I posted the GoldenSound video for a reason 
. Point being, unless you absolutely have to use USB, S/PDF, AES and Toslink, those formats should be avoided - point blank.
Its like the difference between using a sloppy human translator and talking directly to the person yourself.
In the end, what the DAC chips care about is:
I2S without manipulation is always the best and for now, that is to say what I've learned so far, using Raspberry PI as a transport or access point over my local network is going to be the best. That way, I can store the music on my main PC and access it via the Pi which sits close to Andreas FiFo Lite or Ian's FiFoPi and the DAC while running a Linux distro. Using Andrea's clocks is a given.
The Mu metall is ofc a nice solution, extra insurance.
. Point being, unless you absolutely have to use USB, S/PDF, AES and Toslink, those formats should be avoided - point blank. Its like the difference between using a sloppy human translator and talking directly to the person yourself.
In the end, what the DAC chips care about is:
Btw, the work of John and some others elswhere about the electrical quality of this digital stream towards the DAC is very important. See the USB stick for instance in ECDESIGNS stuffs on their website. Took me two years to improve that on my TDA1541A DAC with all the IanCanada stuffs and Synology direct stream via USB : all details matters, from the ground loop to the cables and passive parts as of course the power supplies, traffos choice and so on ! Often a titan work but that payoff.
Andrea was banned, but he has an active GB and a website of his own. Website could use some work, but he's too busy designing dacs and stuff. https://www.thewellaudio.com/
As far as active talk about the products, I don't think there is much. Pity, because IMHO it deserves more attention than it gets. Don't know why people are still using ESS chips and or TDA1541A type dacs. What Andrea is doing is closer to something more like a Bruno Putzeys Mola Tambaqui dac. Andrea is not quite at that level yet, but, again IMHO, he's closer to it than the other stuff I just mentioned.
In the interests of disclosure, I am using one of Andrea's SE DSD dac boards for my main dac. I willingly pay what it costs, and its not cheap. But IMHO it is the best available for diy projects at the moment.
The other thing I'm using is the FPGA-based Simple DSD Converter project from here in the forum. Very good SQ. Maybe HQ Player with the latest modulator and one of the gaussian filters is litte better, however IMHO most of the HQ Player options aren't better than the diy DSD Converter project. That said, the FPGA DSD converter board is probably best with galvanic isolation and reclocking following the DSD conversion. I am using one of Andrea's FIFO boards to provide that isolation.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/simple-dsd-modulator-for-dsc2.370177/
As far as active talk about the products, I don't think there is much. Pity, because IMHO it deserves more attention than it gets. Don't know why people are still using ESS chips and or TDA1541A type dacs. What Andrea is doing is closer to something more like a Bruno Putzeys Mola Tambaqui dac. Andrea is not quite at that level yet, but, again IMHO, he's closer to it than the other stuff I just mentioned.
In the interests of disclosure, I am using one of Andrea's SE DSD dac boards for my main dac. I willingly pay what it costs, and its not cheap. But IMHO it is the best available for diy projects at the moment.
The other thing I'm using is the FPGA-based Simple DSD Converter project from here in the forum. Very good SQ. Maybe HQ Player with the latest modulator and one of the gaussian filters is litte better, however IMHO most of the HQ Player options aren't better than the diy DSD Converter project. That said, the FPGA DSD converter board is probably best with galvanic isolation and reclocking following the DSD conversion. I am using one of Andrea's FIFO boards to provide that isolation.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/simple-dsd-modulator-for-dsc2.370177/
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I have DAC_Lite too. I understand that the main issue is that the DSD dac is more detailed, smoother (less distorted sounding) and has better sound stage than DAC_Lite. The only thing DAC_Lite is reportedly better at is having a full, well rounded midrange sound. Some people rate that warm midrange sound as more important than anything else. I am not one of them. I'll find some way to get the best midrange out of the DSD dac that I can; don't know if I'm allowed to talk more about that.
Regarding new products from Andrea, don't know exactly what I am allowed to say on that either. We discuss some technical stuff via email sometimes, other times not that much. Basically, I think the Lite Series development is coming to an end. What has been learned from that development process will be applied as a starting point for the Sonic Empire series. Pretty sure the next generation is going to be better yet, but again probably not the lowest cost option. For now I'm happy with the SE DSD dac board.
In the short term I am hoping to try out Andrea's new USB FIFO board that has sockets to plug in the Simple DSD Converter project board. The USB board is for people who don't need SPDIF and or HDMI type inputs. USB-only keeps it simple and helps lower cost. Also IIUC costs are high-ish now because production volumes are low. If Andrea were selling as many boards as some other people on this forum, he might be able to get the prices down by quite a bit.
BTW, just curiously I asked Audiophonics why they don't offer TheWellAudio stuff. They said they aren't getting demand from customers for those products. It seems to me like sort of a kind of Catch-22 situation, someone can't get distribution until there is demand, but its hard to get demand if there is no distribution.
Regarding new products from Andrea, don't know exactly what I am allowed to say on that either. We discuss some technical stuff via email sometimes, other times not that much. Basically, I think the Lite Series development is coming to an end. What has been learned from that development process will be applied as a starting point for the Sonic Empire series. Pretty sure the next generation is going to be better yet, but again probably not the lowest cost option. For now I'm happy with the SE DSD dac board.
In the short term I am hoping to try out Andrea's new USB FIFO board that has sockets to plug in the Simple DSD Converter project board. The USB board is for people who don't need SPDIF and or HDMI type inputs. USB-only keeps it simple and helps lower cost. Also IIUC costs are high-ish now because production volumes are low. If Andrea were selling as many boards as some other people on this forum, he might be able to get the prices down by quite a bit.
BTW, just curiously I asked Audiophonics why they don't offer TheWellAudio stuff. They said they aren't getting demand from customers for those products. It seems to me like sort of a kind of Catch-22 situation, someone can't get distribution until there is demand, but its hard to get demand if there is no distribution.
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Hello,
Probably nothing wrong or illegal in sharing experiences with the Italian circuits . The ucpure from Canada could be used to power them i presume.
I am not interested in the Italian dac because i will go for the soon to be released new DDDAC.
I like the non bling bling style of the Italian circuits . Probably they are less versatile which might cause less questions from users.
Greetings Eduard
Probably nothing wrong or illegal in sharing experiences with the Italian circuits . The ucpure from Canada could be used to power them i presume.
I am not interested in the Italian dac because i will go for the soon to be released new DDDAC.
I like the non bling bling style of the Italian circuits . Probably they are less versatile which might cause less questions from users.
Greetings Eduard
Hello moderation team,
Was he using this site to promote his products ?
Was He spreading fake information.
From time to time i write i really like to use Lundahl chokes . Is it " illegal " to write something about the Italian circuits or should it be exchanged by private messaging only?
Greetings Eduard
Was he using this site to promote his products ?
Was He spreading fake information.
From time to time i write i really like to use Lundahl chokes . Is it " illegal " to write something about the Italian circuits or should it be exchanged by private messaging only?
Greetings Eduard
Yes, thanks Markw,impatient that the Sonic Empire series be released,a little more patience.
Hello,
In Italy they also make real pizza and ice cream not like the ones" fabricated" in most other countries .
So be patient and be happy with the hardware you have. Make it more pleasure with a bottle of wine and start Listening with the heart instead of your audiophile mindset so to say.
Greetings Eduard
In Italy they also make real pizza and ice cream not like the ones" fabricated" in most other countries .
So be patient and be happy with the hardware you have. Make it more pleasure with a bottle of wine and start Listening with the heart instead of your audiophile mindset so to say.
Greetings Eduard
Pretty soon I am hoping to get one of Andrea's new USB boards here to try out. To see how it works as a low cost option I am going to try it out with Accusilicon clocks first. Other clocks here that can be used for comparison include some of Andrea's clocks (with or without doublers) and a set of AckoLabs 22/24MHz clocks. The AckoLabs clocks are pretty small, sine wave output, SOA phase noise, and run hot because they are OCXOs. Still, Andrea's lower frequency clocks with doublers can produce even better phase noise performance. (However, doublers may not be ideal for some DSD dacs.) Hoping to get a better idea of measured clock performance versus cost tradeoffs. Also, I would like to try Andrea's DSD dac with stereo Vref as another experiment. PCM to DSD conversion will be done using the forum's FPGA-based Simple DSD Converter project board, and also with HQ Player. May take some time to get it set up once all the parts get here. May also have more to say if and when there is something interesting to report.
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Hi jmmbarco,
Akco's hobbyist site has a different URL from AckoLabs. Clocks are at: https://sites.google.com/site/ackodac/modules-and-kits/clocks-and-oscillators
On the question of your transport project, I'm not quite clear. Is it that you have a transport with a SPDIF output? Or you're going to make a SPDIF output?
Akco's hobbyist site has a different URL from AckoLabs. Clocks are at: https://sites.google.com/site/ackodac/modules-and-kits/clocks-and-oscillators
On the question of your transport project, I'm not quite clear. Is it that you have a transport with a SPDIF output? Or you're going to make a SPDIF output?
I want to build an spdif output in my PC transport project. Currently, the design is USB output only based on coreaudio usb pci card driven by drixo 24mhz. The idea is to add an usb-spdif inside the chassis to feed my tda1541 dac, modded with Andrea fifo as well.
As the card has two ports, one will be used for connecting the PC to any dac and the second for getting the spdif
As the card has two ports, one will be used for connecting the PC to any dac and the second for getting the spdif