I just received my Wolfson 4.0 BIY DAC :)

[riddellsr]

Originally Posted by bigpandahk

Could you post some photo of your DAC? For the power supply, you may try the Salas LV Shunt regulator. I am planning to replace all the capacitors with Nichicon Polymer Aluminum and MKS.

Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera that works at this time so I am unable to show pictures. Rather ugly anyway.
Thank-you for the suggestion on the Salas.
I was lucky and was able to pickup some physically small 10uf MKP caps to replace the Nichicon Electro's and chose to remove the .01 bypasses. I have found that bypasses are very good to use in power supply, however seem to smear sound when used in the signal path, even when using teflons.
I would suggest that you remove the original Nichicons and .01 bypasses, install just the Polymers and have a listen first.
I have been playing with 4.7uf Ampohm PIO and 6.8 uf Mundorf Silver Oils in the output (again without bypasses)and have had similiar results as JonL in his Capacitor Musings review.
These caps are physically too large to install inside the chassis so they are wired in with solid core silver and are mounted with 3M double sided rubber tape on the outside wall of the chassis. Ugly but functional.
Thanks again for the power supply suggestion.

[orbanator7577]

How about replacing the 8740 with this:

1x WM8761GED 24-bit 192kHz Stereo DAC WM8761 | eBay

Any good?

[bigpandahk]

Originally Posted by riddellsr

Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera that works at this time so I am unable to show pictures. Rather ugly anyway.
Thank-you for the suggestion on the Salas.
I was lucky and was able to pickup some physically small 10uf MKP caps to replace the Nichicon Electro's and chose to remove the .01 bypasses. I have found that bypasses are very good to use in power supply, however seem to smear sound when used in the signal path, even when using teflons.
I would suggest that you remove the original Nichicons and .01 bypasses, install just the Polymers and have a listen first.
I have been playing with 4.7uf Ampohm PIO and 6.8 uf Mundorf Silver Oils in the output (again without bypasses)and have had similiar results as JonL in his Capacitor Musings review.
These caps are physically too large to install inside the chassis so they are wired in with solid core silver and are mounted with 3M double sided rubber tape on the outside wall of the chassis. Ugly but functional.
Thanks again for the power supply suggestion.

Thanks Riddelsr for your detailed description and suggestion. Will try to remove the bypass cap.

[riddellsr]

Originally Posted by bigpandahk

Thanks Riddelsr for your detailed description and suggestion. Will try to remove the bypass cap.

I just snipped them off with a pair of nail scissors.

[riddellsr]

Originally Posted by bigpandahk

Thanks Riddelsr for your detailed description and suggestion. Will try to remove the bypass cap.

I have replaced the 16 pieces of small Nichicon 47uf Electros with Elna Silmicll 50v. They have smoothed the sound out much more and tend to have more of a midrange focus. Perhaps I am imagining it but I think that the .01uf polypropylene bypasses that are in the Wolfson DAC Section are smearing the sound ever so much. To me it seems to be an ever so slight phase smear which seems to obscure air. Otherwise the Elnas are definitely superior to the original Nichicons in my unit and system.
As to the .01 bypasses I will wait until I have superior replacements before I experiment with snipping them out.

[avbuilder]

I have received the same DAC from a friend however the transformer has melted possibly he received a 110V primary one and used it on 230V. Can someone tell me the secondary voltage ratings on the toroid and their respective positions on the PCB. Thanks in advance!

[john dozier]

I have two of these-a balanced and an unbalanced- very pleased with both. I normally use an Anedio (waiting on the D2) and these dacs compare very favorably-punch well above their weight. Be aware though that some think the 8740 is better sounding than its newer sibling. Regards

[bigpandahk]

Originally Posted by avbuilder

I have received the same DAC from a friend however the transformer has melted possibly he received a 110V primary one and used it on 230V. Can someone tell me the secondary voltage ratings on the toroid and their respective positions on the PCB. Thanks in advance!

the secondary should have 2 x 16.5V/1A + 3 x 9.5V 0.6A

[avbuilder]

checker the roasted toroid. Lots of chinese that I could not comprehend though it gives secondary voltages as 0-9, 0-9, 0-15, 0-15. Thanks for the current ratings. I also want to know where on the board each go as there are no markings on the pcb.

[bigpandahk]

Originally Posted by avbuilder

checker the roasted toroid. Lots of chinese that I could not comprehend though it gives secondary voltages as 0-9, 0-9, 0-15, 0-15. Thanks for the current ratings. I also want to know where on the board each go as there are no markings on the pcb.

you may post a photo of the label and I will translate the chinese for you