Hifimediy direct out cs4398 DAC

[hifimediy]

Originally Posted by 4mc2

Hi .... hifime... or nick
You have a plan in the futur for including a DSD input ? ..... the 4398 can support directely
Thank

Hi, good idea. but I checked the datasheet again and find we can't support DSD now, because we use this chip in stand-alone mode. May be we could have a advanced version to make it later.

Originally Posted by oon_the_kid

Hi,

Just checking about the volume control. If I were to put as switch to the jumper JP1 on the board, I could have the option between upsampling and no upsampling?

Does it come with a digital volume control?

Oon

yes you can try to do that.

[Rosu99]

Hi guys, anyone tried it with outputtransformers like Lundahl or Edcor ? maybe no reason to do it.
Also does it work with WASAPI or ASIO from a mediaplayer like J River when using USB ?

[i2k92]

Does this dac has a LPF on the output ?

[i2k92]

Just to add to my question above, another newbie qustion : If there's no LPF, how can the circuit removes the ultrasonic garbages with only caps on the output ?

[tojoko]

Originally Posted by studiostevus

I have modified a Behringer SRC2496 which uses AKM4393. To my ears, direct out from chip via some caps sounded best, cleanest...

Only disadvantage is relatively low output level.

hallo

ik las dat je de scr met een passieve uitgang gebruikt, ik had dit ook en vond het een verademing vergeleken met de normale uitgang, maar sinds kort werkt dit niet meer goed, eerst 1 kanaal wat uitviel, later ook het tweede...als ik actief weer aansluit, werkt alles weer, dus de dac is niet de dader, hoe heb jij de passieve uitgang toegepast, zou graag weer relaxed willen luisteren, gaarne tips...

groeten, Tom

[studiostevus]

6.8uF obbligato caps in series, with the + outputs of the dac, and a resistor parallel to gnd... simplest solution out there...

[jean-paul]

Half the output signal, less good specs (as this DAC chip was definitely intended the be used with both the + and the - output pins) and HF garbage as a bonus. I guess if this is good sound anything sounds good.

Really, I think there are more elegant ways of making an output stage for good DACs. Transformers for instance when one wants the passive way or this active one, check the discrete output stage:

Ray's Audio Page

I used CS4397 frequently with transformers just as WM8740 and in both cases good transformers were the best compared to just a cap. And full signal output + good specs too. Transformers have the nice feature that HF does not pass till some account. The whole point with transformers is the higher cost and where to find good ones.

[studiostevus]

Originally Posted by jean-paul

Half the output signal, less good specs (as this DAC chip was definitely intended the be used with both the + and the - output pins) and HF garbage as a bonus. I guess if this is good sound anything sounds good.

Never claimed this was the best that could be done... It was just much better than what I had tried before (and extremely simple), which was a tube stage.

I agree that a buffer+filter should be added.
I agree that the differential output can be summed, although not necessary
I agree that a gain stage can be added, although not necessary.

I however maintain that direct passive output is not a bad solution for its simplicity, and I compared the SRC with direct output, and it sounded very close, if not better, to a Creek CD player (which was in its day highly acclaimed).

[Nick122147]

Originally Posted by jean-paul

Half the output signal, less good specs (as this DAC chip was definitely intended the be used with both the + and the - output pins) and HF garbage as a bonus. I guess if this is good sound anything sounds good.

Really, I think there are more elegant ways of making an output stage for good DACs. Transformers for instance when one wants the passive way or this active one, check the discrete output stage:

Ray's Audio Page

I used CS4397 frequently with transformers just as WM8740 and in both cases good transformers were the best compared to just a cap. And full signal output + good specs too. Transformers have the nice feature that HF does not pass till some account. The whole point with transformers is the higher cost and where to find good ones.

This dac was designed so people could use the output stage they prefer. All the outputs from the cs4398 are easily available on the board.
If you don't like the idea of the simplisitic way of only a cap, then you can add whaterver output stage you want.
That said, I personally stand by the simple direct out way, I think it sounds really good, and this way also sounded much better on my gigawork dac.

[jean-paul]

Originally Posted by studiostevus

I agree that a gain stage can be added, although not necessary.

A gain stage is not necessary, with both outputs used you will have normal signal level. This is inherent to symmetrical outputs. You loose signal when only one output is used. It would be different if both outputs were coupled out to a balanced preamp.

Originally Posted by Nick122147

This dac was designed so people could use the output stage they prefer. All the outputs from the cs4398 are easily available on the board.
If you don't like the idea of the simplisitic way of only a cap, then you can add whaterver output stage you want.
That said, I personally stand by the simple direct out way, I think it sounds really good, and this way also sounded much better on my gigawork dac.

Maybe adding information on different output solutions is a wise idea so users will be well informed. For instance a drawing with both the + and - outputs and the options one has. This is contructive comment, do not understand me wrong please.