Guys... I'm so sorry, I haven't logged into my account for over two years.
Good job on making new drawings of the schematic and the board layout. I remember vaguely that the choices in grounding came from reading Guido Tent's whitepaper on grounding. Therefore I did not use split ground planes. I did a double ground plane in separate layers enclosing the signal layers, connected with multiple vias. So every ground is connected directly to a thick ground plane, and I just made sure that the power, digital and signal grounds were tidy.
When it comes to the I/V. I can agree that it's a simple one. But it definitely does not sound like the NE5534. At all. But it would be interesting to compare it directly to an OP stage.
I still use this dac in my main setup, and I listen to it every day.
Good job on making new drawings of the schematic and the board layout. I remember vaguely that the choices in grounding came from reading Guido Tent's whitepaper on grounding. Therefore I did not use split ground planes. I did a double ground plane in separate layers enclosing the signal layers, connected with multiple vias. So every ground is connected directly to a thick ground plane, and I just made sure that the power, digital and signal grounds were tidy.
When it comes to the I/V. I can agree that it's a simple one. But it definitely does not sound like the NE5534. At all. But it would be interesting to compare it directly to an OP stage.
I still use this dac in my main setup, and I listen to it every day.
Finally I completed my AD1862 DAC with the IV stage as shown in #36:
It's dual mono, one channel is on the lower level of PCBs, the other channel is upstairs. There are many jung style super reulators (ALWSR), it sounds superb. The digital filter is the Kusy Audio 16x interpolation filter. Separate transformers for analog (large toroid) and digital (blue Talema). The third (smallest blue) transformer is for a housekeeping mcu that observes power loss and digital error and controls a mute relay.
I have one question: do I need to worry about the IV resistors value at the end of the diamond buffer? I now use 3K7, but iirc lower values will result in less distortion - but only if the DAC chip itself drives the IV resistor, right...?
It's dual mono, one channel is on the lower level of PCBs, the other channel is upstairs. There are many jung style super reulators (ALWSR), it sounds superb. The digital filter is the Kusy Audio 16x interpolation filter. Separate transformers for analog (large toroid) and digital (blue Talema). The third (smallest blue) transformer is for a housekeeping mcu that observes power loss and digital error and controls a mute relay.
I have one question: do I need to worry about the IV resistors value at the end of the diamond buffer? I now use 3K7, but iirc lower values will result in less distortion - but only if the DAC chip itself drives the IV resistor, right...?
Looks absolutely fantastic 🙏 I can imagine that it sounds lovely. I will try to compare my dac with some more modern AK and ESS dacs soon. I am hoping it holds up, but I really have no idea.
As for the IV resistor I have no idea. The original design from Pedja Rogic uses a 1.5k resistor. But I don't know how much it impacts the sound. The only way to know is to switch and compare. Putting a 1.5k there shouldn't impact the gain too much. I use 300Ohm and it's still fine.
As for the IV resistor I have no idea. The original design from Pedja Rogic uses a 1.5k resistor. But I don't know how much it impacts the sound. The only way to know is to switch and compare. Putting a 1.5k there shouldn't impact the gain too much. I use 300Ohm and it's still fine.