Re: Re: Power Tranny
Ok I get the gist that in most cases there can only be one! i.e one ground who rules them all and if you have 7 devices all with 3rd prong on plug for ground they all fight over it, I probably have it all wrong so please feel free to correct me.
But what if you have all of your audio video devices connected to a RFI surge protector and that board also has ground to the wall should that not win by default ?
legarem said:
Ok I get the gist that in most cases there can only be one! i.e one ground who rules them all and if you have 7 devices all with 3rd prong on plug for ground they all fight over it, I probably have it all wrong so please feel free to correct me.
But what if you have all of your audio video devices connected to a RFI surge protector and that board also has ground to the wall should that not win by default ?
Re: Re: work in progress
I tested with budget s.s. amp (Marantz PM7000, I didn't have nothing else at hand).
Observations:
-opamps give dynamic, fast sound with wide soundstage, but the depth has been reduced, acoustic aura mostly has gone and there was something synthetic in the sound, especially the highs was noticeable dry.
-transformers alone give very clean, open and natural sound reach of details and acoustic aura. In comparison with opamps some dynamic and bass speed has gone.
-transformers followed by cathode follower sounded best. Like transformers alone, but without loss of dynamic.
Observations with tube amplifier (6B4G DHT PSE):
transformers alone are best. Transformers followed by cathode follower losses some fine details and (very, very slightly) reduces depth and acoustic atmosphere.
Opamps are unlistenable for me, although they sounds better than Meridian 506.24 CD player 😉
I'm sure this DAC can outperform a lot of expensive players. I listened CEC DX51 and didn' like it. I'm going to compare my DAC with trafos to Audio Note CD3 and report it here.
You may use edit function.
shuggi67 said:
I tested with budget s.s. amp (Marantz PM7000, I didn't have nothing else at hand).
Observations:
-opamps give dynamic, fast sound with wide soundstage, but the depth has been reduced, acoustic aura mostly has gone and there was something synthetic in the sound, especially the highs was noticeable dry.
-transformers alone give very clean, open and natural sound reach of details and acoustic aura. In comparison with opamps some dynamic and bass speed has gone.
-transformers followed by cathode follower sounded best. Like transformers alone, but without loss of dynamic.
Observations with tube amplifier (6B4G DHT PSE):
transformers alone are best. Transformers followed by cathode follower losses some fine details and (very, very slightly) reduces depth and acoustic atmosphere.
Opamps are unlistenable for me, although they sounds better than Meridian 506.24 CD player 😉
I'm sure this DAC can outperform a lot of expensive players. I listened CEC DX51 and didn' like it. I'm going to compare my DAC with trafos to Audio Note CD3 and report it here.
You may use edit function.
Re: Re: Re: Power Tranny
What I do is grounding in the wall outlet only one device in the system. Preferably, you take the center device which all others are connected to (eg: preamplifier) All the devices are grounded by the shield in the interconnects. If you keep all the 3 prong plugs grounded, threre's ground loops and often hum in the system.
With my dac, the ground that goes from the board to the IEC socket is there because all my powercords are shielded and this means that the powercord shield goes to the dac ground.
There's a cheater plug at the end of the powercord so the ground is lifted.
shuggi67 said:
What I do is grounding in the wall outlet only one device in the system. Preferably, you take the center device which all others are connected to (eg: preamplifier) All the devices are grounded by the shield in the interconnects. If you keep all the 3 prong plugs grounded, threre's ground loops and often hum in the system.
With my dac, the ground that goes from the board to the IEC socket is there because all my powercords are shielded and this means that the powercord shield goes to the dac ground.
There's a cheater plug at the end of the powercord so the ground is lifted.
I received the UTC HA-108 today
They are big and heavy transformers
I listened them for a short period of time and I can tell that the bass is terrific and listening piano reveals probably the best mids I never heard
More on that later
Last night I took the three dacs with different transformers to one of my friend's system ($$$$$) and we done some testing.
As soon as I will finish to compare the UTC to others, I'll give you the results (shootout)
So the shootout was partially done in two different systems with 4 peoples.
Here are the UTC monsters
They are big and heavy transformers
I listened them for a short period of time and I can tell that the bass is terrific and listening piano reveals probably the best mids I never heard
More on that later
Last night I took the three dacs with different transformers to one of my friend's system ($$$$$) and we done some testing.
As soon as I will finish to compare the UTC to others, I'll give you the results (shootout)
So the shootout was partially done in two different systems with 4 peoples.
Here are the UTC monsters
Attachments
McGyver thats Brilliant!
I don't suppose you have a "how to" posted on your web page, I'm not sure what I'll use for the case, I have a non-functioning set-top box I could use.
another wee things is if you lost the highs with the OPamps did you try them with the lampizators Snipit and bypass i.e remove the OUTPUT FILTER CAPS as this apparently brings back the High's or does this DAC kit have none, as I could not see any on the pictures posted unless the RED things are the filter caps?
I don't suppose you have a "how to" posted on your web page, I'm not sure what I'll use for the case, I have a non-functioning set-top box I could use.
another wee things is if you lost the highs with the OPamps did you try them with the lampizators Snipit and bypass i.e remove the OUTPUT FILTER CAPS as this apparently brings back the High's or does this DAC kit have none, as I could not see any on the pictures posted unless the RED things are the filter caps?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Power Tranny
I don't hear any Hum so does this mean no benefit by using cheater plugs
legarem said:
I don't hear any Hum so does this mean no benefit by using cheater plugs
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Power Tranny
Best is trusting your ears and listen what gives you the best sound.
My system is biamped and some amps are monoblocks. This means a lot of stock,
It is a 100 db/1w/1m system so noise can easily be a problem with this kind of system.
shuggi67 said:
Best is trusting your ears and listen what gives you the best sound.
My system is biamped and some amps are monoblocks. This means a lot of stock,
It is a 100 db/1w/1m system so noise can easily be a problem with this kind of system.
shuggi67 said:
I didn't lost highs with opamp, but I didn't like them. The highs was dry, unnatural, synthetic, I don't ktow how to say it...
the sowters are in....
organic is the word. The highs have gained a realism that was never there with the opamp.
I am giving it a good listen now.
organic is the word. The highs have gained a realism that was never there with the opamp.
I am giving it a good listen now.
McGyver said:
Hi
I got the same dac
would you please describe the mods you have done to get pleased results
Yes, I would.
After CS4397 are Sowters. After Sowters are cathode followers.
When I got time I'll post drawing.
After CS4397 are Sowters. After Sowters are cathode followers.
When I got time I'll post drawing.
thx
I will use audio transformers only - have you compared Sowters to other brands - Lundahl, Jensens, Neutrik, Edcore
regarding PS 5V - what regulator you are using
have you replace any components on dac board - resisors, caps
I will use audio transformers only - have you compared Sowters to other brands - Lundahl, Jensens, Neutrik, Edcore
regarding PS 5V - what regulator you are using
have you replace any components on dac board - resisors, caps
I didn't compare various transformers yet. But I will do Lundahls.
I use LF50CV or LT1086 regulators.
There's no need to replace resistors IMHO, Dale are good enaugh. I replaced most of capacitors and used Rubycon MBZ, Nippon LXY, LXZ, Sanyo WG and Sanyo Oscon.
I use LF50CV or LT1086 regulators.
There's no need to replace resistors IMHO, Dale are good enaugh. I replaced most of capacitors and used Rubycon MBZ, Nippon LXY, LXZ, Sanyo WG and Sanyo Oscon.
Power supply upgrades
Has anybody had any success tweaking the power supply on the DAC board, e.g.upgrading caps?
Has anybody had any success tweaking the power supply on the DAC board, e.g.upgrading caps?
if you go down the tranformer route, a nice 5v low noise regulator will do the job. That will be my next mod.
Veru happy with the sowters in this dac, sounds super
Veru happy with the sowters in this dac, sounds super
I have this board - in its latest incarnation - and have for a start taken the signal from the chip ( cold side) and run it for a week or so. It was certainly impressive but today I soldered in on both hot and cold sides of each channel (between the board and the signal out plugs x2 300R (low inductance YAM resistors) on each wire in series with a small cap soldered between hot and cold at the joint between the resistors in each wire. Forms an H with the cap as crossbar!
Well the improvement in solidity and scale of the sound imagery is vast, the shrillness in the upper-mid range has gone and - other than I also believe that there is a cow with a better head of horns just over the next hill - somewhere in Kerry - I would be happy to live with the results!! BUT I have my eyes peeled for a pair of UTC transformers!!!
I am almost totally an analogue person but this has had me scratching at my old prejudices against digital...guess what!....No pain!
Well the improvement in solidity and scale of the sound imagery is vast, the shrillness in the upper-mid range has gone and - other than I also believe that there is a cow with a better head of horns just over the next hill - somewhere in Kerry - I would be happy to live with the results!! BUT I have my eyes peeled for a pair of UTC transformers!!!
I am almost totally an analogue person but this has had me scratching at my old prejudices against digital...guess what!....No pain!
brianco said:I have this board - in its latest incarnation - and have for a start taken the signal from the chip ( cold side) and run it for a week or so. It was certainly impressive but today I soldered in on both hot and cold sides of each channel (between the board and the signal out plugs x2 300R (low inductance YAM resistors) on each wire in series with a small cap soldered between hot and cold at the joint between the resistors in each wire. Forms an H with the cap as crossbar!
Well the improvement in solidity and scale of the sound imagery is vast, the shrillness in the upper-mid range has gone and - other than I also believe that there is a cow with a better head of horns just over the next hill - somewhere in Kerry - I would be happy to live with the results!! BUT I have my eyes peeled for a pair of UTC transformers!!!
I am almost totally an analogue person but this has had me scratching at my old prejudices against digital...guess what!....No pain!
What kind of transformers are you using ?
None...as yet.
Despite that the sound I am getting is on a par with pretty good analogue based on an SP 10, Zeta and original Kondo Audionote Io cartridge. I have altered nothiing on the board as yet.
The only real criticism is that on very loud massed orchestral work there is some congestion but that is down to my using my second string amplification which is very old, but good, Perregaux stuff which simply cannot handle the speed of the signal it is receiving.
I am, as I say above, looking for the UTC transformers which you seem to be very happy with....they are far and few between!
Despite that the sound I am getting is on a par with pretty good analogue based on an SP 10, Zeta and original Kondo Audionote Io cartridge. I have altered nothiing on the board as yet.
The only real criticism is that on very loud massed orchestral work there is some congestion but that is down to my using my second string amplification which is very old, but good, Perregaux stuff which simply cannot handle the speed of the signal it is receiving.
I am, as I say above, looking for the UTC transformers which you seem to be very happy with....they are far and few between!