I bought this 'Cheap as chips' DAC for use in my workroom as it advertised a range of file and sampling options other cheap ones did not. It performs ok and does cope with 32/384 and DSD.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/201...32727675710.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.wBuiAb
Audio performance is fine for my site and purpose though it seems to be roundly condemned here ...
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/297351-chinese-es9018k2m-i2s-dac.html#post4959855
As it is so cheap I am motivated to make a few mods for the experience and if my low skill base kills it then no great loss....but instead, a learning .
So first up I would like to replace the output coupling caps....seems to be an RC filter with 10Kohms across the RCA out and 220uF in line.
Two questions...
1) Is that a high pass filter ? (and when I put the values into an online calculator I get back a value of 0.072Hz...seems very low ?)
2) If it is, and the value is right, then I have a MKP M-Cap I would like to substitute...It is 3.3uF so shall I just calculate a suitable resistor to get the same cut off as above ?
Any comments appreciated.
(and any other suggested mods, I'm not after making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, just trying out some things as the investment here is low and the learning outweighs the risk )
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/201...32727675710.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.wBuiAb
Audio performance is fine for my site and purpose though it seems to be roundly condemned here ...
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/297351-chinese-es9018k2m-i2s-dac.html#post4959855
As it is so cheap I am motivated to make a few mods for the experience and if my low skill base kills it then no great loss....but instead, a learning .
So first up I would like to replace the output coupling caps....seems to be an RC filter with 10Kohms across the RCA out and 220uF in line.
Two questions...
1) Is that a high pass filter ? (and when I put the values into an online calculator I get back a value of 0.072Hz...seems very low ?)
2) If it is, and the value is right, then I have a MKP M-Cap I would like to substitute...It is 3.3uF so shall I just calculate a suitable resistor to get the same cut off as above ?
Any comments appreciated.
(and any other suggested mods, I'm not after making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, just trying out some things as the investment here is low and the learning outweighs the risk )
No experience whatsoever with modding ES9018 DACs but based on what sounds good with other DACs I'd say power supply mods pay the biggest dividends.
Yes, I'm using a regulated linear supply with a decent transformer and plenty of capacity. Certainly made a difference from the standard wall-wart.
Are there other improvements you would suggest for powering ?
Are there other improvements you would suggest for powering ?
Normally the board will have local regulation - the supply to the DAC elements themselves (perhaps called Vref or the DAC reference supply) matters most and should have its own on-board regulator. Lowering the impedance of this is where I'd focus my initial efforts.
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