Does the new D-100 have....

[HiFiGuy528]

I thought they were counterfeit Beyerdynamic headphones from China. Maybe I should check them out. Thanks for the tip Ron.

 

[ron-c]

I have nicer headphones but these were fine for the point of the show that the D100 has a very powerful headphone amp. Last year I used radio Shack speaker cable on one system, not sure if that stimulated their sales.
This year we used McIntosh cables on all three active systems.

Thanks again,
Ron-C

 

[HiFiGuy528]

It definitely has me interested in those cans. It's on my Amazon Wish List.

 

[ecsrun]

I have the D100 hooked up and I am having nothing but problems with it... It does not freeze up when switching tracks like the C50, but I get a bit of crackle/pop periodically when using the USB port in ASIO mode.

I already tried replacing the software, the computer itself, every single cable... Added a furman power conditioner, etc etc. Every imaginable combination of buffer settings has been tried.. including completely different music players.. even tried comparing windows 7 to windows 8 to see if that made a difference.

I have the NAD M51 sitting on my media cabinet right next to the D100. If I take the exact same belken gold 2.0 USB cable and attach it to the NAD, the playback is perfect...

Anyone else receive this unit and have any crackling in ASIO USB mode?

Very noticeable on the 192Khz Norah Jones track 'Carnival Town' when the volume is turned up to moderate listening levels, i.e. 70-80db.

 

[huxlin]

D100 Issues

Are you still having issues with your D100? I've had one for a few weeks now and experienced some crackle/pop and stuttering a few times, even silence, using USB. I notice that it didn't matter what Khz file I was playing and the D100 screen would go to flat lines like it can't determine the bit or Khz.

I use BitPerfect on top of iTunes and after a lot of BitPerfect tweaking and restarting the D100 it hasn't happened in a few days. Not sure what to make of it. When it's not doing that, I'm extremely pleased with the DAC.

 

[Usbyte]

the D100 is a superb dac. i have mine for 3 weeks now. as a preamp, it s good too but sounds a bit flat. i like it as a dac going through my separate preamp. never had problems with freezes.

 

[william.keith]

I can only report my experience with the D100, others may have a different experience. The D100 is a fabulous piece of McIntosh gear, especially given the modest price. It is a world-class digital pre amplifier with a 8 channel 32-bit, 192kHz DAC used in stereo quad balanced mode. It has multiple digital inputs/outputs and the best headphone amplifier McIntosh has ever produced.

 

[ron-c]

The new headphone amp is also used in C2500, MA5200, MAC6700, MA6700, and MA7900 as well as the existing MCD1100.

Thanks,
Ron-C

 

[jcmc27281]

McIntosh D100 Lighting

So please.....does anyone have the real answer.......are the labels all lit on the front..........or just the McIntosh logo in the center.......thank you

 

[william.keith]

So please.....does anyone have the real answer.......are the labels all lit on the front..........or just the McIntosh logo in the center.......thank you

Just like the photo above shows as well as the photo on the web site, the nomenclature around the two control knobs do not light up.

 

[tr@nz]

DAC in MX121 the same?

Hi Ron,

Is the DAC in the MX121 the same chipset/board as in the D100?

Is there any sound benefit of using a D100 with coax in and fixed outputs into an MX121, versus directly using the coax in of the MX121 and running in Pure Direct mode?

Thanks!

 

[tutomac]

Hi Ron,

Is the DAC in the MX121 the same chipset/board as in the D100?

Is there any sound benefit of using a D100 with coax in and fixed outputs into an MX121, versus directly using the coax in of the MX121 and running in Pure Direct mode?

Thanks!

I have the same question!!

 

[ron-c]

D100 is completely different from any MX as they always have digital decoders that process both bitsream and PCM.
D100 and MCD1100 share some design although they are not identical.

Thanks,
Ron-C

 

[tr@nz]

Hi Ron. Thanks for the quick reply.

In theory sending D100's XLR fixed outputs into the MX121 XLR input, and using Pure Direct mode would sound better than just using MX121's DAC?

This way any of the MX121's sound processing would be bypassed, correct?

Any way to turn off all the D100 lights either now or through future firmware upgrade?

Just for fun check how much noise is created by those lights. The easiest and cheapest is to use a little AM radio and hold the antenna close to the lights. You will hear screeching that goes away when you turn the unit off. In an MX121 you can see how much impact Pure Direct mode has versus having the lights on using the same method! Ever heard the impact of those fluorescent office lights on sound and listening fatigue? Similar thing I guess.

A 'pure-direct' mode on the D100 would be great!

 

[ron-c]

All is quiet at the rear panel on D100. Radiation of noise on digital units is tightly controlled.

Thanks,
Ron-C

 

[tr@nz]

Thanks Ron.

That is reassuring.

 

[EfeTe]

corrects the digital data stream using the software driven McIntosh digital engine. This processing and correction of the digital data is performed before the signal is sent to the DAC for conversion to analog. Poorly made or recorded CDs and low data rate compressed music are all greatly improved by the McIntosh digital engine which results in superior performance as compared to others using the same DAC chips.

Music to my ears mate, that was my aim exactly when I went for it. You know, we all have multiple recordings from a variety of sources, some brilliant some not as good so to have a way of "ensuring the sound is gonna come out solid and universally good regardless the recording" is just perfect.

Cheers