Audiolab M-DAC+

C

courage

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May 29, 2015
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Just got this..


Sound awesome right out of the box. Been running now for 30 hours. Very good details, lively dynamic and big sound stage. Very happy. Cant stop smiling listening to any music i throw into it. It replaced my TEAC UD-501 with Sound Affairs MOD.


Using JRiver running in highly modified for Audio Windows 7


My other DAC experiences are:


Rega DAC
TEAC UD-501
Marantz SA8005(This is now connected to the M-DAC+)


Anybody has this? Lets share our experiences.. I'm using regular cheap USB cable, so far it works fine. Do you guys think a more expensive USB Cable will make a difference?

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Congratz! I also used a Teac UD501 for a while. I thought it was a very nice unit. I am currently using a Benchmark. I also have a Marantz SA8005 spinner. I have also used it's DAC for a short time.

A couple suggestions. I would (and I have) replaced the basic USB cable with a better one. Yes, you can go completely over board, but a little better one like a basic Wireworld is well worth it.

I definitely suggest you run a Coax cable out of your Marantz to the DAC for Redbooks.... I am assuming this is what you are doing with the Optical cable. I have had a few industry expert tell me that the Coax hookup is vastly better than the Optical and Benchmark goes as far as saying in their manuals that Optical degrades the sound versus Coax. EJ Sarmento (owner of Wyred 4 Sound and SST) also told me this.

If you also want to do another nice improvement for a small amount you might want to consider adding a Wyred 4 Sound Recovery unit in your USB path. Very nice improvement!
 
Randy Myers said:
Congratz! I also used a Teac UD501 for a while. I thought it was a very nice unit. I am currently using a Benchmark. I also have a Marantz SA8005 spinner. I have also used it's DAC for a short time.

A couple suggestions. I would (and I have) replaced the basic USB cable with a better one. Yes, you can go completely over board, but a little better one like a basic Wireworld is well worth it.

I definitely suggest you run a Coax cable out of your Marantz to the DAC for Redbooks.... I am assuming this is what you are doing with the Optical cable. I have had a few industry expert tell me that the Coax hookup is vastly better than the Optical and Benchmark goes as far as saying in their manuals that Optical degrades the sound versus Coax. EJ Sarmento (owner of Wyred 4 Sound and SST) also told me this.

If you also want to do another nice improvement for a small amount you might want to consider adding a Wyred 4 Sound Recovery unit in your USB path. Very nice improvement!
Click to expand...

Thanks Randy for the suggestions. I do plan on replacing the USB cable(it's just basically a printer cable), the Wireworld sounds good.

Yes, right now the SA8005 is connected via Optical, though this is just temporary as this is the only cable i have to connect the sacd, will try coax.

I do have a question on w4s recovery, ssould it be connected between the PC and DAC or SACD and DAC?

Benchmark is an awesome DAC, too bad it's not available here where i am. Importing it is very expensive..

Thanks again..
 
What Bill said :)... I use both... The Recovery is very good for USB, the Remedy is quite a bit more expensive but does a very good job on improving CDs. It not only re-clocks them but it also up converts them to 96 KHz. I got basic Wireworld coax cables also for the Remedy.

Remember if you use either of these devices you will need two cables; 2x USB for the Recovery and 2x coax for the Remedy. W4S does include a basic cable but the price of some better cables are worth it.

Thank you about the Benchmark. So far I am liking it. It is very industrial in design, very much show their professional recording studio equipment. Where do you live? I know Benchmark sells straight from their website, also Amazon sells it, as does Audio Adviser.

You probably already know but your Marantz only sends CD signals through the coax. If you play SACD disks they go out through analog RCA cables to your amplifier/pre-amplifier.. Sony does not allow SACD signal to go out of digital stages in your spinner. So SACD use the Marantz DAC while your other sources will use your new DAC.
 
Hi Randy/Bill,

So basically the Recovery is better for PC-DAC and the Reclocker is for Spinner-DAC right? The these should improve more on SQ.

So for the recovery, let say i'm playing a 192kHz file, will the recovery change this or the DAC will still receive the same signal but cleaner this time?

For the Reclocker, once connected, it will reclock everything to 96kHz, so the DAC will show up 96kHz when playing regular CD's right?

Randy,

Thanks for the tip regarding 8005, this means i still need to connect the Analog RCA's to my Integrated amp or else when i play SACD it's not going to work if connected only via SPDIF right? I dont have SACD yet so i wont be able to try, but if 8005 is connected both Analog and Digital, this means there will be 2 simoultaneous signal when playing regular cd's right? Signal is flowing in SPDIF and Analog?
 
courage said:
Hi Randy/Bill,

So basically the Recovery is better for PC-DAC and the Reclocker is for Spinner-DAC right? The these should improve more on SQ.

So for the recovery, let say i'm playing a 192kHz file, will the recovery change this or the DAC will still receive the same signal but cleaner this time?

For the Reclocker, once connected, it will reclock everything to 96kHz, so the DAC will show up 96kHz when playing regular CD's right?

Randy,

Thanks for the tip regarding 8005, this means i still need to connect the Analog RCA's to my Integrated amp or else when i play SACD it's not going to work if connected only via SPDIF right? I dont have SACD yet so i wont be able to try, but if 8005 is connected both Analog and Digital, this means there will be 2 simoultaneous signal when playing regular cd's right? Signal is flowing in SPDIF and Analog?
Click to expand...

Yes whatever resolution comes into the Recovery from the PC will pass through, only cleaner. The Remedy up-converts everything to 96 kHz, CDs get greatly improved!
 
Randy Myers said:
Yes whatever resolution comes into the Recovery from the PC will pass through, only cleaner. The Remedy up-converts everything to 96 kHz, CDs get greatly improved!
Click to expand...

Very interesting, we do have a dealer of w4s here but it's per order basis, 2 - 3 weeks delivery time. Will try the Remedy first. Anyway, i do have a question on breaking in. Does it needs to be continuous playing or i can play for 12 hours, turn it off and continue for another 12 hours?
 
I do not believe that break in requires continuous play. You can turn it off and on, but most equipment does need some breakin. The Remedy will really improve your regular (Redbook) CDs. The Recovery will improve files playing on your computer :)....
 
Randy Myers said:
I do not believe that break in requires continuous play. You can turn it off and on, but most equipment does need some breakin. The Remedy will really improve your regular (Redbook) CDs. The Recovery will improve files playing on your computer :)....
Click to expand...

Thanks Randy, i already inquired the Recovery, still waiting for dealers response... Remedy is expensive, will get it last :)
Thanks
 
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