Borbely ALL-FET DAC I/V stage

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hifimaker

hifimaker

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EUVL said:
David (dw8083),

Did you get to try the AK4397 Eva Board in the end?
(Sorry for jumping thread.)


Patrick
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Hi Patrick,

I finally fired up the AK4397 eval board. I have to say this is the most disappointing DAC I've heard in ages. Nice horizontal dispersion, Ok sound stage, but absoultely no bass. The AK4396 is much better, and the AD1955 and BB1792/4 MUCH better still.

I'm continuing to tinker with it just to make sure I have not done something wrong, but out of the box it's seriously lacking.

-David
 
hifimaker

hifimaker

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chris719 said:
Did you like PCM1792 better than AD1955?
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That's really a tough call. I'd put them both on par with each other. The AD1955 is more detailed, slightly more involving, and with slightly more authority. The PCM1792/4 had slightly more bass and a little smoother.

I think it really comes down to the remainder of the components in a given system which one sounds best. The build quality on both manufacturers boards is excellent and both DAC's clearly beat everything else that's readily available. It was interesting to discover that the voltage out DAC's just could not hold up to the current out DAC's with decent opamp I/V's.The differences between these two DAC's are far less than the distance they put between them and the CS4398, WM8740, and AKM4396 or especially the AKM4397.

I have an early eval board from AKM for the 4397 and the severe lack of bass leads me to believe that there's something wrong. It's like listening with a high-pass filter in place.

-David
 
C

Cauhtemoc

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Joined 2007
dw8083 said:
I finally fired up the AK4397 eval board. I have to say this is the most disappointing DAC I've heard in ages. Nice horizontal dispersion, Ok sound stage, but absoultely no bass. The AK4396 is much better, and the AD1955 and BB1792/4 MUCH better still.
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The eval board for the AK4396 is severely lacking, you need to hear a proper implementation of a AK4396.

I have not heard the eval board for the AK4397, so I cannot say if it's really as bad as you say it is, but I can verify that the AK4397 does not sound as good as the AK4396.
 
hifimaker

hifimaker

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Cauhtemoc said:


The eval board for the AK4396 is severely lacking, you need to hear a proper implementation of a AK4396.

I have not heard the eval board for the AK4397, so I cannot say if it's really as bad as you say it is, but I can verify that the AK4397 does not sound as good as the AK4396.
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Hi Cauhtemoc ,

I'm glad you have conformed the same impressions about the AKM4397, so I know it's not just the AKM eval board I received for testing.

I agree with you that the AKM4396 is a great chip. What was your test bed for your AKM4396? I've heard the Transporter and the the AKM eval board.

-David
 
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Cauhtemoc

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dw8083 said:
I agree with you that the AKM4396 is a great chip. What was your test bed for your AKM4396? I've heard the Transporter and the the AKM eval board.
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I created my own board with a AK4117, AK4125 and AK4396, using super regulators, a low jitter clock and a discrete output stage (pics coming soon).

The Transporter sounds better than the eval board, but the AC coupled NE5534 based output stage is still there.
 
T

Telstar

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Joined 2007
Cauhtemoc said:


My previous statement were based on very brief work with the AK4397 and might have been a bit premature. I have now been proven otherwise, and would consider it at least as good as the AK4396.
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My resurrecting of this thread was not to criticize you but an attempt to uncover soem diy project based onthe 4397 done in the last year :)
 
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