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DIY DAC under $300?

post #1 of 17
1/7/10 at 6:07pm
Thread Starter 
Title basically says it. I've been looking for a DAC and from what I've heard DIY is the way to go. My budget is basically $200, but I could stretch it to $300. I read good things about the gamma 2, just wondering if that's the best, or if I should build something else. I'm looking for a neutral sound signature with good detail and bass/treble extension.

This would be my first full scale DIY project, but I have soldiered/desoldiered before. Any suggestions for a DAC, and how long do you thing it would take me? If it would take a while I'll probably get a Nuforce uDAC for now until I can build this one.

Thanks for the help.
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post #2 of 17
1/7/10 at 6:08pm
Twisted Pears stuff is great! I have both the Gamma Y1 dac and Twisted pears buffalo and opus. To me the Twisted Pear stuff is a bit more to my tastes.
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post #3 of 17
1/7/10 at 6:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeNmAc View Post

This would be my first full scale DIY project, but I have soldiered/desoldiered before. Any suggestions for a DAC, and how long do you thing it would take me? If it would take a while I'll probably get a Nuforce uDAC for now until I can build this one.

Thanks for the help.
A Gamma Y1 dac isn't the easiest to build mainly due to the very small parts you have to solder. Don't get me wrong it isn't impossible, but its fiddly. Depends how confident you are.
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post #4 of 17
1/7/10 at 6:19pm
x
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post #5 of 17
1/7/10 at 6:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnwmclean View Post
fault151, probably best to refrain with this kind of offer, unless in one of the for sale forums.
Oh right, didn't realise it was frowned upon unless in the appropriate place. No probs. Thanks for letting me know.

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post #6 of 17
1/7/10 at 6:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeNmAc View Post
Title basically says it. I've been looking for a DAC and from what I've heard DIY is the way to go. My budget is basically $200, but I could stretch it to $300. I read good things about the gamma 2, just wondering if that's the best,.
The G2 is simply amazing. I'm on my 3rd build, and this time I'm holding onto it

On the downside the smd work can be a headache if you've never done it before, but as long as you take your time and use lots of flux you'll be fine. A G2 will run you around $250 to build (with panels).

Oh, and both units I built required around 40 hours to burn in, before they sounded optimal. This may be different for other people, not sure.
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post #7 of 17
1/7/10 at 7:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fault151 View Post
Oh right, didn't realise it was frowned upon unless in the appropriate place. No probs. Thanks for letting me know.
All cool Mark, just thought I’d point it out
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post #8 of 17
1/7/10 at 7:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnwmclean View Post
All cool Mark, just thought I’d point it out
Cheers dude.
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post #9 of 17
1/7/10 at 11:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pixeljedi View Post
The G2 is simply amazing. I'm on my 3rd build, and this time I'm holding onto it

On the downside the smd work can be a headache if you've never done it before, but as long as you take your time and use lots of flux you'll be fine. A G2 will run you around $250 to build (with panels).

Oh, and both units I built required around 40 hours to burn in, before they sounded optimal. This may be different for other people, not sure.
I started looking at the instructions. It looks really complicated . Lots of parts. So how exactly does it work, I build a y1 and a y2? All of the information seems to be spread around, like there are no clear-cut instructions. I'd be fine with doing complicated soldering as long as I know what to do. TBH I'm an EE major, but I'm a freshman so I haven't even taken an EE class yet . I know a lot about electronics, but I probably won't know what each component of the DAC is doing. In other words, I could blindly build it, but I'm not sure I could follow what is going on.
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post #10 of 17
1/8/10 at 12:43am
There is actually some very good concise documentation with regards to the γ1 and γ2 DAC's, both available at the designer's website. See γ1 and γ2. They even have "Instructions" pages.

Much of the functionality of DAC's are consecrated to IC's for a number of reasons. The two most prevalent that I've heard of are that it allows for extremely precise component matching which is impractical or impossible at a discrete level, and that a lot of the components of DAC's are otherwise fairly complicated circuits. However, because most of the functionality ends up on IC's, it's fairly doable to trace the high level functionality of DAC's that use them.

Your best bet at learning about these DAC's in particular is under the "Schematic" pages of the respective websites. Past midway through the page, there's a veritable "Skeleton Bones" song of the components in the DAC.
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post #11 of 17
1/8/10 at 2:23am
I wonder if the EZDAC boards are still for sale. It's a nice one-board solution.
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post #12 of 17
1/8/10 at 3:27am
I just finished my Gamma 2 build over the holidays. It sounds pretty good to my old ears! Took me maybe three half-days, after spending a few hours ordering all the stuff, which took about a week to arrive.

I thought it looked complicated at first, too. I printed out all the website stuff, carried it around for a couple of weeks, reading when I could, as I waited for the parts to arrive. Helped me get my head around all the options.

The SMD soldering is intimidating at first, but I was able to do it with minimal difficulty, even with my twitchy hands.

There's also two active build threads here where people are very helpful.

You do essentially build and test the Gamma 1 first, which gives you a complete DAC (I went for the y1++), which you can then start using right away. If cash or time get short, you can add the y2 later.

Good luck, let us know what you decide ...

Dave
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post #13 of 17
1/8/10 at 4:51am
If you have some experience soldering then you should give the gamma1 a go.
Everything you need is on AMB's website.
AMB, Cavalli Audio, Pete Millet's pages, ect, ect are all extremely well documented and most projects have step by step instructions so you shouldn't have a problem.

The TPA stuff is also good, especially if you want to have to do the minimum amount of board assembly (casing is a different manner and this is where the gamma1/2 win out).
Keep in mind you do pay a bit extra for this.

Btw, a "cheap" practice project with some smd work that is hard to mess up is the mini3. You can even get complete kits for it from GJA.
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post #14 of 17
1/8/10 at 4:55am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by trumbldw View Post
I just finished my Gamma 2 build over the holidays. It sounds pretty good to my old ears! Took me maybe three half-days, after spending a few hours ordering all the stuff, which took about a week to arrive.

I thought it looked complicated at first, too. I printed out all the website stuff, carried it around for a couple of weeks, reading when I could, as I waited for the parts to arrive. Helped me get my head around all the options.

The SMD soldering is intimidating at first, but I was able to do it with minimal difficulty, even with my twitchy hands.

There's also two active build threads here where people are very helpful.

You do essentially build and test the Gamma 1 first, which gives you a complete DAC (I went for the y1++), which you can then start using right away. If cash or time get short, you can add the y2 later.

Good luck, let us know what you decide ...

Dave
Wow that's really encouraging. I guess for a noob like me it might take longer, but still I was thinking months as opposed to days . I might just go for it then. So let me get it straight, it's roughly $250 for both y1 and y2?

As of right now I'm pretty much ready to pull the trigger, just one more thing. Should I look into one of the other DIY options? It seems like there aren't a whole lot of comparisons between these DAC's. Anyone know if one is better/different sounding than the others?

@ fault151: You said the twisted pear was "more to your tastes", how so? Building or sound? Why is that?

As always, thanks a lot for the help. Without these forums I'd probably have a Xonar STX. From what I've read so far, any of these DAC's will be a big step up from even that. I always appreciate getting (a heck of a lot) more for my money .
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post #15 of 17
1/8/10 at 11:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeNmAc View Post
So let me get it straight, it's roughly $250 for both y1 and y2?
I recently priced out the cost of building a y2 and it was very close to $250 (excluding shipping) including the machined panels from AMB's site.
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