TDA 1541A versus S1

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Peter K

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Joined 2003
#1
Hi,

I am new at this forum. I have been reading postings for some time now which helped me a lot making up my mind.

I am intending to add a Zero Dac based on the TDA1541A to my CD-PRO2. As you all know the S1 version is quit difficult to buy these days. However I have found an address where the normal A version can be purchased for Euro 7,00 (I suppose this shop does not know what the market price of this chip is). I plan to buy these chips and upgrade to S1 in the future.

However I wonder how big is the difference between the A and the S1? Is the difference big enough to skip the A version and go directly to the S1?

I would appreciate your help.

Best regards,

Peter.
 
#2
Hi Peter,

As far as I recall S1 is much smoother than the regular even though they are similar in signature. S1 is much more musical in the sence of analog.

This comments are based on my old Philips CDB650 and when I upgraded to the S1 I did a lot of tweaking so this might not be fair to the regular 1541A.

Since I have this S1 I'm planning to do, in the near future, a non oversampling implementation as described by TNT ezine.

http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/tnt1541_e.html
 
#4
Hi,

how is the sound of the 1541A, compared to modern 24bit DACs ?

I bought a Grundig CD903 on a fleamarket and this chip is inside.

This player has a digital output.

Can I use the DAC on the board of the player as an extern DAC ?



Thanks,


Bernhard
 
#5
Hi Peter, TDA1541A-S1 is better than TDA1541A-R1 or the ones without extra indicators ( i.e. TDA1541A ). They are not only better on paper. They're more musical and have more depth in the soundstage. More difference than one would expect.
Prices are absurd however ( about 40 Euro per piece ) so your first attempts can be done with the A version. When you really like it you can try to find an S1.

BTW the shop's price for the A version is very low ! Buy them before you're too late :nod:



Hi Bernhard, to my taste sound of the TDA1541A-S1 is better than 24 bit DAC's of today. But in general I never really liked Delta-Sigma, MASH, Bitstream or whatever name they have anyway ( although there are a lot of exceptions ). Multibit is more my cup of tea in the mid and bass regions.

Don't remove the DAC from your Grundig when the laser is OK and when the sound now is reasonably good. Better invest some time in making a discrete I/V stage or change opamps if you don't like the hassle of building discrete. Carefully inspect power supplies and try out a low jitter clock, you'll like it.

Avoid SPDIF when possible, nothing beats the chip inside a cdplayer. When you want to use the DAC that's onboard the player as an external DAC you will have to place a Digital Receiver ( DIR ) like CS8412/8414 in the cdplayer. Doesn't make a lot if sense when it functions OK. If you want to try out non os you can leave out SAA7220PB ( when it has one ) but first listen to it with the SAA7220PB well decoupled. Try OSCON 100 uF or similar.
 
#7
jean-paul said:

Hi Bernhard, to my taste sound of the TDA1541A-S1 is better than 24 bit DAC's of today. But in general I never really liked Delta-Sigma, MASH, Bitstream or whatever name they have anyway ( although there are a lot of exceptions ). Multibit is more my cup of tea in the mid and bass regions.

Don't remove the DAC from your Grundig when the laser is OK and when the sound now is reasonably good. Better invest some time in making a discrete I/V stage or change opamps if you don't like the hassle of building discrete. Carefully inspect power supplies and try out a low jitter clock, you'll like it.

Avoid SPDIF when possible, nothing beats the chip inside a cdplayer. When you want to use the DAC that's onboard the player as an external DAC you will have to place a Digital Receiver ( DIR ) like CS8412/8414 in the cdplayer. Doesn't make a lot if sense when it functions OK. If you want to try out non os you can leave out SAA7220PB ( when it has one ) but first listen to it with the SAA7220PB well decoupled. Try OSCON 100 uF or similar.
Click to expand...


Hi Jean Paul,

interesting, I had once a DCD685 with 20?bit compared to my old Philips CD304MKII, I kicked out the DCD.

The thing is, I use a Ultracurve (old 20bit version) to equalize my room and so the built in CD DAC is useless for me.
The DAC of the Ultracurve seems ok to me but I want my DIY 🙄
 
#16
AMT I would like 2 pleasel.


The TDA1541 is nothing like the newer TDA1541A.
Any version of the latter sound quite a bit better than the older "non-A" version.

The TDA1541 has the DEM oscillator cap internally, the A needs it externally (couple of hundred pF's).

The TDA1541 needs a system clock on pin 4 (kind of internal reclocking), A version can be left unconnected.

Now for the sound:
I only compared going from TDA1541 to TDA1541A-S1; quite an improvement.

Ryan Hill (known as Dr. H) on this board compared going from A to A-S1 in his very much modified Rotel cd player and heard no improvements...
 
#18
Sorry for the long delay, I'm quite busy at the moment. Also, I'll be on a business trip for the next two weeks, so 1541 orders will have to wait until I'm back 🙁

Preferred method of payment is paypal. I'll re-enable the email-button so you can contact me directly.
 
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