8414+4334 DAC Sound Quality?

bart_dood · 7th December 2003, 06:06 PM

Hi, I am considering making an external DAC based on the CS8414 and CS4334 chip kit from audiochips.com (pair are $20).
I am currently designing the board on eagle based on the Elliot Sound products DAC:

http://sound.westhost.com/project85.htm

My question is....how good would you say the sound quality is? At the moment I have a Marantz CD62 which is about 7 years old or so, its a bitstream player and I made a few mods by swapping out the cheapo electrolytic caps for some Elna's.
Would you folks say the external DAC I am considering building will make a significant improvement? I am thinking of making it battery powered like my pre-amp.

Thanks a lot

Chris

saurus · 17th December 2003, 07:31 PM

I built that DAC. It sounds OK, but is fairly quiet, and it sounds a bit thin. It sounds noticably worse than the built-in DAC in my Rotel, but that may be due more to layout/construction problems with my circuit.

I am considering adding an opamp/buffer output circuit to see if that helps.

Also, I would like to hook up an external clock (like a Kwak clock), if I can figure out how to attach it to the CS8414. I couldn't figure it out from the datasheet.

Anybody know how to do that? Thanks!

Yuri Birukov · 18th December 2003, 11:23 AM

I'm advice that DAC: http://www.zeuslab.newmail.ru/sirius.htm - good sound!

tschrama · 18th December 2003, 05:59 PM

That was my first real DIY DAC project and it functions very well. I made mine on veroboard without a PCB, easy! You should take care to use good output capacitors. It sounds god, it very quiet, I like it a bit better than my standard philips 4xOS TDA1545 (CD723) .. It 's a realy nice project, and I don't think it will be need such a good supply as the various NOS DAC here on the forum..

Goodluck,
Thijs

7th December 2003, 06:06 PM	#1
bart_dood diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Massachusetts	8414+4334 DAC Sound Quality? Hi, I am considering making an external DAC based on the CS8414 and CS4334 chip kit from audiochips.com (pair are $20). I am currently designing the board on eagle based on the Elliot Sound products DAC: http://sound.westhost.com/project85.htm My question is....how good would you say the sound quality is? At the moment I have a Marantz CD62 which is about 7 years old or so, its a bitstream player and I made a few mods by swapping out the cheapo electrolytic caps for some Elna's. Would you folks say the external DAC I am considering building will make a significant improvement? I am thinking of making it battery powered like my pre-amp. Thanks a lot Chris

18th December 2003, 11:23 AM	#3
Yuri Birukov diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Minsk	Re: 8414+4334 DAC Sound Quality? I'm advice that DAC: http://www.zeuslab.newmail.ru/sirius.htm - good sound!

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17th December 2003, 07:31 PM	#2
saurus diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: West of Boston	I built that DAC. It sounds OK, but is fairly quiet, and it sounds a bit thin. It sounds noticably worse than the built-in DAC in my Rotel, but that may be due more to layout/construction problems with my circuit. I am considering adding an opamp/buffer output circuit to see if that helps. Also, I would like to hook up an external clock (like a Kwak clock), if I can figure out how to attach it to the CS8414. I couldn't figure it out from the datasheet. Anybody know how to do that? Thanks!

18th December 2003, 05:59 PM	#4
tschrama diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The Netherlands	That was my first real DIY DAC project and it functions very well. I made mine on veroboard without a PCB, easy! You should take care to use good output capacitors. It sounds god, it very quiet, I like it a bit better than my standard philips 4xOS TDA1545 (CD723) .. It 's a realy nice project, and I don't think it will be need such a good supply as the various NOS DAC here on the forum.. Goodluck, Thijs

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