[PatOMalley]

Why do you need the Chameleon if going I2S connection? You don't. Easy enough to stack those DACs on a perf board with the required caps and just go.

You would need a power supply but if you are going down this road that should not be an issue - plenty of add-on PSUs out there. Would cost far less than buying the chameleon.

Remove the main board and you no longer have a Chameleon.

- Just trying to posit a little centrist gestalt.

 

[Wood]

Thats great, what are you going to call this new dac Pat, will early adopters get a favourable rate, how many TDA1543 will it have, (or will it use a different chip) what about the case colour, silver or black, titanium perhaps what coupling caps will it............?

I missed your point, totaly, didn't I.

 

[PatOMalley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wood /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thats great, what are you going to call this new dac Pat, will early adopters get a favourable rate, how many TDA1543 will it have, (or will it use a different chip) what about the case colour, silver or black, titanium perhaps what coupling caps will it............? I missed your point, totaly, didn't I.

My meaning is that stacking 12 or 14 chips can be done the way Bill is using is it totally DIY. But for me the chameleon with it's SPDIF inputs is what I need.

Meaning if you strip the Chameleon down down it;s bare essentials you no longer have a Chameleon. which is cool enough. But a Chameleon with it's main board and input boards are what the chameleon is.

And who says I am a manufacturer? Not me. Did I imply that? I totally missed where I said that, didn't I?

 

[Wood]

I must confess when I saw Bills, MADMAN extreme mod, big empty case with just coupling caps and the dac board, my thought was 'great, but where is the Chameleon?' But the solder fume addict in me replied 'hey he could fit another dac board in there!'

Thanks for trying Pat but for me at least there really is no hope anymore.

I want to tackle these interstage transformers, at some point, I was wondering Pat, the 2x 180r you use for each channel, do you think there would be any gain in using Texas Component resistors for all 4?

 

[PatOMalley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wood /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...snip... I want to tackle these interstage transformers, at some point, I was wondering Pat, the 2x 180r you use for each channel, do you think there would be any gain in using Texas Component resistors for all 4?

I just went with what I had at the time but I am sure it will make a difference. the reason I say this is because I use Bill Purvine's magic wire mod on the ground plane and it's makes a nice difference.

I just haven't gotten around to swapping them out ... yet.

 

[marcelnl]

Pat, exactly my line of thinking.....a whopping PSU and a stack of 1543s (or 1541s?) fed by I2S from a CDP, integrating this nuclear plant stack of chips and smelly solder in CD players case....

Wood if they make so much of a difference in important places the precision alone (low drift etc) will make a difference here too.

 

[taiphan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wood /img/forum/go_quote.gif Try adjusting the buffer value in Foobar, I find with wasapi I get clicks unless its set to 0, with ASIO, I get clicks unless set to 2000ms. Ultravox runs fine of a 12v wallmart. In the end I settled for a 12v 7ah SLA Battery because then the input is totally isolated from the ground

Thanks, haven't thought of that..

however i got a whole new set of problems.. got my parts today and did the mod, i replaced all the 16 caps on the dac chip and 220R visay naked resistors (same as the texas) with mundorf silver/gold/oil. I solder the output directly to the dac chip and by passing everything else.


after the mod, i was pretty excited to listen to it for the first time however i stuffed up somewhere.. i got MASSIVE distortion!! i can hear the music but it all distorted with noise and no base..

what could possibly caused this? could i have stuff up one of the cap or component with the soldering iron heat? i removed the dac chip when soldering the caps on.

are caps and resistor directional?

can i still hear music if the one of the dac chip is dead?

any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[marcelnl]

any of your listed probs could be the cause, this is exactly why I usually only do one mod each time....
But the output cap should be connected AFTER the I/V resistor, removing the DAC chip you are soldering on is probably not good as it robs the chip of a heatsink....just a few possibilities....

Mundorf Silver Gold Oil Caps are not directional and neither are the resisitors, I's strongly suggest you check that sort of stuff before doing any soldering as trouble shooting in a digital device is a royal pain without proper equipment -it is not without reason many producers of consumer electronics have a policy to replace sub boards rather than attempting to replace individual parts.

 

[Bill Allen]

marcelnl- yes stack the DAC chips, heat sink by attaching each individual DAC chips power & ground legs to two thick copper bus bars. Solder the FRM (SCFRM) caps in-between the two bars. Add 8VDC power/ground, I2S in on one end, Z-foil I/V's & Duelund Caps on the output. Done!
(This sort of simplicity is where I always end up, simply an inevitability with my audio philosophy. Everyone feel free to PM me to continue down this trail)

So like Pat said, this thread is about the Chameleon DAC, time to redirect. Yes it would be nice if Michael would offer dedicated input boards for the Chameleon. A Spdif only input with a pulse transformer, DIR9001, reclocker chip all on one board comes to mind. A galvanically isolated USB input with a M2Tech HiFace and direct I2S connection would really be deluxe.

But even if these digital input boards never happen this thread is a wealth of information on how change your Chameleon's color and have fun learning and listening all at the same time.

Happy Trails!

 

[Wood]

Hi Bill, great work pushing the thread along as always. As a kind of Messenger Service

for all of the curious here, I have to ask the question if you are tempted, at all to give interstage transformers a go, for coupling; now that Pats cracked that one wide open?

 

[Newk Yuler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Allen /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes it would be nice if Michael would offer dedicated input boards for the Chameleon. A Spdif only input with a pulse transformer, DIR9001, reclocker chip all on one board comes to mind.

No reclocker unless it can be easily bypassed. Want: A very well implemented SPDIF input specifically for users with very high quality SPDIF sources, preferably with a DIR9001 unless there's something better by the time Michael starts developing it. With a pulse transformer.

Michael says he realizes its importance and (or) it may appear in a revised version of Chameleon with a different back plate sometime down the road. If/when that happens, I'll very seriously consider buying one.

Quick reference.

 

[taiphan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcelnl /img/forum/go_quote.gif any of your listed probs could be the cause, this is exactly why I usually only do one mod each time.... But the output cap should be connected AFTER the I/V resistor, removing the DAC chip you are soldering on is probably not good as it robs the chip of a heatsink....just a few possibilities.... Mundorf Silver Gold Oil Caps are not directional and neither are the resisitors, I's strongly suggest you check that sort of stuff before doing any soldering as trouble shooting in a digital device is a royal pain without proper equipment -it is not without reason many producers of consumer electronics have a policy to replace sub boards rather than attempting to replace individual parts.

Thanks

After playing around for a while, i figure it must be my i/v resistor, i used 220R, is that too high?

 

[Wood]

220r would not account for the distortion you are hearing. It is possible you have a damaged dac chip/s, but first I would backtrace and put the iv and output caps in their stock positions to eliminate the possibilty of incorrect hook up which might also account for the distortion.

 

[skibum]

Does the Chameleon have those incredibly fragile inductors that the VALAB had ? Problem sounds similar to what I had. It ended up being the inductor that connected to the DAC board.

 

[marcelnl]

taiphan, please let us know WHY you think it must be your I/V resistor?