[tdangelo]

Hey, guys.

Did all you M2-D2 owners suddenly fall into musical nirvana and stop feeling the urge to post about your experiences/impressions with this DAC? C'mon already. Gimme something to read, please!

I've had mine for about 3 months and still enjoy it every day. It replaced a PS Audio DirectStream DAC. For tubes I've settled on the EH 6H30 and a Mullard CV378 rectifier. I ordered the D2 with the Mundorf Silver/Gold/Oil caps but replaced them with Jupiter Copper Foil - they were almost $200 each and use every millimeter of space available. The Jupiter probably have 125 hrs on them so they still need burnin time but the sound hasn't changed much lately due to cap burnin. I like them a little better than the Mundorf - the Jupiter sound overall more refined and dig a little deeper into the music - YMMV. I replaced the fuse with SR Black - nice overall improvement. For a power cable I'm using the CPT 150 connected to a CPT 1800 balanced conditioner. I just ordered some 7DJ8 and should have them in a week or so. I tried several 6 & 12v tubes and rectifiers - the 6H30 sound the best in my system which is currently an Octave V110 integrated with BlackBox supply and Martin Logan Ethos. When it cools down I will put in my KR Audio pre and VA910 amps. I feed the DAC with a Sotm SMS200 -> Wired For Sound Recovery and convert everything to DSD256 using Roon/HQPlayer. I bought a much better attenuator but haven't wired it in yet. My system has a bit too much gain and I want to try using the D2 attenuator outputs to see how that works. For me the DAC is a keeper for the time being. I had the PS Audio DS for about 2 years.

Tony

[rodge827]

Tony,

I found the preamp to be substandard at best...very interested in your findings with a pot upgrade.
BTW What pot did you settle on?

Chris

[tdangelo]

Tony,

I found the preamp to be substandard at best...very interested in your findings with a pot upgrade.
BTW What pot did you settle on?

Chris

Garry recommended the - TKD 2511 100K volume pot

[Lazz]

Hi Tony, just wondering why you replaced the DS. And how do you compare the sq between the two. I have been looking at both these dacs but would obviously not like to spend the $ on the DS if the MP is really top in sound quality. I just wonder if the MP will be able to play 512. Thx

[mresseguie]

Thank you, all.

I have to wonder if there would be a large enough improvement over my stock Gustard X20u to warrant my trying it out. [I could mod the Gustard.]

[tdangelo]

Hi Tony, just wondering why you replaced the DS. And how do you compare the sq between the two. I have been looking at both these dacs but would obviously not like to spend the $ on the DS if the MP is really top in sound quality. I just wonder if the MP will be able to play 512. Thx

Hi, I only replaced it because I wanted to play with a tube dac and wanted to upsample to DSD256. The DS is still a great DAC and with the new Huron firmware even better I read. The D2 has that obvious tube something that I always gravitate towards. For me I usually start with tube gear and after a while I try to replace it with SS and always go back. To my ears the D2 is every bit as good as the DS and overall better sounding to my ears - and at 1/6th the retail of the DS it's was an easy choice.

t

[tdangelo]

Just noticed that they released V2. It now has swappable DAC chips.

[restrav]

Just noticed that they released V2. It now has swappable DAC chips.

it's been there for a while. I wish they would send one sample to 6moons for review.

[mresseguie]

If you're interested, and have time to read through the final two pages of chit-chat, I attended a great G2G this past Saturday. It was really to celebrate my new Daedalus Audio Apollo speakers, but it was very much a DAC-athon. There were 2 variations of the first MP-D2 present, 2 Metrum DACs, a Denafrips Venus DAC, and an upgraded Lampizator Atlantic (that blew them all out of the water in my opinion- 'course, it cost ~$6500!). It wasn't until after I made my impressions that I learned of its exact cost.

Rather than my retyping my impressions here, here's the link to the other thread:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=141682.300

Michael

[rajacat]

I was at the the GTG too and I didn't think that the Lampy  "blew them all out of the water ". Is there expectation bias here? If its very expensive, it must be better.
The good thing about the MP-2 is that it can be tweaked in many ways including, the new version which allows the DAC chips to be updated at will. This DAC is very sensitive to tube and cap rolling. I'm surprised that a competent modder hasn't gotten hold of one of these.

FWIW from my impression, under challenging conditions, iI thought that the Lampy had a bit more "air" so that the space between the speakers had more substance. Since I'm a MP2 owner, I hope that further tweaking and rolling will help with most perceived deficiencies. The Lampy is way out of my price range.

[undertowogt1]

 I have only owned one proper DAC in my time in this hobby, the ifi DAC 2 with the ipurifier. I am very impressed with it compared to my audio interface that I was using beforehand, I could not believe my ears. My computer is currently my main playback source and I wonder if I should spend a little more for a better DAC. what type of improvement would I hear from a DAC like the musical Paradise. Any thoughts. Please consider the DAC 2 is about half the price of the musical Paradise here in Canada.

[JackD]

After right at a year with the MP-D2 I don't feel like I am missing anything that would justify me spending close to six times the amount.  While I have rolled well over a dozen tube options both 12 and 6v I still haven't gotten around to cap rolling.  I guess I will get around to it eventually.  Have tried many different rectifier options too. For now if I get the urge for a different flavor I just swap the Aqua La Voce in for a while.  Not really sure how much more you would get out of the 4997 than the 4490 chip as they are not spec'd that differently to start with. Do have concerns about swapping in an ESS chip with a different basic voicing into the same input buffer that was designed for AKM.

[wisnon]

I was at the the GTG too and I didn't think that the Lampy  "blew them all out of the water ". Is there expectation bias here? If its very expensive, it must be better.
The good thing about the MP-2 is that it can be tweaked in many ways including, the new version which allows the DAC chips to be updated at will. This DAC is very sensitive to tube and cap rolling. I'm surprised that a competent modder hasn't gotten hold of one of these.

FWIW from my impression, under challenging conditions, iI thought that the Lampy had a bit more "air" so that the space between the speakers had more substance. Since I'm a MP2 owner, I hope that further tweaking and rolling will help with most perceived deficiencies. The Lampy is way out of my price range.

The Lampi Atlantic plus is R2R PCM and chipless DSD...no Dac chips. The output tubes are directly heated pentodes i n triode mode. Unless you fellows heard it with the double Mica 5R4GY (very cheap) or Lampi Kron 5u4g, here is more to get from it...a LOT more, especially if you heard it with the stock recti.

Not sure if that unit you heard had ONLY the DSD256 engine or the full blown chipless DSD512 engine. The latter tkes things to another level for ALL DSD playback rates.

If your system is SE, then no need for Balanced, and that saves a tidy sum. No vol control saves some more. Basic Atlantic is about $4K with SS rectifier, but I would always reccommend the tube recti/DSD512 engine and Amanero superclocked.

[wisnon]

I have only owned one proper DAC in my time in this hobby, the ifi DAC 2 with the ipurifier. I am very impressed with it compared to my audio interface that I was using beforehand, I could not believe my ears. My computer is currently my main playback source and I wonder if I should spend a little more for a better DAC. what type of improvement would I hear from a DAC like the musical Paradise. Any thoughts. Please consider the DAC 2 is about half the price of the musical Paradise here in Canada.

Ifi iDSD black label is well regarded.

However, tube Dacs like MP and Lampi Amber 2 have a different and to many, a more enthralling sound!

[rpf]

I have the Lampi Amber II and I love it. Changing the 12AU7 and rectifier made a nice but relatively small improvement, as did upgrading the fuse with a SR Black. I bought it just before the news of the MP spread and would love to hear the latter: the tube and cap rolling options are appealing. Anyone have an MP in South Florida and want to get together to compare them?

[Tubeburner]

I missed the G2G, maybe another time. My question is which dac is more true to the music in your opinion?

[Phil A]

I have the Lampi Amber II and I love it. Changing the 12AU7 and rectifier made a nice but relatively small improvement, as did upgrading the fuse with a SR Black. I bought it just before the news of the MP spread and would love to hear the latter: the tube and cap rolling options are appealing. Anyone have an MP in South Florida and want to get together to compare them?

A friend of mine who lives near Orlando has one.  Not that long ago I finally made my way over to hear it and got him set up with a trial of JRiver and also brought over a DAC from a second system I had.  Really nice DAC for the money.

[Wind Chaser]

Has anyone with this DAC experienced any issues with reliability?

If it does require service, who fixes it and where?

[JackD]

John

Only issue I have heard or read about is related to the fuse.  It happened to me and per Garry replaced it with a larger size and it has been good for a year since. I suspect repairs would go to Canada where he is. 

[Wind Chaser]

John

Only issue I have heard or read about is related to the fuse.  It happened to me and per Garry replaced it with a larger size and it has been good for a year since. I suspect repairs would go to Canada where he is.

Thanks, that is very helpful.