leo
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Post by leo on Jan 13, 2008 22:55:38 GMT
I give up!!
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Post by krisno on Jan 23, 2008 1:19:14 GMT
Guys, you still here on this busty old thread? ;D Like I said, i orderd the X-DAC V3 from ebay, and haven't gotten around to try it yet. But I saw this thing in the manual "Your X-DACV3will convert digital data from any CD or DVD source to analog audio, but not data from AC3, Minidisc, or MP3 formats." What does that mean?! I was going to connect this via spdif on computer, it says on the MF homepage that it takes any S/PDIF signal. Has anyone tried this DAC on a computer?? Won't it play my mp3's on the computer for instance? Also, do you know why MF discontinued this product, did it not sell well? I might have gone wrong with this big MF setup. I could have gotten the Corda Opera from Meier, or the Bel Canto 3, though this last one is not a amp . Thanks Kris
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Jan 23, 2008 4:16:57 GMT
Guys, you still here on this busty old thread? ;D Like I said, i orderd the X-DAC V3 from ebay, and haven't gotten around to try it yet. But I saw this thing in the manual "Your X-DACV3will convert digital data from any CD or DVD source to analog audio, but not data from AC3, Minidisc, or MP3 formats." What does that mean?! I was going to connect this via spdif on computer, it says on the MF homepage that it takes any S/PDIF signal. Has anyone tried this DAC on a computer?? Won't it play my mp3's on the computer for instance? Also, do you know why MF discontinued this product, did it not sell well? I might have gone wrong with this big MF setup. I could have gotten the Corda Opera from Meier, or the Bel Canto 3, though this last one is not a amp . Thanks Kris Hi Chris, The x-dac V3 had been replaced by a V8 verion. The x-dac v3 will play all LPCM until about 200khz 24 bits thru the spdif but will not dsd, mp3, lostless formats like flac, etc, dolby and dts as it doesn't have these codecs in it.
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Sol
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Post by Sol on Jan 23, 2008 15:37:00 GMT
Not stricly true .. my x-dac v3 handles flac and MP3 ... it's just the digital input is taken from a source that can take the MP3/FLAC and output it as digital!
FLAC file on PC --> streamed to Squeezebox --> SPDIF --> x-DAC V3 --> analogue --> amplifier
MP3 File on PC --> streamed to Squeezebox --> SPDIF --> x-DAC V3 --> analogue --> amplifier
Actually I suppose that means that the Squeezebox is doing a conversion from MP3/FLAC to LPCM
So Chris it will play MP3 from your compuer if you take a SPDIF or other digital out to the X-DAC V3 and the format given the X-DAC is LPCM - you'll be using a software player, and I assume your soundcard will convert the file to LPCM and pump that out of your digital out.
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Post by krisno on Jan 23, 2008 17:21:18 GMT
Are you happy with your X-DAC v3 by the way?
Eh... isn't all S/PDIF out on every soundcard LPCM format? I would presume my soundcard outputs in LPCM, if I don't check the DTS 'pass through' thing?
right?
Christ, if not, I really wasted alot of money....
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Post by krisno on Jan 23, 2008 18:45:16 GMT
By the way
How can you connect DIGITAL output to the X-DAC which is not LPCM format? When you say 'FLAC', 'MP3', everything is the same on a optical connection I thought...
hmm....
So I should have gotten a USB dac then, just gotten the Meier corda Opera for instance.
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leo
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Post by leo on Jan 23, 2008 22:54:27 GMT
As long as you have Flac software installed on the pc it'll be fine, if you have Monkeys Audio installed that will also be fine, its the pc doing the converting and outputting to SPDIF, a few things like DTS,DVD Audio and SACD won't work though
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leo
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Post by leo on Jan 23, 2008 23:02:58 GMT
Eh... isn't all S/PDIF out on every soundcard LPCM format? I would presume my soundcard outputs in LPCM, if I don't check the DTS 'pass through' thing? right? YES
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Post by krisno on Jan 24, 2008 9:09:16 GMT
Excellent Leo. But why does it then say in manual that it won't to MP3's, etc, when it will?! It will decode any digital signal, so why write this in the manual. Ridicilous... It's not other way to connect the DAC other than via s/pdif.. so well! But I see that I should maybe have gotten the Grace 902, or the Opera Corda from Meier. They both got integrated PSU's, great integrated DAC's, and just '1 box' instead of 2 now. The X-can v3 and X-DAC V3... But I wanted to try 'tubes' though. I don't hear much difference really. I think I might sell it in the end and get the Corda Opera
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Jan 24, 2008 16:03:20 GMT
Ya, of course, the x-dac will play since the software already converted them to LPCM. Just like in an universal player, if you didn't click convert from DTS or Dolby or MP3 to LPCM, no sound will come out from your X-dac even though connected to SPDIF.
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Jan 24, 2008 16:10:29 GMT
Excellent Leo. But why does it then say in manual that it won't to MP3's, etc, when it will?! It will decode any digital signal, so why write this in the manual. Ridicilous... It's not other way to connect the DAC other than via s/pdif.. so well! But I see that I should maybe have gotten the Grace 902, or the Opera Corda from Meier. They both got integrated PSU's, great integrated DAC's, and just '1 box' instead of 2 now. The X-can v3 and X-DAC V3... But I wanted to try 'tubes' though. I don't hear much difference really. I think I might sell it in the end and get the Corda Opera The manual is correct as it's not the x-dac doing the MP3 convertion but the software. If you input directly mps into the x-dac you will get distortion out. Actually, 2 boxes is better than one as the trafo is then isolated from the sensitive audio and digital circuitries for better sound technically. You may no hear the difference if your system is not high rez enough though.
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Post by krisno on Jan 24, 2008 17:48:45 GMT
But normally soundcards convert to LPCM, every sound that is being played, since its meant to be sendt to external amps etc.
We will see how this works out.
Well, a Grace M902 vs my setup, its kinda like 4 boxes vs 1, and in the Grace you get a nice torroidal transformer also.
I got 2 external walmarts / little pinkie + x-dac v3 and x-can v3. Well well, i presume I can sell this.
It seems like Musical Fidelity components really is not that rides these days, is it old stuff?
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Post by krisno on Feb 1, 2008 23:10:30 GMT
I FINALLY got my X-DAC V3 from e-bay setup.. It is connected to X-CAN V3 with Nordost Solarwind silver/copper interconnect.
It is 'detailed', but not really 'sweet' sounding, and also, the recordings that sounded so NICE with the X-can v3 using a CHEAP! Sony DVD player as source, now sounds crap.... How can a seperate £500 DAC, sound worse than a £50 dvd player??
The CD I used was Miles Davis recording, that saxophone just was so warm, and really 'alive' using cdplayer, and now its just shit, though there is more detail, maybe too much!
Will it sound warmer if I get some copper interconnects(not silver?)?
I use computer, with optical s/pdif out connect to dac v3.
The 'clicking/schreezing' on some songs is still here though. I don't understand this.
BTW: I use foobar, why the heck does the volume control still work? I thought s/pdif did not contain a volume 'bit'.
But why on earth is this x-dac worse than a generic CD player. Though I tried with Miles Daves ripped lossless with WMA, I will try to play directly from original CD to see if it helps.. but christ. disapointing, and this was expensive stuff.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2008 0:18:08 GMT
Krisno XTRProf and others have already given you some insights, so I will only give a few short comments.I do not wish to enter into further discussions, as most people are happy with their X-DAC V3, particularly if the wallwart is replaced with a higher current rated transformer.
It is connected to X-CAN V3 with Nordost Solarwind silver/copper interconnect. A:Silver interconnects often exaggerate treble, causing a degree of harsness
It is 'detailed', but not really 'sweet' sounding, and also, the recordings that sounded so NICE with the X-can v3 using a CHEAP! Sony DVD player as source, now sounds crap.... How can a seperate £500 DAC, sound worse than a £50 dvd player??
A: IT SHOULDN'T !This is not the experience of the majority of X-DAC V3 owners. Try replacing those interconnects. As mentioned elsewhere, this DAC is capable of VERY high performance if suitably modified. There are commercial modders doing these upgrades (expensive!) but their published list of mods should give further ideas. One such list of mods was posted here recently by me.
The CD I used was Miles Davis recording, that saxophone just was so warm, and really 'alive' using cdplayer, and now its just shit, though there is more detail, maybe too much!
A: You answer yourself in the next sentence. Will it sound warmer if I get some copper interconnects(not silver?)?
I use computer, with optical s/pdif out connect to dac v3.
The 'clicking/schreezing' on some songs is still here though. I don't understand this. A: I don't understand this either. There could be many PC related causes. Are you able to try SPDIF ? BTW: I use foobar, why the heck does the volume control still work? I thought s/pdif did not contain a volume 'bit'.
A: I use LPCM output from my Oppo DV981HD universal player , then remote control (digitally) from the Oppo into the X-DAC V3 , and then directly into Power Amplifier when I have high resolution material available to play. This gives very high quality, as it allows a preamplifier to be removed from the equation. Others may be able to give further information. SandyK
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leo
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Post by leo on Feb 2, 2008 0:54:29 GMT
Nothing much to add to the above really, I think you've covered most of it Alex.
The DVD player will be sweet, I'd call this coloration, the cheap dac, analogue section and especially smps's will be masking all this detail and giving the impression of sweet. Normally the better quality units tend to show up the flaws , how bad these flaws are showed up depends on a number of things, unfortunately this hobby isn't easy to get right, its why I tend not to recommend any particular commercial product, one thing that works well in one system may sound like a bag of shite in another.
One thing I will say is take Sandyk's advice about the psu's very seriously, I don't mean adding just an improved AC supply but the actual DC/decoupling part, that requires more than a simple swap of the external supply because all that deals with is AC
Failing that try the cheap option first like the copper cable , if you don't want to buy something ready made its easy to make your own using high quality 75R sat cable with good screening
Somebody else will have to chip in regarding any pc setting as this isn't my field
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Post by krisno on Feb 2, 2008 9:55:04 GMT
I used the same interconnects from the cheap DVD, and not that harsh sound at all.
But the harsh sound is one thing, the other thing is that for instance the saxophone in miles davis 20bit recording, was just so alive when using £50 dvd player, and its big difference, it is not even close through the x-dac v3. But, I am playing it when ripped with WMV..
I will try using the £50 DVD player as source, using RCA-digital(not optic) + using the original miles DVD recording(as I did before when the sax was just soo sweet).
If it sounds crap then, I don't know....
You really think its the silver interconnect which is the problem? I mean, that much difference it can't be? Will copper give better bass?! Though these nordost is a copper + silver blend... i will try some very cheap copper interconnect.
Also, xcan v3 + xdac v3 should match nicly... and i thought computer source would be no problem......
This problme will not be fixed with a psu i guess, but I will get a littlie pinkie for it, maybe....
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2008 10:29:07 GMT
Krisno Most Rock Grotto members would use Exact Audio Copy for copying CDs to a hard drive. You are then able to create a virtually perfect clone of the original. In fact, if the CD is of a very high quality, and you then burn to one of those Mobile Fidelity 24K gold CDRs, or a Kodak 24Karat Gold archival CD, it will normally sound even better than your original CD ! Silver,or silver and copper interconnects will normally sound a little brighter. O.K. for a dull sounding system, but usually not so good for the better quality systems. "I will try using the £50 DVD player as source, using RCA-digital(not optic) + using the original miles DVD recording" Unfortunately, cheap players mostly make for poor transports, so results may not be so good. The X-DAC V3 being of a higher resolution will most likely highlight the deficiencies of the transport mechanism and electronics. (Jitter,PSU noise,SPDIF implementation etc.) SandyK
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Post by krisno on Feb 2, 2008 13:12:06 GMT
Listen..
The miles davis cd using the £50 dvd player, connecting with silver interconnects, analog out, directly into x-can v3... sounded amazing.
using the x-dac v3 as source, it sounded crap. The sax was nothing like it...
So, you are saying SandyK, that a copper interconnect will sound less bright on x-dac + x-can than these silver/copper blend? Do people normally use silver or copper I.C. between xdac v3 and x-can v3?
So far, I am hugely dissapointed on this x-dac, not that its not detailed, it really is. Noisy recordings is not listnable anymore, but it doesnt sound as good as I thought it would be.
I will try with some VERY cheap copper interconnects. se if it changes the sound. I will also try using cd player as digital source, into x-dac , than the computer.
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Post by charleyphogg on Feb 8, 2008 21:48:06 GMT
Listen.. The miles davis cd using the £50 dvd player, connecting with silver interconnects, analog out, directly into x-can v3... sounded amazing. using the x-dac v3 as source, it sounded crap. The sax was nothing like it... So, you are saying SandyK, that a copper interconnect will sound less bright on x-dac + x-can than these silver/copper blend? Do people normally use silver or copper I.C. between xdac v3 and x-can v3? So far, I am hugely dissapointed on this x-dac, not that its not detailed, it really is. Noisy recordings is not listnable anymore, but it doesnt sound as good as I thought it would be. I will try with some VERY cheap copper interconnects. se if it changes the sound. I will also try using cd player as digital source, into x-dac , than the computer. Have you tried running just the x-can without the x-dac from your computer? That may give you some idea if it's noise from your pc I would think. As Sandy(I think it was) pointed out, move your soundcard as far away as possible from your videocard. I get no noise from my PC, or maybe my system just isn't reveling enough......yet. But I have a highend high effecient psu, my video card is PCI-e, which is different from my soundcard, and uses its on power cable directley from the PSu, not from the motherboard. My expansion slots have grounding strips and all of my hard drives have rubber grommets isolating them from the case. Also, if you didn;t remove your onboard audio drivers before you installed your soundcard, that will also cause problems. Hope some of this helps.
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