I compared my SMSL Sanskrit DAC with the DAC9 with Ti NE5534's.The Sanskrit had 3 opamps 1x JRC5532 2x OP275 .It sounded smoothed out, but not as it should be !
I then changed all 3 opamps to Ti NE5532's .Huge difference. I like the 5532 sound much better. More weight and more natural. Especially the saxophone has the typical raspy sound . With the original chips it sounded smoothed out.
But in spite of the Ti chips the DAC9 sound was preferable ( more dynamic )! Not sure what made it better but I should look at the filter and output stage design. However the Sanskrit has a mute control so all clicks and pops from the disc player were not audible unlike the DAC9 ! I did try out the LME49720 ! Can't conclude on it's superiority as I didn't listen to it for long. Will try it again in the next few days.
I then changed all 3 opamps to Ti NE5532's .Huge difference. I like the 5532 sound much better. More weight and more natural. Especially the saxophone has the typical raspy sound . With the original chips it sounded smoothed out.
But in spite of the Ti chips the DAC9 sound was preferable ( more dynamic )! Not sure what made it better but I should look at the filter and output stage design. However the Sanskrit has a mute control so all clicks and pops from the disc player were not audible unlike the DAC9 ! I did try out the LME49720 ! Can't conclude on it's superiority as I didn't listen to it for long. Will try it again in the next few days.
LME 49720
I need to get some LME49710 chips to try in the DAC9.
Since I found I had the 49720 chips , I tried them in the Sanskrit DAC.
Original chips were 1x JRC 5532 + 2x OP275 .
Changing all to 49720 wasn't particularly good. The sound lost impact !
However with 2xTi NE5532 and 1X LME49720 for the output does sound very nice. Clearer than 3X NE5532 , but it did loose some bass slam ! But I can live with it ! Voice and HF sounds very clear, better than the NE5532 at the output .
I need to get some LME49710 chips to try in the DAC9.
Since I found I had the 49720 chips , I tried them in the Sanskrit DAC.
Original chips were 1x JRC 5532 + 2x OP275 .
Changing all to 49720 wasn't particularly good. The sound lost impact !
However with 2xTi NE5532 and 1X LME49720 for the output does sound very nice. Clearer than 3X NE5532 , but it did loose some bass slam ! But I can live with it ! Voice and HF sounds very clear, better than the NE5532 at the output .
The DAC9 with Texas NE5534 has much better slam than the DAC7 with all Texas NE5532 's ! So does the 5534 have an edge over the 5532 ? ...or is it just the DAC chip , which I find hard to believe.
Looks like the NE really needs to be looked at more closely. I found that the LME seems to have slightly cleaner midrange ( separation of sounds!) but looses out in the bottom end which I can only describe as bass slam !
Wonder what the NE5534 will sound like with a FET front end ! Better or worse ? While it has been discussed , no one has reported any results so far.
Looks like the NE really needs to be looked at more closely. I found that the LME seems to have slightly cleaner midrange ( separation of sounds!) but looses out in the bottom end which I can only describe as bass slam !
Wonder what the NE5534 will sound like with a FET front end ! Better or worse ? While it has been discussed , no one has reported any results so far.
i2s on Dac9
Hi,
Could someone please explain how I would use i2s on this board. I bought this Dac with the xmos module from minishow but the xmos is useless. The drivers are only for windows and not great even for windows.
I have a raspberry pi and hifiberry but i need to build another streaming device. And i have this DAC!
Any advice would be great, should I buy another Pi and try to use a different interface - i2s? I know nothing about i2s...
Should I consider a different mini computer to use with this Dac? Maybe not the Pi but one that will work better?
stu
Hi,
Could someone please explain how I would use i2s on this board. I bought this Dac with the xmos module from minishow but the xmos is useless. The drivers are only for windows and not great even for windows.
I have a raspberry pi and hifiberry but i need to build another streaming device. And i have this DAC!
Any advice would be great, should I buy another Pi and try to use a different interface - i2s? I know nothing about i2s...
Should I consider a different mini computer to use with this Dac? Maybe not the Pi but one that will work better?
stu
Update, have been looking into this all day and can't seem to get my head around it...
It seems that there are some USB - i2s boards available that are not fussy about drivers. They claim to work on Mac, Windows and Linux and Android devices. From what I can tell, the xmos card I got from minishow with the Dac 9 is terrible.
Can someone clear this up for me? Should I be looking for a better USB solution for this Dac, specifically so that I can use it with Linux (and other nano computers based on linux)
And then could someone tell me if it is easy to connect i2s to this Dac, or do i need to solder very accuratley around the AK4339 chip itself?
And i presume trying to convert from USB to Spdif coax will just put more electronics in the chain?
stu
It seems that there are some USB - i2s boards available that are not fussy about drivers. They claim to work on Mac, Windows and Linux and Android devices. From what I can tell, the xmos card I got from minishow with the Dac 9 is terrible.
Can someone clear this up for me? Should I be looking for a better USB solution for this Dac, specifically so that I can use it with Linux (and other nano computers based on linux)
And then could someone tell me if it is easy to connect i2s to this Dac, or do i need to solder very accuratley around the AK4339 chip itself?
And i presume trying to convert from USB to Spdif coax will just put more electronics in the chain?
stu
could anyone confirm that this is the correct capacitor replacement for the PSU smoothing
ECEC1VA472CJ | Panasonic HA SNAP IN 4700μF 35 V, Through Hole Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor, 20% | Panasonic
thanks in advance
Stuart
ECEC1VA472CJ | Panasonic HA SNAP IN 4700μF 35 V, Through Hole Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor, 20% | Panasonic
thanks in advance
Stuart
Thanks!
Any thoughts on other easy mods for the weiliang Dac 9 board. I don't want to go to town on it, and from what I've read the Panasonic filter caps bring the most noticeable diference / improvement in sound. There are many mods described here but I wandered if anyone could give me the top few that bring the best improvements?
Don't think I will be rolling the opamps supplied because as far as a I can tell, one would need to redesign the entire output stage to get significant improvements. I have the NE5534 that came supplied.
cheers Stu
Any thoughts on other easy mods for the weiliang Dac 9 board. I don't want to go to town on it, and from what I've read the Panasonic filter caps bring the most noticeable diference / improvement in sound. There are many mods described here but I wandered if anyone could give me the top few that bring the best improvements?
Don't think I will be rolling the opamps supplied because as far as a I can tell, one would need to redesign the entire output stage to get significant improvements. I have the NE5534 that came supplied.
cheers Stu
I haven't done anything to the DAC9 and it sounds great.
It has very good bass slam with the NE5534 . Better than several other expensive chips.
I've left the 5534 on it. Mine came with OPA627 chips. 5534 is far better !
Some people say OPA1611 is better. I don't have that now so I can't say.
My power caps are Chinese I think. But the DAC sounds great with it.
I'm comparing it with my OPPO93 .
The two small bypass caps you refer to are right beside the two main supply caps along the edge of the board. Tiny 0.1uF caps. The two caps are not on the same edge of the board. Just look at the pic on the web site.
It has very good bass slam with the NE5534 . Better than several other expensive chips.
I've left the 5534 on it. Mine came with OPA627 chips. 5534 is far better !
Some people say OPA1611 is better. I don't have that now so I can't say.
My power caps are Chinese I think. But the DAC sounds great with it.
I'm comparing it with my OPPO93 .
The two small bypass caps you refer to are right beside the two main supply caps along the edge of the board. Tiny 0.1uF caps. The two caps are not on the same edge of the board. Just look at the pic on the web site.
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Mine came with the NE5534 and it sounded fine then I tried rolling some OPA627AP & OPA134 with each averaging 100-120hrs for comparison. Among the three; OPA627AP is the best for me by a mile, better spatial resolution. Next is OPA134 which for me brings a more "impactful" lows & last is the NE5534.
Could it be that the OPA627 chips that came with your board fake?
Could it be that the OPA627 chips that came with your board fake?
I'm using the XMOS board from Weiliang, I found an issue with it; everytime I move the DAC there will be popping sound in the music right after, I will open the chassis & secure the XMOS board then the issue will disappear. I guess the PIN connection gets loose easily. Have you guys tried a different XMOS board with success?
I don't think so. They appear to be original.
I need to get OPA49710's to try out.
By the way, did you install a driver on the PC, for the USB board ? I bought mine with the USB board installed. It's soldered in. No socket there . Haven't yet used the USB. If you did install a driver , how do I get a copy ?
Thanks.
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