CS43122 vs. AK4395 killer DAC's

[peranders]

Hi!

I going to upgrade my CS4328 project. When I was ready with the DAC the chip got "obsolete"! How fun is that?

Now my choices are CS43122 from Cirrus/Crystal or AK4395 from AKM. Does anyone out there have experience of these chips?

The Ak4395 has better damping 110 dB but 2 dB "worse" S/N. AK4395 is also impossible to solder for most DIY's. CS43122 is a standard SO package with 0.05 pitch, rather easy to solder. The AK-chip has 0.63 mm between the pins.... Did I mention that AKM cost half the price of Crystal?

Can anyone explain to me why AKM has NE5532/34 in their EV-board? Doesn't make sense!

http://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/akm/en/...395/ek4395.pdf
http://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/akm/en/...95/ekd4395.pdf
http://www.cirrus.com/design/product...tail.cfm?d=147

[Carl Ekblom]

Hello Per-Anders,

Why not try Wolfson WM8740 (www.wolfsonmicro.com). The specs are in the same level as the chips you mentioned, and very important, the people at Wolfson are very easy to deal with. I have some samples if you are interested.

Regards

[fmak]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by peranders
[B]Hi!

ICan anyone explain to me why AKM has NE5532/34 in their EV-board? Doesn't make sense!

--------------------------------------------------------------

The Japanese use it a lot, even in very high end stuff. So does Musical Fidelity. Loads of people copy this, including TACT. I think its due to the low noise. The sound sucks though.

[Gridstop]

peranders,


Were you unable to get your hands on the CS4328?

Even if considered 'obsolete', it will sound way better than newer 1-bit DAC's (especially the newer crystal stuff).

For CD playback, the older 1-bit DACs and the Burr Brown multibits are pretty much the only way to go. I think Analog Devices has(had?) some good multibits, too.

Charlie

[peranders]

I have CS4328 for my personal use but it's useless to have a DIY project with those chips...

It's possible the buy CS4328 still but you have to order >100 000 units at least!

[Jocko Homo]

The AD1862 is good. A bit easier to work with than the B-B multibit units. Pricey, and somewhat static senstive.

Jocko

[peranders]

I have the Wolfson chips but they are slightly worse than the best.

[Gridstop]

If you are looking for 24/192, maybe try the AD1853? I've heard pretty good things about it. I think it will sound a good deal better than the Crystal or AK units.

One caution is it is a SSOP with 0.65 mm pitch.

A comparable chip might be the Burr-Brown PCM1738, though I've never heard one. The design is very close to the AD1853.

Charlie

[peranders]

Guys, I don't mind discussing other DAC chips but my original question was about CS43122 from Crystal/Cirrus and AK4395 from AKM.

Does anyone out there have experience of just these particular chips?

[Gridstop]

I have heard a couple of the newer crystal chips, and I'm pretty sure the 43122 was one of them, although it wasn't with 24/192 material. None of these chips are that great. The AKM shares the same switched-capacitor filtering that the CS chips have, and I would guess that is what is really limiting the performance of these new chips.

I'm not saying they'll sound BAD, though. They're limited in what you can get out of them. It's like having that NE5532 INSIDE the chip. You can still make it sound good, but you can never get rid of that thing.


Other than that, I would say that comparing specs like THD & S/N and such at these levels is pretty meaningless. You just have to listen to them.

If *I* had to choose, I'd go with the crystal, because I haven't heard the AKM, and while the crystal won't blow my socks off or anything, the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.

Charlie