DIR9001 board to TDA1541A - help

Hi:

Anyone can explain why this board with DIR9001 didn´t work in an Arcam Delta Black Box, with TDA1541A?

I have nothing more than pure silence!

Thank you!
Antonio
 

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Bingo! I have music!

Muting transitors removed, digital filter and Arcam custom chip also removed.

First notes... very very musical.

Much less harshness than with the Arcam receiver custom board.

Thank you so much!
 

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Yes! I´ve already correct that issue with NewClassD shunt regulator.

After a night burning some parts (the SPDIF board and some capacitors that I renewed), oh man! It´s by far the best digital stuff I´ve heard!

To name a few: Marantz CD40, CD50, CD60, CD65, CD80, CD85, CD94, even the CD94 MKII in stock mod.

The Black Box now is so detailed and clean (no digital artifacts or colorations), so natural, so fast and dynamic.

I was not prepared for such a huge improvement!

I emphasize that (for now) I am not using the SAA7220 digital filter.

Many thanks for your attention.
 
Good to hear! What other mods did you do to the Arcam?

Also I have a question about low volume distortion: would you be so kind and listen to this CD-rip on your Arcam?

I took a recording from the analog output of my Arcam and compared it to other DACs: the Arcam sounded distorted at those very low volume levels. Here are the recordings of the comparison.

Please let me know if your Arcam also does the same thing to my CD rip.
 
Hi: My unit make no distortions at all.

Other mods I´ve done yesterday after dinner:
  • cleaned the entire PCB (it comes very dirty from factory soldering labour);
  • renewed some soldering points (in musical signal path) with Mundorf MSolder Supreme;
  • changed the miserable quality shunts wires for something much better: Neotech UP-OCC (silver in music clues and copper in power lines);
  • more capacitors update, namely around tda1541;
  • the last 22r resistors are upgraded to AB 0.5W;

And for now that´s all, nothing that I have can beat this unsuspected beauty - the Parasound DAC-1500 with 4x PCM63K and 8x Black Gate capacitors is in the room for fight, waiting for some upgrades...

Thanks again for your attention!
 

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Various reviews of the Arcam state distortions at low levels (starting around 70dB iirc), so I would be surprised if your unit was an exeption.

Did you actually try to playback my CD-rip and listen to the analog output with cranked up volume?
 
I didn´t this experience yet, but I have some test CDs, with low level recordings (well not so low than your CD) and didn´t notice any distortion at a half volume potenciometer - it´s the maximum I usualy play. But I don't care, what really matters to me is the way it is so natural sounding, detailed and focused, that it gives me hours and hours of pure joy!
 
Bingo! I have music!

Muting transitors removed, digital filter and Arcam custom chip also removed.

First notes... very very musical.

Much less harshness than with the Arcam receiver custom board.

Thank you so much!
Great job.
DIR9001 is an excellent receiver, much better than the competition, its only drawback is 96kHz max. I installed it in my DAC instead of the CS8414 and the difference is obvious, the sound is much better. In my DAC are DIR9001 -- PMD100 -- 6xPCM1702 -- tube I/V and buffer.
 

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Great job.
DIR9001 is an excellent receiver, much better than the competition, its only drawback is 96kHz max. I installed it in my DAC instead of the CS8414 and the difference is obvious, the sound is much better. In my DAC are DIR9001 -- PMD100 -- 6xPCM1702 -- tube I/V and buffer.
People may not notice how good sounding is DIR9001 compared to other chips. Not a hint of digital harshness. Do you idea how does PMD100 compares to DF1704? Your DAC seems very very impressive! Congratulations! One more question please: do you like tubes as I/V buffer in DACs? I have a tubizator board in my other DAC (TDA1541) and I feel tubes add some coloration to the music.
 

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People may not notice how good sounding is DIR9001 compared to other chips. Not a hint of digital harshness. Do you idea how does PMD100 compares to DF1704? Your DAC seems very very impressive! Congratulations! One more question please: do you like tubes as I/V buffer in DACs? I have a tubizator board in my other DAC (TDA1541) and I feel tubes add some coloration to the music.
I think that SRPP is the cause of some coloration. In my opinion, a much better solution is a tube with a higher gain in the classic anode stage with CCS.
Now I'm using 6HM5 but with ground grid and it's the best I've heard so far.

I never had the opportunity to compare DF1704 and PMD100, but without thinking, I would always choose PMD100. My friend has a NOS TDA1541 and is thinking of trying the DF1704, although I am persuading him to use the SM5842.
 

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Hi:

Anyone can explain why this board with DIR9001 didn´t work in an Arcam Delta Black Box, with TDA1541A?

I have nothing more than pure silence!

Thank you!
Antonio
Hi,

I'm trying to do the same but for Yamaha CDX-630E CD player.
I have a Chinese DIR9001 input board that looks almost like yours (beside the SCK jumpers) that I'm trying to connect directly to the TDA1541 chip without success.
I'm connecting only DATA, LRCK, BCLK from the DIR9001 I2S outputs, muting transistors removed but I get a distorted sound output.
DATA->DATA
BCLK->BCK
LRCK->WS

Any idea what am I doing wrong?
Maybe it's the missing SCK configuration jumpers in my DIR9001 board?

Thanks
 

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