Thanks for that reassurance. I got a tad paranoid it seems.
Glad to hear it now produces sound - what was the missing link in the end?
I'd not worry about I2S going above 10cm, up to 20cm I find is OK. Not all I2S is equivalent - the higher the frequency (i.e. running 4X or 8X OS) the more waveform distortions and running NOS at 44.1kHz is almost the slowest I2S possible. Plenty of I2S interconnects include MCK at 11.2896MHz - if yours had that then 10cm would be a suitable recommendation.
The key seemed to be getting the spdif board to connect to the right input. This is partially why I ordered a screen as I foresaw this problem.
The default auto switching of spdif board seems to be temperamental. I would recommend everyone who uses this board to use the manual selector switch and desolder opt1 on the bottom of the PCB.
Maybe you could include the $2 oled as an option with your kits in the future? It might save some people hassle in the future as they could see what input was selected.
It turns out that the RCA connectors I purchased from you are the same ones on my Ares 2 dac, but I think the terminals on the other side of the RCA are supposed to be soldered to a PCB as they are on the Ares 2 here. Maybe a more user friendly RCA connector with the ground tab like this one would help new users too?
The normal way to use the board without the screen is with a push-switch. Then if there's no sound, keep pressing that until it appears. I will though explicitly mention the screen (there's more than one option there from the Taobao seller, OLED or LCD). Perhaps it should be included as default. I'll modify the first post to include the link on Aliexpress to this board then customers will be much more up to speed with its capabilities before they receive it.
About the RCAs, I agree the termination to the GND terminal is problematic. There hasn't been much choice of high quality RCAs though on Taobao - there are cheap ones which have a terminal but they have such a thin layer of gold they look tacky after a few insertions. Besides the gold layer looks almost green-tinged. There is another good quality type but its designed for PCB mount and has wires, not terminals so perhaps not a great choice in this instance.
About the RCAs, I agree the termination to the GND terminal is problematic. There hasn't been much choice of high quality RCAs though on Taobao - there are cheap ones which have a terminal but they have such a thin layer of gold they look tacky after a few insertions. Besides the gold layer looks almost green-tinged. There is another good quality type but its designed for PCB mount and has wires, not terminals so perhaps not a great choice in this instance.
Do you mean measured?
If you mean listening impressions and comparisons, This dac deserves more listening time before I make any judgements. It’s mid centric though IMO.
This thread is about a specific diy DAC and is not about praising or bushing other ready made DACs.
OT posts (and collateral) removed.
Please stay on topic
George
Hi Amplifier Dude, this is a site for DIYers who love hot iron, big transistors, and self-build. And not for people who like to line up numbers on the PC screen.
I recommend that you go to https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php
Many dacs that are recommended as great on that site have gone to fill secondhand sites.
I built the Decadac and it was really enjoyable to listen to, I used its filter to tweak other DACs and enjoyed it.
Are you having fun?
Regards
Guglielmo
I recommend that you go to https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php
Many dacs that are recommended as great on that site have gone to fill secondhand sites.
I built the Decadac and it was really enjoyable to listen to, I used its filter to tweak other DACs and enjoyed it.
Are you having fun?
Regards
Guglielmo
A new Celib DAC is born. Hooked it up temporarily on a prototyping board just to get things working. Using a UBIB psu for the Dac and a JLsounds I2S input. Yes the wiring is a mess but everything works. waiting on another trafo for the I2S since the single one is too small and a bit under voltage, but so far sounds very promising. I'm going to order a nice 2U case from the Diyaudio store to house it in. Once everything is cleaned up and sorted out I'll do a direct comparison with my Decca NOS dac, a AK4493, and a ESS9038K2M DAC.
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Sounds like a good plan, looking forward to your comparo!
Enjoy further music "meanwhile"
Claude
Enjoy further music "meanwhile"
Claude
Hi Richard,
Another creation of yours is running.
I know it’s too early for judgments but … detail and ambience retrieval are spot on!
Especially during complex passages with a lot of instruments, it’s effortlessly.
Even with a not so great smps 24V, actually …
I’ll let it run for a week or two.
At the output do you think 1.47uf could be enough, driving a preamp, instead of the two 6.8uf as original?
Again congratulations,
Frank
Another creation of yours is running.
I know it’s too early for judgments but … detail and ambience retrieval are spot on!
Especially during complex passages with a lot of instruments, it’s effortlessly.
Even with a not so great smps 24V, actually …
I’ll let it run for a week or two.
At the output do you think 1.47uf could be enough, driving a preamp, instead of the two 6.8uf as original?
Again congratulations,
Frank
Frank - what's the input impedance of your preamp? If its >47kohm then you should be fine. You might get a rise in LF noise though from such a small cap, it would depend on the preamp's input stage. If JFET or valve then no problem.
I do need to report a negative aspect of this DAC… it made me buy new speakers 😛
My beloved Jamo’s were not up the task of evaluating this DAC, so I just ordered a pair of Magnepan LRS. Should arrive within the week.
I’m fairly impressed that this DAC was able to do that as I had originally intended it for my budget stereo build. My planar headphones, Ananda/LCD2C showed me way more detail than the Jamo’s using the Celibdache.
My beloved Jamo’s were not up the task of evaluating this DAC, so I just ordered a pair of Magnepan LRS. Should arrive within the week.
I’m fairly impressed that this DAC was able to do that as I had originally intended it for my budget stereo build. My planar headphones, Ananda/LCD2C showed me way more detail than the Jamo’s using the Celibdache.
I finished assembling my version of Celib dac. This version has 40 dac chips that Richard was good enough to put together for me. Here are some build pics. I used what I had on hand by scavenging other projects, I'm using a JL Sounds USB to I2S for the input. Three separate PSUs, a Salas UBIB for the DAC and two separate supplies for the USB module. I bypassed the coupling caps and used some nice clarity caps for coupling mostly because it made me feel better, it does seem to make a small difference for the better though. I used a 2U galaxy enclosure from the DIYAudio store. It was a bit of a challenge to squeeze everything in, but it worked. I'm listening to it now, I also have a Decca dac that I really like, the Decca is more laid back with a mid hall presentation and very nice layering front to back and side to side in the sound stage. The Celib sounds more forward, front row, with excellent soundstage, and seems more detailed, great dynamics. Both have great base definition. I'm listening to Oscar Peterson live at the blue note, with the Celib the low level ambience of the live recording is more easy to make out, still there with the Decca, but more subdued, farther away. I compared both to a nice AK4490 with same PSUs and input, for me it had a flatter more two dimensional sound stage plus the leading and trailing edges of notes were not as good the NOS dacs both sounded more realistic. I liked the NOS dacs better. The bottom line to all of this is that the Celib dac sounds excellent.
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Thanks for this detailled feedback, promising!
I presule this is Celibidache vs Decca (and not Decca II)?
Enjoy your DACs
Claude
I presule this is Celibidache vs Decca (and not Decca II)?
Enjoy your DACs
Claude
Hi PJN
Thank you for communicating your experience.
Using same digital source, same USB interface (and same drivers) and equivalent PSU architecture is the only valid (alas rarely realized) way to compare DACs.
Enjoy the music with your builds 🙂
George
Thank you for communicating your experience.
Using same digital source, same USB interface (and same drivers) and equivalent PSU architecture is the only valid (alas rarely realized) way to compare DACs.
Enjoy the music with your builds 🙂
George