Review and Measurements of MARCH audio dac1

[Thomas savage]

Maybe he already did it.

but I don't think he will post a photo

Well it won’t be that intresting there’s plenty of pictures of the insides in The Khadas thread.

 

[March Audio]

no, I bought a case from Taobao.com， it is about $7.

I spend half day to drill five holes and assemble them together

5 holes, so the board is not supported?

 

[wyrainer]

5 holes, so the board is not supported?

yes, it is supported.

I don't know how to explain it, let me post a photo

the green board is sticked on the bottom

the black cable is optical fiber

 

[March Audio]

yes, it is supported.

I don't know how to explain it, let me post a photo

the green board is sticked on the bottom

View attachment 19150

With respect, do you understand why that would be an un-sellable product, and why to produce something of high enough quality to sell to the general public will cost more?

 

[graz_lag]

I was just continuing the point and agreeing with you

As on many topics, experiences among us may differ, which is very good for an open exchange of ideas and opinions ...
I was referring to hard-coating, my suppliers probably or certainly work with parameters, which are not as tight as the ones for items that go thru the retail channels.
AFAIAC, for the black as well, the level of darkness varies with very minor differences in alloy, temperature, current density, dissolved aluminum, rack contacts, time, thickness, and on and on ... all variables you @maxxevv know very well, but again my parts are for industrial applications.

I am very happy if March Audio does not suffer QC issue at least on this part of his supplying chain, I am sure he has enough troubles (or pleasures ) associated to the starting up of his business.

Very nice cases BTW @March Audio !
Is it the bottom plate that detaches from the case ?
With all the jealous fellows in here ... it looks you need to design your own anti-tamper security screws ...

 

[graz_lag]

"The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves".
Quote by William Penn

 

[wyrainer]

With respect, do you understand why that would be an un-sellable product, and why to produce something of high enough quality to sell to the general public will cost more?

Maybe.....

with respect,
my english is poor, maybe I will say something rudely, sorry for that

I completed it for myself, so it is not very beautiful, I only make it work.

I produced something, I sold something, I don't think a case is worth of $300 like yours.

I agree that you can't make everyone be you customers, so sell it to right guy

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

This is very entertaining.

It might be nice though if people who are up in arms (rightfully so) about the crap being slung at March, rethink how Schiit Audio and their principles are often spoken of here.

 

[gvl]

You guys can say whatever you want but I will be pretty turned off if this indeed ends up being a Tone board in disguise, and especially by the fact March chose to use ASR as a platform to promote the product. Worse yet if Amir knew it. Definitely a new low. Worse than Airist copying PCB layouts for their R2R DAC in my book. If you make a Tone enclosure be an honest guy and sell a Tone enclosure. Next thing we see is a re-cased JDS Labs Atom for $500 and excuses how expensive it is to mill and anodize aluminum. Geez.

 

[wyrainer]

You guys can say whatever you want but I will be pretty turned off if this indeed ends up being a Tone board in disguise, and especially by the fact March chose to use ASR as a platform to promote the product. Worse yet if Amir knew it. Definitely a new low. Worse than Airist copying PCB layouts for their R2R DAC in my book. If you make a Tone enclosure be an honest guy and sell a Tone enclosure. Next thing we see is a re-cased JDS Labs Atom for $500 and excuses how expensive it is to mill and anodize aluminum. Geez.

" If you make a Tone enclosure be an honest guy and sell a Tone enclosure. "

 

[rajapruk]

Worse yet if Amir knew it. Definitely a new low.

Could also be a new high!

 

[gvl]

Could also be a new high!

Indeed.

 

[VintageFlanker]

You guys can say whatever you want but I will be pretty turned off if this indeed ends up being a Tone board in disguise, and especially by the fact March chose to use ASR as a platform to promote the product. Worse yet if Amir knew it. Definitely a new low. Worse than Airist copying PCB layouts for their R2R DAC in my book. If you make a Tone enclosure be an honest guy and sell a Tone enclosure. Next thing we see is a re-cased JDS Labs Atom for $500 and excuses how expensive it is to mill and anodize aluminum. Geez.

Get your own case for it and tell your friends you designed it.

 

[wyrainer]

You guys can say whatever you want but I will be pretty turned off if this indeed ends up being a Tone board in disguise, and especially by the fact March chose to use ASR as a platform to promote the product. Worse yet if Amir knew it. Definitely a new low. Worse than Airist copying PCB layouts for their R2R DAC in my book. If you make a Tone enclosure be an honest guy and sell a Tone enclosure. Next thing we see is a re-cased JDS Labs Atom for $500 and excuses how expensive it is to mill and anodize aluminum. Geez.

March audio dac1 is $449,
the Tone board is $99.
so the enclosure of March Audio dac1 is $350.

let me calculate:
the massdrop THX AAA 789 AMP is $349,
the aluminum enclosure is $350,
so the pcb of 789 amp should be $-1.

Massdrop don't need to give me $1, they only give me the PCB for free, that will be very ok for me

 

[DonH56]

It might be good to remember Schiit exhibited poor performance and made false claims about performance and safety issues, none of which March Audio has done...

And too many have obviously never taken a product to market and seen the overhead required to support such an endeavor. Materials cost tends to be low on most products and is a small part of the wholesale price required to break even. Paying for development, salaries, benefits, rent, insurance, shipping, business taxes, etc. all must be factored into the final price. Where a product is developed and manufactured plays a large part in that overhead cost, natch.

 

[invaderzim]

<snip>

Is that your pet rabbit by the way?

Yes, it is. He's my ultimate A/B tester. When I change something and he pauses and sits listens to the music a bit I know something is sounding different. When I get it just right he will peak around furniture towards the speakers trying to see who is there when he first hears the change. Bunnies seem to really like music. Our last one liked smooth jazz this one likes peppy classical music.

 

[Headphonaholic]

March audio dac1 is $449,
the Tone board is $99.
so the enclosure of March Audio dac1 is $350.

let me calculate:
the massdrop THX AAA 789 AMP is $349,
the aluminum enclosure is $350,
so the pcb of 789 amp should be $-1.

Massdrop don't need to give me $1, they only give me the PCB for free, that will be very ok for me

Economy of scale must be a foreign concept to you...

 

[bunkbail]

The amount of even and odd harmonics on the FFT graphs of both DAC1 and tone board look extremely similar. It's very hard for me to dismiss the possibility of a clone. Heck, even the IMD graphs are a carbon copy of each other.

 

[Krunok]

Guys, I've just heard the breaking news: March audio dac2 will soon be released!
As you can see preparations for review and measurements are on their way. Any similarities with existing DACs are purely accidental.

 

[Veri]

The amount of even and odd harmonics on the FFT graphs of both DAC1 and tone board look extremely similar. It's very hard for me to dismiss the possibility of a clone. Heck, even the IMD graphs are a carbon copy of each other.

Now you got me interested. Look at the jitter graphs of both.

It's the same. All other things can be explained to be similar, but the jitter right down to the wideness of the sidebands. Is. The. Same.

What the heck?