jack64bit

...it depends on what kind of music files are you streaming. Until had the D150, I've never used the USB input because of the problem described above. I used to play my files from my Mac Mini with the help of a SPDIF converter like the Belcanto uLink. No problem at all but I don't have PCM files only... I've got a 2.000 of DSD albums and I had no possibilty to play them in "native mode" (DoP from a Mac Mini). Audirvana converted them into PCM before sending the streaming to the D150. The sound was good but I already had a good PCM DAC... the Belcanto 2.5. I was regret for this reason... I paid 3.500€ for a DAC that I used at half of its possibilty...

...I've replaced my D150 with a new PS Audio Direct Stream... It's another story... Yes, the price is a bit higher (here in Italy the D150 costs 3.600€ and the DS 4.950€) but now at the same price of the D150 we can get the new DS Junior that has higher sound quality and no problem at all... I'm really sorry because I'm a fan of McIntosh but they didn't a good job with this DAC... And it seems they take into consideration PC based player systems only... Very strange and unbelievable... Cheers, Danilo

...after some tests I cannot confirm what I've written before. I'm experiencing exactly what Sweetdreams described above... Both playing DSD and PCM files, there is a lack of the first milliseconds of the song... Using the COAXs inputs, no problem occurs... Kind regards, Danilo

Hello ALL. My D150 finally got back home... It has the Firmware v. 1.01 (not 1.1 as Ron wrote...). In the meantime I've upgraded the OS of my MacMini and the Audirvana version too. Now I'm running "El Capitan" updated to the last pathcset and Audirvana is 2.2.5. I've no longer experienced any problem in terms of popping noise or lack of chords. I set Audirvana as in the following: DSD via DoP 1.1 Integer Mode Yes 8 Gb of RAM to load traks into memory Play 1 second of silence at the beginning Mute during sample frequency changing Cheers, Danilo

I do agree with you. I also prefer A+. I've also got JRiver, it's a very powerfull tool but its "look and feel" isn't so user friendly. At the moment I've not any feedback from Damien but normally he takes into consideration our suggestions so I'm quite confident that the next A+ release will include these improvements. The reason why i sent my DAC to the laboratory is both to upgrade the firmware and to check if there's "something wrong" inside him... because I'm experiencing popping noise during the sample rate changing phase. Cheers, Danilo

This is from McIntosh. I think it's a very clear explanation how the D150 works. Unfortunately they don't mention Audirvana+... I've just dropped the info to Damien (A+ developer) so he can analyse the text and modify, if necessary, the A+ code to accommodate itself to the D150 behaviour... "We test with all file types from MP3 at 44.1 to DSD at 768 KHz. We use JRivers on both MAC and PC which will give bit perfect playback and display the exact data rate of the recording. In JR we set the output format to: All No Change. This would be from 44.1 through 384kHz on D150. Do not check- ' Bitsteam In DOP format'. D150 is designed to play DSD 64 and 128 in true DSD without conversion to DOP. This will also display DSD 64 and DSD 128 on D150 and the new models we are just releasing. In our New C52 and C47 preamps you can set JR output format to 44-> 768,000kHz, No Change, as these models also play DSD256. You can update the D150 to the New 1.1 version (maybe they mean the 1.01 version... - editor's note). This will stop the between track noise that the computer is generating and will unmute in 100 microseconds when the song starts to play. If the customer is ripping CDs these will have silence before the music plays but some downloads may start abruptly. If the computer and music program is properly configured this should only amount to 1/10 of a second mute. When someone says they are missing the first second of each song we know their setup is not optimized. If the music program and computer are not properly configured then you may have a longer mute as the D150 must communicate with the computer and have the data packets flowing. If the computer and music program are manipulating the music, changing the data rate and so on you may have a longer mute. This will also indicate non bit perfect playback. JRivers is the only program I know of that has a bit perfect indicator. USB 2.0 asynchronous playback on a computer can yield startling clarity and imaging when properly set up. The learning curve may be steep however." I will keep you informed of developments.

Hello Joe. My D150 is "Flying" to the McIntosh laboratory here in Italy... I hope in 3 weeks I can get back the DAC with no problem at all...

Nello Med. In my system I'm experiencing the issue (popping noise) only with USB and only before the first song being played. I usually run Audirvana + 2.2 but I've also JRiver and Amarra with iTunes. I'm experiencing the same issue with all the mentioned players. I'm in touch with our local McIntosh Italian main reseller. They said that devices with serial number starting from 1000 to... (I don't remember last figures...? but mine is in that range) are signalled to have some problem... I'm waiting for a call from the local laboratory so I can send them the D150 to analyse it and, I hope, to fix this issue. Via coaxial input no problem at all. Cheers, Danilo

Ah, ok understood. Damien told me the clicks occur because the DAC does'n mute the output stage during the sample rate changing... Maybe with the firmware 1.01 they "mute" to much... :-) In any case, apart this issues, the quality of the sound is excellent in my opinion. Thank you guys. Danilo

Hi. Can someone help me? Thank you! Danilo

Hello guys, my name is Danilo, I'm from Italy. I got the D150 a week ago and I'm experiencing the same problems described in this 3d. My D150 has the firmware v1.00 and I use the USB port only at the moment. Damien helped me last weekend providing me a beta version of A+ as a workaround but I still have the statics (clicks, pops... I don't know how to explain in English... ) before the first song being played. At the moment no chord is miss... OSX is up to date (10.0.5). JRiver and iTunes have some behaviour. They are up to date. What's not clear in my mind is if the FW v. 1.01 solves this kind of issue. Please advice. Thanks to all! Danilo