CS8416+CS4398 DAC Kit Support USB + coaxial DAC Board

bleachershane · 5th November 2011, 03:45 PM

CS8416+CS4398 DAC Kit Support USB + coaxial DAC Board from along1986090

A quick opinion post if I may... anyone bought one of these or have any opinions on it? I have the CS4398 in my E-MU 1616M soundcard and I've always loved the sound from it (whether this is the implementation or the chip is a completely different matter) I'm mainly looking as I want to see how this compares to the E-MU and secondly, it would be nice to have a DAC that doesn't require my PC running to use it!

I'm mostly interested in the CS4398 but I noticed they also have a couple of other DAC kits based around the AK4396, WM8740 and the AD1955. Wonder if any of these are worth a punt in anyone experience?

tamphist · 6th November 2011, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bleachershane

CS8416+CS4398 DAC Kit Support USB + coaxial DAC Board from along1986090

A quick opinion post if I may... anyone bought one of these or have any opinions on it? I have the CS4398 in my E-MU 1616M soundcard and I've always loved the sound from it (whether this is the implementation or the chip is a completely different matter) I'm mainly looking as I want to see how this compares to the E-MU and secondly, it would be nice to have a DAC that doesn't require my PC running to use it!

I'm mostly interested in the CS4398 but I noticed they also have a couple of other DAC kits based around the AK4396, WM8740 and the AD1955. Wonder if any of these are worth a punt in anyone experience?

I bought this one, as I also have good experience from CS4398 based
Super Pro DAC707.

However, I got SPDIF distortion with this board,
so digital input is not so great. Some noisy groundloop
problems with USB input also. I've been trying to replace
capacitors. Next trying to replace 12 MHZ crystal with 12.288 MHZ one.

Still. Modded Super Pro DAC707 with CS4398 is the best sounding
dac I have ever heard, so I hope I could get this one sound good also.

wwenze · 05:04 AM

I just assembled a version of this DAC bought from zoe_tsang. THD and IMD performances are excellent, but crosstalk is poor at -80 to -90dB. I got these numbers with a Musiland Monitor 01 USD as SPDIF source, and output connected to the input of Xonar DX sound card.

Any ideas? Or any potential testing issues that may cause false reading of crosstalk in RMAA?

Slight off-topic... any way to reduce 50Hz noise? It's hurting my unit's noise performance.

Funny thing is the 50Hz isn't there if the DAC is connected to the computer via motherboard SPDIF out (which is not isolated and hence results in the noisy ground problem). I've suspected Xonar DX's ground to behave funny so perhaps that's it?

SoNic_real_one · 02:10 AM

I had before some CS4391 DAC's and they didn't sounded bad for the not-so-stellar specs (AVR receiver from HK). So I wanted to hear how their flagship CS4398 sound like (the THD+N is -107dB), so I did jumped into this bandwagod and bought same DAC from same eBay seller.
I am curious how it will fare and what mods can I do to it (of course the OpAmp will be first).
I could made my own thread instead of adding to this old one, but I think is better to keep the things "together".

Gorgomat · 2nd February 2015, 10:45 PM

I´m bumping this thread too

I got myself a kit too but didn´t assemble it yet. Just by any chance, do you guys also use such a kit and can share some of your experience ?

5th November 2011, 03:45 PM	#1
bleachershane diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Glasgow, Scotland	CS8416+CS4398 DAC Kit Support USB + coaxial DAC Board CS8416+CS4398 DAC Kit Support USB + coaxial DAC Board from along1986090 A quick opinion post if I may... anyone bought one of these or have any opinions on it? I have the CS4398 in my E-MU 1616M soundcard and I've always loved the sound from it (whether this is the implementation or the chip is a completely different matter) I'm mainly looking as I want to see how this compares to the E-MU and secondly, it would be nice to have a DAC that doesn't require my PC running to use it! I'm mostly interested in the CS4398 but I noticed they also have a couple of other DAC kits based around the AK4396, WM8740 and the AD1955. Wonder if any of these are worth a punt in anyone experience? __________________ "If only we'd known that iPads would unite to enslave the people they entertained."

5th March 2012, 04:51 AM	#3
wwenze diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2008	Poor crosstalk I just assembled a version of this DAC bought from zoe_tsang. THD and IMD performances are excellent, but crosstalk is poor at -80 to -90dB. I got these numbers with a Musiland Monitor 01 USD as SPDIF source, and output connected to the input of Xonar DX sound card. Any ideas? Or any potential testing issues that may cause false reading of crosstalk in RMAA? Slight off-topic... any way to reduce 50Hz noise? It's hurting my unit's noise performance. Funny thing is the 50Hz isn't there if the DAC is connected to the computer via motherboard SPDIF out (which is not isolated and hence results in the noisy ground problem). I've suspected Xonar DX's ground to behave funny so perhaps that's it? Last edited by wwenze; 5th March 2012 at 05:04 AM.

25th March 2012, 02:03 AM	#4
SoNic_real_one diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Virginia	I had before some CS4391 DAC's and they didn't sounded bad for the not-so-stellar specs (AVR receiver from HK). So I wanted to hear how their flagship CS4398 sound like (the THD+N is -107dB), so I did jumped into this bandwagod and bought same DAC from same eBay seller. I am curious how it will fare and what mods can I do to it (of course the OpAmp will be first). I could made my own thread instead of adding to this old one, but I think is better to keep the things "together". Last edited by SoNic_real_one; 25th March 2012 at 02:10 AM.

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2nd February 2015, 10:45 PM	#5
Gorgomat diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2009	I´m bumping this thread too I got myself a kit too but didn´t assemble it yet. Just by any chance, do you guys also use such a kit and can share some of your experience ?