WM8761 any good?

[jjne]

I recently bought a bunch of eBay DAC boards, and found that the WM8740/DIR9001/USB one has an unusually detailed, fluid sound, especially through headphones -- I was amazed actually. My old TEAC DAC is being sold I think as a result of this puppy.

Indeed, many of these cheap DAC modules are pretty decent -- I intend to use them as upgrades inside a couple of older CD players I have. Ironically, I don't rate the TDA1543x4 at all -- doesn't do anything for me despite the positive reviews.

However, the problem with it, only discovered after purchase, is that this, in common with most of these modules, only has a 16bit USB stage.

I was looking around for a Tenor TE7022-based USB stage to connect to this (and not bother with the inbuilt one), and came across this:

24/96 USB > SPDIF + ANALOG TE7022 + WM8761 DAC | eBay

Cheap enough, seems to have what I need.

This has what would, on the face of it have a similar DAC chip to the module I like so much. So, how is the WM8761 compared to the 8740?

[tubesforlive]

Originally Posted by jjne

I recently bought a bunch of eBay DAC boards, and found that the WM8740/DIR9001/USB one has an unusually detailed, fluid sound, especially through headphones -- I was amazed actually. My old TEAC DAC is being sold I think as a result of this puppy.

Indeed, many of these cheap DAC modules are pretty decent -- I intend to use them as upgrades inside a couple of older CD players I have. Ironically, I don't rate the TDA1543x4 at all -- doesn't do anything for me despite the positive reviews.

However, the problem with it, only discovered after purchase, is that this, in common with most of these modules, only has a 16bit USB stage.

I was looking around for a Tenor TE7022-based USB stage to connect to this (and not bother with the inbuilt one), and came across this:

24/96 USB > SPDIF + ANALOG TE7022 + WM8761 DAC | eBay

Cheap enough, seems to have what I need.

This has what would, on the face of it have a similar DAC chip to the module I like so much. So, how is the WM8761 compared to the 8740?

Sorry cannot answer your last question. Did not hear the 8740 yet, but the 8761 sounds to me very nice. It is a V out DAC chip which i used in combination with a tube cathode follower (unity gain buffer). Sounds very nice!

[jjne]

Good enough for me

Looks like this is a direct I2S connection as well, so if the DAC is decent, I might be able to deploy the 8740 somewhere else.

(Or try to buffer it with a valve buffer -- I've been meaning to experiment with that for a while).

[tubesforlive]

Perhaps helpfull. I used this excel sheet for my cathode follower:

http://www.ict-net.net/tube.xls

Try the JJ ECC99, sounds to my opinion much better as the ECC8x tubes. You can expect around the 1 - 1.2V RMS output voltage and a low output impedance. Throw a good power supply against it and you will have nice sounding music.

[nowhere]

Originally Posted by jjne

... how is the WM8761 compared to the 8740?

According to its dataheet WM8761 is crap.

See True (in digital sense) 24 bit assembled USB DAC ? for some practical answers - probably starting from True (in digital sense) 24 bit assembled USB DAC ? for practical answers.

[jjne]

I do see what you mean. I wouldn't necessarily say it looks 'crap', but it certainly mediocre.

Interestingly, the raw figures do tally quite well with what I hear. I had a look at a few different DACs that I can't tell the difference between, and sure enough the THD/SNR etc figures are all the same. The TDA1543, which people rave about but I don't rate at all, is indeed 'crap' according to the figures, and the WM8740 is much better than the average.

Still, I'm only really after the TE7022 -- if the DAC they've bolted on is average it'll be bypassed.

[nowhere]

Originally Posted by jjne

...
Still, I'm only really after the TE7022 -- if the DAC they've bolted on is average it'll be bypassed.

Enter TE7022 as search term on eBay, aliexpress, dhgate, etc - I think I saw a card (USB2 -> SPDIF converter) for as low as $20.

[jjne]

Damn, you're right, although they're $30 on ebay (the $20 one is USB to I2S by look of things and would require some hacking about with to make it work for what I want it to do)... ah well, $5 for a DAC that'll probably never be used, I've made worse financial faux-pas

Thanks for the feedback

[maxmba]

I got this DAC from eBay and it works very well for playing ambient trans music via Pandora at 192 kbs.

I feel that this eBay TE7022 + WM8761 DAC | eBay DAC circuit lacks bass at its analog output, but i am feeding it analog output into Onkyo 575 receiver and use the receiver's tone controls to compensate.

The sound is very "transparent" and "detailed."

This DAC + Onkyo 575 headphone sounds better than FiiO E7 that uses the same Wolfson DAC. Also this combo is better than feeding Onkyo 575 built in DAC.with optical SPDF from my notebook's sound card. Ths sound card is Creative Audigy 2ZS PCMCI.used for SPDF optical output.

Headphones used AKG 702 (60 Ohm) and Sony MDR-7506 (52 Ohm).

I am very happy with this DAC - it is like $30 delivered and sounds better than my other DACs including FiiO E7.

[lordearl]

I've played around with this little unit and the sound is excellent for the price. WM8761 has a better sound signature than TDA1543, for about the same spend.

There's two 10uF electro caps at the output...should be a simple mod to take them out and replace with film caps.