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looking for info on diy usb tube dac's

post #1 of 7
7/28/11 at 9:24pm
Thread Starter 

so ive done lots of searching and all ive found are lots of dead links. im looking for info on a tube dac with usb input so i can connect it to my computer and rca outputs (no coax/spdif necessary). does anyone know of a good design thats not too expensive?

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post #2 of 7
7/28/11 at 9:29pm

I'd just cook up a normal DAC like the amb gamma1/2 and just make a tube preamp of some sort in addition to that.

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post #3 of 7
7/28/11 at 10:13pm
Thread Starter 

what exactly do preamps do? ive read they dont have a whole lot of benefit for headphones. id be using it with a starving student if that helps. also what are some good diy tube preamps to take a look at?

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post #4 of 7
7/29/11 at 12:41am
Preamps boost output from a component to a suitable level for a power amp. They also have a volume control (not present on power amps or sources) and let you switch among components.

Anyhow, why do you want tubes in a DAC? You have to have a solid state device do the digital conversion. I generally keep my digital devices solid state. Tubes are only put in them for coloration. I don't want that.

I'll agree with the above. Build a good DAC, then feed it to a tubed preamp or headphone amp. You can DIY those, too. There are excellent plans for tubed preamps and headphone amps out there.
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post #5 of 7
7/29/11 at 8:12am
Thread Starter 

since a headphone amp is a little different from a power amp, i feel like a preamp would be redundant for my millets starving student. and i wanted the tubes in the buffer stage on the dac. i just thought it would help sweeten the sound a little.

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post #6 of 7
7/29/11 at 12:29pm

I would find a tube DAC kit that "does not suck" first. If its not USB that is a problem that is very easy to solve. USB->SPDIF converters are abundant. Good tube DAC kits, not so much. 


Quote:
Originally Posted by kchapdaily View Post

since a headphone amp is a little different from a power amp, i feel like a preamp would be redundant for my millets starving student. 

 



Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post

 Build a good DAC, then feed it to a tubed preamp or headphone amp. 
 
This. 
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post #7 of 7
7/29/11 at 12:33pm
Thread Starter 

ok sounds good. ill either build the grubdac or the gamma 1 depending on the money.

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