Audiolab M-DAC mini

[adamrobertshaw]

I'd been looking for a portable battery powered headphone DAC for a while and managed to pick up the new M-DAC mini today; the same day my Hi Fi dealer got their first delivery of these units.

I'm currently listening to FLAC files on a PC via Foobar2000 v1.3.15 and HD800 headphones.

It is the cleanest and crispest sounding headphone DAC I've owned. There's real weight to the bass without being boomy. Vocals are clear. High frequencies are a joy with no shrill tones detected.

I chose the M-DAC mini over the Mojo (which I haven't heard) as it has left / right anologue outs, can take a full size digi coax and has a full 6.3mm pin socket.

It worked as well with my Macbook Air and Audirvana version 3 earlier today and had no trouble playing back 384khz upsampled FLAC files.

I was able to connect it easily to an S7 Edge via USB OTG and bluetooth. I had to set Direct Volume Control in PowerAmp though. Not as convincing on SQ but perhaps this is down to me not finding the right volume out and equaliser settings within the phone / app software. I think this is where Mac and PC software is better able to tweak the output settings into the DAC.

The only adjustments you can make on the unit are one / off, volume and input selection. Fine by me.

It connects from a PC and Mac by Micro USB, so not USB B connectors. Thankfully I have a couple of 60cm Micro USB leads spare.

It can drive the 300 ohm HD800 with ease. I doubt I'm at 35% on the volume knob and it is loud and clear.

It is quite a big case form so it won't go in your pocket but it actually weighs very little so you can carry it in a bag very easily.

I'll try it into an amp on Sunday to see if it is as good in a stereo system.

But at £299 I think it is an absolute bargain.

 

[Gray]

Good for you adamrobertshaw, I thought the spec. and price on this looked good.

WHF haven't even done a full review yet, you certainly didn't waste any time. Glad you're happy with it. Quite a few more of us will be interested I'm sure, not least M-DAC / MDAC+ contemplators.

My use for it would be fixed rather than portable so I wouldn't care about it not going in my pocket.

 

[adamrobertshaw]

It was just coincidence that they arrived on Saturday and I'd made my enquiry before I travelled.

It worked very well with an AK Jr via bluetooth. I managed to sort out the S7 Edge too; playing by bluetooth / PowerAmp and using the tone controls (rather than equaliser) with a bit of cross feed. The M-DAC mini can drive large / high impedence over-ears whereas the AK Jr just can't.

I've tried the M-DAC mini as a unit with my main hi fi set up.

Listening test on USB against a dual DAC 32 bit ESS Pioneer U-05. The Pioneer had more weight and soundstage but that is possibly the benefit of having large transformers, customisable DAC filters and upscaling vs the straightforward 24 bit DAC in the Audiolab.

I also did a listening test on coax from the Pioneer and with the same results as above. Same when comparing to the 32 bit DAC in my Cyrus pre-amp.

What I can say is that the vocals on the M-DAC mini seemed better separated and my ears were drawn straight into the vocals. The mids and bass were more relaxed / warmer than through my hi fi kit. I had the feeling that a long listening session would rarely feel fatiguing with the M-DAC mini whereas my usual listening is a bit forward and about maximum detail retrieval.

I think you can place the M-DAC mini in a hi fi stereo system. The analogue outputs are not fixed level. The volume had to be set to about 60% to get the same levels as my Cyrus kit.

But the M-DAC mini is definitely value for money and a keeper.