Mini Dac TDA1543 X 4 NOS - Page 3

Got this with me now....at this stage all I can say is for 60 bucks everyone should have one.  Still getting to grips with the whole R2R NOS sound - at this stage it does take some of the treble bite away from the HD800 and the mids really stand out.  This thing runs warm and improves a lot once warmed up - or is it burn in?  For those that don't like NOS - the Delta Sigma version should also be unbelievable value.  More to come - and a direct shootout with the Dacmagic. 

Edit - a quick note - the bass is a little muddy and not very defined - which may be the cause of this midrange fullness - it lacks definition in the lower mids and bass - I'll hook it direct to battery power later to see if it improves, along with "burn-in".

I prefer this $60 DAC more than the Bryston DAC.

I was feeding this dac a 48khz signal, because that's all my computer can output and the results were unsatisfactory.  I have since tried used the Cambridge Dacmagic as a USB convertor to get a bit perfect 44.1khz signal to it via optical and noticed that the smoothed over transients were removed and replaced by a certain kind of clarity.  I then used the Dacmagics coax digital with a standard audio cable and it improved this "clarity" some more.

I then switched over to the Dacmagics analogue output and positively couldn't bear the Dacmagic.  It almost made me feel sick.  I then did the same test with the Bryston DAC, using the Bryston as a USB convertor - and then comparing this 60 dollar mini dac to the $3200 AUS Bryston DAC.  I clearly preferred the mini dac.  The Bryston still had far less of this "artificiality" than the Dacmagic...but there was still a bit of it there.  The mini dac had none of this whatsover.

The sound of this mini dac is rock solid and very realistic to me.  The Dacmagic had an artificiality, like a fake "sheen" throughout the entire spectrum.  The Bryston still had a trace of this, even when upsampling was turned off.  The mini dac had no trace whatsoever - instead it had a central body that was realistic and sounded much closer to reality to my ears.  I cannot quite understand nor comprehend how I could possibly prefer a $60 Ipod sized DAC, over my $3000 full sized high-end DAC.

This is using the HD800, as the headphone.  I will repeat this test with the LCD2 when I get it back and if the same results are achieved, both the Dacmagic and the Bryston will be gone for good.

R2R vs Delta Sigma, could this account for what I hear?
 

This thing looks very easy to disassemble, I haven't done so as it is out on loan (and I miss it heaps) - but four screws hold front panel and back panel, the PCB should just slide out.

Here is the link to a comparison with the Muse and the Bryston.  I have since been experimenting with the Bryston's input and found improved performance and a further reduction in "digititis" when I got around to connecting it up via coax to to my 10KG Pioneer Elite SACD player.  So I await the return of this mini DAC for further comparisons.  I did hook it up to a car battery before loaning out and noticed an improvement in noise floor, precision and refinement. 

For 60 bucks delivered, you get a cheap SMPS wallwart for any international voltage - my one came in, rated at 1.5 amps, which worked better than a 2 amp SMPS wallwart I had lying around.  A nice rechargeable 12 volt Li-on 9800mah battery pack with included charger can be picked up cheaply.  Also of interest to me is the internal shots of the DAC in the revered hi-end RWA Isabellina which can be optioned to run off batteries and contains, I believe a single DAC chip of the same make.

Note:  The dearest unit provided in the link contains a supposed inferior digital receiver chip - the DIR9001 is supposed to be the better unit, I think.