Crackling sound in right channel of TDA1541A DAC

[HeadSh0T]

I just finished building a TDA1541A based DAC using Guido Tent's clock and Pedja's AD844 IV conversion (schematic below). However, upon start-up, I noticed that there is a crackling sound in the right channel during loud passages in the music.

After about 20 minutes of playing, the crackling disappears.

I found a thread that described a similar problem and the problem was traced to a leaky output cap. So, I changed my output caps and still, there is a problem.

Any ideas?

Here's a link (the pic is not so good).

http://www.geocities.com/react_71/audio/tda1541a_dac/tda1541a_dac.htm

 

[rbroer]

Check the DC level on the TDA1541A outputs when just turned on and after 20 minutes.

 

[Pedja]

Hi HeadSh0T,

Sounds like the effect that sometimes occurs as a consequence of the non-filter approach (if it originates downstream the (pre)amp channel swapping will reveal this). But it is interesting it disappears after 20 minutes. Try the channel swapping inside the DAC to determine is it related to the TDA1541 or the AD844 and observe the voltage drift at the output.

Good luck,
Pedja

 

[HeadSh0T]

Thanks guys for your help but it was Scott Nixon whose email provided the answer. I had a cold solder joint on one of the 14 caps.

This is what he said:

When I used to repair Philips cd players, this type cracking noise while cold on one channel, was almost always on of the 14 caps around the dac with a cold solder joint, or one or two times I remember replacing the caps (suface mount) to get rid of it. If you'll re-heat those joints on those caps, she might just behave.

BTW, i have about 20mV DC before the output caps when it just turns on.