maverick audio DAC

[vaibhav.gadade]

has anone used a maverick audio DAC D1? i stumbled upon it yesterday and have read good reviews of it. since my inability to get marantz cd6003 i am thinking of going the external DAC route and this one is very versatile.

any feedback would be great.

regards

 

[iaudio]

The Maverick d1 is not going to sound as good as a cd6003. But thats not saying its bad.
Here are some impressions on it.

http://www.hifivision.com/av-lounge/10925-coimbatore-hfv-nano-meet-3.html

 

[vaibhav.gadade]

just received my maverick audio DAC. have plugged it into my office comp and using the headphone amp. there is a difference in the sound quality. but will have to take it home tonight, rig it to my system and see what sort of a sounstage i get. dying to use the tube preamp too. headphone out is only SS.

 

[iaudio]

Vaibhav, Congrats on the new purchase. I believe the headphone out of the D1 is very good. 'Neutral, powerful' as a prolific head fier friend on this forum puts it.
Enjoy and give us the feedback on how they sound with your nad and TL speakers.

 

[soberoi]

hey Vaibhav, how does NAD 329 sound with nibbana speakers..actually never heard of this brand before. Checked out thier website and they have just two models. Can you please put some light on the combo and now with a DAC how does it fare??

 

[gobble]

@ 14th September 2010, 06:00 PM

has anone used a maverick audio DAC D1? i stumbled upon it yesterday and have read good reviews of it. since my inability to get marantz cd6003 i am thinking of going the external DAC route and this one is very versatile.

any feedback would be great.

regards

just received my maverick audio DAC. have plugged it into my office comp and using the headphone amp. there is a difference in the sound quality. but will have to take it home tonight, rig it to my system and see what sort of a sounstage i get. dying to use the tube preamp too. headphone out is only SS.

That was Fast!! How much?!! From where did you buy it or get it shipped?

What is the transport you are using? optical or co-ax cable?

Amps? Speakers?

Cheers

 

[cooltoad]

@ 14th September 2010, 06:00 PM

What is the transport you are using? optical or co-ax cable?

Amps? Speakers?

Cheers

Gobble, you mean he has shipped his DAC through optical mode of transport?:lol:That was funny, gobble style.

 

[vaibhav.gadade]

hey Vaibhav, how does NAD 329 sound with nibbana speakers..actually never heard of this brand before. Checked out thier website and they have just two models. Can you please put some light on the combo and now with a DAC how does it fare??

i have a NAD 320 BEE and i guess it sounds as good as it can. not plinius good, but thats like 10 times the price of a NAD.
the speakers are great, better VFM than anything out there atleast for me. airy, transparent and at the same time exhibit control with power. they may not sound as powerful as some of the multidriver models, but they benefit form the simplicity of a two was design with the TL bass extension.

the maverick DAC at first did not sound like a huge upgrade. it lost bass that i was getting from my samsung DVD player, but added that needed seperation and detail and soundstage, but frankly you do need bass. using it extensively over the weekend has helped burn in the tube i guess and bass has substantially improved. (or i have gotten used to the low bass and dont find it low anymore) AB tests will reveal more, but will do it after a couple of weeks of burn in time. versatility is awesome and options are great. but everytime you pop in a new cd, the DAC clicks and clips and sends the distirtion to the tweeter which may fry if the amp volume is not LOW. which means wife will have to be taught exactly how to use the DAC and to lower the volume of the amp everytime a cd or input is changed. this i think is worse that low bass. will be writing to Rick of maverick audio to sort the issue out.

will i keep the DAC? the answer is yes for its

versatility
great and still improving sound
ability to upgrade and change the opams and tubes (thats the pseudo geek in me feeling happy about something that i may never do)
and price


all in all, the setup in total is sounding better than ever before.

 

[vaibhav.gadade]

@ 14th September 2010, 06:00 PM






That was Fast!! How much?!! From where did you buy it or get it shipped?

What is the transport you are using? optical or co-ax cable?

Amps? Speakers?

Cheers

got it over ebay india from pristine note.
using samsung DVD player with optical cable and usb with my PC (my pc sound card also has an optical out but havent tried that yet)
nad 320 and nibbana esikas

best part, got it delivered within 24 hrs, but thats because i am in pune and seller is in vashi.

 

[iaudio]

vaibhav, try using an optical/coaxial out from your pc and see if there s an improvement.

 

[vaibhav.gadade]

yep, thats my next move. will let you know if there was a difference

 

[gobble]

got it over ebay india from pristine note.
using samsung DVD player with optical cable and usb with my PC (my pc sound card also has an optical out but havent tried that yet)
nad 320 and nibbana esikas

best part, got it delivered within 24 hrs, but thats because i am in pune and seller is in vashi.

Optical may be degrading SQ more than you realize, even though you feel there is an improvement. Try a good 75ohm co-axial cable.

Cheers

 

[esanthosh]

@vaibhav,

First off, congrats!

Try Coax. I found it to be better than USB (in my setup at least).

For opamp rolling, try LM4562NA / LT1364CN8. Audio-GD Sun OPA Dual is a relatively costly affair, as it requires a case mod as well.

What tube does it come with? Is it the GE NOS or the chinese tube? I did not like the Chinese tube very much. If you want to tube roll too, try Raytheon 5670 Windmill getter and Western Electric 396A - each has it's strengths.

But all this can be reserved for later. Try and enjoy the current setup for now

 

[lubu]

I have been eying this DAC and was thinking of opening a thread here regarding this. How good would this be for my improving my SQ requirements? Will be using PC/iPod as the source...

 

[vaibhav.gadade]

vaibhav, try using an optical/coaxial out from your pc and see if there s an improvement.

well last night i spent doing AB comparison between the usb and optical with my intelDG45FC mainboard based PC.

the optical surely sounded detailed but damn oh damn...........no bass as compared to the USB. how could that be?

played a CD through the PC CD drive and same thing.

switched the optical back to the DVD player and then the same cd was played through the DVD/OPtical combo VS computer DVD drive/USB combo.

bass remained same, detail was better with the DVD player.

so the conclusion is that optical cable through the PC kills the bass.

now could that be an issue with the optical? damn......more money gone to buy a coax now.



@esantosh...........have spend the better half of the day sourcing LT1364 as i had been reading about it over other forums. then i saw ur post and hence ask, do you know where i can get it off the shelf in india, or if at all i can?

tube is rolled to GE nos. we396 should be interesting. hope to get it in india.

 

[esanthosh]

^ If you are patient enough, you can get it from EFY KitsnSpares. My order took about 3-4 weeks, IIRC. The Farnell India item is here. Enter the Farnell Part # in KitsnSpares and do a search. Farnell India is better organized and less said about KitsnSpares, the better. But they too import the item (US / Malaysia), which is why it takes time. Instead, a better option is eBay - if you can find it for cheaper.

Within India, I know that BE3 Amplifiers has a few tubes: BE3 Amplifiers - INDIA. Have sourced a few 12AU7 tubes from him, but he's not that quick in replying to e-mails. Usually though, I buy in eBay auctions.

 

[gobble]

^ If you are patient enough, you can get it from EFY KitsnSpares. My order took about 3-4 weeks, IIRC. The Farnell India item is here. Enter the Farnell Part # in KitsnSpares and do a search. Farnell India is better organized and less said about KitsnSpares, the better. But they too import the item (US / Malaysia), which is why it takes time. Instead, a better option is eBay - if you can find it for cheaper.

Within India, I know that BE3 Amplifiers has a few tubes: BE3 Amplifiers - INDIA. Have sourced a few 12AU7 tubes from him, but he's not that quick in replying to e-mails. Usually though, I buy in eBay auctions.

I got my 12au7s from Arif as well. which ones did you get and how did you like the sonics? What gear do you have that uses 12au7?

Thanks

 

[esanthosh]

^ I got them for the Bravo V2 Headphone amp. I got Mullard, RCA and Siemens (?). I preferred Mullards among them. But, have not used the headphone amp for some time now, so do not remember the exact sonic characteristics of each or why I liked the Mullards . But, I remember choosing these three based on the descriptions in Brent Jesse's site :12AU7 Tubes in Stock

 

[Amarbir[Lynx-India]]

^ I got them for the Bravo V2 Headphone amp. I got Mullard, RCA and Siemens (?). I preferred Mullards among them. But, have not used the headphone amp for some time now, so do not remember the exact sonic characteristics of each or why I liked the Mullards . But, I remember choosing these three based on the descriptions in Brent Jesse's site :12AU7 Tubes in Stock

Guys ,
You Hijacked His Thread hyeah: .Anyways Bro vaibhav ,Is that CD Popping Hissing Problem Sorted Out I would Like To Get your Feedback on that

 

[vaibhav.gadade]

Guys ,
You Hijacked His Thread hyeah: .Anyways Bro vaibhav ,Is that CD Popping Hissing Problem Sorted Out I would Like To Get your Feedback on that

nope, i am yet to write about it to Rick. it is a pain i must tell you though. everytime the cd tray retracts and starts playing the CD, "kutch kutch kutch" the DAC goes ans sends those spikes to the tweeter.

but i have started enjoying the sound now. bass has improved over time and so have the vocals through the tube out.

i keep thinking of returning it though, but tend to lose 2020 Rs as restocking fee plus the shipping and the octroi that i had paid to receive it in the first place. maybe CD 6003 would be a better thing to have. but then this is versatile and i can roll the tubes and the opamps and roll them back again and keep enjoying different flavours of sound. then again, i like finicky things i guess that require attention and can be tweaked (bullet rider speaks)


i brought a bandridge coax and got better bass and more rounded sound as compared to the optical. cant put my finger on which one i like though as the optical sounds a tad bit more detailed. ahh.............may be keep rolling between them (one more item to roll. )

@esantosh, thanks for the links. LT1364 is comparatively expensive. i think i can get 1361 at lamington rd for 25 bucks. dunno how that will sound though.