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  1. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    I mean the build-in upsampler print (The one that can be taken out and bypassed). Without the upsampler huge amounts of distortion start from the midrange and upwards. It might sounds 'smooth', but it's pure distortion. The biggest step up was the seperated power supplies and better clocks
  2. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Yes, mine is still playing. Never had any troubles with it. Sounds good as long as you use the upsampler. Can also compete with current dacs in terms of sound quality, but certainly not when it comes to specs :sweat_smile:.
  3. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote:   At least your transformer is still ok. I would not change it to a toroidal transformer because the transformer they use now is good. The only reason I changed it to toroidials is because they are RFI/EMI shielded.   I personally think that the audio-gd PSU won't be much...
  4. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote: That will work fine I think. The new digital boards of the Chameleon also work with 2 x 100R. They probably used 100R because they had them on hand which makes it cheaper for them to produce. I played a while without resistors at all. That worked too :-)
  5. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote:   If these high voltages are coming from your PSU output you might have some damage on your DAC. Luckily most parts of the digital boards are safe because of their 3.3V regulators. You might have ruined your DAC Chips (but you ordered new ones anyway, right?) and the XO's are...
  6. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

      Quote: I'm a bit confused as you said that you have 24V on the yellow wires and 13V on the blue wires. But which wires are you talking about? I assume the wires coming directly of the transformer?   Please measure the voltages coming out of the power supply too and let me know what...
  7. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote:   Hi Pat, No they aren't in series. Check this picture to get the idea:     This means both the wm8805 and the USB receiver get a 47R resistor each. For the timebeing you have two options: 1. Leave the 110R resistor in place and solder two pieces of solid wire instead of...
  8. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote:   Thanks for the nice words Tony. For me the Valab & Chameleon modding has been a very useful introduction into digital circuits, a place where I haven't been before. Thanks to a few friends with a lot of knowledge about digital circuits I was able to find the weak points of the...
  9. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote:   Hi taiphan,   A few things you can check with your power supply:   Disconnect the power supply from the DAC and be VERY CAREFUL as there's 110V/230V running all over!   1. There is a big 10R resistor on the print. Is it burned? If not, measure if it is still 10R...
  10. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

      Quote:   If you use the upsampling board then I would start by replacing that clock. Replacing the clock on the USB/SPDIF board is done the exact same way except that you really need to remove the 74HC04. If you want a detailed description in the future, just let me know.   p.s...
  11. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote: Yes, it sound matter because the XO is both feeding the USB receiver as well as the SP/DIF receiver. The difference is small compared to replacing the clock completely but i'm sure you will hear it.   Replacing the clock for the Tentlabs XO is very easy. These two pictures...
  12. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

         Quote:   Ah, that resistor. :-) When you do the 74HC04 mod, you don't need it anymore. It is there to avoid reflections between the XO and the 74HC04. When you remove the 74HC04 you need lower values (47R). You have the schematic of the Chameleon right? Compare it to this picture...
  13. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

      Quote: Which 110R resistor do you mean? Why didn't you order a Z-foil smd resistor from Texas or did you have this one laying around? I still want to advice you to remove that 74HC04. It is just there for one purpose: adding jitter to the XO signal... You only need to buy two (smd)...
  14. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Where did everybody go? Watching football (or for the US people: Watching soccer)? Hup Holland Hup!   The vuvuzelas never sounded better through the Chameleon. LOL  
  15. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote:   Great to hear that you like the improvement it gives. They improvements I noticed are the same as you very well described. A nice thing to test is to bypass the resampler, put the 12Mhz in the Tentlabs XO and connect it to the WM8805. Then you can hear what a clean power supply...
  16. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote: Yeah they absolutely give an improvement although this was most noticable in combination with the SR1MR. I expect it will do an excellent job in your setup as you haven't got a clean power supply for your 12MHz XO yet.
  17. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote: Great work Bill! If I should have I2S available I would definitely think of a way to add an I2S input. I'm very curious about the performance against my fully upgraded version. I tested with the two Paul Hynes power supplies this week and all I can say is: Go and test with a better...
  18. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote:   Ok, you convinced me :-) Let me order a few bags of those 0,1uF MKP's. Now think of a plan how to implement them because the 0,01uF where already hard to fit let alone these ones...   The two power supplies will replace the DC-30W and each supply will get its own transformer...
  19. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    @ Wood, I forgot to ask: Did you try different bypass caps for the 47uF's other than the two you tried earlier?
  20. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote:   Hi Bill,    Can you describe what kind of differences you experience between the 0,01 anf 0,1uF caps? I would expect increased dynamics and maybe better bass resolution.
  21. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

      Quote:   Bill, What differences did you experience when you changed from 0.01uF to 0,1uF MKP's? I might want to try it but it depends on the changes it gives as i'm quite satisfied now.   btw, I received my Paul Hynes power supplies & regulators yesterday. I will add the power...
  22. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote:   Should be doable. Have you got the schematic?  
  23. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote:   I would advice you to buy from Teradak directly. The version that's shown on the pictures from Vintage Audio Lab is the older one. I see the older power supply (not the new PCB especially designed for the Chameleon) and older plugin boards. Get the black Chameleon, that's the...
  24. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Quote: I use two XO 2.2 boards with a 12Mhz (receiver board) and 24.576Mhz (upsampling board) XO both with a seperate XO Supply
  25. rhodes54

    Chameleon DAC listening and modifications

    Looks very promising Teraguy! Now an ultra low noise power supply around it (That is what makes the Tentlabs such a good clock) and we've got a new reference!   Quote:  
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