Cheers guys, I think both parties have a point I will continue to post the odd thing here, especially when comparing the various op amps when they arrive. And the more important moments and use my other thread for lesser updates, those who are interested can view.
Hypex are more than happy with the design so its all full speed ahead with production. Have a light tent coming for the photography later in the week. but here is a rough photo of the prototype. The switch will be recessed by about 0.5mm.
And for those more interested on the insides
That's a bit tidier than my current setup testing Sonny's preamp. 🙂
hypex ncore
No it's just a test setup. But must say it sounds pretty good. I had a Devialet 400 owner come over to listen. He said it was the best sound he's ever heard. Smokes his $35000 rig.
No it's just a test setup. But must say it sounds pretty good. I had a Devialet 400 owner come over to listen. He said it was the best sound he's ever heard. Smokes his $35000 rig.
Yeah, rare and insanely expensive types of wood, violin lacquer and/or (by)beeswax always sound better than thoroughly engineered products.
This is a hot topic on John Westlake's thread. Wooden cases vs Aluminium....
The MDAC original sounds noticeably better outside of the Alu case! Some have built plywood boxes and swear by it
The MDAC original sounds noticeably better outside of the Alu case! Some have built plywood boxes and swear by it
I did find an article on another thread about the detrimental effect aluminium has on audio circuitry in close proximity, but cant find it again :-(
JW expects some potential RFI issues
There is some RFI cloth on the market now
McLaren used pressed steel with Bitumen sheeting for damping instead of Aluminium...Sorbathane feet too?
JW expects some potential RFI issues
There is some RFI cloth on the market now
McLaren used pressed steel with Bitumen sheeting for damping instead of Aluminium...Sorbathane feet too?
Excellent! Hopefully they will publish the findings, so that all the engineers who spend a lot of time researching RFI and enclosures for sensitive lab instruments, measuring systems and aerospace systems can realize what they have been doing wrong all these years. 🙂
Aahh I have missed you JULF 🙂
Good point. I have already annoyed him too many times with questions and fear my FDAC may arrive with some dead flies inside the enclosure.
Drop a note on the FDAC/MDAC2 thread and query if you like ...JW discovered the issue after having bare units on the work bench, sounding as good as intended, but the sound hardening up once back in their enclosures!?
He said whilst slowly lifting the board out of the case, you could hear the warmth/tone increase more and more - closer to the Alu baseplate, worse it sounds
A few other MDAC owners have said the same thing and weirdest thing of all, the BLACK enclosures affect the sound worst!?!!
Good point. I have already annoyed him too many times with questions and fear my FDAC may arrive with some dead flies inside the enclosure.
Drop a note on the FDAC/MDAC2 thread and query if you like ...JW discovered the issue after having bare units on the work bench, sounding as good as intended, but the sound hardening up once back in their enclosures!?
He said whilst slowly lifting the board out of the case, you could hear the warmth/tone increase more and more - closer to the Alu baseplate, worse it sounds
A few other MDAC owners have said the same thing and weirdest thing of all, the BLACK enclosures affect the sound worst!?!!
And at that point any decent engineer would fall back to the scientific method. First step would be verify the observations objectively (double-blind ABX would be the obvious way, but measurements would help too) as well as have other people replicate the results.
I am sure there will be all sorts of bizarre claims, but reporting all the anecdotes here doesn't really help us. Can I ask you to let us know if the thread you are following produces actual, verified discoveries?
You are welcome to follow this thread too MDAC First Listen (part 00101011) - Page 48 - pink fish media
Focus at the moment is on USB Regenerator he is designing called the DETOX. Borne of measurements (your favourite angle of opposition) 🙂 ...there is his recent board print on that specific page with a Copper isolation barrier/shield to try tackle some of this RFI, by coupling to the aluminium compartments.
The FDAC (might be the best DAC to date designed once completed, MiniDSP are now onboard) and VFET Amplifier all on there too... I expect you might enjoy following that thread with the Designer active on it.
Focus at the moment is on USB Regenerator he is designing called the DETOX. Borne of measurements (your favourite angle of opposition) 🙂 ...there is his recent board print on that specific page with a Copper isolation barrier/shield to try tackle some of this RFI, by coupling to the aluminium compartments.
The FDAC (might be the best DAC to date designed once completed, MiniDSP are now onboard) and VFET Amplifier all on there too... I expect you might enjoy following that thread with the Designer active on it.
Thanks, but it seems to be a fairly long and rambling thread about a multitude of topics. Will it be a DIY project?
I did a quick scan, but didn't see any measurements. Would you be able to point me to the actual measurements?
I also don't quite get the quip about measurements as an "angle of opposition". Do you see attempts to understand underlying reasons in differences in sound quality as "opposition"?
I find I usually enjoy reading about the work of engineers and scientists rather than Designers (especially ones spelled with a capital "D").
Looks good, if you are after crimp tool for the JST VL's I found a Japenese one that is really nice and only costs £40 instead of £400!
It was a DIY Project upon the outset (as much as the nc400 is DIY) meaning that JW was just designing the new uncompromised Board; no Chinese Boss dictating the eventual design - upon receipt you would dismember your MDAC mainboard and install his replacement "Westlake MDAC2" mainboard into the MDAC chassis with new Software for FPGA.
There has been much scope-creep since the 4 years it has been running and only a few months ago, the Full-Width-Chassis (due to MiniDSP getting involved with replaceable/upgradeable Digital Interface with EQ) was decided...so now, not much would be DIY, except maybe replacing the Digital Interface Board in future.
It is a very lengthy thread and I think been re-started 4 or 5 times...you would need to search, its probably 20-50 pages back in there somewhere where he did the eye-pattern tests.
Your standard response tends to be 1. Double-blind test 2. Measurements ...anything else is false 🙂
He does admit, audibly there may be no difference (or just small), but it rules out any digital transfer quandry to the FDAC - it will also be clock-locked and USB is apparently the best way to transfer Audio nowadays.
Wouldn't Bruno also fall into this Category of "D" ? JW is designing and Engineering new pioneering circuits in the FDAC and VFET ...and as far as sharing their designs with the Industry, I doubt Bruno would put his BluePrints up here either.
Eye-pattern test are great for determining things like noise margin of a communications link, but they tell very little about any audible effects (unless the eye pattern shows that the link is very, very bad).
I think the issue is that I see electronics design as an engineering activity, and engineering is applied science. Not art. You don't throw chicken bones in the air and see how they land - you apply the scientific method. And as I keep writing, the first step when faced with unexpected observations is to verify the observations objectively (double-blind ABX would be the obvious way, but measurements would help too) as well as have other people replicate the results. Very basic stuff - "science 101".
Kind of my point...
The reason we have the hypex modules was that Bruno was not happy with the sound quality of existing class D amplifiers. He made experiments and did measurements to understand why, and formulated models and theories that could then be verified. And yes, he did publish those results and theories - there are a bunch of peer-reviewed papers he has published about his designs (and the underlying science). Bruno is not a "designer", he is an engineer and scientist - and that is exactly why the ncores are as good as they are.
NC500
I have placed an order for two Nord NC500 Monoblocks. for those who dont know this is Boggit - IQ Speakers.
They will come with the standard buffers initially, but later will be uprated with the new buffers and op amps (probably BursonV5).
I'm away for a couple of weeks so wont be able to report on them for a while but as soon as I have them up and running I will let you know all about it.
Also of course will let you know how the uprated buffers sound as well at an even later date.
I have placed an order for two Nord NC500 Monoblocks. for those who dont know this is Boggit - IQ Speakers.
They will come with the standard buffers initially, but later will be uprated with the new buffers and op amps (probably BursonV5).
I'm away for a couple of weeks so wont be able to report on them for a while but as soon as I have them up and running I will let you know all about it.
Also of course will let you know how the uprated buffers sound as well at an even later date.
If JW's FDAC is subjectively better than my MSB Dac, I will certainly raise my hat for JW. I won't be pissed off, because i could sell this one and buy other nice things. Its a lot of money (around 18ke with Diamond power), but at the moment, it is certainly worth it. However, it will take an year, or two...or three...to be able to test that 😉.
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