I've been interested of this one discussed here for a while till I saw this:
New Xmos AK4399 USB I2S 24bit 192K DAC Decorder Assembled Board by Weiliang | eBay
So i placed an order =) Let's see when it arrives. Minishow seems to be a serious seller, and also Along1986. Been talking to them alot. Got my dac finished in a case with a 50VA R-core.
EDIT: This is gonna replace a Titanium HD modified to hell
Let's see. I was very happy with my Titanium HD with all mods but i broke so... Trying new things is fun =)
New Xmos AK4399 USB I2S 24bit 192K DAC Decorder Assembled Board by Weiliang | eBay
So i placed an order =) Let's see when it arrives. Minishow seems to be a serious seller, and also Along1986. Been talking to them alot. Got my dac finished in a case with a 50VA R-core.
EDIT: This is gonna replace a Titanium HD modified to hell
Let's see. I was very happy with my Titanium HD with all mods but i broke so... Trying new things is fun =)
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I've been interested of this one discussed here for a while till I saw this:
New Xmos AK4399 USB I2S 24bit 192K DAC Decorder Assembled Board by Weiliang | eBay
So i placed an order =) Let's see when it arrives. Minishow seems to be a serious seller, and also Along1986. Been talking to them alot. Got my dac finished in a case with a 50VA R-core.
EDIT: This is gonna replace a Titanium HD modified to hell
I've been following this thread too. Would like to try this DAC9 sometime in the future. I've also had very good experiences with along1986. He seems to carry a lot of DIY modules, and is willing to work with you and provide minor tech support when called upon. He's fair, and will bundle shipping if asked. I built a DAC from along last year and I've been very happy with it in its stock form. I also purchased the enclosure, r-core xformer, and parts to complete the DAC. I did bought some replacements op-amps to try in it, but could not detect any significant differences. I guess it's my aging ears.
The Weiliang DAC9 sounds like it would nice to try as well. Please do report back when you get your DAC and have had some time to listen to it in your system.Rick
I got it but one channel didn't work and minishow is sending a new board as we speak. But on the channel that worked it sounded awfully distinct n' snappy. I'll be back when the new board arrives and after some burn in and listening.
Comment on minishow vs fake parts: all parts i got seems to be genuine, only 2pcs of cerafines 220uf was old (made -97!!) rest was made -12/-13
Solderquality was flawless! Looks like silver solder
Comment on minishow vs fake parts: all parts i got seems to be genuine, only 2pcs of cerafines 220uf was old (made -97!!) rest was made -12/-13
Solderquality was flawless! Looks like silver solder
I have just bought Weilang's Dual AKM4399 Dac from taobao. I'm extremely impress with the improvement of sound quality. Bass and treble are controlled quiet well, sound stage became more widely. I'm so grateful for Weilang product. Recently, I'm think about offer another DACs to compare with AKM4399 and so notice to ES9018 DAC. Anybody tried both akm4399 and ES9018 could share me some experiments and advices?
I posted this in the other thread xmos + ak4399 but here it goes again;
This dac needs atleast 50h burn-in.
In original state it's very neutral and have a very good, tight bottom end. Bass is overall very good with this dac. Sometimes the top seems a bit closed in and the soundstage a bit "narrow" but just a little bit. The finest details is lost though. Overall excellent dac for the money. Much better then a modified Titanium HD or Essence Stx!! Can produce more front to back and being "there". Bass as said, impresses me.
I've been playing around with different caps and also removing some bypass caps.
Pio K40Y-9, Muse KZs, Panasonic FMs, Ero KP1830 have been tried and i can say this. The red Wimas are not staying! Sounds dull and boring.. (FKP) compared to the blue Eros.
Decoupling caps was changed to Muse Kz and although the sound became more "fun" to listen to (not focusing on something) then the Silmics.
But somewhere back in my head the Silmics seems more balanced and "hifi". Would like to test Cerafines in this position before letting it go.
The blue Philips/Vishay 036/116 caps were changed to Pannas Fms and the sound became more open (alot more...) but sometimes maybe to much? Very clear and with lot of details.
In other applications the K40s have been giving me a "tube" mid but here i couldn't hear much difference to the wima fkps. Actually they sounded maybe even better here but in my old Titanium HD they performed flawlessly with "midrange-to-die-for" if you know what i mean.
The Red wima FKS were removed near the opamps for the silmics. More coherent. Other places i have not tried to remove bypasses.
Op amps have been tried too and i really like the OPA228 here. Outstanding for little money. The LME 49710 had less detail and midrange openess. I have before testing alot of dual op amps and also there were 2228 no:1. Must admit I have not tried AD797 or 627 yet =)
Next to try is to replace the four Panna "X-pro" caps that i found out is very old stock to new Rubycon ZHL's.
Ok thats all for now.
This dac needs atleast 50h burn-in.
In original state it's very neutral and have a very good, tight bottom end. Bass is overall very good with this dac. Sometimes the top seems a bit closed in and the soundstage a bit "narrow" but just a little bit. The finest details is lost though. Overall excellent dac for the money. Much better then a modified Titanium HD or Essence Stx!! Can produce more front to back and being "there". Bass as said, impresses me.
I've been playing around with different caps and also removing some bypass caps.
Pio K40Y-9, Muse KZs, Panasonic FMs, Ero KP1830 have been tried and i can say this. The red Wimas are not staying! Sounds dull and boring.. (FKP) compared to the blue Eros.
Decoupling caps was changed to Muse Kz and although the sound became more "fun" to listen to (not focusing on something) then the Silmics.
But somewhere back in my head the Silmics seems more balanced and "hifi". Would like to test Cerafines in this position before letting it go.
The blue Philips/Vishay 036/116 caps were changed to Pannas Fms and the sound became more open (alot more...) but sometimes maybe to much? Very clear and with lot of details.
In other applications the K40s have been giving me a "tube" mid but here i couldn't hear much difference to the wima fkps. Actually they sounded maybe even better here but in my old Titanium HD they performed flawlessly with "midrange-to-die-for" if you know what i mean.
The Red wima FKS were removed near the opamps for the silmics. More coherent. Other places i have not tried to remove bypasses.
Op amps have been tried too and i really like the OPA228 here. Outstanding for little money. The LME 49710 had less detail and midrange openess. I have before testing alot of dual op amps and also there were 2228 no:1. Must admit I have not tried AD797 or 627 yet =)
Next to try is to replace the four Panna "X-pro" caps that i found out is very old stock to new Rubycon ZHL's.
Ok thats all for now.
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I'm actually thinking trying this out. I saw that there is a new version out with softwarecontrol and maybe a bit more optimized design.
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Hi Max,
your comment on FKP2 is really strange...
I suppose the EROs you're referring to are KP1830, if so I do agree they're really good caps and also a (tiny) bit more neutral than FKP2s.
Nevertheless I find FKP2s more musical and richer in harmonics, in fact KP1830 are a bit dry in this regard.
KZs, in my experience sound fuller with (much) more bass but also a bit 'confused'
I've tried also Cerafines and Black Gates in the DAC9 but in most positions the supplied Silmics are better balanced.
Cerafines/Black Gates are better, though, on VCML, VCMR and DVDD
I suggest you to leave those BC caps, they're really good and I've had no better results with other caps.
K40Y are details killer... They have a really pleasant midrange but they're too much colored...
Not my cup of tea...
Can you elaborate?
I can't understand... are you referring to the MKS2 100nF bypasses?
If so I do agree (see my previous post)
Thank you Max Martin for sharing your experience with AK4399 DAC. It's truly a great useful information for me. Seemly, I have to do a lot of work with my board to improve sound quality. Now, I have a bit trouble with my board that it couldn't able to automatic select input source (coaxial input is default). Might you tell me some idea to solve that issues, Max? I really want to use USB input source to connect with Raspberry pi for music server.
Hi Max,
your comment on FKP2 is really strange...
I suppose the EROs you're referring to are KP1830, if so I do agree they're really good caps and also a (tiny) bit more neutral than FKP2s.
Nevertheless I find FKP2s more musical and richer in harmonics, in fact KP1830 are a bit dry in this regard.
KZs, in my experience sound fuller with (much) more bass but also a bit 'confused'
I've tried also Cerafines and Black Gates in the DAC9 but in most positions the supplied Silmics are better balanced.
Cerafines/Black Gates are better, though, on VCML, VCMR and DVDD
I suggest you to leave those BC caps, they're really good and I've had no better results with other caps.
K40Y are details killer... They have a really pleasant midrange but they're too much colored...
Not my cup of tea...
Can you elaborate?
I can't understand... are you referring to the MKS2 100nF bypasses?
If so I do agree (see my previous post)
Yes, sorry maybe I'm strange
But the FKP (5% with rating 100v and 10% with rating 630v) sounds less detailed and rounded with compressed mid. I have about the same feeling about the MKP4/10s I've tried out in the Yaqin MC100 i have. The Ero i tried is the KP1830 made 1994. Really like them here. In my old titanium HD they sounded good but a bit flat and "polypropylen" glaze.I was thinking maybe there are several different FKPs out there, seen green ones too and 2.5%. Maybe mine are not FKPs as I thought?
Anyway they really "hide" details in upper region.
Ohh sorry regarding the red wima bypasses I mean the MKS2
Actually beacuse of you i tried to remove them and with sucess. Thanks The silmics (black/gold) are indeed good.
You hit what I tried to say about the KZs spot on. Yes, much more bass. More Rock n roll cap and rough :cool
With these in my old titanum HD i have the same impression. Funny but not refined like the silmics.
The K40's can also be a bit dull. I serie connected 2pcs 470pF so i guess they opened up little bit but as said. FKP is more opened up and airy
Yes, the blue Philips is going back. Good caps.
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I suspect you're confusing different Wima caps...that sound really different.
FKP2s with larger tolerances can have magnetic leads, which could hide some detail.
FKP2s 2.5% and 1% have copper leads.
This comment, for example, apply perfectly for metallized polypropilene and mylar caps, not at all for FKPs (film/alu foil polypropilene)
Ohh sorry regarding the red wima bypasses I mean the MKS2
You're welcome
They're excellent caps, same type of FKP2s (film/alu foil).
But I usually prefer the, IMHO, more musical FKP2s.
It depends if you're referring to analog or digital decoupling.
In analog decoupling Cerafines are balanced, with a good amount of detail and harmonics but can be a bit hard, Silmics are fuller, a bit less detailed, more harmonics, never hard.
In digital decoupling I prefer Cerafines over Silmics.
ROHS brown/white Silmics are not as balanced as the black/gold ones you can find on eBay (and on DAC9).
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