Review and Measurements of Massdrop x Grace Design SDAC

[Jimster480]

I believe you are referring to https://www.head-fi.org/threads/mas...ac-a-budget-beast.859273/page-5#post-14129402 exact post. However, the guy did apologise at the end of the page. It's common mistake some people do when don't read the entire article at least twice and have no measurements to compare with.

P.S.: Now I'm starting to wonder if/when ASR and Amir will get banned on Head-Fi. They already banned words like nwavguy, sbaf and many more. This looks so...communist to me.

The site is pretty communist.... they aren't interested in objective opinions... only deceiving people into spending tons of money with sponsor companies for lower sound quality than can be found from other vendors doing it right.

 

[Thomas savage]

I believe you are referring to https://www.head-fi.org/threads/mas...ac-a-budget-beast.859273/page-5#post-14129402 exact post. However, the guy did apologise at the end of the page. It's common mistake some people do when don't read the entire article at least twice and have no measurements to compare with.

P.S.: Now I'm starting to wonder if/when ASR and Amir will get banned on Head-Fi. They already banned words like nwavguy, sbaf and many more. This looks so...communist to me.

They want a easy life where everybody takes there turn in the circle jerk and no one messes up the rhythm..

I sympathise with them tbh it’s a far easier way to do things.

 

[sejarzo]

The SDAC was listed on the Audiophile community ended drops on Massdrop until recently, with the opportunity to request it again...now it's not listed at all. I wonder if that means it is going to be available again soon, or not at all.

Anybody hear anything about it?

 

[Bhargu]

Probably capacity. They had stated that another drop would happen in early 2018 but it's yet to appear.

The SDAC has shown up in a few other collaboration products like the O2+SDAC, the CTH+SDAC and CTX+SDAC.

I'm very happy with the O2+SDAC combo and ATH-MSR7GM that I have on my desk at work.

When did you get the O2+SDAC combo? I have been waiting for it to drop for some time now.

 

[Ron Texas]

I have a M9xx which is AK4490 based. High volume treble notes (usually female vocals) seemed on the bright side or too forward when played through an XLS 1502 hooked up to LS50's. When I substituted my ifi idsd nano black the problem went away. I am now repurposing the M9xx as my bedside headphone rig. So far so good with Sennheiser HD6xx cans.

It took me a long time and a move to a new place to notice the problem with the M9xx. Probably I am listening at higher volumes having gone from a temporary apartment to a house with dedicated listening room. Possibly something went wrong when I flashed the new firmware. Some improvement was noted after a reflash. So I wonder, do all AK DAC's sound this way or is it just me? I seem to remember similar issues with Audioengine D1, and B&W 683 S2 speakers.

 

[Grave]

The ODAC, SDAC, and OL DAC should all be transparent, correct? IIRC the latter two are supposed to have better performance, but not audibly?

I would not worry about the -0.5 dB roll off at 20 kHz btw. There is no way this is significant.

 

[Ron Texas]

https://www.blinq.com/detail/electr...c-adapter/1932659?condition=like-new-open-box

I bought my Grace M9xx from this outfit.

 

[Ron Texas]

Launches tomorrow:https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-grace-design-standard-dac-balanced

Something like the SDAC, but balanced outputs and 384 pcm, DSD 256, $150.

 

[amirm]

Pretty good price for a balanced output DAC. The only thing I don't like is 3.5mm connector for unbalanced.

 

[amirm]

SMSL SU-8 with remote control and volume adjustment is a lot more flexible though for just $50 more.

 

[Jimster480]

Launches tomorrow:https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-grace-design-standard-dac-balanced

Something like the SDAC, but balanced outputs and 384 pcm, DSD 256, $150.

But I mean its using AK4452 on top of that, which is something that really budget devices are using these days....
For the price of $150 they could have used dual AK4490 or even one AK4490 that could really compete in the market.

 

[Ron Texas]

Pretty good price for a balanced output DAC. The only thing I don't like is 3.5mm connector for unbalanced.

I suppose a balanced to RCA cable could be used instead. I bet you can't wait to get one of these on your test bench. Meanwhile, My D30 is turning bits into sweet music...

 

[amirm]

The 3.5 mm works but seems like someone (massdrop?) forced them into a box that is just too small for a set of RCA connectors.

 

[Ron Texas]

The 3.5 mm works but seems like someone (massdrop?) forced them into a box that is just too small for a set of RCA connectors.

Not sure what happened there, but the Grace M9xx uses micro usb connectors, and has been criticized for it. It never really rang my bell with LS50's, but the headphone amp has juice to spare and totally kicks ass. It's siting on my night table for headphone sessions when I am too out of it to drag myself up to the third floor media room.

 

[Bhargu]

The back of the unit looks too busy

 

[frogmeat69]

The 3.5 mm works but seems like someone (massdrop?) forced them into a box that is just too small for a set of RCA connectors.

Needed room for the balanced connectors and USB-B while keeping it the same size as their other MD exclusive DAC, probably have a load of those little black boxes, stuff it in, lol.
I don't see the 3.5 being too much trouble, especially since you're not plugging and unplugging constantly, and there's plenty of 3.5 to RCA cables available.

 

[TungstenC]

Update on SDAC balanced with measurements
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdr...k/2197106?utm_source=linkshare&referer=ERV95W

 

[trl]

Measures very well indeed.

 

[sophie smith]

1. Does anyone know if those are built in the US or abroad?

2. Aside from the price and feature set, any ideas regarding the quality of design/built and sound between this and JDS labs EL DAC (I know it is more expensive at $250 and does not play DSD but uses newer AK 4490 chip).

Thanks

 

[Veri]

1. Does anyone know if those are built in the US or abroad?

2. Aside from the price and feature set, any ideas regarding the quality of design/built and sound between this and JDS labs EL DAC (I know it is more expensive at $250 and does not play DSD but uses newer AK 4490 chip).

Thanks

1. Built in China, of course. It's not Massdrop without the mass production (for limited-supply products like cables/earpads there can be exceptions of course before I get people yelling at me that's not true!)

2. I don't think anyone can tell you in advance before the SDAC is out of production and people can listen to it. But looking at the measured specs, it looks quite similar to what Amir measured for the OL Dac. The EL Dac is based on the same chip but with more supported formats and transformer isolated inputs which can minimize the possibility of ground loop noise (https://www.jdslabs.com/products/174/el-dac/).
It should be a hair cleaner than OL Dac which is very close to this SDAC, only that it is unbalanced so no XLR out.

Shameless redirect to sale forum where I am selling an EL Dac