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Gamma 1 full++ & 2 build coming up, Got some questions

post #1 of 9
5/5/11 at 7:19pm
Thread Starter 
Hello,

So i'm planning on building the gamma 1 and 2 soon. I'm getting my parts list together right now, and i'm going through the notes on the Gamma 2. I see that they have clear distinctions between some parts in which they prefer one part over the other if you are driving straight headphones vs speakers. I'm not terribly sure on what this means....will it not work that well on headphones if i use the speaker parts? what am I supposed to plug my headphones into if not the DAC? I didnt want to end up with a DAC that I can only use for my speakers, although the speakers themselves do have line output so i'm not completely out of options.

Just curious as to what i was supposed to do if not driving speakers 100% of the time.
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post #2 of 9
5/6/11 at 12:12am

I think you misunderstand the website.  The DAC is normally a line-level output device and can never drive speakers directly.  The typical usage is to feed either a preamp+poweramp or integrated amp for use with speakers, or a headphone amp to drive headphones.

 

These DACs however, have stout enough output current capability to drive headphones directly without an amp.  In such a use you'll need to heed the recommendations on the website about the output opamp and coupling capacitor choice.  This is because headphones present themselves as a low impedance load to the DAC (whereas an amp is a high impedance load), and if you don't choose the right parts then the output capacitors will form a RC high-pass filter and cause bass-loss.

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post #3 of 9
5/6/11 at 10:14am
Thread Starter 
I should clarify the speaker set I'm using, though I kind of understand what you are getting at. I'm using a set ot Audioengine A5's, which have an amp built in. I wanted to be able to either a set of full size headphones via a headamp, a set of IEM's directly, or a set of speakers, either through one of the digital outputs on the Y2 to an amp with digital input OR in the case of my A5's, via standard 3.5mm stereo jack.

With the Y2 will I have to decide between driving a standard set of IEM's directly and outputting to an amp/preamped set of speakers or am i better off looking elsewhere for my needs? I just know that the DAC inside my laptops are pitiful and i wanted to do this build to liberate audio from my computer's mobo and have it processed externally. Right now my laptop converts it to analog, sends it via analog connection to a seperate sound i/o module, and that module contains the headphone jack and microphone jack. It barely even gets down below 100hz, and the distortion on it is ridiculous. I was thinking i'd build this to get what was essentially an audio reciever that can take digital input from a variety of sources and convert it to either a different format of digital signal or to output it via headphone jack. I know the nuForce DAC would do what i need, and the fiio e7 or d9 would kinda sorta get the job done (more temporary than the nuforce), but i wanted the fun and learning experience of building one myself that doesnt weigh 3 times as much as my netbook tongue.gif.
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post #4 of 9
5/6/11 at 10:59am

y2 powering active speakers are fine, but I recommend a preamp in the path because it may be hard to control volume due to the speaker amp's high gain. If using any low impedance phones, just change the output capacitors to 470uF, both y2 and y1.

 

Just note that Windows cannot control the volume directly. You have to use software volume control.

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post #5 of 9
5/6/11 at 1:03pm
Thread Starter 
so use a preamp to get audio between dac and active speakers AND change the caps to the 470 in both boards? or just pick one or the other?
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post #6 of 9
5/6/11 at 1:12pm

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by shrimants View Post

so use a preamp to get audio between dac and active speakers AND change the caps to the 470 in both boards? or just pick one or the other?


For active speakers you won't need a preamp, because the speaker basically has an integrated amp already built-in (that is, assuming you have a volume control on the speaker).  Just build the DAC with the recommended 470uF output caps and it will work with all combinations of low-Z headphones, active speakers, or preamps/headphone amps.

 


Edited by amb - 5/6/11 at 1:14pm
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post #7 of 9
5/6/11 at 1:24pm
Thread Starter 
Ah, perfect. you've saved my summer! biggrin.gif

Another question I had is about the upsampling feature. My flac files are all 16 bit 44 or 48 khz, but if i use a 24/96 or something similar source file, will it never downsample the files? I get that upsampling will just basically pad zeroes if data doesnt exist, but Im confused as to how it works with an actual 24/96 or even blu ray 24/192khz source.
Edited by shrimants - 5/6/11 at 1:36pm
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post #8 of 9
5/8/11 at 1:39pm

For an in-depth discussion about ASRC (asynchronous sample rate conversion) please check this diyaudio thread:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/28814-asynchronous-sample-rate-conversion.html

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post #9 of 9
5/10/11 at 6:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by amb View Post

For an in-depth discussion about ASRC (asynchronous sample rate conversion) please check this diyaudio thread:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/28814-asynchronous-sample-rate-conversion.html



good read.

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