can then rip your vinyl to dsd format it is NOT a dac as it has no digital inputs, only outputs Edited November 3, 2013 by JohnA
jimsan Posted November 3, 2013 Posted November 3, 2013 Spot on john, just purely a phono stage. They arrived into the shop late last week, will be spending some time getting to know it during the week
WhakPak Posted November 3, 2013 Posted November 3, 2013 But I'm a little confused by this product after reading a little more. It isn't a DAC? It's a phono stage that can...do what exactly? It streams your vinyl (or other analog sources) to an external DAC or computer, or connect its analog output to your pre-amp. From what I understand of your system, vinyl is your focus, your phono pre-amp is the weak link, plus you can connect your CD player to it...I suspect this device will bring more improvement and capability to your system than would a similarly priced DAC.
WhakPak Posted November 3, 2013 Posted November 3, 2013 ...They arrived into the shop late last week, will be spending some time getting to know it during the week There you go, priced at $2,199...no mention of it on Magenta website. Thanks for posting! 1
WhakPak Posted November 3, 2013 Posted November 3, 2013 Employee of Tivoli Hi-Fi since 1995 ...wildly off-topic, but why do you list Kaleidescape C1 and DV700 on your website, but no mention of servers or players?? Seems very whacky to me.
jimsan Posted November 3, 2013 Posted November 3, 2013 No worries! My understanding is that there is an analogue in and another purely for phono (could be wrong on that!) there are digital outputs USB, I2S and SPIF. I'd presume the I2S would be handy for those with a DAC/pre like the perfect wave DAC not wanting a traditional line stage in their system. Also the ability to rip your vinyl as DSD. I haven't played with that and probably don't have the interest really!! Not really sure of the point of the analogue in, maybe ripping tapes?
jimsan Posted November 3, 2013 Posted November 3, 2013 Employee of Tivoli Hi-Fi since 1995 ...wildly off-topic, but why do you list Kaleidescape C1 and DV700 on your website, but no mention of servers or players?? Seems very whacky to me. I'll PM you rather than post OT
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