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The good:
1) Same build quality, finish & size as other components in Musical Fidelity (MF) V-Series.
2) Adds an On / Off function to the V-DAC. Can keep it turned off when not being used.
3) Can power up to 3 MF V-series components at the same time.
4) Detachable / upgradeable Power Chord (PC).
5) 'Made in Taiwan' just like the V-DAC. Taiwan is known for making many hi-fi products. Usher Audio is one amongst them.
6) External PSU is an advantage in terms of Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) / Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) free performance.
The bad:
1) Does not have universal voltage input (110V - 220V). The MF V-PSU will only work in either 110V or 220V, depending on the market it's being sold. This takes away the 'travel with it anywhere' portability that the MF V-series was known for.
2) Very basic / cheap Power Chord (PC) & 1.3 mm jacks for such an expensive PSU.
3) The plastic used for the figure 8 power socket in the V-PSU feels delicate & flimsy.
4) It's strange that this product is not listed on MF's website.
Background:
It all started with me wanting to improve the sound on my Zone 2 speakers consisting of a pair of Mordaunt Short 902i bookshelf speakers & also to do more justice to my library of imported (made in E.U.) CD collection. After much thought, search & research, I decided to buy a Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) instead of a dedicated CD player. This decision was also influenced by the fact that I had started ripping my CDs in WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) & storing them in a LaCie LaCinema Classic Multimedia Player.
My budget was about USD400. I rounded off on Musical Fidelity (MF) V-DAC priced at USD300 & Cambridge Audio (CA) DacMagic priced at USD430. After comparing both in my system, I realized that MF V-DAC had the magic & CA DacMagic had the value. Midrange is very important to me & MF V-DAC had it in spades. It improved the already good midrange of the Mordaunt Short 902i speakers. The CA DacMagic was not bad either, it had clarity & separation in spades. It had all the bells & whistles that is not seen or heard at this price point. Functions such as filter settings, input signal strength indicator, easily selectable multiple digital inputs, on/off button etc, to name a few, really impressed me. There were a couple of things about the CA DacMagic that did not appeal to me. It made my system a lil' brighter, it was also less forgiving towards 'less than perfect' recordings & the larger wall wart (AC/AC) was uglier than the small wall wart (AC/DC) that comes with the MF V-DAC. Both PSUs did not have a universal voltage input. They worked either on 110V or 220V depending on the market it was being sold. I chose to keep the MF V-DAC & hoped to use the difference of USD130 to buy a better quality / flexible PSU & maybe get some decent Interconnects (IC) too.
Performance:
I've been listening to the MF V-DAC with the V-PSU in my system for a few weeks now. Straight out of the box, I placed the V-DAC & V-PSU one behind the other (see pix) to make it look like one single & long black box. When I first played music, I c'd instantly feel that the sound has become deeper, louder & wider when compared to the original wall wart. Unfortunately, the music also sounded a lil' flat, bloated & lifeless. I thought a few days of run-in should open it up but that never happened. I then suspected that the EMI / RFI from the V-PSU may be robbing V-DAC's performance. As soon as I moved the V-PSU, by about a foot away from the V-DAC, I was really surprised at the improvement I heard & it was repeatable.
The V-PSU brings a lil' more refinement & body to V-DAC's already superb performance. This is very evident when listening to female voices, the midrange seems a lil' more full bodied, 3 dimentional & smoother. The slight edginess in the upper mid frequencies has mellowed down a lil' bit. The bass is deeper & more robust. All this is unfortunately at the cost of speed. The MF V-DAC now sounds a lil' more slow, warm & laidback. This warm & laidback presentation is especially very good when listening / playing back music with lot of vocals & that's what I listen to most of the times. People who like a more forward presentation sh'd surely give these a try before buying them. I tried familiar CDs by artists such as Sheryl Crow (Hits & Rarities), Dire Straits (Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler) etc to name a few. The supplied wall wart & the V-PSU are both rated @ 12V DC, 500mA. The wall wart is 'Made in China' but the V-PSU is 'Made in Taiwan' just like the V-DAC.
Design:
The MF V-PSU looks just like the V-DAC except for the lettering on the box. It now adds an On / Off function to the V-DAC. It's a nice touch, but the On / Off switch is right next to the power socket, on the side panel, so it's actually not easy / simple for everyday use. There are 2 black boxes to handle now, this makes them clunky together. Cable management has become a lil' more messy with both boxes having cables going in / out from both sides of the box. It's now best to hide them somewhere behind in the rack.
The MF V-PSU is stated to be a CRPS - Choke Regulated Power Supply (choke input) & not a SMPS - Switch Mode Power Supply (capacitor input). Choke input can be quieter, can help smoothen the mids & the highs of the DAC at the cost of speed (laidback presentation). Capacitor input on the other hand can be dynamic, can bring out the well timed bass of the DAC at the cost of a lil' upper frequency noise (forward presentation). Chokes are not necessarily sophisticated or expensive. In general, chokes can be cheaper than high quality capacitors. There are good & bad examples of both types of power supply. The MF V-PSU looks like a very good example of CRPS.
I doubt that the already efficient & background quiet MF V-DAC c'd also benefit with a good quality SMPS than the original wall wart. I can only confirm this when I get my hands on either 'Little Pinkie' from Rock Grotto (priced @ USD170) or vDAKPak from Russ Andrews (priced @ USD125). Both the above mentioned SMPS are also considered an upgrade to the V-DAC's wall wart.
Other options:
The combined worth of MF V-DAC & V-PSU now stands @ USD550. For about the same amount of money, + / - USD100, I c'd also have considered any one of the following for my budget system, depending on my needs:
1) Oppo BDP-80 as a transport (USD290) with Emotiva XDA-1 as a DAC / Preamp (USD300). Total = USD590.
2) Emotiva XDA-1 as a DAC / Preamp (USD300) with Emotiva UPA-2 (USD350) as an amp. Total = USD650.
3) Musical Fidelity's very own M1 DAC (USD650) that has far more appeal, bells & whistles than the V-DAC & V-PSU put together. Total = USD650.
4) T-Amps (Trapath Amps) with in-built or matching external DACs are currently a rage everywhere at less than USD500. Lol.
Conclusion:
The MF V-PSU is surely an upgrade for anyone wanting to improve the performance of the MF V-DAC and other MF V-Series components. It takes the already superb performance of the V-DAC to the next level. I can't imagine ever listening to the V-DAC again without the V-PSU. Musical Fidelity is known for it's warm & laidback house sound. The MF V-DAC & V-PSU together have that signature warm & laidback presentation that may not suit all kinds of music / taste, so it's best to try them before U put U'r money on them. For the price, I wish it also included universal voltage input. Surely for a British hi-fi brand like Musical Fidelity whose flagship amps cost upwards of GBP12000, the V-Series must be 'Value' in relative terms & is a great attempt to reach out to the budget conscious customers.
I bought the MF V-PSU from UK, where it's currently on sale & is priced @ just about USD145 not including shipping & tax. For the price I paid, I consider it good value for money. If U choose to buy the V-PSU from UK, U may also need a 110V - 220V converter such as the Goldsource Step Up & Down Voltage Converter Transformer ST100 (100 watts).
Just my $0.02.
Brgds.
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George Denver
15/09/11 at 09:36 AM |
