Hi Allen, thanks for the info. I've been toying with the idea of using transformers for a while now. I wanted to use them in my CD94, but the output is so low, I'd still need a gain-stage I think.
I have a couple of 1:1, 1:1 transformers here, so I'll have a play with them later.
Cheers, Lee.
EDIT: I just re-read my post and realised how dopey I'd been. So I deleted some.
I have a couple of 1:1, 1:1 transformers here, so I'll have a play with them later.
Cheers, Lee.
EDIT: I just re-read my post and realised how dopey I'd been. So I deleted some.
Hey Lee,
The TDA1547 has a switched capacitor network inside that needs to be buffered with... well, something, be it opamps or some discrete solution. You cannot drive a transformer directly with the DAC, unless you use something in between. That only works with voltage output DAC's, that mostly have some kind of 'analog filter' inside (read: opamp).
What you could try, is a good opamp buffer or a modified HDAM-kind-of buffer, and then use the transformer. But you'll have to hack into the original lay-out pretty deep to change it into something useful. Best option is to remove the parts completely and build something like the DOS on the PCB (without the passive filter). I did that once with a CD57.
IMHO the SM5872 is a better DAC.
Regards,
Ray
I'm not sure if the CD17KI I heard was mk2 or mk3 (different DACs) but it was night-and-day better than the CD63KI. Interesting that the CD10 (same DAC as CD17 mk2) doesn't sound nearly as good as the '17 (I'd still have one though, I love how heavy it is).
Simon
Simon
Hi Guys,
Couple of things here!
Ray,
Firstly Teddy Regs! I stumbled accross these only a week or so ago! I found a Naim PSU upgrade on ebay! Looks like You can buy an alternative to the various Naim (HiCap, Flat Cap etc.) psu with an array of these regulators on board. They must be pretty good! The schema's etc are available on his website. Def worth a look!
Simon/Ray/Lee,
I had the misfortune of listening to my friends Teac VRDS10 on Friday. I had offered to perform a few upgrades for him. The reason I'm posting here is because it uses the TDA1547 (2 of them in fact) and this is the same dac in some of the CD17's mentioned in the previous post.
This player as std, is something to be beheld! It has the character of the 1541 with the detail of the CD63! With some minor mods I beleive this DAC could be the ultimate!
When I say misfortune, I mean it was incedible in its std state! It was lacking behind my cd960 but it was annoyingly close with not a single mod! Very dissapointing from the point of view that my seriously modded a 63, I found it lacking in character so my attention switched to a 1541 based player (see Simons cd650 thread). In order to achieve the detail found in the sd 63, serious mods to the psu's must be made. I was not happy that the std 1547 player (vrds10) was the best of both prior to mods.
I can only guess that a lightly modded 1547 based player will out perform a seriously modded cd63 and any 1541 player! Having invested several hundred £ in mods and countless hrs to my Philips CD960 (marantz cd94) that a direction change may be on the cards!!! I haven't mentioned it to the other half yet.............
So, although off topic, I'm interested in any comments that anyone could make on the tda1547! It may just be the ultimate way to go!!! (not that I'm happy about it all right now!!!!)
Lee, I have the VRDS10 service manual, this may assist with you balanced input to the HDAM as it uses twin DACs? I'll mail it to you in the morning (albeit, you're question was about HDAM input rather than DAC output!).
Ian
Couple of things here!
Ray,
Firstly Teddy Regs! I stumbled accross these only a week or so ago! I found a Naim PSU upgrade on ebay! Looks like You can buy an alternative to the various Naim (HiCap, Flat Cap etc.) psu with an array of these regulators on board. They must be pretty good! The schema's etc are available on his website. Def worth a look!
Simon/Ray/Lee,
I had the misfortune of listening to my friends Teac VRDS10 on Friday. I had offered to perform a few upgrades for him. The reason I'm posting here is because it uses the TDA1547 (2 of them in fact) and this is the same dac in some of the CD17's mentioned in the previous post.
This player as std, is something to be beheld! It has the character of the 1541 with the detail of the CD63! With some minor mods I beleive this DAC could be the ultimate!
When I say misfortune, I mean it was incedible in its std state! It was lacking behind my cd960 but it was annoyingly close with not a single mod! Very dissapointing from the point of view that my seriously modded a 63, I found it lacking in character so my attention switched to a 1541 based player (see Simons cd650 thread). In order to achieve the detail found in the sd 63, serious mods to the psu's must be made. I was not happy that the std 1547 player (vrds10) was the best of both prior to mods.
I can only guess that a lightly modded 1547 based player will out perform a seriously modded cd63 and any 1541 player! Having invested several hundred £ in mods and countless hrs to my Philips CD960 (marantz cd94) that a direction change may be on the cards!!! I haven't mentioned it to the other half yet.............
So, although off topic, I'm interested in any comments that anyone could make on the tda1547! It may just be the ultimate way to go!!! (not that I'm happy about it all right now!!!!)
Lee, I have the VRDS10 service manual, this may assist with you balanced input to the HDAM as it uses twin DACs? I'll mail it to you in the morning (albeit, you're question was about HDAM input rather than DAC output!).
Ian
SimontY said:
I hope that 63KI was standard? It's supposed to sound 'worse' compared to the CD17, which is a different price range. The CD17mkII uses a 1547, and the mkIII a PCM1716, which I don't think is very great.
It's possible the 1547 needs a lot of work w.r.t. the PSU and output section to reach a decent sound. I have a CD72mkII modded (SAA7350 / 1547) that still sounds a lot like 'digitalis'.
The TEAC VRDS-10 is a whole different league 😀
Regards,
Ray
That should read 'TDA1547 is a better DAC' of course.A bit too fast post just before dinner 😀
I agree that in standard form the cd17 is a very nice player.
I have upgraded the opamps after the dac and re-clocked each chip with its own line direct from the clock. It made a nice difference, but to be honest it sounds very, very flat. Dynamics are not great at all, and my cd94 with the same mods sounded much better.
Brent is convinced that ultimately and with a lot of mods, the cd17 will better my highly modded cd94. I have decided to mod both machines and sell the one I don't want, 😀
I'd like some more opinions as to which player would ultimately be the better.
Cheers, Lee.
I have upgraded the opamps after the dac and re-clocked each chip with its own line direct from the clock. It made a nice difference, but to be honest it sounds very, very flat. Dynamics are not great at all, and my cd94 with the same mods sounded much better.
Brent is convinced that ultimately and with a lot of mods, the cd17 will better my highly modded cd94. I have decided to mod both machines and sell the one I don't want, 😀
I'd like some more opinions as to which player would ultimately be the better.
Cheers, Lee.
You will get to an approx level with much less work with the 17 IMHO.
Having said that you do now have all those transformers in the 94 which has pushed it quite far and now the 17 will require extra transformers
Brent
Having said that you do now have all those transformers in the 94 which has pushed it quite far and now the 17 will require extra transformers
Brent
The CD17 Brent had (with some S Powers, better op-amps, clock etc.) was pretty awesome. Yes it has some of the 1541 texture, and yes it has the modified-CD63KI detail, with a bass-weight all of its own. I don't know if it would be better than a severely tweaked up 1541-based player, however. The jury's out as far as I'm personally concerned.
At least for me I'm getting great music from a £10 Ebay cheap thing... albeit with a couple of hundred £££ of mods.
For sure, however: a good 1541 or 1547 player would live in my system ahead of a cd63/7. Yes, Brent's one is special, but that level of mods on a CD17KI would only be better again - probably!! 😀
Simon
At least for me I'm getting great music from a £10 Ebay cheap thing... albeit with a couple of hundred £££ of mods.
For sure, however: a good 1541 or 1547 player would live in my system ahead of a cd63/7. Yes, Brent's one is special, but that level of mods on a CD17KI would only be better again - probably!! 😀
Simon
I don't think any player with that many mods would better it. Yes you would of course get different characters of sound.
My 63 is just a chip set and case with individual power rails and is very hard to compare it to even a decently modded 63. The character of mine is very different from most 63 which is of course down to the psus.
I think psus make the biggest difference out of any mod (good dac or bad dac).
Brent
My 63 is just a chip set and case with individual power rails and is very hard to compare it to even a decently modded 63. The character of mine is very different from most 63 which is of course down to the psus.
I think psus make the biggest difference out of any mod (good dac or bad dac).
Brent
Thomo said:
I have the same problem with the CD72mkII. The difference of the mods is clearly audible, but the music sounds flat, emotionless (is that a correct word?). I do like the swing-arm transport a lot!
The 1547's spec's are not the problem, it should outperform the SM5872. But the 1547 PSU arrangement is more complex, and probably will require more work. Let's get going with those TeddyRegs 😀
Ray
Gents,
I maybe new here but I have 8 years of experience commercially Upgrading SONY SACD players to completely new levels of performance.
And i say, if you haven't tried using shunt regs on your DACs and audio stages, then you are just fooling around!
And preferably current sourced shunt regs.
regards, Allen
www.vacuumstate.com
I maybe new here but I have 8 years of experience commercially Upgrading SONY SACD players to completely new levels of performance.
And i say, if you haven't tried using shunt regs on your DACs and audio stages, then you are just fooling around!
And preferably current sourced shunt regs.
regards, Allen
www.vacuumstate.com
Guys, we seem to have got both the 63 thread and the 650 thread onto this subject!
Lee, as the proud pioneer (with a cd17 to play with at the mo) fancy starting your own "TDA1547" thread? If not, I'll do it!
I'm really interested in this. I can't believe that the PSU side for the 1547 can be any more complex than what Lee and I have got inside out 1541's (multiple low noise regs and TX's etc.)
I'm still sulking about that vrds10 btw 😡
Lee, as the proud pioneer (with a cd17 to play with at the mo) fancy starting your own "TDA1547" thread? If not, I'll do it!
I'm really interested in this. I can't believe that the PSU side for the 1547 can be any more complex than what Lee and I have got inside out 1541's (multiple low noise regs and TX's etc.)
I'm still sulking about that vrds10 btw 😡
Will start a new thread today. I suppose you can only go so far off-topic on a thread.
Thanks for your input guys.
Lee.
Thanks for your input guys.
Lee.
6h5c,
Very good!
Are these three pin pcbs actually CCS'd shunt regs?
Whose design?
If so, how do you set the pass & shunt currents?
Regards, Allen
(www.vacuumstate.com)
Very good!
Are these three pin pcbs actually CCS'd shunt regs?
Whose design?
If so, how do you set the pass & shunt currents?
Regards, Allen
(www.vacuumstate.com)
Guys,
you're trying to compare modded players, well, may I ask how much money is needed to make them all real opponents to each others? When I see the price of an FK I already feel bad!
I'm trying to keep mine in a budget for just a "very good cheap player" and wonder how much all of you used, even if for almost all of you this is also fun. And at least was that money worth it compared to brand new sold products?
In other words, does that make sens?
Matthieu, the guy who's trying to turn a ZL into a FK with some magical bypass combination =)
edit: and about PSU, today I've fitted the simple'n good 317/337 based Raygs' and id does improved much than I was thinking : the LMExxx20HA does really need it!
you're trying to compare modded players, well, may I ask how much money is needed to make them all real opponents to each others? When I see the price of an FK I already feel bad!
I'm trying to keep mine in a budget for just a "very good cheap player" and wonder how much all of you used, even if for almost all of you this is also fun. And at least was that money worth it compared to brand new sold products?
In other words, does that make sens?
Matthieu, the guy who's trying to turn a ZL into a FK with some magical bypass combination =)
edit: and about PSU, today I've fitted the simple'n good 317/337 based Raygs' and id does improved much than I was thinking : the LMExxx20HA does really need it!
Allen Wright said:
Hi Allen,
They are indeed Tentlabs shunts and the pinout is equal to the 78xx/79xx regulators. The current is set by a few resistors, one for the total CCS current and two for the output voltage, that is held at the desired voltage by shunting part of the current to GND through a resistor.
They are set by Tentlabs, but I modified some of them to lower the dissipation, because the load current was quite small. I generally make the shunt current as large as the max. load current, so 'incoming' CCS current is 2x Iload.
Ray
Ray,
Cool.
I have sent you a private email via the forum.
I could find no way of emailing you from your website. When I tried the "Contact Ray" button, it just went to a page on this forum... That can't do much for business?
Regards, Allen
www.vacuumstate.com
Cool.
I have sent you a private email via the forum.
I could find no way of emailing you from your website. When I tried the "Contact Ray" button, it just went to a page on this forum... That can't do much for business?
Regards, Allen
www.vacuumstate.com