Hifimediy direct out cs4398 DAC - Page 14

analog3000 · 13th February 2012, 05:59 AM

Hey,
this thread is going to get some life again, fine.

I tried different things, i also connect the output 2 directly to my amps. Impressive.

@PJN : You use four Sonicaps to couple, direct on the Output 2 or instead of the 4 Caps on the board ?

@ i2k92 : Aikido BCF, maybe a good idea ? Where do you buy the board ? Have you ever tried it without the upsampling activated ? Maybe this is the " harsh " sound that irritates you ....
I personally don´t like upsampling all the time, i do think that it sounds undynamic and unrealistic in most of the times. Although it may sound impressive .....

i2k92 · 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by analog3000

Hey,
this thread is going to get some life again, fine.

I tried different things, i also connect the output 2 directly to my amps. Impressive.

@PJN : You use four Sonicaps to couple, direct on the Output 2 or instead of the 4 Caps on the board ?

@ i2k92 : Aikido BCF, maybe a good idea ? Where do you buy the board ? Have you ever tried it without the upsampling activated ? Maybe this is the " harsh " sound that irritates you ....
I personally don´t like upsampling all the time, i do think that it sounds undynamic and unrealistic in most of the times. Although it may sound impressive .....

What do you mean by output 2 ?

I suspect the harsh sound is due to the output caps. I was unlucky because the week after I ordered it, hifimediy ships the board with Mundorf.

Previously I have almost similar experience with hifimediy tripath amp. Either change it to better caps or wait some time until it breaks-in. I actually prefer to change it to some PIO K75 caps but I don't have any at this time.

There's a jumper on the board to disable the upsampling, but it is soldered and I don't want to make any changes before it's break-in. Let's see in about 1 week. PS: I tested it using coax input only.

You can read about BCF here : It's About Time&Ultra-Linear Line Stages
There's a link somewhere on that page about the PCB sale. The reason why I choose it because it's simple, I don't need gain and I can borrow some tubes from my friend for experiment. I'm one of those stupid people who thinks that to have a good sound we need tubes :-)

Here's the photo of the stuffs (powered by 16$ r-core trafo):

analog3000 · 13th February 2012, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by i2k92

What do you mean by output 2 ?

--> there is someting on the board, in front of the 4398, named " output2 " ;-) .

I suspect the harsh sound is due to the output caps. I was unlucky because the week after I ordered it, hifimediy ships the board with Mundorf.

--> yes, mine is without the mundorfs too .

Previously I have almost similar experience with hifimediy tripath amp. Either change it to better caps or wait some time until it breaks-in. I actually prefer to change it to some PIO K75 caps but I don't have any at this time.

--> maybe i´ll go with obbligatos ...

There's a jumper on the board to disable the upsampling, but it is soldered and I don't want to make any changes before it's break-in. Let's see in about 1 week. PS: I tested it using coax input only.

You can read about BCF here : It's About Time&Ultra-Linear Line Stages
There's a link somewhere on that page about the PCB sale. The reason why I choose it because it's simple, I don't need gain and I can borrow some tubes from my friend for experiment. I'm one of those stupid people who thinks that to have a good sound we need tubes :-)

--> thanks for the link !

PJN · 13th February 2012, 04:05 PM

analog3000,

I just bypassed the existing flim caps that were on the board, very easily done as there are provisions for it already on the board. You only need two caps, one for each channel.

PJN

analog3000 · 13th February 2012, 04:08 PM

PJN,
provisions on the board ? i´ll have a look ... Two Caps ? Can you post a Picture, please ?

Thanks,

Michael

analog3000 · 13th February 2012, 05:22 PM

Ouch. Finally i found it. Thanks.

analog3000 · 13th February 2012, 08:38 PM

... and bypassed the standard caps + added two Obbligatos ( CopperCaps ). NICE ! They add a fine compression. Not to much, but very nice. Good Soundstage and Dynamics. not so Dynamic as a good Transformer, but very NICE ! Maybe i´ll go the Tube Way too ....

Michael

analog3000 · 13th February 2012, 10:39 PM

... finally bypassed the obbligatos with vishay 1837. Boing. That´s it. No coloration, natural stage and transients. Good overall dynamic. Hope it is still sooo good next morning.

N8,

Michael

i2k92 · 15th February 2012, 12:15 AM

Yeah I read somewhere that Obbligato + 1837 is killer combo. I've been wanting for those Obbligatos for some time now. Too bad the seller only uses expensive Fedex/UPS for shipping. That will cause the custom tax too high to justify the purchase.

analog3000 · 15th February 2012, 11:40 AM

The Obbligato alone sounds very " High End ". Lots of details and airy 3 D Soundstage. The Bass is ok. With the 1837 everything becomes more " Ground ". Warmer sounding but less detail and 3D ( as always ;-) . I like it more, it´s more musical to my ears. I will listen to it a few days, maybe I´m going to step up the level of my Tweeters in the end a bit, but that´s ok ...

I ordered a pair of the cheaper Obbligatos ( film oil ) to see what they will do. it´s fun to fiddle around with a solution that always sounds good in the end ;-) .

AND : Should i go the Lundahl ( 1517 ) or the Aikido Way ? Hmmmm ....

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13th February 2012, 05:59 AM	#131
analog3000 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2010	Hey, this thread is going to get some life again, fine. I tried different things, i also connect the output 2 directly to my amps. Impressive. @PJN : You use four Sonicaps to couple, direct on the Output 2 or instead of the 4 Caps on the board ? @ i2k92 : Aikido BCF, maybe a good idea ? Where do you buy the board ? Have you ever tried it without the upsampling activated ? Maybe this is the " harsh " sound that irritates you .... I personally don´t like upsampling all the time, i do think that it sounds undynamic and unrealistic in most of the times. Although it may sound impressive .....

13th February 2012, 04:05 PM	#134
PJN diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pa, USA	analog3000, I just bypassed the existing flim caps that were on the board, very easily done as there are provisions for it already on the board. You only need two caps, one for each channel. PJN

13th February 2012, 04:08 PM	#135
analog3000 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2010	PJN, provisions on the board ? i´ll have a look ... Two Caps ? Can you post a Picture, please ? Thanks, Michael

13th February 2012, 05:22 PM	#136
analog3000 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2010	Ouch. Finally i found it. Thanks.

13th February 2012, 08:38 PM	#137
analog3000 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2010	... and bypassed the standard caps + added two Obbligatos ( CopperCaps ). NICE ! They add a fine compression. Not to much, but very nice. Good Soundstage and Dynamics. not so Dynamic as a good Transformer, but very NICE ! Maybe i´ll go the Tube Way too .... Michael

13th February 2012, 10:39 PM	#138
analog3000 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2010	... finally bypassed the obbligatos with vishay 1837. Boing. That´s it. No coloration, natural stage and transients. Good overall dynamic. Hope it is still sooo good next morning. N8, Michael

15th February 2012, 12:15 AM	#139
i2k92 diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Indonesia	Yeah I read somewhere that Obbligato + 1837 is killer combo. I've been wanting for those Obbligatos for some time now. Too bad the seller only uses expensive Fedex/UPS for shipping. That will cause the custom tax too high to justify the purchase.

15th February 2012, 11:40 AM	#140
analog3000 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2010	The Obbligato alone sounds very " High End ". Lots of details and airy 3 D Soundstage. The Bass is ok. With the 1837 everything becomes more " Ground ". Warmer sounding but less detail and 3D ( as always ;-) . I like it more, it´s more musical to my ears. I will listen to it a few days, maybe I´m going to step up the level of my Tweeters in the end a bit, but that´s ok ... I ordered a pair of the cheaper Obbligatos ( film oil ) to see what they will do. it´s fun to fiddle around with a solution that always sounds good in the end ;-) . AND : Should i go the Lundahl ( 1517 ) or the Aikido Way ? Hmmmm ....