A NOS 192/24 DAC with the PCM1794 (and WaveIO USB input)

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#7,421
klweds said:
Now I will be investing in a proper maxed out implementation (12 decks?) with WaveIO/FiFoPi input and better I/V resistors. And giving everything separate rails of top shelf linear power. With my basic build, I know I'm hearing DDDAC at perhaps half of its capability, so I'm excited for the future.
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Welcome to the club!

I'd suggest you add a transformer volume control (TVC) somewhere to the top of your list. You need a volume control anyway, and you'll want to move from the SE/capacitor output to a balanced/transformer out at some point. A suitable TVC will do both. I am running both my DDDACs through a TVC as their output transformers, and they are connected directly into the power amps without the need for a pre-amp. Avoiding the usual (lossy!) volume pots and pre-amplifiers was a real eye opener to me!

The Sowter 9335 are good TVCs and have been tried and tested with the DDDAC a few times now.
 
#7,422
smooth dancer said:
I wonder how much better 3.3v battery psu is versus the one I use now. If one 3.3v is what I need, I guess it’s enough with two batteries. Another question is how much Ampere is required. The manuai says 3.5A, with ten batteries installed, but maybe f.ex 1A is enough to power two batteries ?
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Hello,
I would wonder too so someone has to try.
If you look at the total cost of the battery supply you will see that there needs to be some investment made for the batteries but if you know that in the beginning you will only need two high quality 3,3 volts you just buy the batteries for those and 4 ultra caps.
When Doede will make his next step there could be some more things to buy but we will see.
Greetings, Eduard
 
#7,426
klweds said:
Hey everyone. I'm relatively new to the DDDAC 1794 world and have been listening, learning the circuit, and reading the previous 700+ forum pages for the past few months. I've been thrilled with the sound.

So, I'll play along. Here's a pic of my Chord DAVE (retail 10,000 EUR or something) next to a 2-deck DDDAC built by Dick/AudioCreative.

I use an inexpensive iFi iPower 12v switching power supply, the S/PDIF input, and the stock Mundorf output capacitors. As basic as it gets.

Comparison
The DAVE separates voices/instruments a bit better and gives a slightly deeper soundstage. DAVE has a built-in digital volume control -- with a remote -- that offers a nice bit of convenience. It also seems to improve less with a high-quality USB cable than anything else I've heard. My current SPDIF source, a Sonore ultraRendu, got far, far better when I added a Danacable TruStream USB cable (about 600 USD/540 EUR). Gobsmackingly better, actually. The DAVE got somewhat better with this cable but it was an incremental improvement at best. Its USB input is very impressive in this regard.

All great attributes.

Unfortunately, for my tastes, the DAVE sounds so much less like music than DDDAC. The "natural" timbre the DAVE is known for was a disappointment in my system. I have played in many bands and the DDDAC is the first DAC I've owned that gives me the instrument texture, weight, and detail I expect and recognize. And it gives you all this without sacrificing the acoustic space and recording hall information that is equally important to me. Cellos have all the resonance, full body, and biting timbre that makes them great. Through the DAVE they sounded thin and utterly disengaging. In general, all instruments through the DDDAC sounded much more palpable and convincing.

DDDAC has a particular strength at eliminating all treble fatigue without blunting the music. In addition to classical, jazz, and acoustic blues, I listen to pop punk, EDM, and 90s alternative rock. I have never heard those electric genres sound so good and non-fatiguing in my life.

Finally, DDDAC has a smile factor that I can't quite put my finger on. There is just something very right about it. I think it's the sonic weight -- it gives you a physical sensation in the room that has nothing to do with the usual audiophile/hi-fi attributes.

DDDAC sounds perfect played directly into my SET tube amp. I control volume digitally using JRiver Media Center. (My server is an Intel NUC i7 with Apacer industrial RAM running Windows Server 2019 in core mode, Audiophile Optimizer 3.0, Fidelizer, and Minority Clean.)

I tried the DAVE via SPDIF and USB, with a preamp and direct to my amp, with my digital volume control and its own internal volume. DAVE is known to sound quite a bit better with its M Scaler upsampler, which I have not heard. But I don't think any amount of upsampling will change the DAC's fundamental character. I don't know, and probably never will. I listened through speakers exclusively.

Final Score
I sold the DAVE. It wasn't a close fight, and cost was not a factor. As soon as I took the DDDAC out of my system, I missed it sorely.

Now I will be investing in a proper maxed out implementation (12 decks?) with WaveIO/FiFoPi input and better I/V resistors. And giving everything separate rails of top shelf linear power. With my basic build, I know I'm hearing DDDAC at perhaps half of its capability, so I'm excited for the future.

Thank you so much to Doede, Dick, and everyone on the forum who has contributed to testing and refining this incredible project for so many years.

p.s.
You see my Cinemag transformers in the photo; I was testing. And yes, I can confirm that the bass is not good when the transformers are powered by only 2 decks!
Click to expand...

Welcome to the DDDAC club! It’s a brilliant DAC that responds well to a decent source. I recommend trying a Raspberry Pi with Ian’s Fifo Pi, powered with a LIFEPO4 battery. This has given me the best sound I’ve heard from my system. Oh, don’t forget the Sowter output transformers either if you’re striving for the ultimate build.

PS Try Rhopoint I/V resistors as well. I prefer them to the Audio Note tantalum and Z foil types.
 
#7,427

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#7,429
Brumjam said:
Welcome to the DDDAC club! It’s a brilliant DAC that responds well to a decent source. I recommend trying a Raspberry Pi with Ian’s Fifo Pi, powered with a LIFEPO4 battery. This has given me the best sound I’ve heard from my system. Oh, don’t forget the Sowter output transformers either if you’re striving for the ultimate build.

PS Try Rhopoint I/V resistors as well. I prefer them to the Audio Note tantalum and Z foil types.
Click to expand...

Hello,
It seems that are more ways to audio nirvana but Fifo Pi seems to be one of the parts that need to be in there.
As usual all elements need a perfect power supply. Not all people agree on which one that should be.
What could be perfect in my set up could be to much in yours.
Greetings, Eduard
 
#7,434
smooth dancer said:
I wonder how much better 3.3v battery psu is versus the one I use now. If one 3.3v is what I need, I guess it’s enough with two batteries. Another question is how much Ampere is required. The manuai says 3.5A, with ten batteries installed, but maybe f.ex 1A is enough to power two batteries ?
Click to expand...

The manual says approx 100mA and you can purchase batteries with 500 or 700mAh

Put say 4 in parallel and an external charger would work

Easy to try I feel
 
#7,438
SimonJ said:
Hey brumjam can you share what you did for the battery LIFEPO4, what batteries, where from?
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Hi Simon,

Here is a pic of my setup:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


I bought a relay board from Ian Jin which turns the battery on and off, using the main board 5v out to trigger the relay. The battery provides 3.3v which bypasses the LDO’s on the FifoPi. Long term I might buy one of Ian’s battery management boards, but I wanted to get an idea of how a battery impacted SQ before making the investment.

James
 
#7,439
eduard said:
Hello,
It seems that are more ways to audio nirvana but Fifo Pi seems to be one of the parts that need to be in there.
As usual all elements need a perfect power supply. Not all people agree on which one that should be.
What could be perfect in my set up could be to much in yours.
Greetings, Eduard
Click to expand...

Agreed Eduard. FifoPi *might* be the answer. I’m comparing Fifo Pi running a pulsar clock powered by LIFEPO4 battery, with an Allo Kali running NDK SDA clocks powered by a salas reflektor D. Also got two isolators to try as well.....this really is a rabbit warren, more so than setting my DDDAC several years ago 🙂.
 
#7,440
Hello,
I started reading about possible ways to provide the dddac with a better quality input. And it seems there is lots of way to do this and i already stated then it could be more of a task than the dddac itself because most of the improvements that can be done to the dddac itself by adding some mods to the circuit itself have been done.
The power supply can have some serious improvements that are easy to be done.
I will get the ian lifepo4 boards when back home. First starting by using the fifopi then gradually improving from there.
Maybe using the ian power supply for some circuits on the main dddac print too.
We will see.
Let us wait for the results from Doede himself too.
Greetings, Eduard
 
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