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Maverick Audio DAC

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The D1 is a revised XS DAC-01

Latest picture on Headfi with the innards showing even has Xiangsheng label on the power supply lol

What you're paying for a cosmetic update with some minor tweaks to the circuitry.

 

I'm wondering how much it retails for now, XS DAC01 is 498RMB on taobao.com without shipping, so all in all it'll be 150-180SGD if you're getting direct.

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DAC doesn't do bit perfect due to some inherent design flaws.

The amp is high gain, but sounds extremely tuby.

 

I read on headfi that many have rolled Opamp to get rid of the high gain because it really causes the highs to be extremely harsh.

 

Overall for the price, I believe its a good set for an source selector and sounds pretty okay if you can mod the gain to be lower.

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Just got the current last piece of Mav DAC D1, same name as my nick I use which I like it a lot :)

 

At first I really don't even expect I would considering or even bought this amp. Dam I was soooooo WRONG! Thx Aron for slaping me up :)

 

It sound so much better than my portable rig or even some of the amp I audit at some other shops.

 

Just to recap, my setup is very simple, PC foolbar with asioforall V2, with itune skin -> USB D1 -> D1 build in amp -> APS V3 HD600 deform.

 

The sound sig is all round, more emphasis on mid bass to bass, solid bass sig, slam and dynamic, pretty deep too (can feel the hd600 vibrate when listen to chai ching - Du kuo, bass head sure love this), currently a bit mud. High didn't roll off as I heard (what veil???), vocal are thick, but I think it can be better cos not airy enough (cross finger till it break in) may be it is due to the bit layback sig(vocal part) my system which I also like. Sound stage is sure better. Seperation improvement not much though. I suspect if you listen to xrcd will be best, cos typical xrcd high are bit harsh. tried chai ching ming ge xrcd.

 

Next step is sure mod mod mod.... opamp, tube stage, caps resistor etc... And very temped to get HD800 too, suspect it could be a great match of you don't like the bass too much.

 

ps: check out http://dl.dropbox.com/u/464376/head-fi/mav...ver/driver.html for a lot better driver compare to default driver (smoother sounding especially in the high). It will works with asioforall v2 as well, just enable hardware buffer.

 

Edited by mavwong

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alright guys and girls. After rolling in opamp LT1364 and LM4562, I found that my right channel gone. So I do a little check up and found a broken wire. I can't find any of these info here, thus I'm on my own with a set of cheapo multimeter trying to figure out what's all the wiring in the D1. First let's see the internal.

 

IPB Image

 

Few things interest me here. But first I would like to stress that some of these info are not verified and any mod you try using the above info will be at your own risk, I will not be held of any responsibility if you damage ur D1 :) Also bear in mind that soldering work will void your D1 warranty.

 

1) As you can see from the internal shot, a very thin (looks cheap) set of wire was use for DAC output to the vol pot/input sel before going anywhere else. One of my wire break of from the connector after rolling opamps, it sure does easily break off. What I did for temp measure, is use "analog in (to tube)" yellow color wire to replace it. And I immediately notice improvement in the SQ, more separation, dynamic and airiness in the highs. (try with LF353 in the DAC, LM4562 in the hp amp). If you don't use the SS or tube out, you can try this.

On the other hand, if you use only the tube out (as Tube DAC output to external preamp), just unplug the yellow hp out wire jack(lower left) and plug directly to DAC out and you get similar by pass effect but better signal path (I haven't verify this)

 

2) Having found that the DAC out wire is not as good as the yellow one, may be Ryan should try to replace that with yellow color wire. I personally plan to get some mundrof wire to replace this. Also you can replace the stock wiring from the hp amp out to hp jack with better cable.

 

3) I was still wondering why D1 design do not feed tube out to the internal hp amp for better SQ? I try Windmill-Getter Raytheon output to pico amp, it sound so open and mid is lush even before proper break in of the tube. I was wondering could I solder some wire and feed the signal from the tube out jack and plug into the hp amp in jack (jack is the same as PC fan jack, should be easy to find)?

 

4) Back to Opamp rolling. These are just my observation. The 2 stock LF353 doesn't sound similar to my ear for sure. Initially I only roll the HP amp 353 to LM4562. AB the 2 LF353 in the DAC, one sound more dynamic and the other sound veil. I like the more dynamic one, which compliment well with layback/dark sound of LM4562. Later I roll out the DAC 353 with LT1364, and found out LT has better separation, more mid bass, more define bass. But it not as airy as 353. Likely due to LT haven't break in. The LT1364 sure is hot, I can't place my finger in it for more than a second.

 

5) last, wish to seek advice from some expert here, I plan to mod the caps to mundrof as well. Care to share some suggestion of what to replace other than the hp output caps at C61/C62?

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is it worth spending so much to upgrade the headamp in the 1st place if the better parts cost a lot ?

 

changing the volume pot would cost a bomb, eh ?

 

seems like can upgrade :

 

fuse, opamp, cable, volume pot, caps, resistors.............what else ?

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Hi, I've been using the TubeMagic D1 as a USB DAC.

It is connected to a stereo amp via the tube pre-out.

Under normal usage when the DAC is connected to a computer, the internal red LED lights up (USB).

 

Ok, so now the problem I encountered recently is that the red LED will turned off when:

1) Power off the DAC (front power button) when using headphones out.

2) Power off my stereo amp (regardless whether DAC is on/off).

 

This problem is intermittent, occurring roughly 4 out of 5 times.

The PC will need to be restarted or simply disconnect and reconnect the USB cable to get back audio.

Tried different USB cables but no diff.

 

I used this TubeMagic D1 for around 1.5 months.

Is my unit faulty? I do not know what else to check for on my side.

 

Just to add that this is the latest version with the gain setting reduced and pre-out issues apparently fixed.

Any help/advice appreciated.

Edited by Rom

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What you described is a quite common occurrence for USB DACs - a power surge from turning on/off something else knocks out the DAC and you need to cut the power and on it again - which disconnecting and reconnecting the USB cable does.

 

IMHO a well-designed equipment shouldn't be affected by this, but seeing many anecdotes of this happening and owning two DACs with this problem I'd say this is pretty normal. Maybe your stereo amp and headphones are just too powerful.

 

Add: It's possible both ways - that your unit is more sensitive or it happens across all units, if in doubt test with another unit.

Edited by wwenze

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Oic. It is quite weird because I only experienced this in the last 2 weeks.

Did not have such problem in my previous 2 sets of portable dac/amps.

I had PMed Stereo_Electronics regarding this issue and now waiting for his reply.

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Do let know the outcome, thx. :)

 

I am awaiting the next shipment of the TubeMagic D1 before going down to exchange.

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Guest dragonboy

I am awaiting the next shipment of the TubeMagic D1 before going down to exchange.

Just call stereo ... Seems that the new shipment is FULLY reserved... Didn't know that they're THAT popular!

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I can understand why

 

I currently using JW WE396A, previously using Windmill getter Raytheon.

 

Raytheon to me is smooth, airy high, but lack weight in mid/mid bass and bass extension. (take note I have a heavily mod D1, with LM4562 in both stage and tube out is feed to the hp amp of d1, driving apsv3 cabled HD600)

 

WE 396a, has better weight in all spectrum plus better headstage and separation. Only thing I am not happy is it doesn't sound as airy/high extension (may be this is what pp refer to has dark), but I still breaking in the WE. To me, the winner is sure WE.

 

My fully moded D1. Sound totally diff comp to stock. Achieving what I want: balance btw dynamic and smooth sounding, airy high, weighty mid,midbass and very reasonable bass extension, fantastic separation and sound stage.

 

IPB Image

 

IPB Image

 

Just call stereo ... Seems that the new shipment is FULLY reserved... Didn't know that they're THAT popular!

 

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