Hacking a DAC out of a CD player - has anyone done it?

Spasticteapot · 5th October 2006, 06:02 AM

For those of us with limited budgets, a good DAC is out of our price range. On the other hand, it's common to see broken CD players with pretty good DACs in them.

Has anyone tried using the DAC from a CD player with an input from another source; say, a USB-> i2c or S/PDIF adapter?

Spasticteapot · 7th October 2006, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Spasticteapot
For those of us with limited budgets, a good DAC is out of our price range. On the other hand, it's common to see broken CD players with pretty good DACs in them.

Has anyone tried using the DAC from a CD player with an input from another source; say, a USB-> i2c or S/PDIF adapter?

Anybody?

peufeu · 7th October 2006, 07:56 PM

You say you want to rip out the CD innards (mechanic etc) and put a SPDIF receiver in ?

Well, basically all you need is to read the datasheets of a SPDIF receiver and the DAC chip in your player and find how to mate them.

Spasticteapot · 7th October 2006, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by peufeu
You say you want to rip out the CD innards (mechanic etc) and put a SPDIF receiver in ?

Well, basically all you need is to read the datasheets of a SPDIF receiver and the DAC chip in your player and find how to mate them.

Actually, I was hoping to find something to which I could directly feed an I2S.

kimbo · 3rd May 2010, 10:06 AM

I stumbled upon this old thread, but it raises a question I have often wondered about.

Is it possible to hack into the DAC of a reasonable quality player (say cambridge 650C) and feed it from a PC based music server?

I'd be betting that it is not possible as the DAC would be optimised for the CD datastream, but I am an ignoramus when it comes to digital so what do I know. Has anyone tried it?

dangus · 5th May 2010, 07:47 PM

I've speculated about doing this, and I have the board from a CD player sitting on my "kitchen" table. It's not from a premium player, but since a) I got it for 25 cents and b) it has separate digital filter (Yamaha) and ADC chips (AD) which c) I have docs for, and d) like the output opamps, they're all through-hole packages, it's a good place to start.

What it obviously lacks is the digital receiver chip; I happen to have a couple of the AD ASRC/digital receiver combo chips. They're surface mount, but comparatively large packages, so not too challenging compared with more recent devices.

A ready-made generic digital receiver board (since all current devices are surface mount), with jumper pads to configure the format, rate, etc, would be a useful building block for this kind of project.

Bill Fuss · 6th May 2010, 12:13 PM

I doubt if it's worth the effort but what the hell? How about Twisted Pear or DD. You'll have to match the format the Yamaha and AD chips are using, probably not I2S.

5th October 2006, 06:02 AM	#1
Spasticteapot diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wisconsin....what did you expect?	Hacking a DAC out of a CD player - has anyone done it? For those of us with limited budgets, a good DAC is out of our price range. On the other hand, it's common to see broken CD players with pretty good DACs in them. Has anyone tried using the DAC from a CD player with an input from another source; say, a USB-> i2c or S/PDIF adapter?

3rd May 2010, 10:06 AM	#5
kimbo diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Melbourne	So, is it possible? I stumbled upon this old thread, but it raises a question I have often wondered about. Is it possible to hack into the DAC of a reasonable quality player (say cambridge 650C) and feed it from a PC based music server? I'd be betting that it is not possible as the DAC would be optimised for the CD datastream, but I am an ignoramus when it comes to digital so what do I know. Has anyone tried it?

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7th October 2006, 07:56 PM	#3
peufeu diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Lyon, France	You say you want to rip out the CD innards (mechanic etc) and put a SPDIF receiver in ? Well, basically all you need is to read the datasheets of a SPDIF receiver and the DAC chip in your player and find how to mate them.

5th May 2010, 07:47 PM	#6
dangus diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Vancouver Island	I've speculated about doing this, and I have the board from a CD player sitting on my "kitchen" table. It's not from a premium player, but since a) I got it for 25 cents and b) it has separate digital filter (Yamaha) and ADC chips (AD) which c) I have docs for, and d) like the output opamps, they're all through-hole packages, it's a good place to start. What it obviously lacks is the digital receiver chip; I happen to have a couple of the AD ASRC/digital receiver combo chips. They're surface mount, but comparatively large packages, so not too challenging compared with more recent devices. A ready-made generic digital receiver board (since all current devices are surface mount), with jumper pads to configure the format, rate, etc, would be a useful building block for this kind of project.

6th May 2010, 12:13 PM	#7
Bill Fuss RIP Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Central Florida	I doubt if it's worth the effort but what the hell? How about Twisted Pear or DD. You'll have to match the format the Yamaha and AD chips are using, probably not I2S.

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