Planning projects .. headphone DAC + AMPLIFIER! NEED HELP!

[JinMTVT]

i am planning winter projects ..

as i am upgrading my computer
i realised that hafl the time i am using this source
it is with headphones
( either sony MDR-V600 or sony earbuds EX71 recommended by Linkwitz )

So what i would like to do,
is a serious quality headphone amplifier that would accept digital input
( and i 'd like it to also accept analogue input
if both are possible to coexist wihtout too much complications )

I have only basic electrical knowledge
( NOOOB ALERT!! )
but i am fairly used to precision soldering

Input would be from digital SPIDF
( that would make it easier to use with other devices than my computer !! )
It needs to be able to drive headphones with a seriously good quality!

I don't want it to be too big, but a seperate power supply if required wouldn't bother me!

Is this possible ?

My budget is not restraint,
but i'd say that i would like for it to be within 200$US
for all parts! is this possible ?


So could you gurus please point me to a
good schematics/diy papers
for a digital input
and headphone amplifier!!!!

If any of you guys could refer to me a simple complete schematic with a little explanation on how it works
i'd be seriously in greatfull!!!

if you have any comments,
maybe this idea is ridiculous,
maybe it 'll cost way more than i thought!
but from what i've seen, headphone amplifiers are quite small and don't require as costy components as with big boys stuff right ?

Also i'd need it to have a volume control if possible
( is it possible in digital ? or would it be better for it to be located in the analogue section ? before amplifier? )

thanks much!

my project will depend on your input!

( this will be my first complexe electronical project!! )

[00940]

If I were you, I'd spend 100€ on real headphones and 100€ on this project

But for less than 200€, the easiest would be to combine a basic NOS dac (like those : http://diyparadise.com/dackit/1545bdackit.html ) and something like a mint ( http://tangentsoft.net/audio/mint/ ). For higher quality, perhaps a pimeta ( http://tangentsoft.net/audio/pimeta/ ) Be careful for the power supply since the mint and the pimeta use a rail splitter. I would use an external ac-ac pack and two of those : http://tangentsoft.net/elec/tread/ , one for the dac, one for the amp. An external ac-ac pack means you cannot easily kill youself while using wall power.

I prefer attenuation in the analog domain. It will also make it easier to add analog inputs.

[gmarsh]

My latest project - DAC + headphone amp

[JinMTVT]

hi!
thanks much for those links!

this is almost exaclty what i was looking for ..
a few questions remain though :

what type of signal does this dac accepts?
24/96 ?? does it accepts only a single sort of signal ?

then, i guess that all those need only to be connected between each other??

can i had an analog input directly between the dac and the amplifier?
maybe i should use a switch for it not to go back in the dac circuittry ?

then about sound quality, how would you rate this dac?
i couildn't find much specs on it though, other than a 90db signal noise ??? isn't that not quite good ??

will this amplifier accepts a wide range of headphone impedance?

do you have any other links similar to that one ?

really interesed in those kits neway, would make things quite simple, yet retain the "fun" factor of putting it all together
( unfortunalty i do not have the time required to learn all those nifty eclectronic stuff, buisness is taking all my time... )

also last ???
could i had an optical input to that?
directly connect it on the digtal input?
could you recommand a small optical input device?

thanks much again!!

[00940]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JinMTVT
[B]what type of signal does this dac accepts?
24/96 ?? does it accepts only a single sort of signal ?[quote]
24/96 yes.

then, i guess that all those need only to be connected between each other?? can i had an analog input directly between the dac and the amplifier? maybe i should use a switch for it not to go back in the dac circuittry ?

Yes, with simple hookup wire.
Yes.
It would indeed be better.

then about sound quality, how would you rate this dac?
i couildn't find much specs on it though, other than a 90db signal noise ??? isn't that not quite good ??

The signal noise isn't very good indeed. This dac certainly doesn't measure not as well as the one posted by Gmarsh. It is however easy to put together, cheap and gives a nice relaxed sound. It's roughly on par with an entry level cdp (around the 250$ price point I'd say).

will this amplifier accepts a wide range of headphone impedance?

Both the mint and pimeta are rather universal designs. You can check the instructions by Tangent to improve things, but they work well as is.

do you have any other links similar to that one ?

None giving instructions as detailled but here are a few :
http://headwize.com/projects/index.htm
http://headphone.fileservice.co.kr/s...ry/Gallery.htm
http://home.swipnet.se/~w-50719/hifi...sida_hifi.html
http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/

really interesed in those kits neway, would make things quite simple, yet retain the "fun" factor of putting it all together
( unfortunalty i do not have the time required to learn all those nifty eclectronic stuff, buisness is taking all my time... )

they're not really kits, more like just the PCB you still have to order most parts from digikey. Tangent provides a partlist though.

[JinMTVT]

well they pretty much seem all equivalent in difficulty from each other ...
i guess that it's only a matter of getting the correct parts!

wich one do you recommend from:
http://home.swipnet.se/~w-50719/hifi...sida_hifi.html

it seems that the QRV-07 is pretty much the summun
according to the reading there..

it says that the power supply is on the board???

where is the easiest place to order the parts from ??

thanks again

[JinMTVT]

also a quick question ..

TOSLINK input ..is it possible without too much hassle?

could any of you recommend me a simple toslink
input connector/board ?
is the output signal from the optical to electrical transfer on those, the same as with spidf/aesbu ??
could i connect that to a switch and have both coaxial and optical inputs?


i'm wondering into the "option" world right now
aha

[00940]

For the designs on Peranders' website I cannot say, I never tried them. You can ask him directly, he's a member here

For optical, you just need to add an optical receiver. It's quite easy, make a search on this forum.

[JinMTVT]

ok thanks all again,
i have sorted almost everything out

i will build 2 kits at the same time
just for the fun of it

using 2 amplifiers from Peranders



the only problem i still have is with the DAC

is there any other dac kits available ?
kits or PCB, but that uses more recent chips
with better performance than the one mentionned earlier ???

i'd like to use some real high end DAC if possible
directly controlled ( unless one with a microchip control is not really harder to build )
with my not-knowlegde of this kinda of electronics,
i'lll require something that is already designed, as i have no time and knowledge to design anything within the dac circuitry itself..


i have seen that most of you here construct your dacs urselves, is there some shcematic/pcb available ?

thanks