Mda1000

[Regimen]

Greetings All,

I am getting ready to add an MDA1000 to my system. Why you may ask, would I want to add a 15 year old DAC to my system ? Lots and lots of spectacular reviews would be one answer. And total respect and awe of the C1000 I added earlier this year would be the other. These "1000" series components really seem like a high water mark for the brand to me, and I have no use for the things it doesn't do. I only need 24/96 via SPDIF for Qobuz and that will suit me just fine for many years to come.

Any owners here who would like to cheer me on ? Anyone think I'm nuts and should be looking at something newer in the "DAC of the month" club?

Fire away...I can take it :-)

jblnut

[JemHadar]

Still use the MDA1000 in one of my setups...and will never part with it.

The C1000 paired with the MDA1000 is a killer combo.

Have the MCD1000 too...but that one is sitting in a closet as I just don’t spin silver discs anymore.

Enjoy your MDA as many fellow AA members do

[PHC1]

I enjoyed MDA1000/MCD1000 combo immensely for some years. One of the most musical, analog sounding DACs I’ve ever come across. Not the latest word in detail and resolution but those particular attributes were always a distant second to analog like smoothness in my book.


I don’t buy into/pay money for the high resolution recordings unless they were actually recorded that way to begin with. I don’t pay money for upsampled stuff, I listen to it over streaming platforms. There are a few boutique studios putting out a bit of really high quality recorded/high resolution music but it is a drop in the ocean of all the music out there.

So in reality 44 and 96 is absolutely fine and especially with a smooth dac like the MDA1000.




Enjoy, it is a treat to listen to.

[Jean-Marc jmajma]

I have MDA/MCD1000, with C1000 T and C...and I can say you made the right choice, in my opinion.

In the past I and friends compared the MDA with a very high end up to date at this time stack from MSB, and we all were Ok on the winner: MDA.

Recently, I used my MCD to compare MDA (via AES/EBU) and a Sabre chip (Pioneer N70 AE via coaxial): I had not much time and I'll do again this test this week end, but I found the Sabre to be little bit much clear in the highs, and bass a little bit more tight.

Anyway, it was soooo subtle different, and I even don't know if it was better, especially on long listening sessions .

I'll keep for a long time my MDA in my opinion.

PS: I would like to compare to dCS BARTOK, if someone can chime in?

[bart]

Originally Posted by Jean-Marc jmajma

I have MDA/MCD1000, with C1000 T and C...and I can say you made the right choice, in my opinion.

In the past I and friends compared the MDA with a very high end up to date at this time stack from MSB, and we all were Ok on the winner: MDA.

Recently, I used my MCD to compare MDA (via AES/EBU) and a Sabre chip (Pioneer N70 AE via coaxial): I had not much time and I'll do again this test this week end, but I found the Sabre to be little bit much clear in the highs, and bass a little bit more tight.

Anyway, it was soooo subtle different, and I even don't know if it was better, especially on long listening sessions .

I'll keep for a long time my MDA in my opinion.

PS: I would like to compare to dCS BARTOK, if someone can chime in?

Bonsoir Jean-Marc,

If you want to compare, the Mola Mola DAC, at 10K, is also a top candidate.
I haven't heard a better and more natural DAC yet, certainly at that price.

John Darko preferred the Mola Mola to the Bartok.

[SAM992]

the age of a DAC is totally irrelevant in terms of it's performance if at the time it was made, it was made with the best possibly fidelity in mind, and the underlying technology of the music (i.e. it's sample rate and bit rate) are the same as it was originally designed to play.

What I'm basically trying to say is... if it sounded great 15 years ago, nothing will change now in terms of music it supports.... now, whether it will play 512DSD is a whole other story... but if you don't own 512DSD, who cares?

I don't see having to replace my dCS DAC for the rest of my life... I can't imagine a format of music coming out anything soon that will make it obsolete on the formats it's designed to support currently.

For being a "electronics and electrical" based product, HiFi equipment is surprisingly immune to the effects of progressing technology obsolescence... There is only so much we can do to make sound reproduce as it was originally recorded, and if we're 98% there... the other 2% could take 100 years..

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by Jblnut

Greetings All,

I am getting ready to add an MDA1000 to my system. Why you may ask, would I want to add a 15 year old DAC to my system ? Lots and lots of spectacular reviews would be one answer. And total respect and awe of the C1000 I added earlier this year would be the other. These "1000" series components really seem like a high water mark for the brand to me, and I have no use for the things it doesn't do. I only need 24/96 via SPDIF for Qobuz and that will suit me just fine for many years to come.

Any owners here who would like to cheer me on ? Anyone think I'm nuts and should be looking at something newer in the "DAC of the month" club?

Fire away...I can take it :-)

jblnut

jblnut...I am here to cheer you on, and I'm here to tell you that I have an MDA1000 in my system (as well as an MCD1000 transport) and they aren't going ANYWHERE.

The MDA1000 is one of the finest DACS ever made, in my opinion. But what do I know?

I do know that it is a fabulous and sublime sounding DAC. For USB capability, I have a Bryston BUC-1 USB converter.

Try the MDA1000. You'll love it. And oh, by the way, I'm a JBL nut too....

[Regimen]

Thank you all for the great input. I picked it up today from a fellow audiophile. I was in awe of his giant Rowland amp and BAT pre...truly world class stuff. I got the MDA1000 home and my wife and I just finished a 2 hour musical tour of Qobuz. She could A/B it from my old DAC every time without fail. It's really sweet and the synergy with my system is spot-on. The few (slightly) critical reviews of it I found mentioned a warm midrange and gently rolled off treble and those are things I was happy to have - total win/win.

Gonna be a great winter for music here at chez JBLnut :-)

[damacman]

Well done - I kinda figured you'd enjoy it.