|
|
Anybody built a DAC kit?
Just wondering what success any of you have had building DAC kits.
there are some cheap non oversampling boards on ebay these days like the DAC-AH http://eshop.diyclub.biz/articles.php?tPath=2, and this has a growing user base - it's about $140 which comes out under £100 with shipping I should think. Possible, also, to add a tube stage for tube lovers. Any other experiences? Here's a list of all the kits I could find - mainly cheaper 1543 type NOS, but some more adventurous ----- http://diyparadise.com/dacs.html Yeo's DAC kit 1543/1545 http://diyparadise.com/mar06/gg.html Yeo's tube stage http://www.octave-electronics.com/Kits/dac.shtml Etude 1716 DAC - CS8414+PCM1716 £87 http://www.octave-electronics.com/Star/07dac.shtml Etude review http://members.chello.nl/~m.heijlige...tml/dactop.htm Tent Labs DAC CS8412+PCM63 http://www.kandkaudio.com/digitalaudio.html K and K RAKK DAC CS8416+PCM1794 $249 www.hagtech.com/chime.html Hagtech Chime DAC $599 halfkit http://www.dddac.de/ Doede Douma. DDDAC2000 NOS CS8412+1543 89€ http://www.steinmusic.de/audiofino/komp-weitere.html NONOS DAC 698€ http://www.audionotekits.com/ Audio Note DAC 1.1 and 2.1, Zero DAC http://www.scott-nixon.com/dac.htm Scott Nixon Tubedac $100 to $200 http://www.audiosector.com/ TDA1543 DAC Peter Daniel http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/attac...amp=1112327211 Schematic http://www.audiocraftersguild.com/Xdac/dacprice.htm Audiocrafters Guild X-DAC 3.0 CS8412, CS4328, AD1891 $547 www.vdac.co.uk Chris Found DAC kits UK, latest is VDAC-4 £800 http://diyaudiocraft.com/ Ultimate Twin DAC 8414+1541A (DIY Audio tube-lover) http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...threadid=55808 Ultimate Twin thread by Tube_Lover http://eshop.diyclub.biz/product_inf...413e5fa3c7e0fd DAC AH CS8414 as digital input reciver, 8 pcs of TDA1543 in parallel $135 http://us.hifidiy.net/index.asp TDA 1543 kit ebay $88 4 Philips TDA1543 IC chips. Digital receiver using CS8148 and Output OP Amp using OPA604AP. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Philips-TDA154...QQcmdZViewItem http://stores.ebay.co.uk/AudioDIYLab 24bit, 192kHz Digital receiver : CS8414, DAC chip : PCM1739 $139.99 http://www.curcioaudio.com/cddes_3.htm Curcio CD12V (1541) http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/tnt1541_e.html TNT tda1541 DAC Giorgio Pozzoli 2003 uses 8412 http://www.milossaluciano.com/Reinas...alessandro.htm Digital Renaissance Tube, Taiwan 1543 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Philips-TDA154...QQcmdZViewItem $88 1543 DAC |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
Andy Evans wrote: Just wondering what success any of you have had building DAC kits. there are some cheap non oversampling boards on ebay these days like the DAC-AH You mean the loony fringe now want to reintroduce antique converters so as to accurately recreate the 'grit' they used to listen to ? Graham |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
Eeyore wrote:
Andy Evans wrote: Just wondering what success any of you have had building DAC kits. there are some cheap non oversampling boards on ebay these days like the DAC-AH You mean the loony fringe now want to reintroduce antique converters so as to accurately recreate the 'grit' they used to listen to ? Graham What I did when I needed an ADC, is to get a Crystal Semiconductors evaluation board. They do them also for their DAC chips. This is a complete ADC or DAC on a board, with DIP switches for setting it up. All you need is a power supply and a box to put it into. They cost about the same as the DAC-AH, but you get the latest chipset. S. |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
What I did when I needed an ADC, is to get a Crystal Semiconductors
evaluation board. They do them also for their DAC chips. This is a complete ADC or DAC on a board, with DIP switches for setting it up. All you need is a power supply and a box to put it into. They cost about the same as the DAC-AH, but you get the latest chipset. How do you get such a thing? Knock twice and ask for Crystal? In your case, what was your receiver chip and what was the DAC chip? How long ago? Did it sound good? Do tell us more. Andy |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
"Eeyore"
wrote in message Andy Evans wrote: Just wondering what success any of you have had building DAC kits. there are some cheap non oversampling boards on ebay these days like the DAC-AH You mean the loony fringe now want to reintroduce antique converters so as to accurately recreate the 'grit' they used to listen to ? Hmm, the TDA1541 datasheet at hand is dated 11/1985. Antique converers, indeed. The TDA1541 appears to be a DAC chip in the narrowest sense, lacking most if not all of the refinements we find in modern parts. The most notable refinement that seems to be lacking is the reconstruction filter. The consequences omitting a reconstruction filter from the design include massive amounts of ultrasonic hash. http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2.../nishikawa.htm seems to describe a TDA 1541A-based DAC with a very poorly-designed-to-non-existent reconstruction filter. |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
Arny - what's the best currently available chipset?
What would you suggest building? Andy |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
Andy Evans wrote:
What I did when I needed an ADC, is to get a Crystal Semiconductors evaluation board. They do them also for their DAC chips. This is a complete ADC or DAC on a board, with DIP switches for setting it up. All you need is a power supply and a box to put it into. They cost about the same as the DAC-AH, but you get the latest chipset. How do you get such a thing? Knock twice and ask for Crystal? In your case, what was your receiver chip and what was the DAC chip? How long ago? Did it sound good? Do tell us more. Andy The best thing to do is to look up www.crystal.com Find the chip you want and see if they do an evaluation board. You can download the manual for the chip and the board, and make sure it's exactly what you need. Then, find a Crystal Semiconductors distributor in your territory, get a price and buy one. I bought the CS5335 ADC board about 7 years ago when I got my Meridian D1500 'speakers as these only have digital inputs, so I have to convert my analogue sources. The CS5335 is a 20 bit ADC, and I leave it on 48k sampling, which is fine for my vinyl and FM radio. As to sound, I compared it with one commercial unit, the Lindos LSC24 A-D/D-A converter and couldn't hear any difference with the sources available. I also put it back-to-back ( Digital out from CD to LSC24, analogue out of the LSC24 to Crystal ADC, digital out to 'speakers) with the LSC24 and sent a digital signal to my 'speakers and again, it was transparent using a CD as a source. This, to me, means that I wouldn't be deriving any benefit from something "better". S. |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
Thanks, Serge. Looks like Crystal style the CS4398 as their 'flagship'
DAC (though I know at least one designer who prefers the CS4397). there does seem to be an evaluation board. These references may help: http://sharewave.com/en/products/pro/techs/T2.html details of Crystal DAC chips http://sharewave.com/en/pubs/rdDatasheet/CDB4398.pdf Evaluation board There'a also a company that does a digital board with the CS4398 for $495, but this does need in input chip. http://www.aplhifi.com/index.html ". If you'd like to use I2S connection, you can send it directly to the DAC board without digital receiver. The DAC accepts I2S, MSB and LSB digital formats. It needs 8-9 volts filtered unregulated DC and it has differential outputs from each DAC so you will need some sort of filtering and tube or solid state stage with differential inputs. The output amplitude on each output is around 1V RMS with 0db PCM" |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
In article , Serge Auckland
writes Andy Evans wrote: What I did when I needed an ADC, is to get a Crystal Semiconductors evaluation board. They do them also for their DAC chips. This is a complete ADC or DAC on a board, with DIP switches for setting it up. All you need is a power supply and a box to put it into. They cost about the same as the DAC-AH, but you get the latest chipset. How do you get such a thing? Knock twice and ask for Crystal? In your case, what was your receiver chip and what was the DAC chip? How long ago? Did it sound good? Do tell us more. Andy The best thing to do is to look up www.crystal.com Find the chip you want and see if they do an evaluation board. You can download the manual for the chip and the board, and make sure it's exactly what you need. Then, find a Crystal Semiconductors distributor in your territory, get a price and buy one. I bought the CS5335 ADC board about 7 years ago when I got my Meridian D1500 'speakers as these only have digital inputs, so I have to convert my analogue sources. The CS5335 is a 20 bit ADC, and I leave it on 48k sampling, which is fine for my vinyl and FM radio. As to sound, I compared it with one commercial unit, the Lindos LSC24 A-D/D-A converter and couldn't hear any difference with the sources available. I also put it back-to-back ( Digital out from CD to LSC24, analogue out of the LSC24 to Crystal ADC, digital out to 'speakers) with the LSC24 and sent a digital signal to my 'speakers and again, it was transparent using a CD as a source. This, to me, means that I wouldn't be deriving any benefit from something "better". S. Any idea of suppliers Serge?... -- Tony Sayer |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
tony sayer wrote:
In article , Serge Auckland writes Andy Evans wrote: What I did when I needed an ADC, is to get a Crystal Semiconductors evaluation board. They do them also for their DAC chips. This is a complete ADC or DAC on a board, with DIP switches for setting it up. All you need is a power supply and a box to put it into. They cost about the same as the DAC-AH, but you get the latest chipset. How do you get such a thing? Knock twice and ask for Crystal? In your case, what was your receiver chip and what was the DAC chip? How long ago? Did it sound good? Do tell us more. Andy The best thing to do is to look up www.crystal.com Find the chip you want and see if they do an evaluation board. You can download the manual for the chip and the board, and make sure it's exactly what you need. Then, find a Crystal Semiconductors distributor in your territory, get a price and buy one. I bought the CS5335 ADC board about 7 years ago when I got my Meridian D1500 'speakers as these only have digital inputs, so I have to convert my analogue sources. The CS5335 is a 20 bit ADC, and I leave it on 48k sampling, which is fine for my vinyl and FM radio. As to sound, I compared it with one commercial unit, the Lindos LSC24 A-D/D-A converter and couldn't hear any difference with the sources available. I also put it back-to-back ( Digital out from CD to LSC24, analogue out of the LSC24 to Crystal ADC, digital out to 'speakers) with the LSC24 and sent a digital signal to my 'speakers and again, it was transparent using a CD as a source. This, to me, means that I wouldn't be deriving any benefit from something "better". S. Any idea of suppliers Serge?... Crystal are now called Cirrus Logic, and their UK headquarters is as below. Call their Sales Department and ask where you can get an evaluation board for the device you're interested in. I found them very helpful at the time, but things may have changed in 7 years. Their current top-of-the-range DAC is the CS4398, the evaluation board is CDB4398. Info on it is http://www.cirrus.com/en/pubs/rdDatasheet/CDB4398.pdf Cirrus Logic (U.K.) Ltd. 1st Floor Offices Park House, Mere Park Dedmere Road Marlow, Buckinghamshire SL7 1FJ United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0) 1628-891-300 Fax: +44 (0) 1628-891-988 S. |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
tony sayer wrote: In article , Serge Auckland writes Andy Evans wrote: What I did when I needed an ADC, is to get a Crystal Semiconductors evaluation board. They do them also for their DAC chips. This is a complete ADC or DAC on a board, with DIP switches for setting it up. All you need is a power supply and a box to put it into. They cost about the same as the DAC-AH, but you get the latest chipset. How do you get such a thing? Knock twice and ask for Crystal? In your case, what was your receiver chip and what was the DAC chip? How long ago? Did it sound good? Do tell us more. Andy The best thing to do is to look up www.crystal.com Find the chip you want and see if they do an evaluation board. You can download the manual for the chip and the board, and make sure it's exactly what you need. Then, find a Crystal Semiconductors distributor in your territory, get a price and buy one. I bought the CS5335 ADC board about 7 years ago when I got my Meridian D1500 'speakers as these only have digital inputs, so I have to convert my analogue sources. The CS5335 is a 20 bit ADC, and I leave it on 48k sampling, which is fine for my vinyl and FM radio. As to sound, I compared it with one commercial unit, the Lindos LSC24 A-D/D-A converter and couldn't hear any difference with the sources available. I also put it back-to-back ( Digital out from CD to LSC24, analogue out of the LSC24 to Crystal ADC, digital out to 'speakers) with the LSC24 and sent a digital signal to my 'speakers and again, it was transparent using a CD as a source. This, to me, means that I wouldn't be deriving any benefit from something "better". S. Any idea of suppliers Serge?... -- Tony Sayer A friend built a couple of these and lent them to me.A complete waste of time I reckon. Any well executed modern budget CD player would probably sound better.They sound quite smooth but very two dimensional. |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
Serge Auckland wrote: wrote: tony sayer wrote: In article , Serge Auckland writes Andy Evans wrote: What I did when I needed an ADC, is to get a Crystal Semiconductors evaluation board. They do them also for their DAC chips. This is a complete ADC or DAC on a board, with DIP switches for setting it up. All you need is a power supply and a box to put it into. They cost about the same as the DAC-AH, but you get the latest chipset. How do you get such a thing? Knock twice and ask for Crystal? In your case, what was your receiver chip and what was the DAC chip? How long ago? Did it sound good? Do tell us more. Andy The best thing to do is to look up www.crystal.com Find the chip you want and see if they do an evaluation board. You can download the manual for the chip and the board, and make sure it's exactly what you need. Then, find a Crystal Semiconductors distributor in your territory, get a price and buy one. I bought the CS5335 ADC board about 7 years ago when I got my Meridian D1500 'speakers as these only have digital inputs, so I have to convert my analogue sources. The CS5335 is a 20 bit ADC, and I leave it on 48k sampling, which is fine for my vinyl and FM radio. As to sound, I compared it with one commercial unit, the Lindos LSC24 A-D/D-A converter and couldn't hear any difference with the sources available. I also put it back-to-back ( Digital out from CD to LSC24, analogue out of the LSC24 to Crystal ADC, digital out to 'speakers) with the LSC24 and sent a digital signal to my 'speakers and again, it was transparent using a CD as a source. This, to me, means that I wouldn't be deriving any benefit from something "better". S. Any idea of suppliers Serge?... -- Tony Sayer A friend built a couple of these and lent them to me.A complete waste of time I reckon. Any well executed modern budget CD player would probably sound better.They sound quite smooth but very two dimensional. Any idea what measurable parameters would account for a two-dimensional sound? S. Serge, My apologies.i was refering to the kits using the phillips 1543 non oversampling kits . I have a Pioneer 705 with many modifications including a Crystal CS43122 chip in place of the original. If you are interested in the other mods I can give the details. I am yet to hear a better sounding CD player or DAC.I used to own a Metaxas MASDAC that cost $5000 which was also very good, but not as good as this moded Pioneer. So the CS43122 must be pretty good. JT |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
wrote:
Serge Auckland wrote: wrote: tony sayer wrote: In article , Serge Auckland writes Andy Evans wrote: What I did when I needed an ADC, is to get a Crystal Semiconductors evaluation board. They do them also for their DAC chips. This is a complete ADC or DAC on a board, with DIP switches for setting it up. All you need is a power supply and a box to put it into. They cost about the same as the DAC-AH, but you get the latest chipset. How do you get such a thing? Knock twice and ask for Crystal? In your case, what was your receiver chip and what was the DAC chip? How long ago? Did it sound good? Do tell us more. Andy The best thing to do is to look up www.crystal.com Find the chip you want and see if they do an evaluation board. You can download the manual for the chip and the board, and make sure it's exactly what you need. Then, find a Crystal Semiconductors distributor in your territory, get a price and buy one. I bought the CS5335 ADC board about 7 years ago when I got my Meridian D1500 'speakers as these only have digital inputs, so I have to convert my analogue sources. The CS5335 is a 20 bit ADC, and I leave it on 48k sampling, which is fine for my vinyl and FM radio. As to sound, I compared it with one commercial unit, the Lindos LSC24 A-D/D-A converter and couldn't hear any difference with the sources available. I also put it back-to-back ( Digital out from CD to LSC24, analogue out of the LSC24 to Crystal ADC, digital out to 'speakers) with the LSC24 and sent a digital signal to my 'speakers and again, it was transparent using a CD as a source. This, to me, means that I wouldn't be deriving any benefit from something "better". S. Any idea of suppliers Serge?... -- Tony Sayer A friend built a couple of these and lent them to me.A complete waste of time I reckon. Any well executed modern budget CD player would probably sound better.They sound quite smooth but very two dimensional. Any idea what measurable parameters would account for a two-dimensional sound? S. Serge, My apologies.i was refering to the kits using the phillips 1543 non oversampling kits . I have a Pioneer 705 with many modifications including a Crystal CS43122 chip in place of the original. If you are interested in the other mods I can give the details. I am yet to hear a better sounding CD player or DAC.I used to own a Metaxas MASDAC that cost $5000 which was also very good, but not as good as this moded Pioneer. So the CS43122 must be pretty good. JT Some years ago, the company I was working for was developing high-end studio AD&DA converters. The electronic design wasn't too difficult, but the PC board layout was hyper-critical if the circuits were to be totally stable. The great benefit of using Crystal's evaluation boards was that the layout is optimised, so you know what you're measuring and listening to is the best that chipset can do. When you have your own boards made, you can compare them with the Crystal reference to make sure that nothing has been degraded. That's what gave me the idea of using an evaluation board when I needed an ADC as I had confidence that the design was optimised. At the time, the AKM D-A chips had a better spec than the equivalent Crystal D-As but it was the other way round for A-Ds. I would expect that today they would be so close as to be indistinguishable. S. |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
Serge Auckland wrote: At the time, the AKM D-A chips had a better spec than the equivalent Crystal D-As Did you try the Wolfson chips? |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
Andy Evans wrote:
Serge Auckland wrote: At the time, the AKM D-A chips had a better spec than the equivalent Crystal D-As Did you try the Wolfson chips? No, at the time we didn't know about them. S. |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
On 2006-07-08, Andy Evans wrote:
Serge Auckland wrote: At the time, the AKM D-A chips had a better spec than the equivalent Crystal D-As Did you try the Wolfson chips? The Wolfson WM8740 (which is now a few years old and getting on a bit for a DAC) is technically a great looking device although I have only ever listened to it as a part of several Arcam CD payers. See the Wolfson DAC list at http://www.wolfson.co.uk/products/digital_audio/dacs/. A 24-bit capable device it seems to get about 18 to 19 bits of real performance which is more than enough for a "perfect" CD-DA DAC. I can echo the advice to get hold of an evaluation board for DIY DAC experiments. That saves a great deal of effort getting the PCB layout right for a 117 dB SNR. -- John Phillips |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
On 2006-07-08, Andy Evans wrote:
Thanks, Serge. Looks like Crystal style the CS4398 as their 'flagship' DAC (though I know at least one designer who prefers the CS4397). there does seem to be an evaluation board. These references may help: I believe I have a CS4396 in my Quad 99 CD-P and to my ears it comes out fine. It's a 1999 design and the 2003 CS4398 has a few dB better THD+N (and DSD input and an integrated volume control IIRC) but I suspect we have reached the point where DAC performance can (if carefully chosen and designed) be considered technically perfect for CD audio. Performance may well now be dominated by what's used around the DAC chip and how well it is laid out on the PCB. However I would not normally use a non-upsampling DAC today (as per the original list). Upsampling makes the reconstruction filter far simpler and it is easier to avoid excessive phase angles in the audio band. I am not sure about the audibility of phase lag at high audio frequencies but I would try and avoid it on principle. Also I would consider using an asynchronous upsampler chip in front of the DAC chip in a stand-alone DAC. This would allow me (in theory - I have not actually done a design) to keep a clean master clock close to the DAC, rather than design a multi-stage PLL to derive a low jitter DAC chip clock from a jittery SPDIF input. -- John Phillips |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
"Andy Evans" wrote in
message oups.com Arny - what's the best currently available chipset? Probably typified by the AKM 4394 or 4395, or Crystal CS4398 . What would you suggest building? Nothing - there's plenty of reasonably-priced off-the-shelf equipment that gets the job done brilliantly. The hidden agenda in building DACs is the fact that they are what is known as "mixed-signal" equipment. Mixed- signal equipment can be and often is highly dependent on non-obvious features like circuit card trace layout and chassis design. Just *not* the thing that amateurs should try their hand at unless they have good facilities for evaluating the performance of finished products, and lots of time to invest in the project. Note that almost none of the online construction projects include complete technical test results on the finished projects. |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
"John Phillips" wrote
in message On 2006-07-08, Andy Evans wrote: Serge Auckland wrote: At the time, the AKM D-A chips had a better spec than the equivalent Crystal D-As Did you try the Wolfson chips? The Wolfson WM8740 (which is now a few years old and getting on a bit for a DAC) is technically a great looking device although I have only ever listened to it as a part of several Arcam CD payers. See the Wolfson DAC list at http://www.wolfson.co.uk/products/digital_audio/dacs/. A 24-bit capable device it seems to get about 18 to 19 bits of real performance which is more than enough for a "perfect" CD-DA DAC. I can echo the advice to get hold of an evaluation board for DIY DAC experiments. That saves a great deal of effort getting the PCB layout right for a 117 dB SNR. Notwithstanding UK charuvinism, Wolfon's best is outperformed by products from AKM and Cirrus. |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
"Serge Auckland" wrote in
message wrote: Serge Auckland wrote: wrote: tony sayer wrote: In article , Serge Auckland writes Andy Evans wrote: What I did when I needed an ADC, is to get a Crystal Semiconductors evaluation board. They do them also for their DAC chips. This is a complete ADC or DAC on a board, with DIP switches for setting it up. All you need is a power supply and a box to put it into. They cost about the same as the DAC-AH, but you get the latest chipset. How do you get such a thing? Knock twice and ask for Crystal? In your case, what was your receiver chip and what was the DAC chip? How long ago? Did it sound good? Do tell us more. Andy The best thing to do is to look up www.crystal.com Find the chip you want and see if they do an evaluation board. You can download the manual for the chip and the board, and make sure it's exactly what you need. Then, find a Crystal Semiconductors distributor in your territory, get a price and buy one. I bought the CS5335 ADC board about 7 years ago when I got my Meridian D1500 'speakers as these only have digital inputs, so I have to convert my analogue sources. The CS5335 is a 20 bit ADC, and I leave it on 48k sampling, which is fine for my vinyl and FM radio. As to sound, I compared it with one commercial unit, the Lindos LSC24 A-D/D-A converter and couldn't hear any difference with the sources available. I also put it back-to-back ( Digital out from CD to LSC24, analogue out of the LSC24 to Crystal ADC, digital out to 'speakers) with the LSC24 and sent a digital signal to my 'speakers and again, it was transparent using a CD as a source. This, to me, means that I wouldn't be deriving any benefit from something "better". S. Any idea of suppliers Serge?... -- Tony Sayer A friend built a couple of these and lent them to me.A complete waste of time I reckon. Any well executed modern budget CD player would probably sound better.They sound quite smooth but very two dimensional. Any idea what measurable parameters would account for a two-dimensional sound? S. Serge, My apologies.i was refering to the kits using the phillips 1543 non oversampling kits . I have a Pioneer 705 with many modifications including a Crystal CS43122 chip in place of the original. If you are interested in the other mods I can give the details. I am yet to hear a better sounding CD player or DAC.I used to own a Metaxas MASDAC that cost $5000 which was also very good, but not as good as this moded Pioneer. So the CS43122 must be pretty good. JT Some years ago, the company I was working for was developing high-end studio AD&DA converters. The electronic design wasn't too difficult, but the PC board layout was hyper-critical if the circuits were to be totally stable. The great benefit of using Crystal's evaluation boards was that the layout is optimised, so you know what you're measuring and listening to is the best that chipset can do. When you have your own boards made, you can compare them with the Crystal reference to make sure that nothing has been degraded. That's what gave me the idea of using an evaluation board when I needed an ADC as I had confidence that the design was optimised. At the time, the AKM D-A chips had a better spec than the equivalent Crystal D-As but it was the other way round for A-Ds. I would expect that today they would be so close as to be indistinguishable. There are still a lot of products that mix and match AKM and Cirrus (Crystal) products as you mention. BTW, thanks for contributing your clear and factual discussion of the issues involved in DAC projects. |
Anybody built a DAC kit?
"Arny Krueger" wrote in message . .. "John Phillips" wrote in message On 2006-07-08, Andy Evans wrote: Serge Auckland wrote: At the time, the AKM D-A chips had a better spec than the equivalent Crystal D-As Did you try the Wolfson chips? The Wolfson WM8740 (which is now a few years old and getting on a bit for a DAC) is technically a great looking device although I have only ever listened to it as a part of several Arcam CD payers. See the Wolfson DAC list at http://www.wolfson.co.uk/products/digital_audio/dacs/. A 24-bit capable device it seems to get about 18 to 19 bits of real performance which is more than enough for a "perfect" CD-DA DAC. I can echo the advice to get hold of an evaluation board for DIY DAC experiments. That saves a great deal of effort getting the PCB layout right for a 117 dB SNR. Notwithstanding UK charuvinism, Wolfon's best is outperformed by products from AKM and Cirrus. Do not confuse 'chauvinism' with 'chavinism' - UK Chavs may well have the flag on their silly cars (while their chavvy heroes fold like empty beer cans) but our schools are not the ones with the flag in every classroom, in the schools.... |
| All times are GMT. The time now is 12:25 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
SEO by vBSEO 3.0.0
Copyright ©2004-2006 AudioBanter.co.uk