Recommend me an eBay DAC.

GloBug · 30th December 2011, 01:07 AM

Hey guys I want to try out a DAC kit.

Can you recommend one of those DAC's they sell on eBay?

What chip should it be based on?

I just want to feel the waters and maybe spend $50-$100 on one.

What's the current favorite?

PJN · 30th December 2011, 01:27 PM

Globug,

I got the Hifimediy direct out cs4398 DAC, and can heartly recommend it. It sounds excellent.

PJN

abraxalito · 30th December 2011, 01:31 PM

This one's worth a punt and well within your budget. Sound might not be to your taste at first, but persevere with it, I did

High end DAC TDA1543 DIR9001 kit DIY WH-1 | eBay

dirkwright · 30th December 2011, 01:50 PM

I like the products from Twisted Pear... but I guess not eBay. I've had a very good experience with Jim's Audio in Hong Kong:
Capacitors, Bare PCBs of kits items in jims audio store store on eBay!
He answers questions very fast. The board I got appears to be gold plated, which I thought was super.

MrSlim · 30th December 2011, 05:04 PM

There's a thread here about this AK4396 based DAC. the price can't be beat.. There are kits that include power transformers too.

Coconuts 500 · 30th December 2011, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abraxalito

This one's worth a punt and well within your budget. Sound might not be to your taste at first, but persevere with it, I did

High end DAC TDA1543 DIR9001 kit DIY WH-1 | eBay

Hello!

This kit looks very interesting, but I am puzzled as to what you mean by that? Does it color the sound? Is it harsh? What makes the sound not right at the very beginning?

Thanks.

marcelnl · 30th December 2011, 05:55 PM

TDA 1543 sounds nice, yet it needs to burn in for about 200 hours(like TDA 1541)..it should not sound harsh, especially not if you can find a kit using more of them in parallel (and without oversampling) and with decent parts, PSU and topology... Not sure if those kits exist...

There is a thread on the VALAB DAC using 8 of them (4 per channel) the thread is huge but you'll find usefull info in it on modding and sound quality.

PreSapian · 30th December 2011, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coconuts 500

Hello!

This kit looks very interesting, but I am puzzled as to what you mean by that? Does it color the sound? Is it harsh? What makes the sound not right at the very beginning?

Thanks.

is there any more user opinions on that kit? looks simple enough even for me to try

Coconuts 500 · 30th December 2011, 06:10 PM

Can it be used with a computer? If so - how to connect it?

MrSlim · 30th December 2011, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coconuts 500

Can it be used with a computer? If so - how to connect it?

You would need an S/P-DIF output from your computer..

30th December 2011, 01:07 AM	#1
GloBug Banned Join Date: Jun 2011	Recommend me an eBay DAC. Hey guys I want to try out a DAC kit. Can you recommend one of those DAC's they sell on eBay? What chip should it be based on? I just want to feel the waters and maybe spend $50-$100 on one. What's the current favorite?

30th December 2011, 01:31 PM	#3
abraxalito diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Hangzhou - Marco Polo's 'most beautiful city'. 700yrs is a long time though... Blog Entries: 46	This one's worth a punt and well within your budget. Sound might not be to your taste at first, but persevere with it, I did High end DAC TDA1543 DIR9001 kit DIY WH-1 \| eBay __________________ I think ideas are what you want to get rid of. I don't really like songs with ideas. - Leonard Cohen

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30th December 2011, 01:27 PM	#2
PJN diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pa, USA	Globug, I got the Hifimediy direct out cs4398 DAC, and can heartly recommend it. It sounds excellent. PJN

30th December 2011, 01:50 PM	#4
dirkwright diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Virginia	I like the products from Twisted Pear... but I guess not eBay. I've had a very good experience with Jim's Audio in Hong Kong: Capacitors, Bare PCBs of kits items in jims audio store store on eBay! He answers questions very fast. The board I got appears to be gold plated, which I thought was super.

30th December 2011, 05:04 PM	#5
MrSlim diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Ottawa, Ontario	There's a thread here about this AK4396 based DAC. the price can't be beat.. There are kits that include power transformers too.

30th December 2011, 05:55 PM	#7
marcelnl diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2007	TDA 1543 sounds nice, yet it needs to burn in for about 200 hours(like TDA 1541)..it should not sound harsh, especially not if you can find a kit using more of them in parallel (and without oversampling) and with decent parts, PSU and topology... Not sure if those kits exist... There is a thread on the VALAB DAC using 8 of them (4 per channel) the thread is huge but you'll find usefull info in it on modding and sound quality.

30th December 2011, 06:10 PM	#9
Coconuts 500 diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2010	Can it be used with a computer? If so - how to connect it?

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