hi there
i just stumbled upon this: HLLY DIY DAC
now i'm curious if its any good... it says USB section is connected via I2S to DAC.. so i guess it can be modded to another source too
your opinions ?
thanks for your reply
i just stumbled upon this: HLLY DIY DAC
now i'm curious if its any good... it says USB section is connected via I2S to DAC.. so i guess it can be modded to another source too
your opinions ?
thanks for your reply
Last edited:
thanks!
i will ask here so i dont open up a new thread...
what kind of dac would you reccomend for like 250$ ?
i saw one massive thread about gigawork DAC:http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/137976-experience-diy-dac.html
but still i want to know what are the alternatives
i will ask here so i dont open up a new thread...
what kind of dac would you reccomend for like 250$ ?
i saw one massive thread about gigawork DAC:http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/137976-experience-diy-dac.html
but still i want to know what are the alternatives
There are two DACs over eBay that look promising for the $$/performance.
The first one is an interesting TDA1547 which i bought today. It's just plain interesting to hear the old deltasigma in such uncommon way (separate DF, modulator and DAC ICs).
The second one is SMSL with AD1955 and TE7220. This one looks good if you need complete DAC in a box solution. It is really cheap for what it has on the board. There is no caps on the output which is a good thing.
But... These are KITs. Circuits with suboptimal performance which you could fix into something wow-sounding.
That gigawork worth 30$
The first one is an interesting TDA1547 which i bought today. It's just plain interesting to hear the old deltasigma in such uncommon way (separate DF, modulator and DAC ICs).
The second one is SMSL with AD1955 and TE7220. This one looks good if you need complete DAC in a box solution. It is really cheap for what it has on the board. There is no caps on the output which is a good thing.
But... These are KITs. Circuits with suboptimal performance which you could fix into something wow-sounding.
That gigawork worth 30$
I have been looking at this DAC, and I came to the conclusion that it's not very good, for the following reasons:
The USB input looks like a very standard PCM2707 with a simple quartz oscillator. That implementation can be found for a few dollars all over ebay. I think that clock signal via the I2C is used all over the DAC, so I would look for an implementation with more effort in this area (maybe even TE7022).
The tube is an output buffer only I think, rather than being in the I/V stage.
I'd also like to see more regulators and a more compact layout...
The USB input looks like a very standard PCM2707 with a simple quartz oscillator. That implementation can be found for a few dollars all over ebay. I think that clock signal via the I2C is used all over the DAC, so I would look for an implementation with more effort in this area (maybe even TE7022).
The tube is an output buffer only I think, rather than being in the I/V stage.
I'd also like to see more regulators and a more compact layout...
What is the opinion on this ebay dac, the SMSL SD-793? Seems like a nice package for the price.
SMSL SD-793 Mini DAC DIR9001 + PCM1793 + OPA2134 Decoder Optical Coaxial & RCA B
http://www.ebay.com/itm/280852834239?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
SMSL SD-793 Mini DAC DIR9001 + PCM1793 + OPA2134 Decoder Optical Coaxial & RCA B
http://www.ebay.com/itm/280852834239?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
I bought from Hlly a DAC completed unit. Apparently his new unit 24/96. It doesn't work. Sent it back to China, unit spent several weeks, then returned with same fault - only intermittently has any sound output.
Do not advise buy Hlly products. I left negative eBay feedback. Many emails to seller not replied after trying to contact for support.
Do not advise buy Hlly products. I left negative eBay feedback. Many emails to seller not replied after trying to contact for support.
my opinion is that dacs need a well thought out grounding, with segmented ground plane to separate the analogue and digital parts of the build. well thought out local decoupling to the copper pour and correct i2s termination, cannot be replaced with wires and leaded caps/resistors. sure you can slice the crap out of the PCB, wrap things in copper foil, run separate buses back to star etc, but I dont think this is sufficient to make up for a bad layout/design
is it fun? sure, can you get decent sound? sure, will you end up spending as much as if you bought a reasonable dac to begin with? most likely. these threads that claim turning water into wine are a bit funny IMO. it all depends on your motivation
is it fun? sure, can you get decent sound? sure, will you end up spending as much as if you bought a reasonable dac to begin with? most likely. these threads that claim turning water into wine are a bit funny IMO. it all depends on your motivation
Yes I agree, check out the cd67 thread, take an old cd player, throw a $1000 at it and have an $800 player
Been there done that but it sure was fun.
haha nah, while that dac has been popular for modders over the years (looks the same layout and parts as when I bought one 4 years ago), it is again a pretty crappy design IMO it NEEDS mods to sound even half way decent. its the basis of many water into wine efforts, ive seen people throw thousands at that thing, one even used duelund CAST copper foil caps, ridiculous. even with big money spent I found it was too warm and wooly sounding
try this, due out shortly. use that and focus your efforts on building a nice power supply and perhaps a discrete output buffer. the PCB layout is very good, USB and i2s clocking/termination are done well and its built from the start to be modded. cheaper than your price too, you could buy or build a couple shunt regs or some nice batteries to go with it and still come out less than you are wanting to spend. it has a clocking scheme that is asyncronous wrt the input clock, but the usb and dac share the same clock synchronously. its fully hires capable too. only has usb input though
you could also look at the ODAC, but thats not very modder friendly and nether is the designer =)
try this, due out shortly. use that and focus your efforts on building a nice power supply and perhaps a discrete output buffer. the PCB layout is very good, USB and i2s clocking/termination are done well and its built from the start to be modded. cheaper than your price too, you could buy or build a couple shunt regs or some nice batteries to go with it and still come out less than you are wanting to spend. it has a clocking scheme that is asyncronous wrt the input clock, but the usb and dac share the same clock synchronously. its fully hires capable too. only has usb input though
you could also look at the ODAC, but thats not very modder friendly and nether is the designer =)
Last edited:
yep, thats the idea!
to get much more I believe you either need to buy blank PCB's and build the whole thing, or jump up to the next bracket and spend 1000+ for a ESS or Spencer's (Fetaudio dac) his site appears to be down, odd.
dont underestimate what you can spend on power supply and output stage, this way just means you arent buying a heap of stuff you will just replace, taking up room and there is a good chunk of space left in the dac case and PCB for mods, with positions for various different part types SMD, PTH etc. I dont think you would get more for your money spending $250 vs this and yeah once you buy/build a nice PSU and output buffer you'll probably be up around the 350-450 mark. the extra $100-150 (taking you up to a total of 230-280) will get you started and you can run on USB power until you sort that out. I believe well done USB audio pwns spdif these days, so why bother with it? its nice to have for legacy support, but thats about it.
to get much more I believe you either need to buy blank PCB's and build the whole thing, or jump up to the next bracket and spend 1000+ for a ESS or Spencer's (Fetaudio dac) his site appears to be down, odd.
dont underestimate what you can spend on power supply and output stage, this way just means you arent buying a heap of stuff you will just replace, taking up room and there is a good chunk of space left in the dac case and PCB for mods, with positions for various different part types SMD, PTH etc. I dont think you would get more for your money spending $250 vs this and yeah once you buy/build a nice PSU and output buffer you'll probably be up around the 350-450 mark. the extra $100-150 (taking you up to a total of 230-280) will get you started and you can run on USB power until you sort that out. I believe well done USB audio pwns spdif these days, so why bother with it? its nice to have for legacy support, but thats about it.
Last edited:
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.