Musical Fidelity M1 DAC-A - First impressions

[cybasoul]

I think the DAC has only about 4 hours of play, so Im sure it hasnt run in fully yet but it does sound a bit better than when I first powered it.
Im currently using a 2 meter A-B USB cable(Still looking for a shorter one with better insulation) that I got from a colleague after the DAC was unexpectedly delivered and I didnt have all the cables ready for it. Im using old, crappy, pavement special interconnects that will be replaced soon.

My setup: HTPC(Win 7 + Foobar2000 + WASAPI) -> USB -> DAC -> Receiver

I initially had a problem with Foobar2000 and WASAPI causing some stuttering in the playback and it took me two nights to figure it out: I had to lower the output buffer in Foobar2000 to about 500ms. I didnt have this problem with the X-FI card so it might be a USB issue.

Now how doest it sound? Cleaner, way cleaner than the receiver's DAC and even cleaner than the X-FI. The sound is very wide with the vocals projected very nicely in the center. I used to hear some defects on high pitched vocals, but not with this puppy. I listened to Ray Charles's  Georgia on my mind this morning and the imaging was just great. Rays was dead centered, with his broad voice projected nicely. The backup singers were on the left together with some strings . The piano on the right with the drums. The detail is just brilliant.
The highs are great, not harsh at all and the lows are just as impressive. I also listened to few MP3s and they also sound better now, much better.

I payed R5800 for the DAC including delivery. This is my best stereo upgrade yet, so the price is worth it. All in all Im very happy with this DAC and Im sure it will get better after a couple of playback hours and after the interconnects upgrades.

To anyone who loves listening to music and dont have a dedicated DAC, you need to invest in one.

[Robert_E]

Nice review Vuyani.

I would love to compare the little Musiland I bought from Gert to something like this.

[cybasoul]

Nice review Vuyani.

I would love to compare the little Musiland I bought from Gert to something like this.

I would also like to hear how the Musiland sound as it was also in my short list. Are you enjoying it? When did you get it?

[Prince]

I would also like to hear how the Musiland sound as it was also in my short list. Are you enjoying it? When did you get it?

- I have one and it does leave any soundcard dead in the water. Let me put it this way -any USB DAC should have a noticeable difference in sound as the soundcard's DAC in most cases does not have any form of jitter correction.

[plato]

hi. from where did you buy the musical M1 dac?

tks

monty

[Prince]

hi. from where did you buy the musical M1 dac?

tks

monty

-Had it imported via a forum member - Gert -gbyleveldt. But, you can do a direct import from Musiland suppliers yourself as well. Just google for it.

[WaterHond]

Custom Cable UK -   http://www.custom-cable.co.uk/digital-analogue-convertors/

[Gnarls]

Eish, one day. When I'm all grown up.

[kamikazi]

- I have one and it does leave any soundcard dead in the water. Let me put it this way -any USB DAC should have a noticeable difference in sound as the soundcard's DAC in most cases does not have any form of jitter correction.

I thought the Asus Essence STX soundcard was way better than the Musiland Monitor. The Musiland Monitor costs half the price of STX though so Monitor 02 should give it a decent run for money. A USB DAC needs an asynchronous connection to be able to reclock the DAC to reduce the jitter over USB. On an internal sound card you don't need to do that.

The advantage that USB DACs have is that they don't have to worry about EMI and the power supplies can be better designed. There are some really good ATX power supplies in the market now as well. Look at something like the Corsair AX PSU series. They have incredibly low ripple noise for an ATX PSU and should be a wonderful power source for something like the Essence STX.

[Gnarls]

I thought the Asus Essence STX soundcard was way better than the Musiland Monitor. The Musiland Monitor costs half the price of STX though so Monitor 02 should give it a decent run for money. A USB DAC needs an asynchronous connection to be able to reclock the DAC to reduce the jitter over USB. On an internal sound card you don't need to do that.

The advantage that USB DACs have is that they don't have to worry about EMI and the power supplies can be better designed. There are some really good ATX power supplies in the market now as well. Look at something like the Corsair AX PSU series. They have incredibly low ripple noise for an ATX PSU and should be a wonderful power source for something like the Essence STX.

/slightyly off topic

Kamikazi, as an aside what do you think is a decent upgrade from the stx?

[colin]

/slightyly off topic

Kamikazi, as an aside what do you think is a decent upgrade from the stx?

Good question, I would like to know as well. I'm still considering the STXfor a start, but I'm unsure. The Musiland Monitor 02 and the STX is priced similar at the moment.

[Prince]

-I'll stick to my Musiland.

[kamikazi]

/slightyly off topic

Kamikazi, as an aside what do you think is a decent upgrade from the stx?

See first topic post in this thread! The Musical Fidelity is definitely on my list or the Centrance DAC Mini.

Depending on your audio system setup the Musiland Monitor 02 should be a good buy, but it is a bit limited by its driver support. There are lots of options in this price range though.

The monitor 02 has the same DAC as the Asus Essence STX, but the separate power supply and clocking should make it a touch better I think. With a good ATX power supply the Essence STX should be pretty close though and it is nice that you can roll the opamps to change the sound to your preferences. The JRC2114 opamps in the I/V section of the Essence STX are not the best, but for less than a R100 you can improve it quite nicely.

[johanhs]

Did you try it without WASAPI (just Foobar) and could you hear a difference? I read somewhere that Win 7 implements WASAPI without additional drivers.

[eldene]

Cybasoul ,did you buy this brand new at that price? can one use a dedicated CD player with it? Is it compatible with apple tv or airpot express?