New Manhattan Dac from Mytek

[BigGuy]

After dealing with total replacement of my central AC system last week, I finally had a chance to A-B the demo Manhattan II against my Manhattan I.

 

Because I had set up the Man II with USB driver and Control Panel the day before, on Saturday a couple of my fellow Society members walked in on the Man II playing.  Playing both new tracks and some of our favorites it was immediately obvious that SQ had improved from what we all remembered with the Manhattan I.  It was not until we switched back to the Man I did we all realize just how much of an improvement it was.  "Gortoz a ran" from Blackhawk Down was fabulous,  On Ulla Meinecke "Die Tanzerin", the increased micro-detail of the Man II not only highlighted the background voices but gave them a 3 dimensional quality.  The guitar playing on Nils Lofgren "Keith Don't Go" not only gave dimension to his fingers on the strings but also real body to the wood acoustic guitar.  You could actually place distinct bodies on the background vocals of Chris Jones "No Sanctuary Here".  Johnny Cash sang "Hurt" in my living room.  Anjani "Blue Alert" thru the Man II was probably one of the best things I have ever heard on any system!

In general terms the bass was tighter, better controlled; treble was extended without glare (not that the Man I had an issue); the increased blackness of the background allowed low level details to be heard.  The soundstage was both wider and deeper allowing better localization of performers and instruments.  Overall, an even more relaxed and musical presentation than the Man I.  One listener likened the listening experience to being in the studio in front of the performers and listening rather than them being just sounds in space.

 

Since I use a custom-built LDR-based (similar to Tortuga) preamp, we operated the Man II the same as the Man I...Analog @ 100% with Bypass disabled.  I had found this setup better in my system than Bypass alone.  Filter settings were AUTO for DSD and SRMP for PCM based on findings in the Stereophile review.  VOLUME TRIM was set to -12dB to remove distortion at other settings.  (NOTE: I had installed the jumpers in my Man I to reduce the output by 6dB to remove similar distortion.)

 

All equipment, cabling, etc., was the same for both Man I and Man II...

• PC-based music server optimized for audio playback running JRMC20
• ADNACO USB-Glass module used between PC and DAC to provide galvanic isolation
• Man I or II DAC
• Custom LDR-based preamp
• PASS XA60.8 monoblocks
• Martin Logan CLX ART electrostatic speakers
• 2 x HSU powered subwoofers for L/R stereo
• 1 x Velodyne powered subwoofer for Rear
• PSAudio P300 and Ultimate Outlet for front end components
• PSAudio Quintessence for misc power, e.g., subs
• Pangea AC9 and AC14 power cords
• Harmonic Technologies Photon interconnects
• Merrill Audio speaker cables
• 20amp home runs with hospital grade duplexes for system power

 

[skimmel]

Hi, I just got a Manhattan II and was wondering if there is a burn-in period and, if so, about how long?  Currently (out of the box) it sounds a bit veiled to me.  Thanks.

[BigGuy]

14 hours ago, skimmel said:

Hi, I just got a Manhattan II and was wondering if there is a burn-in period and, if so, about how long?  Currently (out of the box) it sounds a bit veiled to me.  Thanks.

Congrats on the new toy, skimmel!  Just sent my Man I out for upgrade to Man II based on A-B of the two DACs as noted above.

 

I would recommend some break-in time.  Either just let it play for maybe 20 hours or use something like the IsoTek disc...

 

<https://www.musicdirect.com/equipment/isotek-full-system-enhancer-burn-in-cd-version-2>

 

Version 2 has a 4th track for music servers that is not on Version 1.

I use Version 1, which apparently has been discontinued, to break in new equipment or wake it up if it has sat unplayed for protracted period.

[skimmel]

9 hours ago, BigGuy said:

Congrats on the new toy, skimmel!  Just sent my Man I out for upgrade to Man II based on A-B of the two DACs as noted above.

 

I would recommend some break-in time.  Either just let it play for maybe 20 hours or use something like the IsoTek disc...

 

<https://www.musicdirect.com/equipment/isotek-full-system-enhancer-burn-in-cd-version-2>

 

Version 2 has a 4th track for music servers that is not on Version 1.

I use Version 1, which apparently has been discontinued, to break in new equipment or wake it up if it has sat unplayed for protracted period.

Thanks!  I've run it for 24 hours and it is sounding better.  I'm going to keep running it and also run the IsoTek on it.  Hopefully it opens up more.  Thanks.

[tdimler]

BigGuy,

 

Very interesting to know that you thought the Manhattan II is significantly better.  Have you tried the analog preamp to see if there are any notable improvements there?

 

I am also curious to see how long it takes your Manhattan I to be updated.

 

Best

 

TD

[BigGuy]

43 minutes ago, tdimler said:

BigGuy,

 

Very interesting to know that you thought the Manhattan II is significantly better.  Have you tried the analog preamp to see if there are any notable improvements there?

 

I am also curious to see how long it takes your Manhattan I to be updated.

 

Best

 

TD

Not even close as assessed by myself and two other experience listeners.  I have not personally tried the analog preamp as standalone.  I can say that a fellow Society member who was using the Brooklyn with SBooster LPS as an analog pre in his system bought the Manhattan II and, after listening, and never put the Brooklyn back into his system.  For reference, we had heard his Brooklyn/SBooster combo in A-B with my Manhattan I and thought that Manhattan was moderately better.  Having heard this comparison, I would offer that the Manhattan II is in another class relative to either of them with the upgraded DAC and preamp stage.

 

Yes, me two!  Stay tuned...

[Ralf11]

I'm waiting for them to intro the Bronx DAC

[BigGuy]

1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

I'm waiting for them to intro the Bronx DAC

They also have Queens and Harlem to work with...

[lucretius]

2 hours ago, BigGuy said:

They also have Queens and Harlem to work with...

 

Not to mention Staten Island. Though, Harlem is not a borough.

 

[BigGuy]

On 8/29/2017 at 2:30 PM, tdimler said:

BigGuy,

 

I am also curious to see how long it takes your Manhattan I to be updated.

 

Best

 

TD

Received the updated Manhattan after 20 days including weekends but not shipping days.  I am close to Bklyn, NY so UPS is essentially overnight.

 

Breaking in new bits with IsoTek Optimising CD for last 24 hours tho' it did sound extremely good right out of box.

[skimmel]

4 hours ago, BigGuy said:

Received the updated Manhattan after 20 days including weekends but not shipping days.  I am close to Bklyn, NY so UPS is essentially overnight.

 

Breaking in new bits with IsoTek Optimising CD for last 24 hours tho' it did sound extremely good right out of box.

 

I got a new Manhattan II (not upgrade) and found that the break in period was quite long.  After running Iso Tek for 24 hours, it still sounded worse than the ADI2-Pro.  I ran it for 5 more days and made a big difference.

 

[BigGuy]

1 hour ago, skimmel said:

 

I got a new Manhattan II (not upgrade) and found that the break in period was quite long.  After running Iso Tek for 24 hours, it still sounded worse than the ADI2-Pro.  I ran it for 5 more days and made a big difference.

 

Thanks, Skimmel.  Will let burn-in go for a few more days.

 

Are you happy with it now?

[skimmel]

3 hours ago, BigGuy said:

Thanks, Skimmel.  Will let burn-in go for a few more days.

 

Are you happy with it now?

 

Yes, extremely!  I returned that ADI2-Pro!  It's got a great soundstage, speed, and overall tonal balance that I really like.  

[BigGuy]

13 hours ago, skimmel said:

 

Yes, extremely!  I returned that ADI2-Pro!  It's got a great soundstage, speed, and overall tonal balance that I really like.  

Great!   Me too.  It is on another level from the Man I.  One of the few times that I did not have to agonize over whether SQ was improved over what it was replacing.

 

Next project is to play with the PCM Filter Shape.  Right now I am using the SRMP filter which seemed to best match my preferences from the Stereophile review.

 

Enjoy!

[skimmel]

1 hour ago, BigGuy said:

Great!   Me too.  It is on another level from the Man I.  One of the few times that I did not have to agonize over whether SQ was improved over what it was replacing.

 

Next project is to play with the PCM Filter Shape.  Right now I am using the SRMP filter which seemed to best match my preferences from the Stereophile review.

 

Enjoy!

 That is my favorite filter right now as well.  To be honest, I can't always hear a lot of difference among them, depending on what I'm listening to.  It's seems more obvious with certain types of music but I've only had the DAC for a few weeks so still need more time to sort out.

[tdimler]

Thanks for the update!

[Morten Teinum]

 

A new era in digital music playback begins.  Made a short unboxing video for fun 

So far this DAC is very impressing.

 

 

[Linefader]

Does anybody use the Manhattan 2 with MPD on Linux?

 

I had a Stereo 192 before and I was using it with lintweaker's ALSA driver

Now, I have the Manhattan 2 which should work driverless with Linux.

Actually, the device is recognized and listed as card 1, when I type aplay -l

Therefore, I configured device "hw:1,0" for the audio_output in my mpd.conf

But when I try to play something, MPD complains: "Device or resource busy"

 

I can play files manually using the Manhattan (by typing aplay <file>.wav in the terminal), but this is of course not the way, I want to use this DAC - It should be connected to my Server running MPD and I want to use graphical clients (on Android/iOS) for remote control (just like I was using my Stereo 192 before).

 

When I write aplay -D "hw:1,0" (like configured for my MPD), I get this error:

Sample format non available
Available formats:
- S32_LE
- SPECIAL

Can anybody help?

[johndoe21ro]

Anybody else about the Manhattan II?

[BigGuy]

On 9/14/2017 at 10:55 AM, BigGuy said:

Great!   Me too.  It is on another level from the Man I.  One of the few times that I did not have to agonize over whether SQ was improved over what it was replacing.

 

Next project is to play with the PCM Filter Shape.  Right now I am using the SRMP filter which seemed to best match my preferences from the Stereophile review.

 

Enjoy!

Edit of myself...

 

Based on my reading various articles on PCM filters particularly those posted by Archimago, I have switched to use of the FRLP filter and find it be more extended and open than the SRMP>

[Ralf11]

On 8/29/2017 at 7:25 PM, lucretius said:

 

Not to mention Staten Island. Though, Harlem is not a borough.

 

 

the Staten Island DAC would not want to play any urban music, and would add garbage to your files

 

but an Uptown DAC... it would be tuned to play A-Train perfectly

[mecani]

someone can report.
that may sound better
the usb input with a melco player or the roon ready network input

[pis99]

Hi,

 

Is there an easy way to get Manhattan II play DSD512 without DIY. Such like a commercial DDC in between? 

 

Thanks!

 

 

[FinnH]

Hello.

I tried to use bnc output for external clock to my cd-player (Sony cdp-d500). Didnt work. Does anybody know if it possible to do like this?

[matthias]

Haha,

the pleasure of rejuvenating an old thread from 2014...

 

Matt