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Who can comment on this DIY DAC? (pictures)

post #1 of 11
3/27/09 at 1:53pm
Thread Starter 
Hello,

Through a Hong Kong contact I got these pictures for a possible `DIY` DAC kit. It has USB and S/PDIF input, has various options socketed and is said to be good sounding.
It does 24/192, up-sampling dac kit with USB input.
This dac kit use BB PCM1793 (or CS4398 , 43122 or 4397) and CS8416.

Please comment if you know this DAC. How good does it sound, how is the design, the best options?












Kind regards,
Udo
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post #2 of 11
3/27/09 at 3:54pm
Actually I have a slightly different version (using the CS4397 and CS8416 chips and no USB input, that's fine I didn't want that anyway) of the same board and for the money it's a darn good DAC.

I swapped out the NE5532's for a pair of discrete modules and also did some mods of my own to it. It's got lots of potential once tapped in this fashion.

It's a fun build with paired with a cheap chassis the total cost (including HDAMs) was around 265US. The parts selection and pcb quality are good. Gold plated through hole design with 2 ounce copper foil on a thick mil spec pcb. Uses Dale, Elna, Eros, Rubycon to name a few, good parts and has 5 or 7 regulated supplies as you can plainly see. For the money it's a good deal basically speaking. I'd say it's easily the equal SQ wise of some decent 300-500 dollar US DACs depending on what you add to it (from stock). It sounds very good, not to cold and not too warm. It has good imaging and tonal balance. It's a good performer even with the stock NE5532's.

Peete.
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post #3 of 11
3/27/09 at 9:03pm
That does look like it would be a fun build.
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post #4 of 11
3/28/09 at 1:01am
Yup looks like a nice build there.
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post #5 of 11
3/28/09 at 1:20am
Is the upsampling selectable? 192 is a bit high, 96 is a good medium.
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post #6 of 11
3/28/09 at 3:02am
Thread Starter 
I'll ask my contact about the upsampling. If any of you knows, please post.
Thanks a lot for the opinions and facts.

Can you compare do a Zhaolu D2.5C w/ Zapfilter?
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post #7 of 11
3/28/09 at 4:51am
Thread Starter 
Anybody got info about the source of this DAC?
Where and by who is it built?
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post #8 of 11
3/28/09 at 4:53am
Thread Starter 
What is the small vertically placed board?
Resampler?
I see (too) many crystals?
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post #9 of 11
3/28/09 at 6:53am
Thread Starter 

more pics, questions

What is the best combination of all options?

PCM1793 DAC?
CS8416 receiver?
CS8421 upsampler

opamp or discerete?
See the boards inserted in the opamp sockets:




The DIR9001 receiver (cs8416 replacement?)


CS8421 upsampler



Interchangable parts:
DAC chips : PCM1793 , CS4398 , CS4397, CS43122

so PCM1793 versus cs4398? (others are older designs)

DIGITAL RECEIVER : CS8416, DIR9001.

so it is cs8416 for 192 KHz...?

DIR9001 with external clock 5ppm.
Also the CS8421 32/192 UPSAMPLER which will upsample all the signal to 24/192 ( the vertical board ) .
It also can be removed if you don't want upsampling function.


CS4398 board including a manual selector for 16, 24/44.1, 96, 192 .
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post #10 of 11
3/29/09 at 11:44am
Thread Starter 
Elsewhere I found some tweak for better set up of the first opamp:

Note that all four resistors on the left hand side in each channel labelled 22k or 36k (22k fitted in all cases) are changed to 13.7k. The two resistors labelled 6k8 in each channel are replaced by 3.32k resistors.
The caps near these two resistors labelled 56p and 102 are repaced by 220pf. The resistors marked 1k are in series with the first Op Amp stage outputs.
I replaced these with 75 ohm resistors. The two missing caps on the right hand side, where the yellow wire is attached, used to sit between the two stages.
I'm now taking the output from here and have junked the second Op Amp stage.

Note also that the 4 electrolytics on the left hand side between the DAC and Op Amp stage are gone.

The 2nd opamp can be removed.
Muting setup is to be looked into; perhaps bridge the 2nd opamp for this?
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post #11 of 11
4/11/09 at 5:30am
Thread Starter 
Next month I will order a DAC board and case and check it out with Studer transformers for output.
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