I suppose you are right, however:
- I'm a DIYer, not a pro
- I don't make a habit of connecting or disconnecting cables when my DACs are powered up, so I had no idea that this DAC has this issue.
Nice solution.
I plan to use a cookie/biscuit tin.
I will post a pic or two when it is complete.
I have been spending quite a bit of time listening to a lot of very familiar music through this DAC. I have to say that I continue to be impressed. It is distinctly transparent, but there is a quality that I have never found in a DAC before which I can only describe as "finesse".
Currently running it with 2x OPA627AP in a single-to-dual adapter. Compared to the pair of LME49710HA, the OPA627AP tend to warm things up a bit without any perceivable loss in detail.
Currently running it with 2x OPA627AP in a single-to-dual adapter. Compared to the pair of LME49710HA, the OPA627AP tend to warm things up a bit without any perceivable loss in detail.
Maybe something with your CDP?
I don't notice this at all when performing the same functions on my DAC (via software and USB/SPDIF). Even switching sample rates or bit depth doesn't make any sort of sound.
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I have this board inside a chassis now, with its power supply.
I ran it with the chassis closed for a while to see how much heat would build up inside.
It was quite warm when I checked, but the most surprising thing was that the (2x) OPA627 in dual/single adapter were very hot. Painfully hot.
I shut off the DAC and replaced with (2x) LME49710HA in dual/single adapter. After about an hour I checked. They were not as hot as the OPA627 opamps, but still quite hot.
I shut off the DAC and replaced with an LM6172. Let it run for a few hours. Barely warm to the touch, and it sounds quite excellent!
The point I am making is that the circuit and/or output filter seems to work better with some opamps than others. I don't have the testing gear or skills to figure out why this is, but random experimentation certainly proved successful in this case.
I ran it with the chassis closed for a while to see how much heat would build up inside.
It was quite warm when I checked, but the most surprising thing was that the (2x) OPA627 in dual/single adapter were very hot. Painfully hot.
I shut off the DAC and replaced with (2x) LME49710HA in dual/single adapter. After about an hour I checked. They were not as hot as the OPA627 opamps, but still quite hot.
I shut off the DAC and replaced with an LM6172. Let it run for a few hours. Barely warm to the touch, and it sounds quite excellent!
The point I am making is that the circuit and/or output filter seems to work better with some opamps than others. I don't have the testing gear or skills to figure out why this is, but random experimentation certainly proved successful in this case.
Great - finally a separate thread for this DAC
And for my contribution;
High-res photos of the board:
FRONT
BACK
Those come in handy for the modifications...
And the SCHEMATIC which is a little old and it's missing D+3,3 PSU section, but the rest is ok...
Concerning higher sample rate playback (above 96kHz);
On the board above CS8416 pin 20 (TX) is set high, this enables faster Phase Detector Update Rate - you get less jitter, but it will play only up to 96kHz (108kHz according to Cirrus)...
More on the matter in the official "papers"; http://www.cirrus.com/en/pubs/appNote/AN339REV1.pdf
Some say it works with higher sample rate - possibly a different revision of the board?
All in all - a great little DAC for a few pennies
Thanks for all the info
It looks so similar to a DAC which I use at the moment:
PCB+SMD IC NEW Hi end DAC 24 BIT 192K HZ AK4398 sc | eBay
The reason I bought is that according to the seller it has an optical input.
So far only USB is working, the optical not.
In the worst case I could also run it with USB only but I think the optical has better quality???
I am not sure if I can ask for help in this thread, or if I shall open a new one....
It seems that the only difference is optical vs coax. The rest of the schematics should be the same as in this thread. Here you have optical toslink implementation for CS8416:
CS8416 S/PDIF decoder
CS8416 S/PDIF decoder
Thanks for your input.
After resoldering as you suggested, the locked LED is working again with optical and USB.
But now I don't get sound out of it
Found out that the 7812 regulator is getting hot too much. After measuring the voltages I found out that its not putting out 12 V but only 1V
After exchanging it is still only 1 V.
I have a second PCB because I ordered two, maybe next week I start over again...
After resoldering as you suggested, the locked LED is working again with optical and USB.
But now I don't get sound out of it
Found out that the 7812 regulator is getting hot too much. After measuring the voltages I found out that its not putting out 12 V but only 1V
After exchanging it is still only 1 V.
I have a second PCB because I ordered two, maybe next week I start over again...