replacing cs4814

[smithie]

hi guys
im using a audio-note cheapy dac,it originally had a cs4812 reciever chip which i replaced for a cs4814 one which was pin for pin compatible, it seemed to clean up the sound quite abit while still keeping the musical flow and sound of the audio note dac.
however ive noticed this is avalible
DIR9001 to CS8412 or CS8414 Pro Version Converter Board on eBay (end time 09-Dec-10 15:47:53 GMT)
and was wondering if this would be another step up,anyone have any views on this item,approach,it states lower jitter which obviously is a good thing but i dont want it to kill the audio notes musical approach...would appricate anyones views,ideas on this.
all the best
smithie

[ihear21khz]

IMO, do not bother swapping the CS8414 for the DIR9001 based plug-in. If you want better resolution through reduced jitter, look at the Tentlabs XO Clock as an option.

You also may want to look at pin 20 of the CS8414. It is connected to ground via a resistor and a small capacitor. It should have been set for the 8412 so you need to change the values of these to 470ohms and 0.068uf to optimise it for the 8414.

Also add small value (say 0.1uf) high quality non-inductive surface mount caps across pins 7 and 8 and 22 and 21 of the 8414. You can do this on the adapter carrier as soldering across the actual pins of the 8414 maybe a bit difficult. This cleans up the power supply to the pin and keeps RF out. You will hear the difference.

Cheers

[ihear21khz]

Correction to my post above : the caps that you need to use on the power supply pins of the CS8414 should be 0.01uf and not 0.1uf.