The Mivera Audio Purestream DAC DIY KIT

[pinnocchio]

What I meant is that the software is taking the PCM data and converting it to DSD, that it is Korg, Roon, Daphile, etc..., this part is similar, then the DSD stream is sent to the DAC in DSD bypass mode. In your case in 11.2896 (DSD256). I'm not talking about all the super quality your product is made of, can't compare yours to this product in terms of quality for sure, I wouldn't dare, but I was asking if the principle stated above is similar.

I know how DAC works, I was just curious to know more.

Thanks
Do

 

[bavmike]

What I meant is that the software is taking the PCM data and converting it to DSD, that it is Korg, Roon, Daphile, etc..., this part is similar, then the DSD stream is sent to the DAC in DSD bypass mode. In your case in 11.2896 (DSD256). I'm not talking about all the super quality your product is made of, can't compare yours to this product in terms of quality for sure, I wouldn't dare, but I was asking if the principle stated above is similar.

I know how DAC works, I was just curious to know more.

Thanks
Do

Well it appears to be a DSD DAC, but it plays only DSD 64 and 128. So it will have a low filter cutoff point for sure to support DSD 64. Probably 50khz. The Purestream has a filter cutoff way up at 180khz. The higher you can go the better as it takes all of the phase shift out of the audible band. But you need to use 7th order modulators and DSD 256 to get good results with a cutoff that high. DSD512 requires 45Mhz clocks that have several times more jitter than 22Mhz clocks required for DSD 256. When you design a DAC to run only at 1 frequency, the DSD filter can be optimized even better with 256 than DAC's that support DSD 512, and all other rates at the same time.

 

[pieter t]

That's the only way to do it. But it works just fine. I sold a few wired that way. These guys are enjoying the best sound they had in their systems by far. In that review I posted comparing the Purestream to the MSB Select 2, the headphones were driven directly from the Weiss opamps with single ended adapters that tie the negative to the ground. Sounds good enough to him to rate the Purestream #2 out of over $300000 of DAC's he's owned. Only one beating it costing $90000.

Complete nonsense of course
You don't need a balanced output stage to convert to SE, but yes the "commercial" approach is that you do

 

[bavmike]

Complete nonsense of course

You don't need a balanced output stage to convert to SE, but yes the "commercial" approach is that you do

We are talking about the Purestream DAC. You are on the Purestream DAC thread.

 

[pieter t]

I know.
When the design of the Purestream DAC has two opamps per channel for balanced output, you should have said: "the design has balanced outputs with 4 opamps total; I advice to go balanced because that's the design. For SE output you can connect the minus phase with ground". Instead you suggest that the 4 opamps are necessary to get SE outputs, and that is simply not true.

 

[bavmike]

I know.
When the design of the Purestream DAC has two opamps per channel for balanced output, you should have said: "the design has balanced outputs with 4 opamps total; I advice to go balanced because that's the design. For SE output you can connect the minus phase with ground". Instead you suggest that the 4 opamps are necessary to get SE outputs, and that is simply not true.

It's true with the Purestream. I'm not talking about a different design.

 

[pieter t]

No.
I guess that the Purestream has no normal SE output, using only one of two opamps.
That would not be so difficult to implement.

 

[bavmike]

No.
I guess that the Purestream has no normal SE output, using only one of two opamps.
That would not be so difficult to implement.

It's designed from the ground up as a true fully balanced system. No different than how all of the Pass preamps are implemented when you want single ended outputs. Seems to work fine for him. Someone who chooses to build their own case and wants both balanced and single ended outputs can always use jumper pins in the XLR's just like Pass does.

 

[pinnocchio]

It's designed from the ground up as a true fully balanced system. No different than how all of the Pass preamps are implemented when you want single ended outputs. Seems to work fine for him. Someone who chooses to build their own case and wants both balanced and single ended outputs can always use jumper pins in the XLR's just like Pass does.

Sounds fine to me, I've done this many times before with preamps and sources and it worked perfectly.

Do

 

[bavmike]

Great news with Roon. They have updated their upsampling algorithms for better sound with very low CPU load. I can upsample to DSD 256 with my 2 generation old I3 Intel NUC with only 30% CPU load. So almost any PC can handle the SRC/SDM algorithms that get exceptional sound from the Purestream.