NEW Musical Fidelity DAC

I enjoy reading UK reviews (even though we have to pay exorbitant prices here in the US for publications like "What Hi-Fi?"). Still, I think all Americans should take British reviews with a grain of salt, especially since Americans generally have different tastes than the Brits. Americans like major-league SLAM in their bass, while UK listeners often focus more on subtle musicality and rhythm in their gear (i.e., Linn). In other words, you might find yourself in agreement with a British review in terms of their analysis and the rationale behind why they arrived at a certain conclusion, or you might find yourself feeling that a given British review simply doesn't apply to your tastes. Ultimately, I try to blend American and British reviews before making a serious purchase, in order to obtain multiple perspectives on the pros and cons of that particular item. Such was the case with the Denon 3802 receiver that I'll be adding to my home theater (Gallo speakers). I really felt the cross referencing of British and American reviews helped me get a better feel for the overall characteristics, sonic and otherwise, of this piece.

We tried other transports/cables and the problem was the DAC. It is a 24 bit solid state unit with 96K/192K switchable upsampling. It seems very well built and it's likely that the problem was just a fluke. I'll keep you posted on the sound when we get a replacement.

If you've ever used one, how much difference was there in sound as compared to their X24K with their X-PSU ? Just curious. Thanks for the update and i'd love to hear your thoughts. Sean
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It does sound terrific. We have had some other upsamplers here that have been fine, but not a big deal to me. So they sit because if I don't get a groove from it I can't get behind it.

Thus far this has been quite a different experience. I have been so backed up I have not been able to spend hours with it. I am most curious about the switchable upsampling frequency option with different discs. And how it works with different transports.

My tax appt is Thursday. I was going to get the final stuff together Wed nite. I will try to do it tonite (Tuesday), and if I don't commit suicide, will use Wednesday nite to just play with the DAC without interruption.

I will say compared to another product I have had. this is built much better. More substantial. Esp for the price.

The new MF DAC sounds quite good and gives alot of performance for the money. It still isn't as good as a $3500 single box unit (Linn Ikemi, Krell KAV-280cd, Meridian 508/24) but for the price it gets awfully close. If you have an older CD player that you don't want to replace but want a more open, spacious sound I'd definately recommend checking this unit out.