MF V-dac meets Matrix mini-i
Category: Digital
So I have been living with the Matrix mini-I dac for about a week and it has performed flawlessly. I wanted to compare this to some other popular dacs and found a Musical Fidelity V-Dac with Pyramid PS-3kx power supply so I grabbed it. The std wall wart was not in the package so I cannot comment on that sound. It looks like Amazon sells the pyramid for around $20.00
For whatever reason, I was thinking the V-Dac would be my preference because:
1. I have a MF pre amp I really like
2. MF seems to consistently design and build great sounding stuff
3. The small dac footprint would fit well in my rack
4. I don’t need or want anything other than a dac
So got things hooked up and push play>>> right away, very good sound. Let things get warmed up for a few hours and I like what I’m hearing, very very similar to the matrix, which is promising. Compared to OPPO stock (see details in previous post below) better soundstage, depth, tone, drive and overall presence.
After a day and eve of on and off listening, my impression was maybe not quite as much detail, or live impact. So today I switched back and forth with a few different tracks from J Taylor Oct Road. Soundstage was equal, but the Matrix was a touch better at: that Drum impact noted in original posting, more aliveness> impact, DETAIL of everything on the recording and air and space around the voice & instruments. There also seemed to be more texture to the notes. At his point the detail in not over hyped or to ‘hot’, but then again I’ve only had it a week or so.
Again this was not by a huge margin, but enough for me to keep the matrix and say good bye to V-Dac for the time being. I can see why vdac has received so much great press, from my limited experience, it sounds awesome.
There are still a few more I would like to try, so as I find them, I will continue to update. For those of you thinking dac>>> just do it. Oh I need to thank all those at HEAD-FI for the dedicated source forum that has a huge amount of stuff on dacs. That is where I first found the matrix. My only issue is I am just not a headphone guy, period end of story.
System: Oppo 983 > Matrix mini-I dac> MF A3cr preamp> Quad 12L active (w diffractionbegone pads) av123 MFW-15 sub, porter ports, PS audio duet, audio art interconnect, iron lung jelly fish PCords, red dragon digital IC
So I have been living with the Matrix mini-I dac for about a week and it has performed flawlessly. I wanted to compare this to some other popular dacs and found a Musical Fidelity V-Dac with Pyramid PS-3kx power supply so I grabbed it. The std wall wart was not in the package so I cannot comment on that sound. It looks like Amazon sells the pyramid for around $20.00
For whatever reason, I was thinking the V-Dac would be my preference because:
1. I have a MF pre amp I really like
2. MF seems to consistently design and build great sounding stuff
3. The small dac footprint would fit well in my rack
4. I don’t need or want anything other than a dac
So got things hooked up and push play>>> right away, very good sound. Let things get warmed up for a few hours and I like what I’m hearing, very very similar to the matrix, which is promising. Compared to OPPO stock (see details in previous post below) better soundstage, depth, tone, drive and overall presence.
After a day and eve of on and off listening, my impression was maybe not quite as much detail, or live impact. So today I switched back and forth with a few different tracks from J Taylor Oct Road. Soundstage was equal, but the Matrix was a touch better at: that Drum impact noted in original posting, more aliveness> impact, DETAIL of everything on the recording and air and space around the voice & instruments. There also seemed to be more texture to the notes. At his point the detail in not over hyped or to ‘hot’, but then again I’ve only had it a week or so.
Again this was not by a huge margin, but enough for me to keep the matrix and say good bye to V-Dac for the time being. I can see why vdac has received so much great press, from my limited experience, it sounds awesome.
There are still a few more I would like to try, so as I find them, I will continue to update. For those of you thinking dac>>> just do it. Oh I need to thank all those at HEAD-FI for the dedicated source forum that has a huge amount of stuff on dacs. That is where I first found the matrix. My only issue is I am just not a headphone guy, period end of story.
System: Oppo 983 > Matrix mini-I dac> MF A3cr preamp> Quad 12L active (w diffractionbegone pads) av123 MFW-15 sub, porter ports, PS audio duet, audio art interconnect, iron lung jelly fish PCords, red dragon digital IC
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