Playback mpd3

I own an MPD3 and have occasionally noticed the problem you mentioned but only very intermittently - simply restarting the Mac fixes it.

To my ears this is a very noisy DAC anyway. I usually direct connect DAC's but this DAC is so noisy I found it needs a pre-amp to reduce the noise - using a pre-amp the noise is OK but without it is a bit annoying.

I wouldn't bother contacting Playback Designs. They provide the worse after sales service of any company I have ever come across. I lent my DAC to a friend who had trouble downloading drivers - it turned out there was a problem with the website but we didn't know that at the time. My friend contacted the Australian distributor. What was the reply - why do you want the drivers - is this your DAC - a litany of irrelevant questions and no answer - my friend felt like he was getting the third degree simply for wanting to listen to the DAC. Rather than simply giving the information they even contacted an acquaintance of both of us. My friend is well known in the industry here in Aus and they knew he was associated with our mutual acquaintance - the fact he had nothing to do with me lending it was irrelevant as far as they were concerned - it was more important to give both of them the third degree about why they wanted to get the drivers - pathetic. When I found out about it I personally contacted Playback Designs - not even a reply. The issue with the site was fixed in a week but that was too late for my friend who never was able hear the DAC. Considering the price of the product IMHO this is disgraceful and I will never get another product from this mob again.

Thanks
Bill

Hi Chasely

No offense taken.

However it does come as a surprise to me direct connecting the DAC produces as much noise as it does. Every other DAC I have ever owned did not produce this level of noise - and I have owned a lot. And this is the only DAC that produced anywhere near this level of noise to the point where direct connecting and using the volume control in the computer was a degradation. Some DAC's sound better direct connected - others sound better with a pre-amp but this is the only DAC that sounded better with a pre-amp because of noise.

I am glad the OP got a reply. I was just chatting to a friend who owns an MPD5 yesterday and like me he had a lot of problems getting even a reply from Playback Designs - but did point out he finally managed to get a response by trying a different email.

Thanks
Bill

Hi Guys

Although we are moving away from the original post I feel I must point out the post I made was repeated in essence on another forum and it sent events in train such that I have had correspondence with both Jonathan and the Australian distributor.

I am now aware there were factors involved in my experience that fully explain it and I am now a fully satisfied customer. I would indeed buy another PD product now. No need to divulge what they were but what happened was reasonable in light of that information.

Thanks
Bill

I have been experimenting a bit with mine and the noise issue. I have found you can hear a rustling sound quite distinctly while playing with one of my amps that has a very high bandwidth - 10mhz.

This is different to the intermittent issue I had previously which was literally like a radio station coming out of the speakers.

My suspicion is its to do with the lack of a filter on the output of the DAC and the very high bandwidth of this particular amp.

Thanks
Bill