Musical Fidelity MX-DAC Review (Balanced DAC)

[Helicopter]

That’s cherry-picking. The dongle has much higher jitter and worse linearity. And of course only 1v output.

The dongle is 1% of the price.

What about D90SE? That is cheaper too.

 

[JJB70]

Why are these flagship priced DAC's so poor in performance and engineered so poorly. Aside from Mola Mola Tambuiqui and Okto Dac8, i don't see any other flagship that can be justified for price and performance. Much deserved headless panther IMO.

The audio manufacturers need product to sell in an era when the electronic parts of the chain have been commoditised. Hence the mystique around DACs. And of course the usual audio reviewers in magazines and those who want to believe are part of the game as an honest evaluation (that transparent DACs cost peanuts and that audible performance of built-in DACs is fine) is an existential threat to audio manufacturers and everything some obsessives hold dear. If people want an expensive DAC in a nice box this is probably fine, if you just want a DAC that works and need a separate DAC then you can pay less than a tenth of the price and get something that is perfectly fine.

 

[KeithPhantom]

So that’s a good reason to not recommend it, but not to say it’s broken. ASR attracts plenty of invalid criticism we can be proud to argue against, but if objective measurements are to have any persuasive power, this is not defensible.

I am going to be laxer, why should I buy this over anything else that is cheaper, has better support, and may look better? It is not broken since it can reproduce signals (albeit not that faithfully in the electrical realm). When creating a commercial product, there is general guidance advice that says that your product may be a success if it differentiates from the crowd in a crowded market. I do not see the value proposition of this product anywhere.

 

[617]

I agree. I could deal with less than state of the art performance if the case was nicer and bigger and had, you know, a volume control or something. Something which looks nice in your living room.

DAC performance simply doesn't matter. I don't think anyone could tell between any DAC with a SINAD above 70. Listen to a signal attenuated 70db and tell me I'm wrong.

I always liked MF's industrial design but their cheaper products are kind of pointless. Do they make a preamp with the same form factor even?

 

[Dave-Oh]

I am going to be laxer, why should I buy this over anything else that is cheaper, has better support, and may look better? It is not broken since it can reproduce signals (albeit not that faithfully in the electrical realm). When creating a commercial product, there is general guidance advice that says that your product may be a success if it differentiates from the crowd in a crowded market. I do not see the value proposition of this product anywhere.

It’s not competitive now but it’s been around a while. I owned one briefly a couple of years ago. Is it a fair judgment to basically call it junk because some companies recently cracked the code of producing super-performers at low cost? I don’t know the answer. I guess it depends on what Amir is attempting to signify with the Panthers.

 

[PeteL]

JItter contributes to SINAD since jitter is timing errors that happen so fast that increase noise, lowering SNR, thus, lowering SINAD. It doesn't matter that much as well since SINAD is dominated by distortion.

I am not sure I understand clearly the relation between Jitter and Noise. By definition, Jitter is a distortion of the reproduced waveform., do you care to elaborate or to demonstrate a bit how Jitter increase noise? That single sentence doesn't make me understand what you mean. I'm not saying it's wrong.

 

[YSC]

Just found it's using PCM1795... it's a shame they perform like this using the established dac chip and at this cost..

 

[KeithPhantom]

I am not sure I understand clearly the relation between Jitter and Noise. By definition, Jitter is a distortion of the reproduced waveform., do you care to elaborate or to demonstrate a bit how Jitter increase noise? That single sentence doesn't make me understand what you mean. I'm not saying it's wrong.

It happens mostly at higher frequencies, but phase jitter affects the SNR and the effects can be calculated with this formula:
SNR(dBFS) = –20log(2πf(in)σ) (sigma = jitter in RMS second). Phase noise is a frequency-domain view of the noise spectrum around the oscillator signal, while jitter is at time domain measure of the timing accuracy of the oscillator period.

 

[YSC]

It’s not competitive now but it’s been around a while. I owned one briefly a couple of years ago. Is it a fair judgment to basically call it junk because some companies recently cracked the code of producing super-performers at low cost? I don’t know the answer. I guess it depends on what Amir is attempting to signify with the Panthers.

I think it's related to the date being reviewed and comparing to the current offerings, but tbh I think it's a bit harsh sometimes. I myself would say anything able to reproduce 16bit is a pass on usability or the personal goal as I do believe that's all we need for hifi resolution.

But then considering the components it used, the final performance it's a let down with the price

 

[fffffgggg54]

you ideally don't want your translator to alter the message or the tone now do you?

When translating goes wrong:

 

[AnalogSteph]

Just found it's using PCM1795... it's a shame they perform like this using the established dac chip and at this cost..

Getting a measly <105 dB(A) worth of dynamic range out of a part capable of 123 dB(A) is an utter joke. They must have screwed up bigtime somewhere.

 

[PeteL]

It happens mostly at higher frequencies, but phase jitter affects the SNR and the effects can be calculated with this formula:
SNR(dBFS) = –20log(2πf(in)σ) (sigma = jitter in RMS second). Phase noise is a frequency-domain view of the noise spectrum around the oscillator signal, while jitter is at time domain measure of the timing accuracy of the oscillator period.
View attachment 155134

Thanks, yes it's effect is indeed of random nature

 

[Newman]

So that’s a good reason to not recommend it, but not to say it’s broken. ASR attracts plenty of invalid criticism we can be proud to argue against, but if objective measurements are to have any persuasive power, this is not defensible.

Perhaps you wanted this one

OTOH the headless panther is consistent with the panther given to similar-testing products.

Amir would be accused of inconsistency if he made this one any different.

Can't win.

 

[Beershaun]

aside from the linearity, the price, and the incorrect SINAD on the website, I can't see why this DAC gets a headless panther. Amir could you provide some additional specifics on what parts are broken? I do agree it's an uncompetitive DAC at an uncompetitive price. Maybe it's clumsy chef panther?

 

[PeteL]

aside from the linearity, the price, and the incorrect SINAD on the website, I can't see why this DAC gets a headless panther. Amir could you provide some additional specifics on what parts are broken? I do agree it's an uncompetitive DAC at an uncompetitive price. Maybe it's clumsy chef panther?

I am also often quite critical of the headless for more complex products, stuff that has plenty of features, DSP, sometime apps, that provides high power, etc, where sometime a handful of measurments to me doesn't weight in so much on the overall value proposal as other performance metrics to deserve to be put dismissed as crap products, but, in this case... Hey DACS are such a commodity and there are literally hundreds of those that are all aimed at doing the same thing with nothing extra (OK balance, but there are plenty of those too). It's got one job to do and this one doesn't manage to do the job as well as the vast majority of the sub 200$ stuff, gotta draw the line somewhere.

 

[respice finem]

...One says "mellow" and the other "lively?" How can it be both?

One reviewer was listening to a mellow track, the other one to a lively one

But seriously: It's sad you can't trust the reputation of a manufacturer. Even if the "sins" shouldn't be audible in most cases, it is a step back compared with many cheaper DACs (including ones from the same company), so money wasted for the buyer, somehow...

If those were my panthers, I would give it the piggybank one.

 

[Nango]

Isn't that a 6 year old design? A lot happened since then...

Its price didn't change.

 

[Beershaun]

I am also often quite critical of the headless for more complex products, stuff that has plenty of features, DSP, sometime apps, that provides high power, etc, where sometime a handful of measurments to me doesn't weight in so much on the overall value proposal as other performance metrics to deserve to be put dismissed as crap products, but, in this case... Hey DACS are such a commodity and there are literally hundreds of those that are all aimed at doing the same thing with nothing extra (OK balance, but there are plenty of those too). It's got one job to do and this one doesn't manage to do the job as well as the vast majority of the sub 200$ stuff, gotta draw the line somewhere.

Sure. I see the headless panther as something broken or otherwise not functioning as expected or advertised. I see the piggybank panther as someone selling snake oil or a device that doesn't live up to the marketing promise or can't because the problem it solves is fake so they are trying to take peoples money for nothing. There is definitely the "you decide" panther, where it does what it says it does but you could get something better at that price point or missing some expected features to be competitive. This seems like it's overpriced and obsolete. So maybe a "panther listening to a record player?" Something to indicate this product is out of date or obsolete and should just be avoided?

 

[JWAmerica]

If you spend $1000 and get a device with a cheap wall wart, you get what you deserve. At least the ChiFi options frequently come with beefy laptop power supplies. To say nothing of the other performance limitations...

 

[respice finem]

What would be optimal for me: an evaluation as percentage of the highest ranked device's outcome in single categories (SINAD, channel balance etc.). Not realistic, I know, and inherently complex, it would also be variable if a new device became the new "top dog".

Then again, if you acknowledge the certain relativity of the panther rating, it helps you overcome your own laziness to read the review thoroughly works for me, anyway.