hello FDA-1 user!
I am looking for the best combi of cap´s in the output
the input-impendance of the most pre´s is 10-100K!?
What do you think about one silmic 100uf +10uf pio+0,01uf pio? It’s a compromise ?
I've seen some have used jensencaps?
pleace helb me to find a combination
pio´s in 10 uF i have here!
thanks for helbing
regards
florentino
I am looking for the best combi of cap´s in the output
the input-impendance of the most pre´s is 10-100K!?
What do you think about one silmic 100uf +10uf pio+0,01uf pio? It’s a compromise ?
I've seen some have used jensencaps?
pleace helb me to find a combination
pio´s in 10 uF i have here!
thanks for helbing
regards
florentino
SRC AD 1896
Hi
Just got the AD1896 SRC board and related components from Spencer. I will be putting it together later and will see how this transforms the sound. It looks like it is not that difficult to put together.
I also got a I2S input board too! I now have 4 possible digital input for the DAC!!!
I will report back later....
Best wishes
TC
Hi
Just got the AD1896 SRC board and related components from Spencer. I will be putting it together later and will see how this transforms the sound. It looks like it is not that difficult to put together.
I also got a I2S input board too! I now have 4 possible digital input for the DAC!!!
I will report back later....
Best wishes
TC
Hi
This is a very subjective and interesting question. I guess your suggested combination will work for a particular music taste and the type of sound you like. I just finished the AD1896 ASRC board for the FDA-1B. This is turning out be a very interesting 'upgrade'. More later .... he he.
In my opinion, PIOs are more suited for places where you want to achieve a more laid back sound. I use PIOs (Jensens) in my tube per and power amps exclusively now but have tried them as bypass in the FDA-1.
In spite of their prohibitive costs, I don't like them in the DAC. They sound a little too laid back and less transparent for my taste.
Best of luck and happy modding .....
TC
This is a very subjective and interesting question. I guess your suggested combination will work for a particular music taste and the type of sound you like. I just finished the AD1896 ASRC board for the FDA-1B. This is turning out be a very interesting 'upgrade'. More later .... he he.
In my opinion, PIOs are more suited for places where you want to achieve a more laid back sound. I use PIOs (Jensens) in my tube per and power amps exclusively now but have tried them as bypass in the FDA-1.
In spite of their prohibitive costs, I don't like them in the DAC. They sound a little too laid back and less transparent for my taste.
Best of luck and happy modding .....
TC
SRC Daughter Boards
Hi
I completed the build of the ASRC AD1896 daughter board. I opted for this SRC chip to begin with. Although Spencer supplies these DBs fully assembled, I opted to do the assembly myself. It was fun and took me about an hour of elbow grease.
I actually had the opportunity to compare both the AD1896 and the TI4192 chips as Spencer sent over a loaner too ….
I was pleasantly surprised by these SRC daughter boards. Whilst the FDA-1B sounded very good, these two SRCs offered a degree of sound ‘tuning’.
The TI4192 SRC improves transparency and enlarges the soundstage. I felt I can definitely hear more from the CD. Those subtle transients, particularly at the higher end, became more apparent. It sounded best when operated at 48K. At 96K and 192K, the music sounded a little too transparent … too much of a good thing ….
The AD1896 SRC is very different. It sounds best operated at 96K. It doesn’t have the transparency of the TI4192 but excels in providing a much richer and involving soundstage. The music seemed to surround me. I attended 2 life performances during a recent trip to Austria and the AD1896 provided a musical experience closer to what I heard. Remarkable!
Of course, these are all subjective listening experiences. I feel that the inclusion of these boards enables the DAC to be ‘tuned’ to a particular musical taste and environment, either enhancing or negating qualities from the rest of the audio chain. To put it in another way, it is like having 2 additional DACs..
I am still reeling from last night’s marathon listening session and my dog must think I can only afford to buy one CD!!! Ha ha…
In my opinion, the AD 1896 @ 96K is the way to go….
This is one damn cool DAC that just got cooler!!!
Best wishes
TC
Hi
I completed the build of the ASRC AD1896 daughter board. I opted for this SRC chip to begin with. Although Spencer supplies these DBs fully assembled, I opted to do the assembly myself. It was fun and took me about an hour of elbow grease.
I actually had the opportunity to compare both the AD1896 and the TI4192 chips as Spencer sent over a loaner too ….
I was pleasantly surprised by these SRC daughter boards. Whilst the FDA-1B sounded very good, these two SRCs offered a degree of sound ‘tuning’.
The TI4192 SRC improves transparency and enlarges the soundstage. I felt I can definitely hear more from the CD. Those subtle transients, particularly at the higher end, became more apparent. It sounded best when operated at 48K. At 96K and 192K, the music sounded a little too transparent … too much of a good thing ….
The AD1896 SRC is very different. It sounds best operated at 96K. It doesn’t have the transparency of the TI4192 but excels in providing a much richer and involving soundstage. The music seemed to surround me. I attended 2 life performances during a recent trip to Austria and the AD1896 provided a musical experience closer to what I heard. Remarkable!
Of course, these are all subjective listening experiences. I feel that the inclusion of these boards enables the DAC to be ‘tuned’ to a particular musical taste and environment, either enhancing or negating qualities from the rest of the audio chain. To put it in another way, it is like having 2 additional DACs
.. I am still reeling from last night’s marathon listening session and my dog must think I can only afford to buy one CD!!! Ha ha…
In my opinion, the AD 1896 @ 96K is the way to go….
This is one damn cool DAC that just got cooler!!!
Best wishes
TC
Attachments
How can that be possible ?
A dac is supposed to transform the digital encryption of the music into its analogic version ... with as much fidelity as possible.
How can high fidelity (are we talking about HIFI) depend on the type of music ?? Either you transform the digital to analog with high precision or you don't ... but how can this depend on the king of music ??
If you like one better over the other for a particular music type, it is not music reproduction (HIFI) anymore but sound engeneering.
A dac is supposed to transform the digital encryption of the music into its analogic version ... with as much fidelity as possible.
How can high fidelity (are we talking about HIFI) depend on the type of music ?? Either you transform the digital to analog with high precision or you don't ... but how can this depend on the king of music ??
If you like one better over the other for a particular music type, it is not music reproduction (HIFI) anymore but sound engeneering.
Marcus
After a few more days of listening, yes, I prefer the DAC with the AD1896 @ 96K, TI4192 @ 48K and NOS in this order. I feel the AD SRC beings the musicality and warm to a different level. Although the SRC was a little $$$, I think it was well worth it. I can still remember those days where I would have spent even more on a power cord where the difference in sound was hardly discernible, if any!
Spencer got me playing with diodes now. I have replace the supplied glass ones with the SBYV27-200. This seems promising as it improves the mids. I listen mainly to vocals so this change seems right up my alley ;-).
All the very best
TC
After a few more days of listening, yes, I prefer the DAC with the AD1896 @ 96K, TI4192 @ 48K and NOS in this order. I feel the AD SRC beings the musicality and warm to a different level. Although the SRC was a little $$$, I think it was well worth it. I can still remember those days where I would have spent even more on a power cord where the difference in sound was hardly discernible, if any!
Spencer got me playing with diodes now.
I have replace the supplied glass ones with the SBYV27-200. This seems promising as it improves the mids. I listen mainly to vocals so this change seems right up my alley ;-).All the very best
TC
Hi everybody,
I missed all the activity recently on this new dac which I modded a bit as well using one more time my personal airplay upgrade (as I did on FDA-1).
Allows basically iTunes / remote playback of ALAC wirelessly but also from my NAS with FLAC using the native airplay application provided with the NAS (I was by the way very happy to see that I can play FLAC on an airport to then not be handcuff with apple file format all the time ...)
You'll see the airport (blue pcb) on the top left, main advantage here is to use the dedicated i2s port with an extremely short connection, no ribbon cable here as for the FDA-1.
Also the implementation in this dac was quite easy like if it was meant to be upgraded in this way...
Here is a picture of the new setup, works well, great job from Spencer again which I personally congrats for the new design and thanks a lot one more time for his always availability and very good support.
I am at the moment working on an mcu to control the full system before final casing, already working, minor debug remains to be done like implementing nec IR protocol to use an apple remote.
The control board in early debug stage few weeks ago...
Alex.
I missed all the activity recently on this new dac which I modded a bit as well using one more time my personal airplay upgrade (as I did on FDA-1).
Allows basically iTunes / remote playback of ALAC wirelessly but also from my NAS with FLAC using the native airplay application provided with the NAS (I was by the way very happy to see that I can play FLAC on an airport to then not be handcuff with apple file format all the time ...
)You'll see the airport (blue pcb) on the top left, main advantage here is to use the dedicated i2s port with an extremely short connection, no ribbon cable here as for the FDA-1.
Also the implementation in this dac was quite easy like if it was meant to be upgraded in this way...
Here is a picture of the new setup, works well, great job from Spencer again which I personally congrats for the new design and thanks a lot one more time for his always availability and very good support.
I am at the moment working on an mcu to control the full system before final casing, already working, minor debug remains to be done like implementing nec IR protocol to use an apple remote.
The control board in early debug stage few weeks ago...
Alex.
Hi TC,
I did not have time yet to do extensive tests but it does sound great, I just need to spend time listening here.
Since it is not boxed yet it is on a shelf and I am most of the time still running the FDA-1 now.
Yes, my NAS is a synology as well and DS audio works perfectly with this modification, hence you can play FLAC on the dac using the airport.
This is a great feature ...
Alex.
I did not have time yet to do extensive tests but it does sound great, I just need to spend time listening here.
Since it is not boxed yet it is on a shelf and I am most of the time still running the FDA-1 now.
Yes, my NAS is a synology as well and DS audio works perfectly with this modification, hence you can play FLAC on the dac using the airport.
This is a great feature ...
Alex.
Hi TC,
As discussed I am coming back to you on this, here are some photos.
Sorry it is not that easy to understand just from the photos but basically I am tapping out the I2S bus from the airport and then solder it on a 2 x 5 (90 degree angle) header that is compatible with FDA1-B external I2S footprint.
Resistor is to un-mute the FDA1-B I2S in and large flat soldered wire is just wrapped around the stuff to connect ground everywhere.
The setting is quite good as I can even use FDA1-B original plastic mounting element as it fit right inside one airport hole. As it was done for the aiport
Alex.
As discussed I am coming back to you on this, here are some photos.
Sorry it is not that easy to understand just from the photos but basically I am tapping out the I2S bus from the airport and then solder it on a 2 x 5 (90 degree angle) header that is compatible with FDA1-B external I2S footprint.
Resistor is to un-mute the FDA1-B I2S in and large flat soldered wire is just wrapped around the stuff to connect ground everywhere.
The setting is quite good as I can even use FDA1-B original plastic mounting element as it fit right inside one airport hole. As it was done for the aiport
Alex.
Last edited:
New simple upgrade details for FDA-1B to become a wireless "AirPlay" DAC here:
FDA-1B + Apple AirPort Express = Wireless DAC (only US$99 + $16 cable)
FDA-1B + Apple AirPort Express = Wireless DAC (only US$99 + $16 cable)
Nearly done ... finally
Hi,
I have nearly finished my FDA-1 (I bought the last one from Spencer). After finishing the soldering some months ago, I had it running (naked, on a piece of MDF) in a test system. I did not have the time to test it properly or complete it.
In the last few months I have bought the case, Neutrik connectors (decided not to use the pcb mount ones supplied with the kit), wire and all the other little odds and ends required. Also found a local company able to do the CNC work for me on the back panel.
I hope to have the time in the next few days to switch it on, check if DC voltages and DC offset are still OK and then finally listen to it on my main system.
A few things still need doing. Mainly on the front panel (I need some holes drilled without damaging the panel). I can then hook-up the mains switch, the input selection switch and the leds).
On the rear panel I still have to connect the toslink connector.
It has been a long time since I started, but it has been a lot of fun.
Hi,
I have nearly finished my FDA-1 (I bought the last one from Spencer). After finishing the soldering some months ago, I had it running (naked, on a piece of MDF) in a test system. I did not have the time to test it properly or complete it.
In the last few months I have bought the case, Neutrik connectors (decided not to use the pcb mount ones supplied with the kit), wire and all the other little odds and ends required. Also found a local company able to do the CNC work for me on the back panel.
I hope to have the time in the next few days to switch it on, check if DC voltages and DC offset are still OK and then finally listen to it on my main system.
A few things still need doing. Mainly on the front panel (I need some holes drilled without damaging the panel). I can then hook-up the mains switch, the input selection switch and the leds).
On the rear panel I still have to connect the toslink connector.
It has been a long time since I started, but it has been a lot of fun.
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