MD x Airist x Sosolar: RDAC design mysteries

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by bimmer100, Jun 5, 2018.

  1. bimmer100

    bimmer100 MOT: Holo Audio

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2016
    Likes Received:
    48
    Trophy Points:
    30
  2. Baten

    Baten Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2018
    Likes Received:
    1,134
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    EU
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2018
  3. soekris

    soekris MOT - Soekris Engineering

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,025
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Denmark
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2018
  4. willsw

    willsw Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2016
    Likes Received:
    278
    Trophy Points:
    63
    SoSolar is in the Massdrop discussion thread now. Should be an interesting conversation once people start waking up in San Francisco. The timeline of the Airist DAC's development matches with the appearance of the Hibiki board.

    SoSolar says "I dont remember I have legally authorized anyone to do so."
     
  5. Baten

    Baten Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2018
    Likes Received:
    1,134
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    EU
    Little late to figure out authorization/licensing terms o_O bad move by massdrop if true.
     
  6. Greg121986

    Greg121986 Almost "Made"

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2016
    Likes Received:
    531
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Grand Rapids, MI
    I hope this doesn't turn into a mess of IP rights. It's no secret that some APAC manufacturers do not concern themselves with this. In regards to quality, as long as they haven't used the same manufacturer as LH Labs, I think we should be OK.
     
  7. Gofspar

    Gofspar Facebook Friend

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2016
    Likes Received:
    115
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    cum
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    92,290
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    I get the Massdrop hate, I really do; but while we are assuming the worst, wouldn't it be Airist who copied the design and then sold it to Massdrop under false pretenses?
     
  9. Gofspar

    Gofspar Facebook Friend

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2016
    Likes Received:
    115
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    cum
    It's a collaboration though isn't it? or does massdrop just tell them "hey make the chasis match the rest of our stuff", then let them go at it?
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    92,290
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    Massdrop usually licenses / buys the design in order to manufacturer.
     
  11. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    92,290
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    So again, assuming the worst:

    It this a case of IP theft? Of one Chinese dude in the USA ripping off another Chinese dude in Red China, and selling it to Massdrop? This is so weird. It's like the reverse of stealth fighter plans.

    Not a lawyer, but any design that is thrown out there into the public better be patented or pending patent.
     
  12. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

    Pyrate Banned
    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,456
    Trophy Points:
    113
    This could implode in a hurry MD needs to step in and clarify quickly.
     
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    92,290
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    It's early in the West Coast.

    I'm less worried for Massdrop and more worried for Airist / William Tee. Looks like we are going to have the Q+A perk sooner rather than later.
     
  14. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,637
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    Nobody ran to accuse Massdrop of ripping off Alex Cavalli. This just smells of another design buy by Massdrop. I hope nobody invents drama for the sake of drama here...
     
  15. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

    Pyrate Banned
    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,456
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I'd have a hard time believing that MD didn't thoroughly vet out the design before getting into bed with Airist. But then again, stranger things have happened.

    For those who already had your credit cards out for this one, you might want to wait till this plays out a bit.
     
  16. Magnetostatic_Tubephile

    Magnetostatic_Tubephile Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2017
    Likes Received:
    959
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    GoogleChrome, EU
    I am sure the DAC itself is nice but the incoming "clash of the titans" (Sosolar vs Massdrop vs Aurist) is honestly THE reason that brought my attention here. :cool: I guess negative promo = also promo?
     
  17. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2017
    Likes Received:
    11,813
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Philippines, The
    I don't get the MD hate since, shit, they make nice things more affordable for people who don't have holes in their pockets from too many phat stacks of cash.

    ... On second thought: right, manufacturers who like skinning their customers before serving. I forgot.

    Best of luck to the MD team, and for what it's worth, I'm now suddenly interested in that Q&A perk. If anyone here does bite, do share the deets!
     
  18. Soups

    Soups Sadomasochistic cat

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,741
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    WA
    Here's some Q for an A. Who at Airist actually gets credit for the dac design? You'd think from MD's marketing that Tse is the dude - but if he's both proficient in amp and dac design, isn't that sort of expertise unusual for someone so young in the industry? Or is someone else on their team fudging the facts a little, forgetting about the Internet?

    Also, something is a little off about their website. When I visited yesterday, it had a main menu in the header which linked to an 'About Us' page. The page is still up, but it's only linked via the footer links now (which might also disappear soon):

    https://www.airistaudio.com/about-us/

    Nothing much to see there aside from maybe one or more Ivy Leaguer on the hot seat today.

    EDIT: quote from the above page: "We use cutting edge materials science, circuit design, and stealth technologies to push the boundaries of the possible."
     
  19. direstraitsfan98

    direstraitsfan98 D2Girls v2.0

    BWC
    Joined:
    May 11, 2018
    Likes Received:
    296
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Canada
    I'm interested in this dac I hope everything plays out well with little To no drama it would suck if this suddenly became unavailable. The only other dac I was interested was to the rme adi 2 pro fs, which I believe is nearly 5 times as expensive.
     
  20. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2017
    Likes Received:
    11,813
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Philippines, The
    @Soups Well archive.org has a few snapshots of the page in their records all the way up to Nov 2017. I snapped another one just now for future reference; I do wonder why they decided to remove the link from the header, though, since an About Us is about standard for sites like this. Either something is afoot, or they're revamping the site? *shrug*

    Also, stealth tech FTW. It'll help hide new audio purchases from the family!
     

Share This Page