Chameleon DAC listening and modifications - Page 15

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/cha...ml#post6321336

pats picture of the original cap


http://cid-1eb7027489224a7d.skydrive...MG%5E_0044.JPG

the original teradak site pics, notice here they have a differnt cap same value across the input pins, tried that but the lock light didnt come on. What I looking for is a better/safer place to put it, but am bamboozeled, it just looks like its on the same trace, not actualy decoupling anything??

I think... its a good mod, its very very transparent now. But a little harsh, could be I can hear those brand new BG FK doing there burn in thing, perhaps they were masked before. I certainly recognise the sound signiture when the BG in my amp were burning in.

Oh and duh! it is T101, T104 is something I made up from my fevered imagination

Microsurgery tip re: Pulse xfmr cap

I though of a new method to avoid some of the hassle of this mod. Solder to the outlet of the old cap FIRST, then clip the lead close to the body of the old cap then de-solder the old cap and solder the other end of the new cap in place. This should help somewhat. Sorry I did not think of it sooner for myself and the guys who did it already. I am glad you liked the results. Sometimes one can feel like I am imagining things with these small mods that make a difference. To paraphrase Pat, the summation of the mods is really what makes a difference that even the non audiophile can hear.
Tony

driguy, your not kidding, that burnt in teflon I put there, peeled away loads of layers, the sound is tangibly real now. As I say I can here those blackgates burning in now. Im worried though that the leg to the trace of the heavier cap might with time rip that trace of, any ideas were that leg could go instead?

Power supply addition to try

This is for the guys who have caps sitting around that need a home. Try this and see if you hear any difference. I soldered a 20uF Auricap (please use ONLY film caps for this mod) across the +7.6V tap going to the DAC chip board and the ground tap right next to it. Similar boost to the pulse transformer cap mod of is it just my wishful thinking?
Tony

Hey I could use the 2 Wimas I took out, thats recycling for you. But why only film caps?

Cap suspension?

Wood, If the solder joint at the pulse transformer side is good I do not see a problem. There really isn't much room there to tie it down and any other method requires longer leads which is a compromise. A little Blue Tack might help alleviate some anxiety but maybe not. Since my cap is so big and heavy I had to use longer legs (I know, not so good) and I laid the cap down at the bottom of the board to avoid that hassle.

how the heck did you fit that thing in the chasis? i'd like to see a picture of this. The wima's hmm that's a good idea.

Film caps only? Maybe not.

Wood, IME using film caps vs. electrolytics in the power supply can easily be heard. Much more musical IMO. That being said, I would try the Wima's for sure to see if you hear any difference. Nice fit as well. If you do it will confirm the efficacy of the mod (or not) and then at a later time you can try some inexpensive film caps. Plus, if it works then other guys can try it for themselves as most will be changing out those Wima's anyway.

Tony

I guess your right Tony its anxiety, I still my use a bit of hot glue though ugh.

I tried something similair with the Valab and the DC-30, put a oscon across those two power points, but I think it was to high value 470uf or something similair, and oscons are a bit hifi sounding for me, which is incidently what I got.

Fitting stuff in

Yeah, they don't fit but I have the whole shebang in a separate case that fits the DAC and DC-30 as well as my Dueland output caps. Lot's of room to mess about and I leave the covers off too.

okay dokay

Will do that, and get back to you, but tomorrow now cos its kinda late now, if its even 10% of your last mod, its a keeper for sure

did you measure with a multimeter whether pin 3 really connects to the cap? If so I guess they changed the schematic or made an error in either, if so contacting Michael would be my first option.

Good point. I will check with the meter. That cap is doing something though, perhaps the trace goes to the other side of the board. Might me a good idea to check with teradak , cos its an important cap sq wise.

I was busy in the last few days not keeping up with this forum, but man you guys move fast with your mods :-)

about this pulse Xfrmr cap you will find that it does go to pin3 and it is not in schematic (but will, after Michael get a chance to update the schematic). In my case, I had to cut the traces on mine to insert that film cap in there. . With my early adopter version, cutting that trace was probably the most difficult mod I had to do so far... I ended up soldering one leg of the cap directly to pin 3 and trust me I almost lost the entire digital board and had a very sore set of eyes... I am quite positive, that once Michael runs out of his initial batch of this board he will add proper spaces for this cap. With this said, let's figured out how much space this cap will need and provide feedback to Michael so that hopefully they will take this into account when they introduce version 2 of this board...

Tight fit

Found a way to fit that teflon, hot glued to the bottom of the terminal connector and board.

Then had to take the coax/opt switch out in order to squeeze in these guys.

Just fit with the lid, very nice.

No room for now for the power in bypass, but I will find a way