[hikaru12]

Hey all,

What kind of DACs are you guys pairing with the BHC? I’m hot rodding mines as a majority of you are but curious what is considered a good or bad pairing with it or if that depends entirely on the tubes used. I plan on getting a NOS DAC like the Menuet or Morpheus but don’t know if that would sound too warm with the BHC. Are neutral or brighter DACs a better pairing?

 

[jonathan c]

Hey all,

What kind of DACs are you guys pairing with the BHC? I’m hot rodding mines as a majority of you are but curious what is considered a good or bad pairing with it or if that depends entirely on the tubes used. I plan on getting a NOS DAC like the Menuet or Morpheus but don’t know if that would sound too warm with the BHC. Are neutral or brighter DACs a better pairing?

I use a Mojo Audio EVO Mystique d-a-c. It is a n/o/s R2R design - not to be confused with Chord Mojo. The BHC is a great match to the Mystique.

 

[DeweyCH]

Oooooooh, it's working! Doc B. over at the Bottlehead forums spotted that I hadn't properly soldered the black ground on the headphone jack, now it's... well, it's kinda glorious.

 

[DeweyCH]

Holy crap y'all I built an amp...

 

[cddc]

Oooooooh, it's working! Doc B. over at the Bottlehead forums spotted that I hadn't properly soldered the black ground on the headphone jack, now it's... well, it's kinda glorious.

It turned out to be a soldering joint problem eventually...

Glad Doc B caught it with his hawk eyes. I was about to question the soldering joints you did on the headphone jack earlier, which is a little bit different than mine (see the photo attached), but I thought Bottlehead might have changed their procedures over the years...

 

[cddc]

It's been a while since I've visited the Crack thread, and it's got me thinking about tinkering again. A few ideas I might start plotting:

1. Adding a VU meter to the front panel
2. Installing a Khadas toneboard 2 inside the chassis for an onboard DAC
3. Installing a Schiit Phono card next to the line-level RCA inputs (although I have no idea if this needs to be connected to the power supply or if it is really 'passive)
4. Adding RCA pre-outs

1. Adding some VU meter will definitely make the amp look more beautiful, but I think the meter will add some additional load to the tubes/circuit, kinda like insert a damper into the circuit, so it might affect the performance a little bit if not carefully calculated/executed.

2. Regarding the onboard DAC, @carlman14 did a fantastic job on his Crack, you can refer to his onboard DAC mod:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/crack-bottlehead-otl.476650/post-16187626

3.&4. I guess are the same thing, right? You want to add some Schiit plug-in for pre-amp output on Crack? It could be a great idea. IIRC, no one here has done it before, you can definitely try it out and let us know. It would be great to have some pre-outs to work with speaker amps.

 

[jonathan c]

Oooooooh, it's working! Doc B. over at the Bottlehead forums spotted that I hadn't properly soldered the black ground on the headphone jack, now it's... well, it's kinda glorious.

A really nice look. I like the driver tube socket and the match of the transformer cap and the chassis plate. Beautiful finish on the base!

 

[cddc]

A really nice look. I like the driver tube socket and the match of the transformer cap and the chassis plate. Beautiful finish on the base!

Agree, a very nice build.

Have you put some clear coating or wax on your base, @DeweyCH? Why is it so shining?

 

[DeweyCH]

Agree, a very nice build.

Have you put some clear coating or wax on your base, @DeweyCH? Why is it so shining?

Just some wipe on water based poly.

 

[DeweyCH]

A really nice look. I like the driver tube socket and the match of the transformer cap and the chassis plate. Beautiful finish on the base!

Much appreciated! I’m not much of a wood or metal painter but it turned out pretty decent for me

 

[cebuboy]

Hey all,

What kind of DACs are you guys pairing with the BHC? I’m hot rodding mines as a majority of you are but curious what is considered a good or bad pairing with it or if that depends entirely on the tubes used. I plan on getting a NOS DAC like the Menuet or Morpheus but don’t know if that would sound too warm with the BHC. Are neutral or brighter DACs a better pairing?

I paired mine with a Bifrost 2, rca cleartop for the input, svetlana 6H5C power tube, russian film caps, and a choke. Sounds very nice.

 

[cddc]

Just some wipe on water based poly.

Aha, that's why it's so shiny

 

[cddc]

Dang this looks so clean! Y'all are impressing me with the paint jobs...I just got my kit, glued and stained the frame and painted the top plate and bell, and so far it looks like a 4th grade arts project

It will get better as you progress in the building

 

[haasaaroni]

Here, 4th grade arts project turned into an actual arts project I accidentally left some glue residue in certain places before applying the stain, so the glue spots didn't stain well and looked all funky. SO I just decided to go wild and paint over them with acrylics! Loving how personal this DIY stuff can be.

Just finished assembling the chassis, now time to get soldering

 

[cddc]

Nice mix of colors, quite unique