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Supercharged - Maverick Audio TubeMagic D2 DAC

@Bonus, Nope, you don't .. Since i removed the failing OPA627 i have a better sound probably, or it's a placebo, but the valve out is for sure on with the same output level, that's for sure .. im actually a bit surprised that the guys from Tubemagic mothership are hiding this from us.. See my image i posted - i'm listening to this config almost every night, it's sweet ..

I wonder if things will change re 2 only opamps - like fast - at Mothership production lines after this outrageous post of mine ..

My new "big dilemma" is how much do i gain if i use an old trick (dismissed by a few) : put a ±1/10th of capacitance in parallel with the main caps - the output caps after valve in this case, in order to give "breathing space" of the highs - lest say 0,1mF ?? Not sure if this "coupling cap" addition will render an audible something .. too lazy to read theory and practice on this now, but i'm sure reading will be worth it - to dismiss or accept

Edit : If the 3rd opamp is used in part or as a whole as some weird NFB implementation - in the valve output, and only as a opamp in the SS output. That's fine, just that i like it more now and then upgrade cost is reduced by 1 opamp + 1 pair of output caps - provided one dismisses completely the SS out

Edit 2 : I believe i'll be getting 2 x Burson V6 Vivids to evaluate in the D2 ! I'll post a in-depth review here and maybe on their site once i hear well the red devils .. I guess this is when i'll reveal each setup in detail ..
 
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Guillaume53 said:
@Bonus, Nope, you don't .. Since i removed the failing OPA627 i have a better sound probably, or it's a placebo, but the valve out is for sure on with the same output level, that's for sure .. im actually a bit surprised that the guys from Tubemagic mothership are hiding this from us.. See my image i posted - i'm listening to this config almost every night, it's sweet ..

I wonder if things will change re 2 only opamps - like fast - at Mothership production lines after this outrageous post of mine ..

My new "big dilemma" is how much do i gain if i use an old trick (dismissed by a few) : put a ±1/10th of capacitance in parallel with the main caps - the output caps after valve in this case, in order to give "breathing space" of the highs - lest say 0,1mF ?? Not sure if this "coupling cap" addition will render an audible something .. too lazy to read theory and practice on this now, but i'm sure reading will be worth it - to dismiss or accept

Edit : If the 3rd opamp is used in part or as a whole as some weird NFB implementation - in the valve output, and only as a opamp in the SS output. That's fine, just that i like it more now and then upgrade cost is reduced by 1 opamp + 1 pair of output caps - provided one dismisses completely the SS out
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I think you are referring to a "bypass cap". Some people swear by them, (and hand Dueland $100 a pop for little .01uF silver caps), and some people say it can only account for 1/10th of the actual sound. I don't know that anyone has done the math, or if you even could reliably test it. I would guess that it's more expensive to run a single, more expensive, cap, than to try and make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. Now as to how that works with say; a $50 Mundorf SGO bypassed with the aforementioned $100 Dueland Silver bypass... I have no idea. I personally have noted quickly diminishing returns as one goes "up" the capacitor ladder. Anything beyond $15 or so for a .47uF, and all I was noticing were very slight accentuation in perhaps an octave. Russian PIOs gave that bump towards the midrange. Mundorf tend to push the treble a bit. Etc. But they all sounded "overall" a bit better than stock poly caps.
 
@Nixxuz Very interesting thoughts .. I am in the camp that believes in this bypass, and that the quality of this bypass cap is of much lesser importance that the main cap - which covers all frequencies anyway.. So no cheap / rubbish in there but anything within reasonable quality which is non-polar should suffice .. have you noticed what i did across legs 1 and 8 on on the OPA627s
 
@ Bonus. What you referenced above, is one of these statements which sort of upset me in their short order of thought and dichotomy .. I haven't been so happy with the D2 since one opamp died, and i know very well how it sounded with 3 opamps .. Im not sure what i'll be missing by upping the game with 2 Bursons in place of 2 OPA627s of now. Until Mothership comes into this debate, i'll go on the fence ..

Edit : You see .. now i'm getting upset ;-) Someone needs to technically give us the spiel of what is the role of No 3 opamp, the single one - for the valve output. Then same technical insight - for the SS output. Since the two behind can and should be able to provide the necessary gain and all, what exactly is the designation of No 3 ??? I am prepared to bet that it is NOT in the signal path of the tube out, bit for some odd reason - it is in the SS signal path
 
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Guillaume53 said:
@ Bonus. What you referenced above, is one of these statements which sort of upset me in their short order of thought and dichotomy .. I haven't been so happy with the D2 since one opamp died, and i know very well how it sounded with 3 opamps .. Im not sure what i'll be missing by upping the game with 2 Bursons in place of 2 OPA627s of now. Until Mothership comes into this debate, i'll go on the fence ..
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I have no opinion myself and just followed what others did lol. I noticed you put a cap across the op amps. I have no knowledge of what that does lol
 
;-) Firstly i think it is not leg 1 as i put it but leg 4 - between leg 4 and 8 - where the supply is .. what i recall is something to do with the noise in the power supply - getting removed - and also cleanup of high frequencies .. but not in every opamp, yet - yes - for OPA627 - i checked its schematics / internals and it said "do it!". Do not ask me what i saw there and why i jumped at it and just soldered the little buggers .. I haven't looked back, but as i said, it sounds wonderful in my 2nd system, without the opamp boost
 
I finally got my D2 a few days ago. Then today my first set of tubes to roll arrived. I was able to find a 3-pack on eBay that had one Sylvania tube and two GE tubes. The two GE tubes are a 2-mica GE JAN 5670W with teal GE logo and lettering, and a 3-mica GE 5-star 5670W with grey logo and lettering.

I got my unit pre-upgraded with the OPA627 OpAmps and the "GE5670W" tube. From what I have read and from what I have seen in the pictures that others have posted, I expected that the pre-installed "GE5670W" tube and the GE JAN 5670W that I got from eBay were going to be very similar if not identical. I was very surprised to find that they have almost nothing in common, don't look anything alike. It doesn't look anything like the 3-mica GE 5-star 5670W that I got either.

The pre-installed tube has no GE logo at all, and the only lettering on the tube at all simply says "5670" in grey (not 5670W).

These are some pictures I took to compare the pre-installed tube (on the right, supposed to be a "GE5670W") to the 2-mica GE JAN 5670W that I bought (on the left). The 3-mica GE 5-star 5670W is currently installed in the D2 which is why it's not in the pics.

GEtubes.jpg

GEtubes2.jpg

The fact that it has no GE logo on it, does not look anything like the other GE tubes that I got, only says 5670 (not 5670W), etc, makes me wonder what tube they actually gave me. Any idea what kind of tube this is that my unit came pre-upgraded with (the one on the right in the pics)? Has anyone else who bought a unit with a pre-upgraded "GE5670W" ended up with an installed tube that looks like the one on the right?
 
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Chris, this does not look right .. I have a D2 which was shipped with the upgraded 5670, which has the green print of GE JAN 5670W, and looks very much like the tubes you bought on Ebay. The upgrade GE JAN 5670W is claimed to be an excellent tube by many, I can attest to that, although I have not compared it to anything else NOS yet, and it is also the tube of choice in the iFi iTube2 buffer, which is something special
 
My Xiang Sheng DAC-05B also had the GE JAN upgrade by default. Mine came with what appears to be a genuine GE. I will say, the WE396 is, to me, a better sounding tube. But these aren't the same DAC either so take it for what it's worth.
 
Hi Nixxuz, I'm awaiting a duo of Burson V6 Vivids next month, and not touching the valve at this point, but only later, and yes, with the one you recommend above. In the meantime, I have to share with those on Mac servers, that the latest Amarra Luxe delivered in spades, exactly how I wanted it to sound, albeit few funnies / small bugs and limitations. But the sound coming out from it .. I am once again a believer in the right processing or the minimum processing - in the digital domain, call it minimum done right ..
 
I was just reminded of how cool this DAC is. After the initial tube rolling right after my purchase I settled on the GE 5 Star 5670. Stocked up and good to go.....

Since then I've changed power tubes and preamp tubes in my Scott 222c integrated so the sound isn't quite the same as I remember it. Very good but not the same.

So I went into my stash and popped in a Western Electric. Awesome sound. It's like I just cleaned all my connections or something.

It's cool having the ability to tailor your sound how you want it.
 
Hey everyone, I'm new here after lurking this thread for a couple days and had a question about the opamps.

I have the Maverick Audio Tubemagic D1+ (upgraded with the OPA627 OpAmp & GE5670W Tube), actually I've had it for a few years now and want to upgrade it. I'm definitely gonna go for the Sparkos Labs discrete opamps but I'm confused about something. Do I need to order 3 dual discrete opamps, 2 duals and 1 single, or what? I've never messed around with opamps before and I just wanna make sure I buy the right combination of parts before I accidentally waste $70 on an incompatible part.
 
The D2 uses three dual OpAmp’s so your going to want 3 x Sparkos Labs discrete opamps

15874377954_df5fe326dc_z.jpg
 
Guillaume53 said:
Hi Nixxuz, I'm awaiting a duo of Burson V6 Vivids next month, and not touching the valve at this point, but only later, and yes, with the one you recommend above. In the meantime, I have to share with those on Mac servers, that the latest Amarra Luxe delivered in spades, exactly how I wanted it to sound, albeit few funnies / small bugs and limitations. But the sound coming out from it .. I am once again a believer in the right processing or the minimum processing - in the digital domain, call it minimum done right ..
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So did they show up yet? Any impressions?
 
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