Hi,
I'm an old timer when it comes to audio and DIY (that's why I'm here). However, as far as DACs go, I don't know the best units. I've been doing some hunting around for the best DAC chip (including reading many threads on these forums), and it seems that the highest performing 24bit DAC is the Texas Instruments PCM1794 DAC. Is this an accurate statement?
I'm an old timer when it comes to audio and DIY (that's why I'm here). However, as far as DACs go, I don't know the best units. I've been doing some hunting around for the best DAC chip (including reading many threads on these forums), and it seems that the highest performing 24bit DAC is the Texas Instruments PCM1794 DAC. Is this an accurate statement?
Recently I had a DAC vendor over to my home with several HiFi enthusiasts. This DAC had interchangeable daughter cards for TDA-1543A, CS4398, and PCM1798. The 98 is very similar to the 92/94 chip from TI.
By far the best chip was the TI 1798. Why anyone would ever bother with a TDA-1543 is a mystery. It's a low end chip and it sounded like it as compared to the CS4398 and the PCM1798.
The TDA1543A was thin, lacked detail, and had a non existent sound stage.
CS4398 was an excellent chip, it's just the 1798 was a little bit better in every dimension, especially noteworthy was the improvement in the 1798's bass response.
BTW, we also compared the DAC's to my current ADCOM GDA750 DAC with a pair of BB1702's, non-over sampling, non-delta sigma, 20 bit chip.
Personally I liked the 1798 overall by a small margin, the 1702 and the 4398 were a toss-up. One was slightly better than the other in small ways with different strengths.
The 1543A was a clear hands down looser when compared to these other chips. I know a lot of DIYer's like them because they are cheap and easy to DIY, and are better than what they are listening to now if the DIY build quality is high.
Picking the TI/BB 179x chips is a good choice. There maybe other trade-offs other people would prefer, but overall the TI has a great product. It demonstrated strength across the board in our camparison. It's more expensive than the others, but a great chip.
Good luck,
-David
By far the best chip was the TI 1798. Why anyone would ever bother with a TDA-1543 is a mystery. It's a low end chip and it sounded like it as compared to the CS4398 and the PCM1798.
The TDA1543A was thin, lacked detail, and had a non existent sound stage.
CS4398 was an excellent chip, it's just the 1798 was a little bit better in every dimension, especially noteworthy was the improvement in the 1798's bass response.
BTW, we also compared the DAC's to my current ADCOM GDA750 DAC with a pair of BB1702's, non-over sampling, non-delta sigma, 20 bit chip.
Personally I liked the 1798 overall by a small margin, the 1702 and the 4398 were a toss-up. One was slightly better than the other in small ways with different strengths.
The 1543A was a clear hands down looser when compared to these other chips. I know a lot of DIYer's like them because they are cheap and easy to DIY, and are better than what they are listening to now if the DIY build quality is high.
Picking the TI/BB 179x chips is a good choice. There maybe other trade-offs other people would prefer, but overall the TI has a great product. It demonstrated strength across the board in our camparison. It's more expensive than the others, but a great chip.
Good luck,
-David
elg2001 said:and it seems that the highest performing 24bit DAC is the Texas Instruments PCM1794 DAC. Is this an accurate statement?
I came to the same conclusion, when I built my DAC. It also is very easy to configure/setup, especially if used with an ASRC, such as AD1896 (which is how I'm using it). PCM1794 has about double the output current, which I would think is the main advantage over PCM1798.
Re: Re: New to DACs; After Some Research, is Texas Instruments PCM1794 the best DAC?
The extra current is needed for some passive I/V designs and for Transformer based I/V designs.
Personally, I'm looking at building a 179x design with a choice of a Pass Labs I/V design or a transformer for experimentation in the near future.
-David
ezkcdude said:
PCM1794 has about double the output current, which I would think is the main advantage over PCM1798.
The extra current is needed for some passive I/V designs and for Transformer based I/V designs.
Personally, I'm looking at building a 179x design with a choice of a Pass Labs I/V design or a transformer for experimentation in the near future.
-David
Check out the AKM dacs too. Like AK4395 etc.
www.akm.com
I have a dac project going on right now, it's based on AK4114 receiver and AK4395 dac. The AK4114 may change to AK4115, dunno yet.
www.akm.com
I have a dac project going on right now, it's based on AK4114 receiver and AK4395 dac. The AK4114 may change to AK4115, dunno yet.
macgyver said:Check out the AKM dacs too. Like AK4395 etc.
www.akm.com
I have a dac project going on right now, it's based on AK4114 receiver and AK4395 dac. The AK4114 may change to AK4115, dunno yet.
Where did you find AKM chips in low quanitities? I tried locating sellers but to no avail so far.
lucpes said:
Where did you find AKM chips in low quanitities? I tried locating sellers but to no avail so far.
I asked some samples from local supplier and they send me some.
check:
http://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/akm/en/cpnydata/euro_sr.html
elg2001 said:does anyone have performance measurements (in the form of graphs) that you can send me?
Which dac? Here is the AK4395 graphs:
http://www.akm.com/AppsNotes/AK4395full workup_files/frame.htm
You will probably find this link interesting (one would raise an eyebrown on the project btw)
http://www.audiodesignguide.com/DAC_final/DacFinal.html
Ciao
Gianluca
http://www.audiodesignguide.com/DAC_final/DacFinal.html
Ciao
Gianluca
Myself is a lucky owner of a Slimdevices Transporter since 2 weeks now and i still wonder sometimes how different some recordings can sound i knew very well!
It uses the AK4396 and the guys at Slimdevices even offered some insight i trust in.
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=28126&highlight=transporter+measurements
It uses the AK4396 and the guys at Slimdevices even offered some insight i trust in.
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=28126&highlight=transporter+measurements
elg2001 said:I feel that there's something wrong with his test setup. ALL of the DACs tested had a huge spike around 1 kHz. That is totally unacceptable performance from ANY dac.
Are there any other real, scientific measurements of these components?
Member
Joined 2003
ACTIVA said:Hi Elq2001,
Many others still consider the BB/TI R-2R type PCM1704 one of the best sounding DAC avaliable, also the most expensive.
PCM1794 - USD 9.95 @ 1KU from TI
PCM1704 - USD24.10 @ 1KU from TI
Regards
Max
As Max said the 1704 is a great chip. The 20 bit version I own (1702) compared very favorably to the 1798. I still liked the 1798 better I thought it had more punch and better clarity.
In my post above, the 1702 was my preference over the CS4398, TDA1543, and only slightly behind the 1798.
-David
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