The last worke is done.
The new I/V-Resistors are in place:
all 4 cap in the input circuit are changed to OS-CON´s:
and now...
... burning in time.
Stay tuned
The new I/V-Resistors are in place:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
all 4 cap in the input circuit are changed to OS-CON´s:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
and now...
... burning in time.Stay tuned
Finally have time to build this circuit for test, but I got different results, I got 705.6 khz at pin 16 and 17.
Did i make anything wrong? I follow the exact circuit to build.
Attachments
Last edited:
Tweaking finished !
It took some time, but the tweaking is finished!
I will invite you all to look at the steps i do the last weeks.
First after the real positive experiences with the Texas Components TX2575 resistors in the I/V stage,
i have change all resistors in the Lampizator stage to the TX2575.
Because there are only 6 resistors plus 2 in the PSU, it is not to expensive and the result is more than great!
The green 360K Kiwame resistor you see on the photo is the bleeding resistor, to discharge the caps after you switch off the power.
After speaking to "The Lampizator" Lukasz Fikus, who will also make a review shortly on his side, i realized his recommendation to solder the 4x14 coupling caps as short as possible to the TDA´s.
Therefore i make a new groundline unther each TDA and solder the small BG´s directly to the pin´s.
This modification brings the SQ a huge step forward! Realy impressive.
After long searching for a real good USB to I2S Converter, i found the ultimate solution at the webside from Doede Douma.
His single board USB to I2S decoder is a perfect designed board and realy cheep to get from him.
I use only the I2S output. The board and the heaters from the output tubes got a separat Variable DC Power Regulator Board from Analog Metric.
What i do on the boards is changing the big capacitor to a 10.000µF/50V Nichicon KG type II and take "Stealth Diodes" from Fairchild.
Apropos Fairchild Stealth Diodes... To change all rectifier diodes to the Fairchild ISL9R460PF2 Stealth Type was one of the greatest surprises from the whole tweaking process.
Absolute unbelievable. The soundstage opened up in every direction, every small details are much more realistic and thats for arround $1 each!!!
I also change the 7 standard 5.600µF caps to the best Nichicon Audio KG´s, the 4.700µF/63V Super Trough type III.
Also here a noticeable step, but not as great as the diodes.
A bigger step was the changing of the 100µF caps at the output pin´s of all 14 voltage regulators to Sanyo OS-CON 180µF/20V SP-Series!
It took some time, but the tweaking is finished!
I will invite you all to look at the steps i do the last weeks.
First after the real positive experiences with the Texas Components TX2575 resistors in the I/V stage,
i have change all resistors in the Lampizator stage to the TX2575.
Because there are only 6 resistors plus 2 in the PSU, it is not to expensive and the result is more than great!
The green 360K Kiwame resistor you see on the photo is the bleeding resistor, to discharge the caps after you switch off the power.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
After speaking to "The Lampizator" Lukasz Fikus, who will also make a review shortly on his side, i realized his recommendation to solder the 4x14 coupling caps as short as possible to the TDA´s.
Therefore i make a new groundline unther each TDA and solder the small BG´s directly to the pin´s.
This modification brings the SQ a huge step forward! Realy impressive.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
After long searching for a real good USB to I2S Converter, i found the ultimate solution at the webside from Doede Douma.
His single board USB to I2S decoder is a perfect designed board and realy cheep to get from him.
I use only the I2S output. The board and the heaters from the output tubes got a separat Variable DC Power Regulator Board from Analog Metric.
What i do on the boards is changing the big capacitor to a 10.000µF/50V Nichicon KG type II and take "Stealth Diodes" from Fairchild.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Apropos Fairchild Stealth Diodes... To change all rectifier diodes to the Fairchild ISL9R460PF2 Stealth Type was one of the greatest surprises from the whole tweaking process.
Absolute unbelievable. The soundstage opened up in every direction, every small details are much more realistic and thats for arround $1 each!!!
I also change the 7 standard 5.600µF caps to the best Nichicon Audio KG´s, the 4.700µF/63V Super Trough type III.
Also here a noticeable step, but not as great as the diodes.
A bigger step was the changing of the 100µF caps at the output pin´s of all 14 voltage regulators to Sanyo OS-CON 180µF/20V SP-Series!
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Last edited:
Now with all parts tweeked, my last focus were the output tubes.
Lukasz recommend the russian 6N2P (best are the ER-Version of these tubes).
For the last 3 weeks i tested these against the best ECC83 on the planet, the Tesla E83CC Gold Pin (the one and only 1:1 build to the Telefunken ECC803S)
and a newcomer i found luckily, the brand new E813CC from TechTube.
The E813CC have a complete new internal design. Looks very cool
I must say that the 6N2P-ER make a real good job to the "Reference" E83CC/ECC803S.
The real big surprise is the TechTube E813CC. It blows me out of my chair!
I have never heard such a authentic 3D-Stage with so many mircodetails like that.
Absolute terrific hights, mids and bass, without any colorness and a real superfast playback.
This tube make the last step from a High-End reproduction to a real live event!
From my "subjective" feelings for sure but ABSOLUTE RECOMMENDED.
Conclusion:
The TDA4.0 DAC from raindrop_hui on ebay with all standard parts is real good for the price,
but if you want you could tweak the sound quality into ranges, i am not sure you will get a better result with any other DAC on the market!
Best regards to all,
dvb-projekt
Lukasz recommend the russian 6N2P (best are the ER-Version of these tubes).
For the last 3 weeks i tested these against the best ECC83 on the planet, the Tesla E83CC Gold Pin (the one and only 1:1 build to the Telefunken ECC803S)
and a newcomer i found luckily, the brand new E813CC from TechTube.
The E813CC have a complete new internal design. Looks very cool
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I must say that the 6N2P-ER make a real good job to the "Reference" E83CC/ECC803S.
The real big surprise is the TechTube E813CC. It blows me out of my chair!
I have never heard such a authentic 3D-Stage with so many mircodetails like that.
Absolute terrific hights, mids and bass, without any colorness and a real superfast playback.
This tube make the last step from a High-End reproduction to a real live event!
From my "subjective" feelings for sure but ABSOLUTE RECOMMENDED.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Conclusion:
The TDA4.0 DAC from raindrop_hui on ebay with all standard parts is real good for the price,
but if you want you could tweak the sound quality into ranges, i am not sure you will get a better result with any other DAC on the market!
Best regards to all,
dvb-projekt
Last edited:
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- right click on the pictures
- link "open in new window" - e.g. http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/1834/img0894j.th.jpg
- delete the "th." in the link
- right click on the pictures
- link "open in new window" - e.g. http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/1834/img0894j.th.jpg
- delete the "th." in the link
Hi DVD,
Gee, those tweaks look good! I am in between this dac or the greendac that Lukasz has made. Let's hope he finds time to post the results of the 'battle' soon when he gets back from holidays.
I see that the seller of this TDA 4.0 also sells the exact same dac with 1 or 2 TDA's. What is the advantage of having 4 TDA's on the board in your opinion?
Cheers,
Mark.
Gee, those tweaks look good! I am in between this dac or the greendac that Lukasz has made. Let's hope he finds time to post the results of the 'battle' soon when he gets back from holidays.
I see that the seller of this TDA 4.0 also sells the exact same dac with 1 or 2 TDA's. What is the advantage of having 4 TDA's on the board in your opinion?
Cheers,
Mark.
Hi Dvb Projekt.
Your DAC project is superb. I have doing a lot of research over internet viewing several DAC projects, yours is one of the best homemade DAC to me.
Here´s a link to Lukasz Fikus comments about this DAC board (without mods):
fourTDA_dac
At first he saids its too many power and no quality, but its exactly the way you go... you upgrade each part to high quality components. Making it better and better, step by step.
I would like to go this way but there are not more DAC units like this in ebay.
I have one question to you...
For the one of sexiest analogue section I ever seen, You took the "lampizator" and upgrade it, isn´t it?
In digital domain: The only thing I wonder its USB at the source. In the motherboard there are several clocks running at diferent frecuencies, and they are feeding from the same PSU and the computers PSU aren´t too electrical quiet exactly.
I think that If one wants to approach to the best USB implementation one may need a dedicated PCI express card to USB like this:
At PCI express you have still perfect signal (like in RAM, like in Hard disk) because its burst, no streaming data. Here with PCIx to USB card, you have dedicated conversions chips to make the USB streaming. Once you are in USB scope, the clock signal is a relevant issue, and it takes the computer as a master clock. But with this PCIx card, synchrony, its taked from his own clock. In the card, I would install a special filter to the card like "Invisus 2 Voltage Regulators" between generic PC-PSU +3.3V and the PCIx USB card. And of course, I will change -the stock clock- to a dedicated PSU + Clock kit, in order to achieve more stable clocking to the USB streaming.
I think this is the best way to maintain as low as possible the jitter issue. After that, the USB cable quality become to play an important role I think. When we´ll feed directly from USB to the I2S (Inter IC Sound) it will doesn´t need reclocking, and we feed the I2S with quality and dedicated signal right from the start. I don´t know. It maybe an interesting experiment. Isn´t it?
Congratulations again dbv-projekt, thumbs up for you.
Your DAC project is superb. I have doing a lot of research over internet viewing several DAC projects, yours is one of the best homemade DAC to me.
Here´s a link to Lukasz Fikus comments about this DAC board (without mods):
fourTDA_dac
At first he saids its too many power and no quality, but its exactly the way you go... you upgrade each part to high quality components. Making it better and better, step by step.
I would like to go this way but there are not more DAC units like this in ebay.
I have one question to you...
So... what can you tell us now?
For the one of sexiest
analogue section I ever seen, You took the "lampizator" and upgrade it, isn´t it?In digital domain: The only thing I wonder its USB at the source. In the motherboard there are several clocks running at diferent frecuencies, and they are feeding from the same PSU and the computers PSU aren´t too electrical quiet exactly.
I think that If one wants to approach to the best USB implementation one may need a dedicated PCI express card to USB like this:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
At PCI express you have still perfect signal (like in RAM, like in Hard disk) because its burst, no streaming data. Here with PCIx to USB card, you have dedicated conversions chips to make the USB streaming. Once you are in USB scope, the clock signal is a relevant issue, and it takes the computer as a master clock. But with this PCIx card, synchrony, its taked from his own clock. In the card, I would install a special filter to the card like "Invisus 2 Voltage Regulators" between generic PC-PSU +3.3V and the PCIx USB card. And of course, I will change -the stock clock- to a dedicated PSU + Clock kit, in order to achieve more stable clocking to the USB streaming.
I think this is the best way to maintain as low as possible the jitter issue. After that, the USB cable quality become to play an important role I think. When we´ll feed directly from USB to the I2S (Inter IC Sound) it will doesn´t need reclocking, and we feed the I2S with quality and dedicated signal right from the start. I don´t know. It maybe an interesting experiment. Isn´t it?
Congratulations again dbv-projekt, thumbs up for you.
I think the output stage can easily be upgraded.
Take any 40-60 mu triode and make it ccs or choke loaded.
d3a, c3g and E180F come to mind because they sound great and are very affordable. Please don't use the overhyped 6c45. You can play around with output caps, ways to bias (try LED) etc.
Ofcourse you can always get a high quality interstage transformer, but it's expensive and you can't fool around as easily
c3g, CCS and LED bias is a good starting point.
Take any 40-60 mu triode and make it ccs or choke loaded.
d3a, c3g and E180F come to mind because they sound great and are very affordable. Please don't use the overhyped 6c45. You can play around with output caps, ways to bias (try LED) etc.
Ofcourse you can always get a high quality interstage transformer, but it's expensive and you can't fool around as easily
c3g, CCS and LED bias is a good starting point.
Thank you for the flowers Moynet.
To your question with my "old" PS Audio DLIII with Cullen upgrade Mod. IV.:
The "Blue-Monster" with Lukasz Lampizator (all standard parts incl. 6N2P) beats the DLIII !!!
One word to the DAC Units on ebay.
In the beginning of my tweaks i mailed raindrop_hui making a redisign of his board, to get
the decoupling caps as short as possible to the TDA´s as Lukasz recommended.
I hope he will do that. The best thing is to mail him with regards from me and ask for the upgraded board.
Perhaps you are the lucky one who could buy this new board first.
Beacuse i have an iMac, i must had a perfect solution to come from the USB to the I2S input on the board.
The USB/I2S receiver from Doede Douma is this solution. A very well designed Kit.
Perhaps you would like to share your thoughts with him.
At this time i am ready with the case for the DAC and will integrate the parts this weekend.
So stay tuned. It will look absolutely fantastic
To your question with my "old" PS Audio DLIII with Cullen upgrade Mod. IV.:
The "Blue-Monster" with Lukasz Lampizator (all standard parts incl. 6N2P) beats the DLIII !!!
One word to the DAC Units on ebay.
In the beginning of my tweaks i mailed raindrop_hui making a redisign of his board, to get
the decoupling caps as short as possible to the TDA´s as Lukasz recommended.
I hope he will do that. The best thing is to mail him with regards from me and ask for the upgraded board.
Perhaps you are the lucky one who could buy this new board first.
Beacuse i have an iMac, i must had a perfect solution to come from the USB to the I2S input on the board.
The USB/I2S receiver from Doede Douma is this solution. A very well designed Kit.
Perhaps you would like to share your thoughts with him.
At this time i am ready with the case for the DAC and will integrate the parts this weekend.
So stay tuned. It will look absolutely fantastic
Projekt Finished !
It take a long time, but my DAC is ready!
I will invite you to have a closer look.
Tatttaaaaaaa here it is:
And now..... time to listen
It take a long time, but my DAC is ready!
I will invite you to have a closer look.
Tatttaaaaaaa here it is:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
And now..... time to listen
I can´t sleep viewing this DAC
Wow! Dvb-projekt
There are very good gadgets you added for the final make up.
1. The input AC switch (Very nice).
2. I see down the tube rectifier a little circuit. That is new. ¿What is it?
3. There is a switch in frontal panel, to choose between USB (doede douma´s I2S direct) and SPDIF standart receiver in the blue dac I imagine. (This is really nice).
4. What brand is that ultra nice USB conector at the input? I have never seen one of them. SPDIF input is WBT as well as analog RCA outputs isn´t it?
5. What are indicating the 3 blue led (blue like the main dac card)? I can see some letters that said “heater”. But means voltaje to heater O.K. or, that bulb´s heater are ready to the performance?
6. There are 2 power switch? (behind and front)
7. The E813CC tubes doesn´t heat too much?
Your work really likes me. How much do you invest on this project without the chassis? And with chassis?
I ´m craving for the sound review. Highs, mids, bass, macro and micro dynamics, soundstage space, tonal balance, resolution, warmth, of course all that is subjetive up to you. Whereas you have referenced PS audio with Cullen mods level IV, that is something we can take as a point to compare.
Congratulations. Superb DAC you have.
Check your personal messages.
Wow!
Dvb-projektThere are very good gadgets you added for the final make up.
1. The input AC switch (Very nice).
2. I see down the tube rectifier a little circuit. That is new. ¿What is it?
3. There is a switch in frontal panel, to choose between USB (doede douma´s I2S direct) and SPDIF standart receiver in the blue dac I imagine. (This is really nice).
4. What brand is that ultra nice USB conector at the input? I have never seen one of them. SPDIF input is WBT as well as analog RCA outputs isn´t it?
5. What are indicating the 3 blue led (blue like the main dac card)? I can see some letters that said “heater”. But means voltaje to heater O.K. or, that bulb´s heater are ready to the performance?
6. There are 2 power switch? (behind and front)
7. The E813CC tubes doesn´t heat too much?
Your work really likes me. How much do you invest on this project without the chassis? And with chassis?
I ´m craving for the sound review. Highs, mids, bass, macro and micro dynamics, soundstage space, tonal balance, resolution, warmth, of course all that is subjetive up to you. Whereas you have referenced PS audio with Cullen mods level IV, that is something we can take as a point to compare.
Congratulations. Superb DAC you have.
Check your personal messages.
Hi Mark,
i would say:
- BG Decoupling caps with position mod.
- BG caps on each power input of the TDA´s (+5V, -5V, -15V)
- Rectifier in the PSU
- OS-CON´s in the regulater circuits
- Quality of the output C´s (i use ClarityCap MR) !!!
Wow!
There are very good gadgets you added for the final make up.
1. The input AC switch (Very nice).
2. I see down the tube rectifier a little circuit. That is new. ¿What is it?
3. There is a switch in frontal panel, to choose between USB (doede douma´s I2S direct) and SPDIF standart receiver in the blue dac I imagine. (This is really nice).
4. What brand is that ultra nice USB conector at the input? I have never seen one of them. SPDIF input is WBT as well as analog RCA outputs isn´t it?
5. What are indicating the 3 blue led (blue like the main dac card)? I can see some letters that said “heater”. But means voltaje to heater O.K. or, that bulb´s heater are ready to the performance?
6. There are 2 power switch? (behind and front)
7. The E813CC tubes doesn´t heat too much?
Your work really likes me. How much do you invest on this project without the chassis? And with chassis?
I ´m craving for the sound review. Highs, mids, bass, macro and micro dynamics, soundstage space, tonal balance, resolution, warmth, of course all that is subjetive up to you. Whereas you have referenced PS audio with Cullen mods level IV, that is something we can take as a point to compare.
Congratulations. Superb DAC you have.
Check your personal messages.
Hi Moynet,
to your questions:
2- This is a small new board that switch the main AC for the transformer over a solid-state-relais. So i have only 12V on the small switch at the front.
4- The USB connector is from Neutrik and the SPDIF also from WBT.
5- The LED´s indicate that the heater voltage of the output tubes and rectifier is ok. The third one is for the B+ of the OT-Tubes.
6- Yes. The switch on the back is the main switch. The front one switch to stand by.
7- The TechTube E813CC is the "coldest" Tube i ever have. Absolute no problem.
To the costs... Puhh, i think about 1.000,- EURO without chassis. The chassis with selfmade front and back design is about 350,- EURO.
Best regards,
Oliver