It's also a matter of taste but for this DAC I recommend Cerafines or, even better if you can find them, Blackgate FKs/PKs (not standard ones, Cerafines are better here)
You should also bypass the OPA827 rail to rail with a 10nF Wima FKP2.
Hey Dario you were right, the cerafines sound much better then the kz for opamp decoupling. Now the ak4395 is more open and there is much more detail in the mids.
I also added the 12v salas shunts and bypassed the opa827
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After the OPA 827 ,i tried the OPA1641 .....
Also very good ...better ..perhaps
The OPA 827,OPA1641 JFET input seem better than the bipolar AOP .
If you have some informations about the difference between the technologies
i am interested .
I also used a SALAS shunt Reg for the AOP 2x15v ,what is the value of the bypass capas ?
Thanks
Serge
Also very good ...better ..perhaps
The OPA 827,OPA1641 JFET input seem better than the bipolar AOP .
If you have some informations about the difference between the technologies
i am interested .
I also used a SALAS shunt Reg for the AOP 2x15v ,what is the value of the bypass capas ?
Thanks
Serge
Well said.
The beauty of the AKM 439x is the simple steps to get it soundig fantastic.
Nothing except a cap is needed after the Dac. Try this with any CS Vout dac. But if one puts a Lampizator after the 4396, the CS offerings can not
compete.
I am all for a shootout if one comes up with a good locaton here in Europe.
I have yet to try the AK4399 that Lukazs uses now with his Lampizator.
Greets,
Klaus
It's not easy to find THE CAP which give you good results !!!!
What do you mean by Lampizator, the U output tube stage ?
What is the best investment for the output stage ,Burson AUDIO AOP or the Lampizator ?
Thanks
Serge
hi
guys,interesting thread,ive just read all the pages.
i had a beringer ultracurve and loved the sound of that so would be very intrested in trying this dac.
but what i would like to do is hook the dac up directly yo a cd player.
i have a rotel 951 that uses the pmd100 hdcd chip...does anyone know if the this dac can accept the pmd output directly doing away with the cysrtal input chip???
failing that i have another cdp that has i2s output,can this dac except that?
any help would be appricated,either way i shall give this dac a go with the mods discribed here...good work everyone and thanks for sharing!!
all the best
smithie
guys,interesting thread,ive just read all the pages.
i had a beringer ultracurve and loved the sound of that so would be very intrested in trying this dac.
but what i would like to do is hook the dac up directly yo a cd player.
i have a rotel 951 that uses the pmd100 hdcd chip...does anyone know if the this dac can accept the pmd output directly doing away with the cysrtal input chip???
failing that i have another cdp that has i2s output,can this dac except that?
any help would be appricated,either way i shall give this dac a go with the mods discribed here...good work everyone and thanks for sharing!!
all the best
smithie
Yes, but that is the challenge with all dacs.
Yes.
The beauty of the Lampizator is, that it is very easy to build with little
investment. This minimal design is no slack either. Lucazs has done a
massive amount of trial and errror and compares his works with very good
equipment that his friends own. AudioNote Dac 2 and 3 for instance. He is a
trustworthy person that is not sold to any technology, be it tube or solid
state and also not to his own designs.
I would go with a micro Lampizator for the AK4396. I bought the tubes for
just a few Euros on Bay.
I got no experience with the Burson, but I doubt it will be close to the Lampizator.
The investment for the Bursons is way higher also.
Klaus
Hi,
I have done a similar thing to df_genius with discrete regs for each chip, also applying power through the cap holes. All regs are functional and supply correct voltage. All +ve voltages go to the correct supply rails and I have traced the +ve to the correct pin on each chip. All grounds check out and there is no obvious mistake and no obvious dry joints or shorts or open tracks. I have checked the thing a dozen or more times (and with a magnifying glass) – but no sound.
Direct out though 47R resistors and 10uF BGs. There is a DC offset of about 2.6V on each AOUT resistor and none at the output jack.
The power on LED lights but no other LED. Or I should say, when I first powered it up, the Error light and the 96k light come on straight away but the No Audio was not lit. I connected it to a DVD digital out and no sound. The only led that came on was the power. I tried a couple of different digital cables with same result. Borrowed a CD player with digital out and the same problem. No sound, no leds alight except power.
I have a suspicion that the CS8416 is dead but I don't have a scope to check. Is there a way to check it with a multimeter?
Any ideas?
Yes, 74HCO4 supply measures 3.29V so is okay. I have left that regulator as the LT1117 supplied with the DAC kit, but isolated it from other chips. It supplies only 74HC04.