[jamesb]

looks very very interesting

looking at the pictures it has a headphone out - is it possible that the tubes are only used for the headphone amp and not the line out ?
hopefully not ...

there are a lot of detailed pictures there so hopefully someone will be able to make more sense of it than me - there are opamps and stuff in there - looks like you might be able to roll them

someone might be able to identify the dac chip and tell us what it is

hopefully some who can read those link will translate some of it for us - i did notice a mention of senn 580s in there in the same paragraph as they were talking about burr brown op amps - i'm hoping this means the headamp section is the solid state bit

also just noticed it looks like one component using the chasis as a heatsink ?

 

[muzikk]

I have received the DAC in a Box (BTW why do people call them dac in a box? It has a name: Super Pro; kind of cheesy) a few days ago and it has been burning nicely. The first aspect I noticed was the size, it is really tiny. I had a minor problem connecting it to USB, it went recognized-unrecognized a couple of times but once it is stable there were no more connecting problems at all until unplugged, I think it is due to the cable than anything else. The people from customs maybe tried to connect the USB cable to a wall plug

, did I mention that customs opened the package and charged me $35 in tax and fees. It is annoying enough when you have to pay fees but I really hate it when they open up packages.

Windows recognize it as C-Media USb Headphone Set, in addition to the pink colour not really comforting for a Hifi gear. This is due to the cheap USB recieving chip CM108 but fortunately the DA receiver chip is a CS8416 and D/A is the highly regarded CS4398. Honestly I don't know a lot about DIY and don't care much about the technical specs of a gear, I did a search on the chips only 3 days ago and was pleasantly surprised. The reason I bought the DAC was because of its size, colour

and of Eddie Wu's costumer service/fast replies.

Running the DAC with Foobar and ASIO4all plugged to my Amity amp I have to say it was THE BEST SOUND EVER that came through my headphones.

The headphones would be the Sennheiser PX200 that has been used once or twice in 4 years through my cd player and amp

. I have sold my Grado SR325 and AKG K340 last week, my HD600 works only on one driver due to the cable and I am awaiting a replacement cable to fix the problem. Seriously, the DAC is ok but I wouldn't go into details using the PX200. I wouldn't be able tell if the DAC or the PX200 is the limiting factor of the chain. I have never really stretched the senns so far in their capabilities since I only use them unamped out of portable gears outdoors and sometimes through the headphone out of my laptop.

However I am able to say that the PX200 has never sounded this good and that the DAC is certainly not a minor upgrade from the AC97 integrated soundcard. It's headphone out is not great but still significantly better than the laptop's where as the optical and digital in are a plus and the digital coax becomes an output if the DAC is connected through USB, which is interesting for further upgrades. For a transportable DAC that can be taken in your laptop bag any time and can act as a USB/SPDIF converter I am amazed with the sound quality. Can I say that I do not miss my cd player? Maybe not but I would rather say that I miss my HD600 and hopefully after receiving the new cables I will not miss my cd player.

I will write more detailed impressions with the HD600 and Xtra X1 amp.

 

[matt fury]

Oh, about the tube dac, I emailed them and its 220 only

 

[fraseyboy]

Nice review Muzikk!!! That pink colour is EVEL! It would be nice if it was yellow to match my MS1's 414 pads

Wonder how it stacks up to more expensive DAC's...

 

[Sinwerm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt fury /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh, about the tube dac, I emailed them and its 220 only

I just sent an email to Eddie to ask if he can mod it internally for American voltage LOL how crazy am I ?

 

[matt fury]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinwerm /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just sent an email to Eddie to ask if he can mod it internally for American voltage LOL how crazy am I ?

LOL...I'd like to hear what he says...

 

[Ooztuncer]

I also purchased the Pro. Dac (via his ebay listing) - now let the waiting game begins... As soon as I try them, I will write my impressions.

 

[fraseyboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt fury /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh, about the tube dac, I emailed them and its 220 only

I'm on 220v... Maybe someone could buy it for me

 

[Postal_Blue]

I've got 220 in the laundy room... I can see it now, "Honey gotta use the Jon, Be out as soon as I listen to this CD thru my new GE's"

 

[SK138]

I asked Eddie about the tube DAC last week. He said...

"I try that with my pc and is ok.
It carry only 220v .
It is available .
The dac sound is so so---"

With that honest response, I decided to hold off. I am going to save my pennies and get a Lavry on Christmas

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SK138 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I asked Eddie about the tube DAC last week. He said... "I try that with my pc and is ok. It carry only 220v . It is available . The dac sound is so so---" With that honest response, I decided to hold off. I am going to save my pennies and get a Lavry on Christmas

No you won't wait till christmas! It is time to go ninja stealth!

 

[SK138]

Shhh....I just have to state that "officially"

It's a DAC so it can hide under my desk until Christmas

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif No you won't wait till christmas! It is time to go ninja stealth!

 

[Sinwerm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt fury /img/forum/go_quote.gif LOL...I'd like to hear what he says...

Oddly enough he has still not responded to my email

 

[pelayostyle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ooztuncer /img/forum/go_quote.gif I also purchased the Pro. Dac (via his ebay listing) - now let the waiting game begins...

I feel ya

 

[imported_double_s]

Well my first post here at Head-Fi.

I bought one of this TUBE USB DAC for a friend (DIYEDEN SVUSC01) from Eddie Wu at www.diykits.com.hk.
I have it still in my office pending giving it to my friend.

My first impression is ... WOW ... great thing for just 89$.
I just have it for 2 days and we all know how subjective we Audiophiles are ... so I prefer not to make comments on the audio quality yet, plus it is my first tube audio gear. Nevertheless everybody entering in my office is now saying ..."dam... great music"!! We are all tapping our feets and swinging to the music. Tubes magic? We'll see in a later post.

I want to comment however on the build quality.
1) The box is well build and solid, very solid. The tubes are better protected thanks to being partly inside the box. The build precision is slighly lower than
the pictures at DIYEDEN. The headphone connector is slightly out of center in regards to the frontside aluminium. Nevertheless much much much better build than any audio product I could buy for just 89$ here in Europe.

2) The box gets hot. And I mean really "hot". Alright, this is my first tube audio, so maybe I have to get used to the "heat", however, I think the box could benefit from a few perforations for ventilation to increase the life of the capacitors inside.

Right now the USB DAC is connected to a crappy Dell Multimedia Speakers (hold on your flames... I know they are crappy) and I can tell you these speakers have been in use for a year or more in the office and they never have sounded so musically, so rithmically, so fast, so nice, so clear. It makes the internal soundcard sound as a real shame.

Would I recommend this product? Definitely, but if you want it to last consider to dust off your drill machine and make a few perforations.

More on the sound quality at a later post.