My MCD201 Review
- Thread starter jayvis
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ron-c said:
Ron,
There is another thread that seriously warrant your attention. U dont need to answer now (but would be great if U can). Please look into it. Its going to costs in the long run. Disgruntled few (and it seem like quite a many few) needs to look at.
Cheers.
jim777
Just another McGeek
What can ron add more? I'm an AES member and had the chance to speek to people like DAC engineers from Wolfson, and ron is just right. State of the art PCM and DSD DAC internal implementations are neither full resolution PCM, nor 1-bit. Best performance is obtained somewhere between the two. Full resolution PCM at 24 bits is about impossible. Same for 1 bit; imagine perfect integration of a perfectly square waveform at 3MHz without jitter and without pratical rise and fall times.. also very hard to implement in hardware.
So a waveform representation (PCM or DSD) and the way a circuit is designed to reproduce such a waveform are two different problems with each their design considerations. For both representations, the best hardware solution is somewhere in between.
So in my opinion, ron's answer on all this is honest and right.
So a waveform representation (PCM or DSD) and the way a circuit is designed to reproduce such a waveform are two different problems with each their design considerations. For both representations, the best hardware solution is somewhere in between.
So in my opinion, ron's answer on all this is honest and right.
Received my 'factory updated' MCD201 last week. First dozen disks were fine. Yesterday it started skipping, sticking, making weird noises, etc. On stock music (ECM and MilesDavis.com) disks that my other two CDPs have no problem reading. Guess the MCD201 gremlins still live. :thumbsdn:
jesse111
Active Member
The 201 was a lemon from the start. It appears that some units are doing fine, but in the big picture of things, they need to go back to the drawing board on this one and work out the problems once and for all. That cheap super fast transport just did not work. Scrap it. If that was the only piece of Mac gear I'd have ever had, I'd never buy from them again.
I'm afraid that may have happened and some folks have missed how incredibly good Mac gear really is. What a shame. Where in the world was the R&D and QC on that one?
I'm afraid that may have happened and some folks have missed how incredibly good Mac gear really is. What a shame. Where in the world was the R&D and QC on that one?
howiebrou
Super Member
jesse111
Active Member
Imagine for a minute that the 201 from the outset had been as rock-solid reliable as my 20 year old 7007s with thousands of hours and never, ever, ever even a hiccup! The 201 is such a piece of "eye candy." Had Mac put the brakes on right when problems with the transport started popping up, eaten a bit of humble pie, and fixed it once and for all (with EVERY unit called back to Binghamton), think of the goodwill it would have created versus the legitimate sense many of us long-time Mac loyalists now must entertain that QC at Mac (at least for anything with a moving part) is a far cry from the good ol' days.
A study of PR damage control demonstrates that a "circle the wagons" mentality (e.g., What problems with the 201? It's a terrific seller!) never succeeds in the end.
If the 205 I bought sounds not quite as terrific as a functioning 201, I'll sleep better knowing I just might get as many years out of it as I have the venerable 7007!
A study of PR damage control demonstrates that a "circle the wagons" mentality (e.g., What problems with the 201? It's a terrific seller!) never succeeds in the end.
If the 205 I bought sounds not quite as terrific as a functioning 201, I'll sleep better knowing I just might get as many years out of it as I have the venerable 7007!
On the positive side, just got off the phone and a 'new production' unit is going out to me at no cost and a call tag issued for the pick-up of the faulty 201. No questions asked. Simply the new one will be here in a few days and the call tag will come with it. Nonetheless, I am not that pleased with having to do all this schlepping around and boxing and unboxing and other BS. If the next one doesn't work perfectly, then that is the end with McIntosh CPDs for me. I really like the design of it being strictly 2-channel with none of the extra multi-channel and other programmable crap. But, the bottom-line is that for ~$3K, it needs to work better than 'well' right out of the box and do so for a very long time. I remain unconvinced.
eljr
Koyaanisqatsi
Thanks for the update. I am on my 4th player/update and am living with the problems. 95-97% of the time it is a jewel. I am just concerned that by the time they get it right they will tell me it's to long since i bought it. It's really ashame it has such issues because when it's ok it's really special.
I love this board and I love Mac but MCD201 is a problem.
pathologymd
Active Member
I am very disappointed to hear that a recently "repaired/updated" 201 is still causing problems. My 201 is at McIntosh right now for the same problems, and I was hoping it would all be over. If they want to do a trade in program, let me trade in my 201 for an 871 for a nominal difference. I am astounded that McIntosh hasn't offered some wholesale solution to all unsatisfied 201 buyers.
William
William
Mine was updated at the dealer (swapped transport). Other than that, I've had a similar experience, and it's still very noisy compared to the MVP-871.
The dealer and I agreed this morning that if this 'brand new production' unit has a problem I will return it at their cost for full credit. It is ridiculous that a company as esteemed as McIntosh can't get this right. With Denon as a sister company they should be getting some help as Denon's CDPs are highly regarded. If this one fails, then I'll be looking at Marantz...........wait a minute, they are also a sister company to McIntosh. Can anyone recommend a 2-channel, only, multi-media, balanced CDP? But, I'll give McIntosh a second chance, first. Have to.....this new MC275 with Tung-sol 6550s has turned into the best sounding amp I've owned (sorry VFET fans). It is simply so musical.
jim777
Just another McGeek
Well, I guess I'll put my MCD201 box back into storage and wait again... I have some issues but why bother getting it repaired if it won't change anything...
jesse111
Active Member
Don't give up Jim. Call em up. Tell them to read all 14 pages of this post.
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=76659
Perhaps you can push to at least get some credit or a brand spanking new 201 updated with new internals. Ask them to plug it in and if they can hear it spin from more than 3 feet away to open another and another until they find one that they can't hear.
I was able to return mine to my dealer. The thing was a piece of junk.
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=76659
Perhaps you can push to at least get some credit or a brand spanking new 201 updated with new internals. Ask them to plug it in and if they can hear it spin from more than 3 feet away to open another and another until they find one that they can't hear.
I was able to return mine to my dealer. The thing was a piece of junk.
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