I Love My New MS300!

[Victor]

Hello All,

I picked up my new MS300 on Saturday and I love it.

When I first hooked up the MS300 and turned it on for the first time, it went through its own setup procedure and everything worked the first time. :thmbsp: I was expecting some problems but had none. It picked up the internet through my hub with no problems, no problems loading music, internet radio works great and my internet connection is even fast enough for the MS300 to play radio while I'm surfing the net.

Now the important part, how is the sound quality?

Short answer is: IT IS GREAT. I am only using the digital output from the MS300 to my MDA1000. I did a few direct AB comparisons. I don't hear much, if any difference between the MS300 and MVP851 (used as transports only). If there is a difference, the MS300 may have a little less high frequency detail but they are very difficult to tell apart. The sound quality of the MS300 is better than I was expecting. I was thinking I would still have to play the original CD for serious listening, but no the MS300 is more than good enough for serious listening. :yes:

The universal remote that comes with the MS300 is also great. I was able to use the MS300 remote to control my Sony VCR and Panasonic TV. One odd thing is there are no codes listed for using this remote to control my MVP851 or MDA1000 though. :sigh:

There is one big downside so far: the MS300 is noisy. :tears: I know the MS300 is basically a computer and I was expecting some noise, but not this much. Also the hard drive is spinning (making noise) any time the MS300 is plugged in. :thumbsdn: I have the MS300 in my main rack but the noise in a small listening room is unacceptable. I will get a long S-video and digital cable and external remote sensor and put the MS300 around the corner in my bedroom. Once I get the MS300 out of the listening room its noise won't be an issue.

So far I have about 20 CDs on the MS300 and I already love the convenience of the MS300. This is the coolest piece of audio equipment I have ever owned. Overall I'm overjoyed with the MS300, I'm just sorry I waited so long to get one.

Victor

 

[JimBob]

Question. I'm a tech dummie and still can't figure out how the MS 300 distributes music around the house. I know you're supposed to hook it up to a home network ethernet, but then say you want to pump music into master bedroom, do you have to have a computer in BR. What kind of speakers etc etc.

If someone could please explain so this tech dummie might be able to understand how this works. I'm really interested in a MS 300 or something similar. Maybe a Kaleidescape. I've got a feeling CD and DVD players are on the way out. Within 10yrs, people will be downloading all their music and movies from the internet and storing them on a hard drive . As another thread stated, the future is in DACs and sound cards. Bulky DVDs and CDs . forget it. But an audiophile friend of mine said, they were saying the same thing about LPs and now they're making a huge comeback. But if I was a betting man, I put my money on DACs Soundcards and hard drives.

 

[forzaroma]

There is one big downside so far: the MS300 is noisy. :tears: I know the MS300 is basically a computer and I was expecting some noise, but not this much. Also the hard drive is spinning (making noise) any time the MS300 is plugged in. :thumbsdn: I have the MS300 in my main rack but the noise in a small listening room is unacceptable. I will get a long S-video and digital cable and external remote sensor and put the MS300 around the corner in my bedroom. Once I get the MS300 out of the listening room its noise won't be an issue.
Victor

The noise would be a huge issue for me. Having to put such a cool looking piece of equipment in a "closet" or another room seems like a waste.

Are you sure you don't have a defective unit (oh no! the MCD201 noise issue again)? The ones I heard at the store did not seem THAT noisy, and I am surprised that McIntosh would make it loud enough to be annoying. I have computers with near silent drives and fans in them - it can be done and is being done.

ForzaRoma

 

[Victor]

The noise would be a huge issue for me. Having to put such a cool looking piece of equipment in a "closet" or another room seems like a waste.

Are you sure you don't have a defective unit (oh no! the MCD201 noise issue again)? The ones I heard at the store did not seem THAT noisy, and I am surprised that McIntosh would make it loud enough to be annoying. I have computers with near silent drives and fans in them - it can be done and is being done.

ForzaRoma

No I don't think it is defective. A hard drive and fan can't help but make noise. I am pretty sensitive to background noise in my listening room. To give you an idea of how sensitive, I turn off the fluorescent light in the connected kitchen area for serious listening.

Right now my MS300 is on the top shelf with a bare wall behind it, so there is nothing to break up the noise. I was thinking of ways to reduce the noise and keep the MS300 in the listening room. I could put acoustical foam behind the MS300. I could put some sound damping (Dynamat) on the inside of the case (not over the vent holes). I could try to find a ultra low noise fan. I decided it would just be easier to put the MS300 in a different room.

I agree it is a bit of a waste putting the MS300 in a different room. :tears:

Victor

 

[PHC1]

Victor, congrats on your MS300! I've played around with one at the dealer so I know how convenient and cool it can be. Enjoy! :thmbsp: As far as the noise, I am surprised, I didn't notice it at the dealer. Then again, I am kind of used to it and it doesn't bother me usually, my one macintosh computer sounds like a jet spooling up on the runway when it gets warm and the fans kick into overdrive and my custom PC has 2 WD Raptor hard drives in Raid 0 so it sounds like a dozen squirrels hopped up on meth crunching nuts. I guess it would bother me if it was in my audio system though. :scratch2: Can you compare it to others in the store? Is it possible you got one with a noisy/defective hard drive? :scratch2:

 

[PHC1]

I could put some sound damping (Dynamat) on the inside of the case (not over the vent holes).

I have thought of that too and suggested the same thing a while back about the 201. Much of the audible noise is due to the thin top cover which may possibly amplify the internal noise.

 

[Victor]

Question. I'm a tech dummie and still can't figure out how the MS 300 distributes music around the house. I know you're supposed to hook it up to a home network ethernet, but then say you want to pump music into master bedroom, do you have to have a computer in BR. What kind of speakers etc etc.

I don't think you can use the MS300 for what you want. The ethernet connection is for importing music to the MS300 not for exporting music.

The MS300 has 2 digital outputs so you could send digital signals to 2 different DACs in different rooms along with the MS300 analog output.

There are many products that distribute audio around the house like the products from Sonos.

http://www.sonos.com/

Victor

 

[Victor]

Victor, congrats on your MS300! I've played around with one at the dealer so I know how convenient and cool it can be. Enjoy! :thmbsp:

As far as the noise, I am surprised, I didn't notice it at the dealer.

Can you compare it to others in the store? Is it possible you got one with a noisy/defective hard drive? :scratch2:

Yes the MS300 is already changing how I listen to music.

Often there is much abmient noise at dealers, so it is hard to tell how noisy equipment is in the showroom. I'm also looking for a TV that makes no noise and in the showroom I did not hear noise from any of them but it was a different story in the quiet back room.

This is only the second MS300 my dealer has sold. The other one was a customer that the dealer did not know (he just came in and bought one) so I don't have a way to compare my MS300 to another one. :sigh:

Victor

 

[bingperry]

Ms-300

I have a MS-300 and the noise is from the fan to keep the unit cool. The MS-300 will change the way you listen to music, no more hunting cd's keeping up with cases and trying to remember where you put your cd's.You can record the whole cd or record your favorite tracks from each cd, plus the internet radio is an added bonus.I use mine with a MDA-1000 with MC-501's and love the setup. Lokks great too

 

[jimmyc1996]

I am only using the digital output from the MS300 to my MDA1000

Victor

Are you using the MDA1000 as the Pre amp for the MS300? Have you tried listing to the MS3000 without the MDA1000?

Jimmmyc:scratch2:

 

[PHC1]

Victor, I am right behind you to get the MS. I think I am going to wait until the new MS700? comes out, I am not in a big hurry and I'd like to get the bigger capacity to someday transfer most of my CD library/future CD's in there and be done with it for a long time. By the way, is there a way to back up the hard drive to another just in case the internal one fails at some point (they don't last forever!). I would hate to loose countless hours of ripping music to a hard drive gone south.

 

[Victor]

I have a MS-300 and the noise is from the fan to keep the unit cool. The MS-300 will change the way you listen to music, no more hunting cd's keeping up with cases and trying to remember where you put your cd's.You can record the whole cd or record your favorite tracks from each cd, plus the internet radio is an added bonus.I use mine with a MDA-1000 with MC-501's and love the setup. Looks great too

I have the same setup MS300-MDA1000-MC501's and it is a great way to listen to music. :yes:

I forgot to post on the internet radio, it also sounds better than I thought it would. It sounds about as good as an average mastered CD.

Victor

 

[Victor]

Victor

Are you using the MDA1000 as the Pre amp for the MS300? Have you tried listing to the MS300 without the MDA1000?

Jimmmyc:scratch2:

Yes I'm using the MDA1000 as my preamp in an all digital system. I don't have any other preamp right now so I have no way to listen to the MS300 without the MDA1000.

Victor

 

[barrynsue]

Congrats Victor and good to hear you are pleased with the unit so far.

Barry

 

[Indy]

Congrats Victor and good to hear you are pleased with the unit so far.

Barry

I second that, congrat's Victor, that's a nice piece and a substainal purchase.

I may have missed this - how are viewing what is being played. Do you have a small monitor for 2 channel?

Indy

 

[bingperry]

Ms-300

Victor, what are you using to display the information. I use a 15" lcd monitor and I am happy with the results. I think you will find out some internet radio stations sound a lot better than others. One thing I would like to have is balanced inputs and outputs. I use MIT Oracle balanced cables to my amps and MDA-1000 and I would like to keep everything the same.As to the fan noise my fan does not run all the time

 

[Victor]

Victor, I am right behind you to get the MS. I think I am going to wait until the new MS700? comes out, I am not in a big hurry and I'd like to get the bigger capacity to someday transfer most of my CD library/future CD's in there and be done with it for a long time. By the way, is there a way to back up the hard drive to another just in case the internal one fails at some point (they don't last forever!). I would hate to loose countless hours of ripping music to a hard drive gone south.

I think you will be waiting for the MS750. A bigger hard drive would be great, but the deal on the MS300 was too good to pass up. So far I have 20 complete CDs and 3 partial CDs on the hard drive and I still have 810 hours of disc space left. By the time I fill up the MS300, the MS750 should be on a going out of production sale. :thmbsp:

Yes you could back up the MS300, you just need to hook it up to a computer with 300 gig of spare hard drive space. I don't have that so it would be a minor disaster if the MS300 hard drive crashed. I was thinking of putting my gold MFSL CDs on the MS300 then sell the CDs, but the thought of a crash has me thinking that would be a bad idea.

Victor

 

[Brice]

Hi Guys,

me too I just received my new MS300 last week. I did not notice any noise other than the hard drive, and even so it is making very little noise. I have to put my hear on the to of the MS300 to hear it spinning.

I had no issue in connecting the unit to the internet via a wireless hub (cheap 30$ Encore IEEE 802.11g) and all went well. The unit updated itself via the internet and download CD covers within a second or two.

Now I had problem with a screen.

I used a Planar Touch Screen and the display was ok via a TV Box (S-Video to VGA), but the touch screen was all messed up. I could not calibrate it, nor get feedback of my action to the display. I sent the touch screen back and will try with another type of touch panel. The whole point for me was the touch screen so I got to get this to work. It's so nice to have all my CD collection litterally on the touch of my finger.

I'll keep you posted of my progress. Thanks.
Brice.

 

[Indy]

Victor, what are you using to display the information. I use a 15" lcd monitor and I am happy with the results. I think you will find out some internet radio stations sound a lot better than others. One thing I would like to have is balanced inputs and outputs. I use MIT Oracle balanced cables to my amps and MDA-1000 and I would like to keep everything the same.As to the fan noise my fan does not run all the time

Bing,

Where is your unit, and how quiet is it?

Indy

 

[PHC1]

A bigger hard drive would be great, but the deal on the MS300 was too good to pass up.

That's right, I forgot how good of a deal you got on it. At that price you could have bought 2 of MS300s for about the price of MS750 so it would be the same effect.

I was thinking of putting my gold MFSL CDs on the MS300 then sell the CDs, but the thought of a crash has me thinking that would be a bad idea.

You could make a small fortune if you have many. I have some, not a lot.

Yes you could back up the MS300, you just need to hook it up to a computer with 300 gig of spare hard drive space.

That's good to know.