M2Tech Vaughan DAC ? .....

sleepysurf

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2010
39
5
915
If the Vaughn is really based on the ESS 9018, might want to check out the Resonessence Labs Invicta DAC. The Invicta appears to offer a lot more bang for the buck. I just ordered one to audition.
 

RBFC

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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www.fightingconcepts.com
I'm still very happy with my Calyx Audio DAC 24/192, which also uses the ESS 9018. Now shipped with an outboard linear power supply for $1900, it may qualify as a great buy as well.

Lee
 

opus111

Banned
Feb 10, 2012
1,286
3
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Hangzhou, China
If the Vaughn is really based on the ESS 9018, might want to check out the Resonessence Labs Invicta DAC.

With offerings based on the ESS9018 it makes sense that the best implementation would be the one from the original designers. It got a good write-up on Head-Fi.
 

opus111

Banned
Feb 10, 2012
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As I don't know the original design brief behind this dac, I don't know. I do know that I don't much like the sound of BB's S-D offerings for what they do to the sound of massed brass though. Simple multibit chips don't distort brass sounds but these days there are very few options (read - only one that I'm aware of) in multibit where the spec says the dac needs to support 384k sample rate and 24bit depth.
 

joeinid

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2011
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Thank you opus111!

I appreciate the input. I am still trying to figure all this out and I am shopping for a new dac.
 

opus111

Banned
Feb 10, 2012
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You're welcome - I'm currently developing dac designs of my own, and the best sounding chips for the buck have turned out to be the oldest ones (thinking particularly here of TDA1545 and its relatives). But then I use them non-oversampling as 99% of my music is redbook format. At higher sample rates, my designs are still at the planning stage.

What are your requirements? If its 44k1 I'd suggest at least auditioning a TDA1541A based design.
 

joeinid

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2011
1,543
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You're welcome - I'm currently developing dac designs of my own, and the best sounding chips for the buck have turned out to be the oldest ones (thinking particularly here of TDA1545 and its relatives). But then I use them non-oversampling as 99% of my music is redbook format. At higher sample rates, my designs are still at the planning stage.

What are your requirements? If its 44k1 I'd suggest at least auditioning a TDA1541A based design.

Most of my music is ripped from cd. I have a Metric Halo LIO-8 for the higher rez music if needed. I have been looking at the AMR CD-77.1 and CD-777 as well as the DP-777. What else do you recommend?
 

opus111

Banned
Feb 10, 2012
1,286
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Hangzhou, China
I was going to recommend the AMR, so you beat me to it. I've not heard any, but as a designer I recommend them on the basis of what I know of the designer of the analog parts. At least one of the models though has a hi-res dac built in alongside the TDA1541A so in your case you'd be duplicating kit. Another one to consider is the Audial - based again on my impression of the designer.
 

joeinid

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2011
1,543
12
400
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Thanks opus111,

I'll check out the Audial as well. Thanks. I've been looking at the AMR CD-77.1 mainly because of the TDA1541A.
 

MarinJim

New Member
Feb 2, 2011
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"Already USB is fading in favor of interfaces like Thunderbolt"

6 Moon's Paul Candy
 

jkeny

Industry Expert, Member Sponsor
Feb 9, 2012
3,374
42
383
Ireland
The underlying DAC chip used in the Young is a TI Burr Brown PCM1795. To get the DAC to work at 384kHz, the guys at M2Tech bypasses Burr Brown's internal digital filter function and opt for a separate Xilinx Spartan DSP chip to to perform digital filtering and upsampling function.
From here And it seems that the signal is oversampled to 768KHz

Presumably M2tech are using a similar "custom" approach in the Vaughan?
 

MarinJim

New Member
Feb 2, 2011
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Haven't seen anyone max out USB 2.0 High Speed (480Mb/s) in an audio application yet. What relevance would Thunderbolt have to audio?

Plenty.

"Confession. At the present time I hadn’t felt a real need to ditch my CEC transport and delve fully into computer audio. If it ain’t broke why fix it? Besides I’m not sure computers are quite there sonically. Furthermore due to the high-speed transitory nature of the computer industry I’d recommend exercising some fiscal restraint on any potential USB DAC purchase. Already USB is fading in favor of interfaces like Thunderbolt. Who knows how long USB will be supported? What I’d like to see from DAC manufacturers are modular units where owners can purchase upgrade cards as new connectivity options become available."
 

opus111

Banned
Feb 10, 2012
1,286
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Hangzhou, China

Nope, can't see it.

"Confession. At the present time I hadn’t felt a real need to ditch my CEC transport and delve fully into computer audio. If it ain’t broke why fix it? Besides I’m not sure computers are quite there sonically. Furthermore due to the high-speed transitory nature of the computer industry I’d recommend exercising some fiscal restraint on any potential USB DAC purchase. Already USB is fading in favor of interfaces like Thunderbolt. Who knows how long USB will be supported? What I’d like to see from DAC manufacturers are modular units where owners can purchase upgrade cards as new connectivity options become available."

USB will be supported for as long as mice, keyboards, phones, cameras and USB drives are part of the ecosystem. Modularity in a DAC design is a good thing though.
 

jkeny

Industry Expert, Member Sponsor
Feb 9, 2012
3,374
42
383
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Plenty.

"Confession. At the present time I hadn’t felt a real need to ditch my CEC transport and delve fully into computer audio. If it ain’t broke why fix it? Besides I’m not sure computers are quite there sonically. Furthermore due to the high-speed transitory nature of the computer industry I’d recommend exercising some fiscal restraint on any potential USB DAC purchase. Already USB is fading in favor of interfaces like Thunderbolt. Who knows how long USB will be supported? What I’d like to see from DAC manufacturers are modular units where owners can purchase upgrade cards as new connectivity options become available."

How about this from him also:
"While certainly a bargain and able to stream 24/192, the hiFace is hardly perfect. That’s why I use it mostly just for hi-rez music. Any downloaded 16/44 albums get burned to CD-R for playback on my CEC transport simply because they sound better that way. M2Tech obviously realized there was room for improvement, hence their later upscale hiFace Evo. Noting the inherent promise of the stock hiFace, Ireland-based DIYer John Kenny offers his own improved version. A number of readers had emailed me suggesting I try John’s modded JKSPDIF variant."

And his conclusion that using an external USB device fed into SPDIF is as good as anything:
"Wow. Not only did music sound as good via S/PDIF as USB direct, it actually went up a notch or two. Along with the beguiling smoothness, flow and ease I noted in my Calyx review, I observed a tad more texture and harmonic richness in the midrange but also a greater degree of finesse, micro detail and openness in the top end. Cymbals had more shimmer and the sense of wood hitting metal seemed more real and lifelike. Dynamics also received a good kick in the pants. Prior to this little experiment I was sure that adding more stuff to the signal path would have to negatively impact performance but that’s not what I heard. "

I don't think he still holds the view that USB is defunct or that computers aren't there sonically!!
 

bigben

New Member
Jun 6, 2012
2
0
0
Already USB is fading in favor of interfaces like Thunderbolt

Sorry but this statement is naive at best, Intel corporate speak at best....If USB is fading in favour of Thunderbolt, please show me all the DACs on the market with a thunderbolt interface? Even in the pro audio world they are very thin on the ground, the Universal Audio Apollo has an optional Thunderbolt card coming later in the year, but that is about all that I am aware of...
 

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