The premium version of the DAC is being offered since May 18th; see Latest News section on my site: http://www.audiosector.com . More than 50 kits has been sold already.
The fully loaded version (as seen here) will not be offered, as the 6 caps needed for upgrade cost in excess of $500 (I assume at least 1uF V-cap is needed for most applications). Those parts need to be sourced separately.
The fully loaded version (as seen here) will not be offered, as the 6 caps needed for upgrade cost in excess of $500 (I assume at least 1uF V-cap is needed for most applications). Those parts need to be sourced separately.
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I'm using 2 x 8V AC, 48VA transformer. Such voltage provides enough margin for low dropout 8V regulator, as well it's still not too high for 5V regulators.
I never tried lower voltage, but it might work as well, although 2 x 4V will not work. You might put those winding in series and use single secondary with dual bridges that are on the board.
I never tried lower voltage, but it might work as well, although 2 x 4V will not work. You might put those winding in series and use single secondary with dual bridges that are on the board.
V-caps upgrade doesn't neccessarily need to be that expensive. Since my preamp has 100k input impedance, I'm using only 0.1uF V-caps and those are about $80/pair. While I prefer Rikens with BG N caps, after switching to V-caps I find Caddocks TF020 resistors a better match and that's what I'm currently using.
The major upgrade would be BG N 1000/50 in filtering. The early versions of a DAC were using 4 x 1000/25 BG NX. While those caps come close to N type, this is still not exactly the same. In some systems the sound may be simply too laid back and soft, lacking in bite and dimentionality. One cure would be adding 0.1 quality bypasses in parallel, and this increases high frequency extention. I also started supplying the kits with BG STD 1000/25 in place of first two filter caps (C1 and C3) and this seems like improvement for those who look for more highs extention and bigger soundstage. I also tried only STD caps here, as well as type F, but something was always missing and tonality wasn't completely right.
Only after finally switching to N caps, I found what I was looking for. The tonal balance is right on the mark, and it's almost exactly the same as ML360S, that I'm also using from time to time
One other mod, would be shorting input caps (those blue 0.01u). This will not always work with some transports, especially those that have DC offset, but it will not damage the input buffer though. The difference isn't that big, as those caps are quite good, but a bit of more resolution can be achieved.
Such modified DAC is, IMO, better overall sounding than unmodified Levinson.
Here's a simple enclosure one can build for a DAC, an enclosure that actually works better than anything else I tried so far. The "roof" is added only for cosmetic reasons, as normally free standing board, on piece of wood (don't tight the screws), sounds optimally.
The major upgrade would be BG N 1000/50 in filtering. The early versions of a DAC were using 4 x 1000/25 BG NX. While those caps come close to N type, this is still not exactly the same. In some systems the sound may be simply too laid back and soft, lacking in bite and dimentionality. One cure would be adding 0.1 quality bypasses in parallel, and this increases high frequency extention. I also started supplying the kits with BG STD 1000/25 in place of first two filter caps (C1 and C3) and this seems like improvement for those who look for more highs extention and bigger soundstage. I also tried only STD caps here, as well as type F, but something was always missing and tonality wasn't completely right.
Only after finally switching to N caps, I found what I was looking for. The tonal balance is right on the mark, and it's almost exactly the same as ML360S, that I'm also using from time to time
One other mod, would be shorting input caps (those blue 0.01u). This will not always work with some transports, especially those that have DC offset, but it will not damage the input buffer though. The difference isn't that big, as those caps are quite good, but a bit of more resolution can be achieved.
Such modified DAC is, IMO, better overall sounding than unmodified Levinson.
Here's a simple enclosure one can build for a DAC, an enclosure that actually works better than anything else I tried so far. The "roof" is added only for cosmetic reasons, as normally free standing board, on piece of wood (don't tight the screws), sounds optimally.
Attachments
nice that works, im going to see if i can make it fit in this.
theres handles on it and the the plug for power and switch is allready installed. i can add some wood on the sides my transformer is
thinner so it should. i will replace the top with perforated metal
if it fits if not i like your idea.
cheers
theres handles on it and the the plug for power and switch is allready installed. i can add some wood on the sides
my transformer isthinner so it should. i will replace the top with perforated metal
if it fits if not i like your idea.
cheers
Attachments
Nice work Peter
It amazes me that the case makes a difference too regarding the sound.
When I fitted one of my dacs in a case it always sounded worse so now most of my stuff is bolted to pieces of wood
I noticed you tried the BG F caps, have you tried the FK's ?
You've always shared your findings with different parts, I think the orientation of the BG N's was the biggest differences I've heard, I'm glad you posted about that
Did you also compare the sound with and without the input buffer?
It amazes me that the case makes a difference too regarding the sound.
When I fitted one of my dacs in a case it always sounded worse so now most of my stuff is bolted to pieces of wood
I noticed you tried the BG F caps, have you tried the FK's ?
You've always shared your findings with different parts, I think the orientation of the BG N's was the biggest differences I've heard, I'm glad you posted about that
Did you also compare the sound with and without the input buffer?
I still didn't try FK caps, but something tells me they won't be better than N, however, with the next order of BGs I'll get some 2,200/35 FKs.
I compared with buffer, and without, I also used transformer (SC) in place of a buffer, and to me, the buffer sounded the best. But, I might speculate, that this will also depend on a transport that was used: all my comparisons were done with either CD-Pro2 or ML31.5.
Now, if you are bolting it to a piece of wood, try to loosen those screws, there might be also a difference
I compared with buffer, and without, I also used transformer (SC) in place of a buffer, and to me, the buffer sounded the best. But, I might speculate, that this will also depend on a transport that was used: all my comparisons were done with either CD-Pro2 or ML31.5.
Now, if you are bolting it to a piece of wood, try to loosen those screws, there might be also a difference
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