DAC Shootout: McIntosh MCD1100 MDA1000 D100, AMR DP-777, Music Hall DAC25.3

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Last Sunday, Dewey (dteam702), Brian (briweed), Jeff (A/V Solutions) and I had the fortunate opportunity to perform an extensive audition between the following DACs:
- - McIntosh MCD1100 (MSRP $11,000)
- - McIntosh MDA1000 (MSRP $8,500; Current Street Price ~$4-$5,000)
- - McIntosh D100 (MSRP $2,500)
- - AMR DP-777 (MSRP $5,000)
- - Music Hall DAC25.3 (MSRP $600)

As noon arrived, Brian shows up at my door and says “I’ve got the 3 DACs…” – “What?!” – “Yeah, I brought the D100, and then the Oppo and the Music Hall, is that OK?” – “Sure!” Of course, he was a few minutes early (and I was a few minutes behind schedule), so I asked that he make himself at home and just unload the gear. As I returned 10 minutes later, the gear is stacked behind the couch, and he’s sitting dead center to what I was playing on the laptop and asks “what was that?! It sounds so good and it’s not even loud!” I answered it was Dash Berlin’s album “The New Daylight” – a trance/electronica album. Yes, another convert in the making!

Shortly after everybody else showed up, and Dewey had in tow the MCD1100, a very generous lend from Keith (KMC45). A massive thank you goes out to Keith for trusting us with his piece of gear for the day to conduct our trials.

As shown in the above pic, there were two other pieces of gear that were present, but went unused for 2 particular reasons: 1) the Oppo BDP-105’s owner forgot his remote, and we were too engrossed in the other gear to try hard enough to get it functional with its phone-based remote app, and 2) the W4S DAC-2 was previously reviewed (and summarily dismissed) in a shootout versus the MDA1000 HERE.

We also had the opportunity to do a computer-playback versus spinning-media playback. Using the MCD1100 as a transport and the AMR DP-777 as a DAC, we played and were able to switch back between the USB input via the laptop and the coax connection from the MCD1100 for two separate discs: Cirque du Soleil – Mystere (Live) and Robert Miles – Dreamland. While the differences were subtle, Mr. Analog (Jeff), within a few seconds of the swap, immediately determined that the superior (spinning CD) was what he just heard on the first input. I looked at him with a smile and just said, “nope. That was the USB.” The look on his face was near priceless.

Summary of the environment:
Each DAC was used as a playback device and its own pre – that way we know we are listening to what the DAC is actually producing within that one box. The only DAC that did not have its own pre stage was the Music Hall DAC25.3, so it was connected via unbalanced RCA to the AMR’s preamp section.

Each listener was able to move freely around the room to analyze whatever it is he wanted to analyze. Each component was then played with a track that was within the library at user request.

Some of the tracks that were utilized (read: key tracks that helped us distinguish certain sound characteristics, not necessarily because they were so flippin’ awesome):
- Michael Jackson – Thriller – Thriller (176/24); the essence of a piss-poor recording.
- Hanz Zimmer – Dark Knight Rises – Rise (192/24); the essence of a proper 192 encoding “from farm-to-table.”
- Diana Krall – When I Look In Your Eyes – Let’s Face the Music and Dance (96/24); because someone wanted something jazzy and slow.
- The Eagles – Hell Freezes Over – Hotel California (44.1/16); for specific DAC testing. Explained below.

Everything was played back via laptop through the HiFace or directly over USB. The MCD1100 did not have the USB hardware modification yet, so we used the HiFace->S/PDIF for connectivity. Several other tracks were used but the four above were going to the extreme from great to “omg my ears are bleeding.”

*The reasons for that specific Hotel California track are: 1) it’s a flippin’ awesome track with a phenomenal guitar intro, 2) the crowd noise is voiced and floated in a way that each DAC presents them differently. This is where you can tell a regular DAC from a supreme DAC. Lesser decoders will flatten the crowd and put them in line with the performers. You essentially become a spectator of the audience that is already clapping for the artists. Great DACs will position the crowd around you, creating a three dimensionality that you are properly situated within the crowd and looking at the performers. We were able to recreate both scenarios with the DACs today, and the results will be explained below.

I would also like to state that we had four dramatically different sets of ears – but we had a unanimous decision as to the pecking order of the DACs. Shocking, right?

So, without further adieu, the following posts will describe our findings, in order from the 5th place DAC to our winner, and then a summary.

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Fifth Place: McIntosh D100

DAC Utilized: Sabre ES9016

McEnthusiasts have been foaming at the mouth for this new piece of gear, and many were even saying “what is it like compared to the MCD1100?!” Well, the good news is that you do get value versus the MCD1100. The 4x price bump from the D100 to the MCD1100 makes the D100 a very attractive piece.

Unfortunately, that is where the value proposition stops. Now, I will say this (and as Brian pointed out) – this thing does sound totally different when you’ve got a pair of tube (MC275’s) attached to it. But then again you are trying to manipulate the sound… not necessarily “enhance” or “complement” it.

First off, we tried to re-create the issues that one other user was mentioning with his D100 and cracking/popping. While we were unable to recreate this with native 192 material or 44.1 upsampled, one very disappointing thing was, yet again, the McSoftware package. The driver is just plain garbage. I don’t know any other way to say it. Windows users need to be wary with this piece via USB – as swapping sample rates caused a pseudo-software brick’ing. It did not like going from 192 back to 44.1. Talk about a nightmare. ASIO, WASAPI, KS… didn’t matter. No data could be passed through back to the D100 as it was rejecting over the USB as a capable DAC in the 44.1/16 realm after clocking at 192/24. Happily for Mac users (not Mc users), your MacMini’s and such should work just fine, as the driver is native to OSX, and not reliant on the package Mc gives you.

But on to the sound quality… Surprisingly enough – it did attempt to mimic the sound characteristics of the MCD1100. However, the presentation was still sub-par compared to the competition. It appeared bright and tinny. As one listener put it: “it’s like glass shattering.” Bass was loud – but that’s about it. Definition was not there. Imaging was not there. On several tracks my own personal comments were “it sounds hollow…” The midbass was non-existent. On the Hotel California track, the crowd was placed directly in-line with every Eagle playing the guitar (did not pass the test).

Conclusions? For $2500, it’s still not cheap, but certainly inexpensive by McStandards. If you must have a pre+DAC that says McIntosh, then this may be for you. Otherwise, it may be wise to shop around. With a potential software issue looming (and we all know how long it takes McEngineers to fix something), this may be only for people with a very warm set of amps and speakers and an OSX-based computer to calm this little unit down and ensure proper functionality.

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Fourth Place: McIntosh MCD1100

DAC Utilized: Sabre ES9018

Oh Mc… What happened? The venerable MCD1100, the top of the line disc spinner and DAC from our friends in Binghamton… We tried and tried, back and forth and back and forth, but still came to the same conclusions. People are mistaking “detail” for “brightness.” Period.

I’ve read elsewhere on this site that “oh well they didn’t have as detailed of a system, therefore their ears are bad or they just don’t know what they are listening to…” Sorry, that is BS. As Tom Highway in Heartbreak Ridge said: actually – go ahead and look up the quote; for decency’s sake I’ll not put it here.

It comes down to this: for $11,000, this thing should shine my shoes, do my laundry, AND sound sublime. It was none of the above. It showed slightly more definition than the D100, but we were still left with a unit that sounded anemic. We wanted this unit to be the winner, for the defense of our systems (all of us except Jeff are McOwners – just look at the sig ffs). When comparing to the rest of the competition, it was bright, not detailed. It was hollow, not wide. It was 2-dimensional, not 3-dimensional. It suffered the same fate as the D100 with the Eagles track and the crowd, while making the guitar sound completely synthetic.

Bottom line: if we had price-weighted the results, this would have come in behind the D100. Plain and simple. With a massive design flaw that is, let’s face it, NOT a firmware upgrade (firmware does not require hardware modification as this unit does in order to repair the USB problem), an $11,000 price tag, and sub-par sonic presentation, well – you do the math.

Conclusion? McIntosh may have made a fatal error in selecting the Sabre DAC. What else can it be? The “sublime output stage of all the McGear” as another member alluded to in another post from the MDA vs. W4S shootout was not the game-changer here. The only other difference is the chipset.

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Third Place: Music Hall DAC25.3



DAC Utilized: TI PCM1796

This unit was the sleeper of the group. For an asking price of $600 and a $100 tube upgrade, this thing earns the stamp of approval for an entry level DAC that holds its weight very well. It easily read over USB all 192 material, had the option to force an upsample to 192 (with no clicks or pops), and sounded natural. Guitars sounded like guitars, you had some sense of three dimensionality and spatial presence, and your pocketbook wasn’t badly affected.

Now, in all fairness, this DAC has no pre stage, so we could have been hearing the output stage of the AMR DP-777, but still – if someone is looking to just get into the digital game, this is a great place to start. It sounded just fine as a starter unit, and didn’t make our ears bleed.

She might not be the prettiest girl at the party – but she only costs a few beers to get her into your bedroom.

The bottom line: it was more musical than both the D100 and MCD1100.

Holy.

Crap.

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Second Place: McIntosh MDA1000

DAC Utilized: Combination of Cirrus Logic CS8416 receiver and dual 24/192 Burr-Brown DACs, with automatic upsampling to 768k.

For more details, see review HERE.

Basically – I’ve been looking for a good reason to get rid of the MDA1K. So far, I still have not found one.

This is the train that keeps on chugging. It fully passed the Hotel California crowd test, guitars sounded like Glen Frey and Joe Walsh were a few meters away and we had front row seats. Spatial feeling was entirely three dimensional.

Again, the drawback of this DAC is the lack of USB or ability to go over 172 into the input. 192khz produces audible clicks over coaxial; I have not had the chance to try pushing 192 over AES/EBU. However, it will see anything up to 176k (although the readout goes blank on anything over 96khz).

Even Jeff, an avid MDA1000 hater, had to keep coming back to the couch and sit dead center and listen. The detail and musicality of this unit continues to draw you in.

Bottom line: it’s still a player. The Hugh Hefner analogy…

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Winner: AMR DP-777



DAC Utilized: Wolfson 32-bit for high-res, Philips TDA1541A for 44.1/16-bit, switchable.

AMR, a UK-based audio producer, has produced a great looking DAC that just feels like $. Pictures really don’t do it justice. In person, the look of the tubes (yes, tubes), the multitude of both digital AND analogue inputs make this unit one of the most versatile DACs I’ve seen since the MDA1000.

An aside: I was a bit cautious with this DAC up-front… being an IT person I usually don’t like “overlapping” designs – and with dual DACs, I was thinking: “oh wow something is going to be off on this…” Basically, I was looking to find a flaw to prove my point. I failed.

The USB input worked like a charm using a simple USB Audio Class 2.0 driver, and off to town we went. 3-dimensionality was superb. It passed the Hotel California test with flying colors. 192 material was not a problem, and sounded jaw-droppingly amazing. The Dark Knight Rises track was engaging, dark, and emotional. It recreated that with aplomb, and a bass presence from the XRT1K’s that I have not heard in awhile.

It was airy and detailed without being bright. It was warm and emotional without being fuzzy and muffled. It just felt right.

No matter what we threw at it, it just kept crunching what we gave it and put a smile on all our faces.

Its remote control is simple yet intuitive, and weighs a ton (it feels like a nicely powdercoated metal, almost like a limestone feel). We had the ability for all functions of the unit via the remote, including swapping between the two DACs (the 32-bit DAC can be turned on for the 44/16 material, as well, though it did not perform as well as the Philips chip on the redbook material), and even had different filter settings. Every track we played, we found, the winner was the “Organic” setting for high-res and “Bit-Perfect II” for redbook.

Another thing to note with this unit: it has its own master clock inside, so it will re-clock your USB or digital inputs to produce jitter-free material. Again, intuitive, simple, and sounds great.

Bottom line: for the $5,000 asking price, a relative bargain compared to other units on the market and within this shootout. It produced MUSIC. It was engaging. It was detailed. All of us had smiles on our faces when listening to it. We had zero ear fatigue.

Recommended? Yes.

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Conclusions…

Both Dewey and I have been looking for a reason to ditch our DACs to upgrade to something newer/better. For him, better, for me, newer. After this shootout, we went to dinner, and the biggest surprise was that after we all parted ways, Brian says to me: “you’d be an idiot to sell the MDA1000.” The next morning, I get a text from Dewey saying: “you’d be an idiot to sell the MDA1000.” What the?!

What else is there to say? Personally, I am a bit deflated that the dear-to-my-heart McIntosh and the newer pieces they have made were just unable to compete with the other items in the lineup.

Even when we were just chatting in the kitchen, we kept going back and forth with what we had listened to, debating a pecking order, and why we heard what we heard.

For me, the bottom line is this: the Sabre DAC is just hype. I can’t think of anything else. It’s great in a multichannel scenario (read: Home Theatre), but for reproduction of 2-channel music in an audiophile realm – it just falls short. (/flamesuit on)

So, there you have it. What we expected to happen did not happen. What I wanted to happen did not happen. But what happened above is the truth, and I’m sticking to it.

I’m also sticking with my MDA1000 (for now). The search continues – but I know Dewey is fast at work on doing something…

[Lunchy]

[mati1979]

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Updated and finalized. Enjoy