Upgrade output Shanling CD-S100 MkII

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
Member
Joined 2006
Paid Member
.....only saw your previous message now.....i'll send you the module PCB file and corresponding schematic values, it's been checked and rechecked...i'd say it's finished.

I tried your old mail....

PS: board is made for fairchild BF245A NOT Onsemi BF...pinout differs !:cool:
 
Member
Joined 2006
Paid Member
I've been very hesitant in posting this time because quite frankly i have some difficulty in describing my latest tests:

Scenario: Sound is gorgeous ..." music ends too soon ! " as my son describes it.

I bypass the coupling Elna Stargets with 10n Siver mica ( did not have polycarbonates ) and:

1 - First impression was that sound had gone "woolly".
2 - Some listening later, conclusion was...bass was tighter, sound was silkier and
highs were all there but more natural, however the sensation that i had lost excitement in the midrange did not disappear.....a week later it still hasn't.

I like the bass a lot, the silky character immensely ....but the music does not end too soon anymore.

I know this is not scientific but my ears couldn't care less, does thid make any sense to you ZM, Manu ?

Anyway Got some pictures for you guys, the boards are ready to be sent to my local shop but before that i would appreciate a review by you guys.

Here they are as is.
 

Attachments

  • For ZM 14-09-2009.png
    For ZM 14-09-2009.png
    42.8 KB · Views: 281
  • For ZM 14-09-2009-2.png
    For ZM 14-09-2009-2.png
    67.8 KB · Views: 275
  • For ZM 14-09-2009-3.png
    For ZM 14-09-2009-3.png
    74.6 KB · Views: 271
Official Court Jester
Joined 2003
Paid Member
joy is what's count;

joy of creation and joy of listening ;

nothing else really matters ;

if your ears are so sensitive to little changes in parts , you must find your own poison ;

in any case - polycarbonats are much more forgiving than Mica's ; for some ppl Mica is Mana from Heaven , for some other is Curse .

luckily , I'm not so picky in later years .... usually if I miss something , I just put another xformer in line with signal ........ :devily:

(while you're searching for few carbonats , try smaller Mica in parallel with Elna ; 10n Mica is dangerous creature , in every meaning :) )
 
Member
Joined 2006
Paid Member
...Hi Zen Mod,

While poking around the Borbely website i read this very nice paper on his IV and
the question was obvious,...should i not have here a filter after the IV stage to clean out the digital junk left from the conversion process and an output buffer ?
 
Member
Joined 2006
Paid Member
..hehe, no not daydreamin, no time for that. the meeting was too intense.

But i got a pleasent surprise at the hotel, and had free wi-fi access so i decided to "hobby" a little.

By the way i manage to find a bag of polycarbonates, 3n3 and such, i think i'll try those first before buying smaller micas.
 
Member
Joined 2006
Paid Member
OK,

Finaly got a bit of time to test some of my bag of polycarbonates to bypass output coupling elko's.

Values i had were : Wima yellow 2n2/63V and ERO 150n/100V

...might as well test the extreme's i thought.

Quite frankly i was disapointed with both.

The wima's simply got rid of my bass. sound was clean no loss of mid range but magic was gone with the bass.

EROs brought some of the bass back but essentially sufered from the same ailment.

Very much prefer just the ELNA stargets 100u by themselves.

The silver micas i had before highlighted the Bass made it silkier but at the loss of midrange and factor "X", music was not as exciting as before.

....suming up, i'm going to buy some more silver micas with values below 10n and try again, for now i'm happy with just the ELNAs, very much the best balance.
 
Last edited:
Member
Joined 2006
Paid Member
Ok,
Another bit of news...while boards are being made i'm testing more bypass caps:

after the let down with the polycarbs i tried a 1nf silver mica....aaaaaaaaaaaand
i'm pleased with the sound, it's very organic ( whatever that means ) very tight bass and sweet mid and highs, sounds very analog, all the digital harshness is gone....it's good enough to stay there for lengthy listening tests.

In particular voices in good recordings sound very very real,.....Diana Krall, Tony Joe White, "old blue eyes",...

Still don't understand why the polycarbs obliterated the bass.....i bet this is an interesting topic for discussion ...:rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
Member
Joined 2006
Paid Member
Hi Trans,

No those are not final, i have just finished ( yesterday ) building the finals, will test in the next few days, all being well will post pictures, data and full files as promised.

Thing is: i liked the sound so much is "rat's nest" version that i can't wait to hear
this one.

I've made a motherboard/daughterboard version for IVs and power supply so i can test various types of supply, right now i'm just using a cap multiplier but i also have a daughter board with ctoole's shunt supply to put in.

This later one i've tested in rat's nest with mixed results.....sound was clearer, better defined and bass was soooooo tight......but i had hi frequency distortion ( very little ) on one of the channels, this i put down to the untidy layout but we will see now with this almost final build.
;)
 
Member
Joined 2006
Paid Member
Hi guys,

Ok it's final.
yesterday got round to calibrating both IVs, and pluging in the PSU.
I'm using the simplest option right now for PSU, a cap multiplier, next will be ctoole shunt reg, since i designed motherboard/daughterboard it's easy.

Switched on and dead silence greated me, i half expected some booboo but no! everything was perfect ....pressed play and sweet clear music came from the orions.

The diference from this sound to the rat's nest version is that it's cleaner and better defined but although it's got fantastic top end, it's not harsh at all,...or tiring.

here is piture, i'll post files next, schematic and pcb files for Sprint pcb.

It will be interesting for us to compare notes on diferent otions for output IV resistor and couplig caps/bypass caps as these do influence tremendously the character of the sound.
Right now i have ELNA silks bypassed by silver mica.


..ZM,..can hardly wait for what you are working on ;)
 

Attachments

  • small.jpg
    small.jpg
    222.7 KB · Views: 252
Last edited:
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.