But I have tried a filter with 100ohm resistor and it still doesnt sound good.
The trouble is, things just dont sound any any better with this buffer than with a passive volume.
I'm not criticising the buffer circuit but pointing this out in case it gives you a clue as to what might be wrong?
The trouble is, things just dont sound any any better with this buffer than with a passive volume.
I'm not criticising the buffer circuit but pointing this out in case it gives you a clue as to what might be wrong?
Its not supposed to sound better. Its a preamp. Its supposed to be neutral. If your source or amp is putting out some not so great tones then the preamp is not going to change that.
Its a unity gain so it, from what I understand, tries to bring all the sources you plug into this guy down or up to the same level and then attenuate the volume from that level.
So with this pre you select a source and you change the volume. Thats it. Its not supposed to make anything sound better or worse.
When people say it sounds great thats probably because what they were using before was changing the signal for better or worse and now with the B1 they have a signal that is NOT being colored.
I was using a Harmon Kardon AVR 135 up until about a half a year ago. It sounded fine to me along with my Aperion bookshelf speakers. Something was missing though and I found myself at the audio store. Prices being what they are I was not able to afford anything "decent." Thank the lord. So I built a tube amp and a chip amp and a few pairs of speakers and a B1. ALL of these have improved my overall system. HOWEVER they are very revealing to the recording quality of the music. You have to be careful what you play when you are evaluating how this new piece fits in. Listen to something like Clapton Unplugged, Natalie Merchants Ophelia, Bruce Springsteens The Burning. There are alot more, but these will show you the quality of the system. If you, however, play any album by these SAME guys/gals that was recorded poorly you will think your system is on the brink of disaster and why did you waste your time.
SO, your source is really important, your amp is really important, your speakers are ultimately the most important IMHO, and the CD you are playing is going to make or break your opinion if you dont have a point of reference for a great sounding disc in THAT system.
Most pop music today sounds pretty poor in my system. Well, most music produced today does. A lot of people have said that the recording industry took a turn for the worse around 1992, but thats not to say that they didnt record great music in a junky studio before 1992, its just to say that there is so much compression these days that the music sounds confused, muddled, and not audiophile quality. BUT before you get into an audiophile level system you are not going to notice this difference in recording quality, at least I didnt with the Harmon Kardon and that is supposed to be good equipment. The equipment on the market today, of course, tries to make the poor recordings sound better and your B1 is not going to try to do that.
SO, Prof Smith... Go to http://www.commonsenseaudio.com/cd.html and see if any of the CDs there are something that you have in your posession. Then play that. Its a place to start in figuring out whats the problem because if you built the PreAmp right resistors and caps are not your problem.
Uriah
Its a unity gain so it, from what I understand, tries to bring all the sources you plug into this guy down or up to the same level and then attenuate the volume from that level.
So with this pre you select a source and you change the volume. Thats it. Its not supposed to make anything sound better or worse.
When people say it sounds great thats probably because what they were using before was changing the signal for better or worse and now with the B1 they have a signal that is NOT being colored.
I was using a Harmon Kardon AVR 135 up until about a half a year ago. It sounded fine to me along with my Aperion bookshelf speakers. Something was missing though and I found myself at the audio store. Prices being what they are I was not able to afford anything "decent." Thank the lord. So I built a tube amp and a chip amp and a few pairs of speakers and a B1. ALL of these have improved my overall system. HOWEVER they are very revealing to the recording quality of the music. You have to be careful what you play when you are evaluating how this new piece fits in. Listen to something like Clapton Unplugged, Natalie Merchants Ophelia, Bruce Springsteens The Burning. There are alot more, but these will show you the quality of the system. If you, however, play any album by these SAME guys/gals that was recorded poorly you will think your system is on the brink of disaster and why did you waste your time.
SO, your source is really important, your amp is really important, your speakers are ultimately the most important IMHO, and the CD you are playing is going to make or break your opinion if you dont have a point of reference for a great sounding disc in THAT system.
Most pop music today sounds pretty poor in my system. Well, most music produced today does. A lot of people have said that the recording industry took a turn for the worse around 1992, but thats not to say that they didnt record great music in a junky studio before 1992, its just to say that there is so much compression these days that the music sounds confused, muddled, and not audiophile quality. BUT before you get into an audiophile level system you are not going to notice this difference in recording quality, at least I didnt with the Harmon Kardon and that is supposed to be good equipment. The equipment on the market today, of course, tries to make the poor recordings sound better and your B1 is not going to try to do that.
SO, Prof Smith... Go to http://www.commonsenseaudio.com/cd.html and see if any of the CDs there are something that you have in your posession. Then play that. Its a place to start in figuring out whats the problem because if you built the PreAmp right resistors and caps are not your problem.
Uriah
Professor smith said:
I have made the B1 in a no coupling capacitors version. It has been properly tested for performance with testing gear. So its assured that it performs as intended.
Have listened to it a lot, and I gave it to a friend to listen and he had the same conclusions without telling him my opinion first. I can assure you that it restores the dynamics compared to just a passive pot. It might sound a bit soft or unexciting only compared to excellent tube gear, but never harsh or without decent dynamics. There is something wrong in your set up most probably.
Well, there are two different opinions, but both with the same conclusion. Its something else in your system that is now revealed through the B1.
Notice that nobody thinks you built the B1 improperly. Its not very possible to do. The thing is just to easy to build.
On the other hand you have a completed build and have not posted a pic yet. Besides the fact that we all like to see pics of builds someone might spot a mistake.
Uriah
Notice that nobody thinks you built the B1 improperly. Its not very possible to do. The thing is just to easy to build.
On the other hand you have a completed build and have not posted a pic yet. Besides the fact that we all like to see pics of builds someone might spot a mistake.
Uriah
Professor smith said:
Are you using any ground connection to your power amp?
Personally I like very much the buffer , and it is quite different from the
volume pot alone .
Moreover , the buffer souns surprisingly different with different PS arrangements . At least with my F3 / F5 , Fostex / Jx92.
udailey said:
i dont have a camera to take a pic unfortunately.
stefanobilliani said:
Are you using any ground connection to your power amp?
Personally I like very much the buffer , and it is quite different from the
volume pot alone .
Moreover , the buffer souns surprisingly different with different PS arrangements . At least with my F3 / F5 , Fostex / Jx92.
there is actually a slight hiss and a slight hum/buzz apparent only with ears close up to speakers.
and no there is no ground to amp.
I did not put a switch to switch sources on my one.
When people say it sounds great thats probably because what they were using before was changing the signal for better or worse and now with the B1 they have a signal that is NOT being colored.
I was using a Harmon Kardon AVR 135 up until about a half a year ago. It sounded fine to me along with my Aperion bookshelf speakers. Something was missing though and I found myself at the audio store. Prices being what they are I was not able to afford anything "decent." Thank the lord. So I built a tube amp and a chip amp and a few pairs of speakers and a B1. ALL of these have improved my overall system. HOWEVER they are very revealing to the recording quality of the music. You have to be careful what you play when you are evaluating how this new piece fits in. Listen to something like Clapton Unplugged, Natalie Merchants Ophelia, Bruce Springsteens The Burning. There are alot more, but these will show you the quality of the system. If you, however, play any album by these SAME guys/gals that was recorded poorly you will think your system is on the brink of disaster and why did you waste your time.
SO, your source is really important, your amp is really important, your speakers are ultimately the most important IMHO, and the CD you are playing is going to make or break your opinion if you dont have a point of reference for a great sounding disc in THAT system.
Most pop music today sounds pretty poor in my system. Well, most music produced today does. A lot of people have said that the recording industry took a turn for the worse around 1992, but thats not to say that they didnt record great music in a junky studio before 1992, its just to say that there is so much compression these days that the music sounds confused, muddled, and not audiophile quality. BUT before you get into an audiophile level system you are not going to notice this difference in recording quality, at least I didnt with the Harmon Kardon and that is supposed to be good equipment. The equipment on the market today, of course, tries to make the poor recordings sound better and your B1 is not going to try to do that.
SO, Prof Smith... Go to http://www.commonsenseaudio.com/cd.html and see if any of the CDs there are something that you have in your posession. Then play that. Its a place to start in figuring out whats the problem because if you built the PreAmp right resistors and caps are not your problem.
Uriah
I dont listen to audiophile cds actually. Mainly commercial music.
But still, I give up. I didn't intend for this project to go on for days or weeks I just wanted to build a simple volume control to go between my power amp and speakers. It doesnt sound much better than a passive pre so I give up.
I am too busy to be soldering, buying parts etc.
Zen Mod said:
1. if you wanna learn something ( and not just lining puzzles ) , you must do your own homework ;
no hard feelings
2. good
3. you need at least 10uF on output of B1 , considering that you have twice 10uF to 20K - once from DAC to pot , once from B1 to amp
whats '' lining puzzles ''?
what happens if the ouput capacitor is 4.7Uf as in my case?
http://datasheet.digchip.com/477/477-07544-0-PCM1716.pdf
It says here the load impedance of the dac chip is 5 kohm.
It says here the load impedance of the dac chip is 5 kohm.
Professor smith said:
linning puzzles - making things without understanding how they works ;
we all started somewhere , without too much knowledge (NB that I'm still stuck there
) , but we can only progress if we try to learn bit by bitthere is numerous number of online tutorials ; few of them are any of Papa's 3 sites - go there , download all the pdfs and read ........ read ..... read .
4u7 will gives you half bass youcan have with 10uF
so - as you already have 10uF on DAC output - just make B1 with split supply , get rid of input cap ( not because of any problem that 1uF on B1 input isn't capable of transferring full bass energy , but because of addition of phase twists you have in every cap in chain )
two caps in chain are more than enough ; you don't need third one .
that's at least my (always) humble opinion
Zen Mod said:
4u7 will gives you half bass youcan have with 10uF
so - as you already have 10uF on DAC output - just make B1 with split supply , get rid of input cap ( not because of any problem that 1uF on B1 input isn't capable of transferring full bass energy , but because of addition of phase twists you have in every cap in chain )
But why is it that 4.7Uf gives me half the bass than 10Uf?
and what do you mean by 'more bass'?
Shall I put 20Uf for double 'more bass'?
And regarding your second point, can I just get rid of the DAC output cap instead?
I am not in a hurry to make another B1.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.