Hi,
Recently I built 2 DACs one based on EX9028Pro and the other on AK4490 dual chip set. I think the former is slightly above your budget whereas the latter is within your budget. You can get this DAC board from here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New...lgo_pvid=573202fe-6011-42ff-8209-f3ec2c59797b
On top of that you to buy these parts:
1. Transformers, you maybe able to buy it from this supplier as well
2. A Case to house it
I assume you can put the parts together and make them to work, if not ask a friend, it's not that hard.
To improve the sound:
1. Change the output opamp, if you decide to purchase this board I will tell you which Opamp to buy.
2. Use twin transformers instead of single one(Optional)
Hope this helps. The sound I get is really quite good for the price you pay, I have built many DACs before this is one of the better ones and very good value for money.
Recently I built 2 DACs one based on EX9028Pro and the other on AK4490 dual chip set. I think the former is slightly above your budget whereas the latter is within your budget. You can get this DAC board from here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New...lgo_pvid=573202fe-6011-42ff-8209-f3ec2c59797b
On top of that you to buy these parts:
1. Transformers, you maybe able to buy it from this supplier as well
2. A Case to house it
I assume you can put the parts together and make them to work, if not ask a friend, it's not that hard.
To improve the sound:
1. Change the output opamp, if you decide to purchase this board I will tell you which Opamp to buy.
2. Use twin transformers instead of single one(Optional)
Hope this helps. The sound I get is really quite good for the price you pay, I have built many DACs before this is one of the better ones and very good value for money.
About 5 years ago I had never soldered on a pcb. Before my first amp project, I bought a $3 pcb that included some resistors, LEDs and a few simple things to solder. It was good to practice on something cheap like that.
Since then I've upgraded my solder iron, and I've built 6 channels worth of amplifiers and preamps too. I'm thinking about soldering my first DAC soon. I have no experience soldering SMD components, but a lot of them have that part done, and the end user has only through-hole parts to solder. It's fun!
Since then I've upgraded my solder iron, and I've built 6 channels worth of amplifiers and preamps too. I'm thinking about soldering my first DAC soon. I have no experience soldering SMD components, but a lot of them have that part done, and the end user has only through-hole parts to solder. It's fun!
Thanks for the recommendation, I think I am going for that DAC to replace my cheap thing here 
This one even comes with a XMOS https://www.aliexpress.com/item/USB...inished-DOP-DSD-package-XMOS/32808812608.html
For the price I am honestly worried it's a lesser IC.
@ttan98 Did you check on your board if it's actually the 48 pin package?
& What op-amp would you recommend? (If you don't want the discussion to drift to op-amps, just drop me a PM)
This one even comes with a XMOS https://www.aliexpress.com/item/USB...inished-DOP-DSD-package-XMOS/32808812608.html
For the price I am honestly worried it's a lesser IC.
@ttan98 Did you check on your board if it's actually the 48 pin package?
& What op-amp would you recommend? (If you don't want the discussion to drift to op-amps, just drop me a PM
)There are a few options you can play with, I mainly use a single op amp package per DIP mainly for value for money I use LME49710HA(tin can version is better) or if you can afford to spend more money use Burson discrete opamp or if you are more adventurous try the Chinese discrete components version, do a search on Ebay there a few versions around.Thanks for the recommendation, I think I am going for that DAC to replace my cheap thing here
This one even comes with a XMOS https://www.aliexpress.com/item/USB...inished-DOP-DSD-package-XMOS/32808812608.html
I bought a similar one. Good value for money sounds very good. If you are into experimenting with DAC I recommends a DAC based on a single ES9028pro PCB with balanced and single ended outputs as well. This DAC equally maybe marginal better.
For the price I am honestly worried it's a lesser IC.
@ttan98 Did you check on your board if it's actually the 48 pin package?
& What op-amp would you recommend? (If you don't want the discussion to drift to op-amps, just drop me a PM
Each brand of op-amp has its own signature and I believe there are no perfect one around. You even want to put a tube buffer at the output that would FURTHER alter the output sound, this I think is more significant than playing with op-amps. There are many tube buffers on Ebay you buy and built and rather cheap too just do a search. I bought one and modified it to suit my usage.
Best of luck.
The board arrived today, seems nice. Sound via USB/XMOS is great, but I didn't get around to comparing it to my cheap DAC. So this might be a bit biased.
I am not entirely happy with the temperatures after an hour of listening (Environment temperature is 30C/86F):
2x LT1963-3.3 with 12Vin: 80C/176F
1x LT1085CT (12Vin/5.5Vout): 80C/176F (I suppose analogue voltage for the 4490s)
The three regulators heat two of the caps quite a bit, 40C/104F on the hulls.
Other regulators seem okay (L7805@60degC, LM317/LM137@45degC).
The two 4490 run at 60 degC/140F each.
I suppose my 9V transformer (blue block trafo) is a bit oversized (36VA) and the voltmeter reports 10.25V (between rectifier and CRC-snubber), maybe a smaller one will settle closer to 9V. I will check the power draw after the weekend and see if I replace it.
Looking forward for next week (not at home this weekend) to do some proper comparisons
I am not entirely happy with the temperatures after an hour of listening (Environment temperature is 30C/86F):
2x LT1963-3.3 with 12Vin: 80C/176F
1x LT1085CT (12Vin/5.5Vout): 80C/176F (I suppose analogue voltage for the 4490s)
The three regulators heat two of the caps quite a bit, 40C/104F on the hulls.
Other regulators seem okay (L7805@60degC, LM317/LM137@45degC).
The two 4490 run at 60 degC/140F each.
I suppose my 9V transformer (blue block trafo) is a bit oversized (36VA) and the voltmeter reports 10.25V (between rectifier and CRC-snubber), maybe a smaller one will settle closer to 9V. I will check the power draw after the weekend and see if I replace it.
Looking forward for next week (not at home this weekend) to do some proper comparisons
Attachments
Some minor thread resurrection, because maybe someone finds this useful:
I created a faceplate/cover (what's the word?) and printed it. Fits well
See Cover plate for Chinese dual AK4490 DAC board by archimedesmp - Thingiverse for pictures and STL.
Next step (besides printing the power supply case) is to adapt dimdims akduino for that board and put the DAC into an old tuner (of course controlling the VFD and reading the buttons).
Also, I settled with 2x12V ring transformer for the output stage and a 2x7V Talema for the other two supply voltages and swapped the output op amps for TI1611.
If someone plans to buy this: Prepare to do something about USB noise. The XMOS only turns on if the 5V is there, so cutting the USB power lines doesn't help. A simple RC low pass filter (forgot the values) did reduce it to minimal levels, though.
I created a faceplate/cover (what's the word?) and printed it. Fits well
See Cover plate for Chinese dual AK4490 DAC board by archimedesmp - Thingiverse for pictures and STL.
Next step (besides printing the power supply case) is to adapt dimdims akduino for that board and put the DAC into an old tuner (of course controlling the VFD and reading the buttons).
Also, I settled with 2x12V ring transformer for the output stage and a 2x7V Talema for the other two supply voltages and swapped the output op amps for TI1611.
If someone plans to buy this: Prepare to do something about USB noise. The XMOS only turns on if the 5V is there, so cutting the USB power lines doesn't help. A simple RC low pass filter (forgot the values) did reduce it to minimal levels, though.
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