[rumatt]

I just picked up a used Citypulse, and I found that the "audio in" works with the variable outs, but does not work with the fixed outs. Can anyone else confirm this behavior?

One of the reasons I wanted the citypulse was so I could plug it directly into my amp (using the fixed outs) and use the remote and input switching to be a home-theater passthrough, of sorts. When watching TV, I'd have the receiver outputs go into the Citypulse analog inputs.

 

[rumatt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rumatt I just picked up a used Citypulse, and I found that the "audio in" works with the variable outs, but does not work with the fixed outs. Can anyone else confirm this behavior?

I got a reply from Eddy saying that this is the intended behavior.

I also asked him what I should expect by upgrading to the TCXO. Here's what he said:

Quote:

After replace the TCXO will getting more sharp at high and more tie at bass. You can have 22.759mhz as orginal design to fs512 or select 33.8688 tmhz o fs-768. Fs-768 is even more Hi-Fi .

I followed up saying that I don't want to make things "harsh", and he said...

Quote:

If you doesn't want the high of instrument as hard and bright as orginal should be --don't upgrade it . It is concern sampling rate (512 times and 768 times). The highest the most define.

So now I don't know whether to upgrade. Does anyone else have thoughts on the effects of the TCXO? And once you upgrade, you can't go back because you have to cut out those little yellow thingies (whatever they are). Maybe I need a second citypulse to compare.

 

[HumanMedia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rumatt I followed up saying that I don't want to make things "harsh", and he said... So now I don't know whether to upgrade. Does anyone else have thoughts on the effects of the TCXO? And once you upgrade, you can't go back because you have to cut out those little yellow thingies (whatever they are). Maybe I need a second citypulse to compare.

I found that the TCXO made the treble much finer, not harsh. Many units shipped the the oscillator socketed, so there is no cutting of anything, just unplug the existing oscillator and plug the TCXO in. So you can check by taking the cover off (which is actually harder than replacing the socketed oscillator).

To open case - start by pulling volume knob off, 4 front screws, front panel, unplug 2 connectors, then two right underneath screws, then middle rear and right rear screws, then slide right side of case forward)

With the TCXO and considerable burn-in of the whole unit, the frequency response evens out considerably.

The mods I recommend are:
*Ceramic fuse and heat shrink around fuse chassis
*Use proper 75ohm BNC instead of RCA digital connector
*Replace analog RCAs with gold/copper RCAs (at least some vampires)
*High guage power cord with ground wire (chassis is connected to IEC ground and benefits from a power cable with ground)
*TCXO upgrade
*LOTS of vibration control - herbies or sorbothane feet, teflon tape or bluetac on caps and TCXO (tapping the chassis even lightly seems to get amplified by the structure and makes the components on the PCB shake considerably especially the vibration sensitive oscillator and large caps)
*Contact enhancement (I use Quicksilver Gold) on all internal connections (DONT do this unless you really know what you are doing and have done this successfully before)

Mods that didnt help:
*ERS cloth (negligable difference)
*Rectifying diodes (fast shottkys made it sound worse - reverted to stock ones whihc sound better)


After all of this my only complaint is that some parts of the high frequencies occasionaly sound a little metallic. Its pretty rare but its sometimes noticeable on some high hats on some tracks. Ive talked to Eddie about this and he LOVES this crispness and reverted back to the Nichicon caps to get this sound back. Others have changed the caps to smooth this out - which is my next step.

 

[rumatt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HumanMedia Many units shipped the the oscillator socketed, so there is no cutting of anything

Thanks for the detailed reply. My unit has the socket, so I'm not worried about that. But the directions on eddy's site say:

Quote:

First , take out the yellow parts inside the red circle.

So I need to cut them out. What are they? If I can remove them (or not remove them) independent of the TCXO, then it's not a problem.

 

[HumanMedia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rumatt Thanks for the detailed reply. My unit has the socket, so I'm not worried about that. But the directions on eddy's site say: So I need to cut them out. What are they? If I can remove them (or not remove them) independent of the TCXO, then it's not a problem.

If you have the socket then you dont need to worry about the instructions which are for those with the first batch of 50 that went out without a socket.

 

[rumatt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HumanMedia If you have the socket then caps then you dont need to worry about the instructions which are for those with the first batch of 50 that went out without a socket.

Oh, I see. Thanks.

Any wisdom on the 512 vs 768 TCXO? I told Eddy I'd take whatever he recommends.

 

[meshuggener]

Hi
I was thinking of buying the Citypulse DA7.2 but there are so much to read everywhere and i can´t put everything together.

i wanna have a dac with my homecinema equipment have tried the benchmark dac-1 and i liked it but what i can read this is better already from scratch.
What mods is good to do with this? it´s really a cheap dac almost to sheap and if i order it i want the best possible upgrade so it sounds the best.

gear right now:
dvd Denon dvd 1400
receiver Thule 10 channel processor, 6x 120W($4000)
speaker Audio physic spark 3 ($3000)
speaker wires Nordost red dawn rev2
coaxial digital Tara labs the one
analog Nordost Valkyrja rca
would be glad for help.

 

[rumatt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meshuggener What mods is good to do with this?

HumanMedia gave his opinion on this a couple posts up from yours http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showp...&postcount=303

 

[GASTAN]

yeah, croll up like 4 posts, there is nice sum
Altrough, would be sweet to have some pics of what is MM talking about
Or, atleast have tweaks sorted in order how much they affect sound
I'd like to tweak once I have some free time.

--G

 

[auditude]

Hi All,
First foray into ext. dacs and I just purchased a used unit on a leap of faith. The unit I purchased is supposed to have the upgraded clock already built in.

I'm just trying to get a feel for the da7.2 as the initial posts were for comparos vs. other similarly priced dacs i.e. the benchmark dac1 and the zhaolu's. Including one comparo vs. a meitner dac as well.

Any further info or comparos? I understand there is some serious tweaking but it's my first ext. dac.

Any new opinons would be greatly appreciated as this thread seems to have morphed into a whole other monster.

Thanks in advance and happy listening!

 

[rumatt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HumanMedia /img/forum/go_quote.gif To open case - start by pulling volume knob off, 4 front screws, front panel, unplug 2 connectors, then two right underneath screws, then middle rear and right rear screws, then slide right side of case forward)

Holy crap, you weren't kidding. This is the most ridiculous case I've ever seen!

What do you do after you take out the front 4 screws? The front panel will NOT slide out, and I'm scared to force it. It just slides out forward?

 

[rumatt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rumatt /img/forum/go_quote.gif Holy crap, you weren't kidding. This is the most ridiculous case I've ever seen! What do you do after you take out the front 4 screws? The front panel will NOT slide out, and I'm scared to force it. It just slides out forward?

EDIT: I got it by taking all of the screws out of the back, and slide the case off that way.

Do NOT try to pull off the front, as the volume assembly is attached. Yours wasn't humanmedia?

 

[HumanMedia]

*After the 4 front screws
*pull the volume knob straight out without twisting
*Undo the hex nut inside the volume knob (you can leave this out as its not necessary)
*Front panel should pull off a little, so you can:
*Undo the 2 cables into the rear of front panel
*Undo the bottom two screws on underneath right
*Undo the 4 screws on the back (2 center and 2 right rear)
*Right side should pull forward and off

 

[auditude]

I'm really interested in your thoughts on this DAC. Not very well known outside of the head-fi community (at least from what I've found).

Would really appreciate any opinions vs. the benchmark dac1, the MSB link III, PT P3a with modwrigth level II mods???

Please let me know...just would like more input vs. all the tweak stuff that I've found.

TIA

 

[rumatt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by auditude /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm really interested in your thoughts on this DAC. Not very well known outside of the head-fi community (at least from what I've found). Would really appreciate any opinions vs. the benchmark dac1, the MSB link III, PT P3a with modwrigth level II mods??? Please let me know...just would like more input vs. all the tweak stuff that I've found.

Try searching the forum for citypulse. There are a few different threads discussing it.