Congratulations!
Looks like all the care and double checking paid off. Great work.
You have a lot of new capacitors that will take a while to be at their best. I always let mine run at least overnight before critical listening. Enjoy and do tell us your impressions. The silver wire and good parts will pay off. Last night I swapped in a much larger choke in the CLC power supply to my USB->I2S converter and the sound quality exploaded. Every time I think I know the limits of the TDA1541a I get blown away by new levels. Your DAC will likely not be the weak link. Next place to focus may be up stream at what feeds it.
Enjoy!
Looks like all the care and double checking paid off. Great work.
You have a lot of new capacitors that will take a while to be at their best. I always let mine run at least overnight before critical listening. Enjoy and do tell us your impressions. The silver wire and good parts will pay off. Last night I swapped in a much larger choke in the CLC power supply to my USB->I2S converter and the sound quality exploaded. Every time I think I know the limits of the TDA1541a I get blown away by new levels. Your DAC will likely not be the weak link. Next place to focus may be up stream at what feeds it.
Enjoy!
I'd rather take a bullet to the head than go back to listening to the internal DAC of the SB Classic!!
This Dac runs circles around the preciously best DAC I've had, a modified DAC-AH (8xTDA1543 NOS).
Feeding the DAC now is spdif from SB Classic.
Thank you for your nice words, I have spent hours and hours researching the best parts and then finding them. I thought I might as well tweak this DAC from the get-go.
I've had braided silvercables before, but had almost forgot how good they really are!! They are atleast as good as NordOst RedDawn I had before.
I can't wait to hear it with the tube output/buffer(though I'm sitting with a huge smile right now with 4xOPA604 and parts not settled yet).
Hi Jonas, Yes.... Well worth building! Oh, 500 mA is to light for fusing for this DAC. 1 Amp slow blow should work OK. I'm using 2 Amp fast blow fuse. My GIC gyrator filter has 9 Opamps per channel so you know that is why I had to go to 2 Amp. Yes, my DAC blows me away also. Listening quality is supurb. I originally built mine to replace a dying Magnavox CDB650. I had tweaked that player and had the S1 crown DAC in there and the GIC filter. Interesting that this DAC sounds very little like the CDB650. Sure didn't expect that. Maybe something to do with running the the SAA7220 on a dedicated power supply. The tube stage is likely to be a huge improvement over the analog side of this design. So don't be surprised if you hear your music again like the first time. Any ticks? Yes... the hard edge should soften as things settle in. Dave
Hi Jonas, Yes.... Well worth building! Oh, 500 mA is to light for fusing for this DAC. 1 Amp slow blow should work OK. I'm using 2 Amp fast blow fuse. My GIC gyrator filter has 9 Opamps per channel so you know that is why I had to go to 2 Amp. Yes, my DAC blows me away also. Listening quality is supurb. I originally built mine to replace a dying Magnavox CDB650. I had tweaked that player and had the S1 crown DAC in there and the GIC filter. Interesting that this DAC sounds very little like the CDB650. Sure didn't expect that. Maybe something to do with running the the SAA7220 on a dedicated power supply. The tube stage is likely to be a huge improvement over the analog side of this design. So don't be surprised if you hear your music again like the first time. Any ticks? Yes... the hard edge should soften as things settle in. Dave
Hi Dave!
I can actually hear the hard edge getting less and less as I listen
1A Fast blow works for me.
No ticks what so ever
The SAA7220 is filthy and polutes the entire PS if it doesn't have it's own PS.
Thanks for the pics you sent of your work, really nice!
Cheers mate,
Jonas
Jonas, I hope you enjoyed the pictures I sent to your private mail. You will note that I did some things that are a little different in mine. My second build is waiting on the I/V solution. I mounted just the analog side (I'm having issues with) to a wood board the same size as the big aluminum case. The DAC board is the same as in the pictures of the first build. I have to fit 4 torroids in that space keeping the noisy AC side away from the analog side. Dave
Dave
Jonas, I hope you enjoyed the pictures I sent to your private mail. You will note that I did some things that are a little different in mine. My second build is waiting on the I/V solution. I mounted just the analog side (I'm having issues with) to a wood board the same size as the big aluminum case. The DAC board is the same as in the pictures of the first build. I have to fit 4 torroids in that space keeping the noisy AC side away from the analog side.
Yes I really liked the pics
Why not try passive I/V and tube output? But if I recall correctly you have done that? Or was it someone else?
One way to fit toroids in a small space is to place them standing, side by side.
Pantera - Cemetery gates
Guitars have lot more "meat" on them. Drums are tight and the "skin" sound is there
Overall the sound has a lot of drive(don't know any better word for it) I constantly play airdrums
As you probably can tell I listen to all kinds of musik, though Pantera is one of my favorites.
Guitars have lot more "meat" on them. Drums are tight and the "skin" sound is there
Overall the sound has a lot of drive(don't know any better word for it) I constantly play airdrums
As you probably can tell I listen to all kinds of musik, though Pantera is one of my favorites.
Hi Jonas, Yes, the bass can be very good from a TDA1541A. You probably notice better low pitch definition. 15" woofers help too. On the headphones I really enjoy my DAC, clean articulate... honest bass, none of that one frequency stuff you sometimes hear. In comparison my CS4398 is a little agressive. I tend to switch between DAC's quite alot. For modern blues, I stream from Slacker radio over the internet, I think the 1541A is better for that and rock. For the real hard stuff I sometimes favor the more aggressive DAC. Depends on the mood. Having said that I'm surprised that they sound quite alike. So 20-30 years later, there hasn't been a huge improvement in digital playback. Dave
On the headphones I really enjoy my DAC, clean articulate... honest bass, none of that one frequency stuff you sometimes hear. In comparison my CS4398 is a little agressive. I tend to switch between DAC's quite alot. For modern blues, I stream from Slacker radio over the internet, I think the 1541A is better for that and rock. For the real hard stuff I sometimes favor the more aggressive DAC. Depends on the mood. Having said that I'm surprised that they sound quite alike. So 20-30 years later, there hasn't been a huge improvement in digital playback. Dave
Hi Jonas, Yes, the bass can be very good from a TDA1541A. You probably notice better low pitch definition. 15" woofers help too.
Hi Dave,
I'm partial to heavier music like pantera, godsmack, metallica etc but also the classics like black sabbath.
I'm also a fan of singer/songwriters.
So far this dac has lived up to all my expectations.
Though this hardly the kit dac, apart from the PCB, only the regulators, and TDA/SAA etc are the same(but 100% genuine, which I'm not sure you get in the kit).
I'd be pretty pissed if it sounded like the standard kit, since I've put alot more $ and tons of time into researching parts into this DAC.
I like the fact that I can listen for hours to this dac and not get tired.
A really great compliment for this DAC is that when I asked my fiancé if I should turn the stereo off becasue it was late...she answered with a very determined NO!
That's a first
Jonas
Our apartement gets very hot in the summer, so I'm planning on using the dac with opamps during the warmest period.
Best possible opamp for I/V? For buffer/filter?
I've ordered 2pcs OPA627AU on dip adapters(assuming they are not fake). Any good for I/V or buffer/filter?
Also placed a bid on 2pcs AD797, these would be used as I/V unless I put a resistor on them(don't remember value of position, but I'll ask the friend who told me) to prevent oscillation.
Best possible opamp for I/V? For buffer/filter?
I've ordered 2pcs OPA627AU on dip adapters(assuming they are not fake). Any good for I/V or buffer/filter?
Also placed a bid on 2pcs AD797, these would be used as I/V unless I put a resistor on them(don't remember value of position, but I'll ask the friend who told me) to prevent oscillation.
Hi Jonas, I'm familiar with your music. Listen to that as well. Along with Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd etc. Don't worry I know for a fact that parts upgrades are very much an improvement. Trust your ears. You know the I/V question is a good one. I've heard some do like the OPA627, if there real. What do you have in there now? I like transimpedance amplifiers. Most don't. I wouldn't use them in this circuit however because they are not symetrical with regard to input impedance. They can be quite low. You might consider the AD8065/AD8066. A very clean sounding part. Yes, a good TDA1541A DAC can be listened to for many hours without ear burn. You will notice that each recording will have it's own sound. The DAC will not impart a sameness to all recordings. I find that refreshing. My DAC is really good with voices and hall ambience. Awesome how you can hear the space that things are recorded in. Echo's, depth and the like. Especially with audiophile recordings. How are the cymbals? Do you hear a crystal clear quality? Dave
Don't worry I know for a fact that parts upgrades are very much an improvement. Trust your ears. You know the I/V question is a good one. I've heard some do like the OPA627, if there real. What do you have in there now? I like transimpedance amplifiers. Most don't. I wouldn't use them in this circuit however because they are not symetrical with regard to input impedance. They can be quite low. You might consider the AD8065/AD8066. A very clean sounding part. Yes, a good TDA1541A DAC can be listened to for many hours without ear burn. You will notice that each recording will have it's own sound. The DAC will not impart a sameness to all recordings. I find that refreshing. My DAC is really good with voices and hall ambience. Awesome how you can hear the space that things are recorded in. Echo's, depth and the like. Especially with audiophile recordings. How are the cymbals? Do you hear a crystal clear quality? Dave
Hi Jonas, I'm familiar with your music. Listen to that as well. Along with Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd etc.
Hi Dave,
I use OPA604 for both I/V and filter/buffer at the moment.
I can't write a long answer now, I'm about to go collect a donation for the vet care of that dog I mentioned in a mail to you.
Cheers,
Jonas
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