Hi Chris,
It's definitely possible and practical to build your ow DAC - I am far from an expert and I have managed to build two USB dacs (admittedly with a failure and a partial failure along the way...). I can contribute one or two remarks, and maybe someone who knows more than I do can chip in.
1. Do you have any experience soldering SMD components? If no, and you don't want to have a go, then your choices are more limited, but it's still possible. A google search for TNT-convertus will bring up info on a tda1543-based non-oversampling dac, for instance. There are loads more. (I seem to recall a lot of posts by Peter Daniel on related topics...)
2. SMD soldering isn't as hard as you might think, so even if you haven't done any, you can always give it a go. There are tutorials online to help. I did an Alien DAC from a kit I bought online (from Glass Jar Audio - happy to recommend them) as my first experience, and it produced a very handy USB DAC/soundcard. If this is what you have in mind then why not give it a go?
3. If you are looking for a SPDIF input, or an optical link, then I can't contribute very much, although there is a very good thread on here somewhere talking about a PCM1794 "microdac" which has a lot of info. The OP made his own PCBS for the project, but you can also do things with SMD chips and adapter boards - there are some photos on a thread I started on a PCM1793 dac which should give an idea.
Hope that's some help.
Cheers
Nigel
It's definitely possible and practical to build your ow DAC - I am far from an expert and I have managed to build two USB dacs (admittedly with a failure and a partial failure along the way...). I can contribute one or two remarks, and maybe someone who knows more than I do can chip in.
1. Do you have any experience soldering SMD components? If no, and you don't want to have a go, then your choices are more limited, but it's still possible. A google search for TNT-convertus will bring up info on a tda1543-based non-oversampling dac, for instance. There are loads more. (I seem to recall a lot of posts by Peter Daniel on related topics...)
2. SMD soldering isn't as hard as you might think, so even if you haven't done any, you can always give it a go. There are tutorials online to help. I did an Alien DAC from a kit I bought online (from Glass Jar Audio - happy to recommend them) as my first experience, and it produced a very handy USB DAC/soundcard. If this is what you have in mind then why not give it a go?
3. If you are looking for a SPDIF input, or an optical link, then I can't contribute very much, although there is a very good thread on here somewhere talking about a PCM1794 "microdac" which has a lot of info. The OP made his own PCBS for the project, but you can also do things with SMD chips and adapter boards - there are some photos on a thread I started on a PCM1793 dac which should give an idea.
Hope that's some help.
Cheers
Nigel
http://www.audiodesignguide.com
This is a great site, full of information. Lots of different dacs, all built on protoboard. It really shows how easy it can be.
Spark Fun
Embedded electronics site. Has a good tutorial section and carries a selection of prototyping tools and pcbs. smd to dip, etc.
I'm thinking of heading down the same path, but I haven't yet started to design anything. I'm still checking out what chips are out there, and what I want to do with them.
This is a great site, full of information. Lots of different dacs, all built on protoboard. It really shows how easy it can be.
Spark Fun
Embedded electronics site. Has a good tutorial section and carries a selection of prototyping tools and pcbs. smd to dip, etc.
I'm thinking of heading down the same path, but I haven't yet started to design anything. I'm still checking out what chips are out there, and what I want to do with them.
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