Thought it might be fun to post a pic of my setup...
It sounds great! Just need a custom transformer for the latest board, and a few new parts. (using 115v on this board)
The tubes get a little chilly sometimes when I have the balcony door open so I made them a house. Then it became a church.
It sounds great! Just need a custom transformer for the latest board, and a few new parts. (using 115v on this board)
The tubes get a little chilly sometimes when I have the balcony door open so I made them a house. Then it became a church.
Last edited:
Hi Alberto,
please let the output caps from the Tube-I-zator in place!
Otherwise you could damage the BA-3 inputstage (DC input).
The 10uF Caps are the output caps from the BA-3 frontend!
To get a 100% answer, you should post your question in the BA-3 thread.
Best,
Oliver
Any ideas why minor clipping occurs as volume increases (noticeably with low end bass) with v2.0 board, 12AX7, 480R for I/V and 200R for Rk star grounded to RCA signal fed from a single AD1853?
I ordered fresh quad of 6N2P-EV to try in case its something to do with my 12AX7's being half health.
I ordered fresh quad of 6N2P-EV to try in case its something to do with my 12AX7's being half health.
Well according to the datasheet the AD1853 is not a true current output (I-out) dac in the traditional sense, there is a 2.75v dc offset or at least voltage reference from the +L/R signals. Tried a capacitor before the tube-i-zator to treat it as a v-out but signal was way too low after the tube-i-zator. Added a 2uf pio before the outputs as there seems to be dc on the rca around 7v and drifts for a good minute or two before nearing low digit to zero mV.
Not sure if the vref needs to be treated before the tube-i-zator or after but there is slight clipping if gain is too high (attenuated volume) from my headphone amplifiers on low-end bass tracks. Acoustical and instrumental is fine.
Any ideas? I see old posts on this forum from past users that AD1853 and AD1955 are bit more of a challenge to perfecting a good tube or active I/V stage after the DAC and need a buffer or filter after the first I/V stage.
Not sure if the vref needs to be treated before the tube-i-zator or after but there is slight clipping if gain is too high (attenuated volume) from my headphone amplifiers on low-end bass tracks. Acoustical and instrumental is fine.
Any ideas? I see old posts on this forum from past users that AD1853 and AD1955 are bit more of a challenge to perfecting a good tube or active I/V stage after the DAC and need a buffer or filter after the first I/V stage.
Dear DIY fellows,
I am building my tube-I-zator (thank you Oliver
) and one of the DACs I would like to connect to is BuffaloIII Dac.
Where I am so far is as follows:
let´s call it Option 1:
Buffalo + out --> Signal in
Buffalo GND --> GND
Buffalo - out --> not connected
The value of the Rk´s stay. Only omit the R I/V
That solution will make the Buffalo to work on voltage mode. What I want is to have it working on current mode taking both differential outputs with a scheme like this one (let´s call it Option 2):
I would love to have option 2 implemented. Anybody has a similar experience ?. It´d be great to hear.
Cheers,
Pepe
I am building my tube-I-zator (thank you Oliver
) and one of the DACs I would like to connect to is BuffaloIII Dac.Where I am so far is as follows:
let´s call it Option 1:
Buffalo + out --> Signal in
Buffalo GND --> GND
Buffalo - out --> not connected
The value of the Rk´s stay. Only omit the R I/V
That solution will make the Buffalo to work on voltage mode. What I want is to have it working on current mode taking both differential outputs with a scheme like this one (let´s call it Option 2):
I would love to have option 2 implemented. Anybody has a similar experience ?. It´d be great to hear.
Cheers,
Pepe
Last edited:
Hi Oliver!
Finally I've got some time to complet my Tube-I-zator 3.1. All looks fine but when I tested voltages first (without tubes) I've mesured 191 volt at R1. The problem come from the transformer: it's a nominal 150V but when I tested it I've mesured 170V. I've fixed the B+ output just in 150 volt using the R18 trimmer and this looks stable, but I'm worried about this. I wonder if replacing R1 for a 1K1 would be a good idea to low the input voltage.
Apart from this, el DAC works fines and sound good at first connected to my preamplifier, a little bit in the bright side, probably it will be best with some time warming. But if I connect it directly to the power amps, I got a very bright sound, without bass and very noisy. I suppose that this is for the output impedance of the Tube-I-zator. What is the value of this?
Thank you!
Ignacio
Finally I've got some time to complet my Tube-I-zator 3.1. All looks fine but when I tested voltages first (without tubes) I've mesured 191 volt at R1. The problem come from the transformer: it's a nominal 150V but when I tested it I've mesured 170V. I've fixed the B+ output just in 150 volt using the R18 trimmer and this looks stable, but I'm worried about this. I wonder if replacing R1 for a 1K1 would be a good idea to low the input voltage.
Apart from this, el DAC works fines and sound good at first connected to my preamplifier, a little bit in the bright side, probably it will be best with some time warming. But if I connect it directly to the power amps, I got a very bright sound, without bass and very noisy. I suppose that this is for the output impedance of the Tube-I-zator. What is the value of this?
Thank you!
Ignacio
Hi Ignacio,
if you could adjust the voltage to 150V output, everything is fine. Salas recommended a input/output voltage delta from at least 15V.
The Z-Out depends of the used tube. You find some Z-Out calculators via google.
Best,
Oliver
Hi Oliver!
At last I have my Tube-I-zator v3.1 with my Buffalo II running and singing!. Thanks a lot, I'm very very happy with it.
I'm thinking about try the new Sabre ES9038PRO DAC. This chip has current level three times the old 9018. Do I must change some resistor value at the input of the Tube-I-zator?
Thank you!
Regards,
Ignacio.
At last I have my Tube-I-zator v3.1 with my Buffalo II running and singing!. Thanks a lot, I'm very very happy with it.
I'm thinking about try the new Sabre ES9038PRO DAC. This chip has current level three times the old 9018. Do I must change some resistor value at the input of the Tube-I-zator?
Thank you!
Regards,
Ignacio.
Hi Ignacio,
you should only adjust the I/V resistors to get the same voltage output (U=I*R)
Best,
Oliver
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.