germanium
Headphoneus Supremus
Quote:
I direct coupled the line out on the STX & direct coupled the I/V section to the buffer amp on the Titanium HD (not an easy proposition on this card). Bypassed power supply caps to the opamps with large value metalized film caps as well as the 5 volt supply for the analog section of the DAC. If you do one you have to do the other as it corrects the glare created in the upper mids when bypassing the opamp power supplies. Eliminates the glare without reducing the detail. Ends up sounding balanced & extremely detailed with strong but crisp (detailed) bassthat captures the room acoustics of the recording vinue exceedingly well. Gives you the you are thier feeling on really good recordings..
The parts I use are high quality but quite large & do not fit into tight spaces consequently they cannot be used on a stock soundcard which the manufacturer has to design for a single slot where as with my mods takes up 3 slots.
Large value for metalized films are in my interpretation 2.0uf or larger. 2.0uf is to me the minimum size for this mod. On my latest mods I used 4-12.0uf caps & 2-4.7uf caps on the 5 volt DAC supply.for the Titanium HD & 4-4.7uf on the STX DAC supplies.
Noise may be slightly higher after mods but still inaudible & this will alter distortion specs but actual distortion spectrum in level or distribution is unaltered as is measured frequency response
So how did you mod it? I'm new to soundcards and I was talking to my dad about it yesterday. He's techniquely a sound engineer so he knows top quality parts when he sees them, except he doesn't know about PC soundcards. He is more on the professional side with TV engineering and musician/band support sound quality.
I direct coupled the line out on the STX & direct coupled the I/V section to the buffer amp on the Titanium HD (not an easy proposition on this card). Bypassed power supply caps to the opamps with large value metalized film caps as well as the 5 volt supply for the analog section of the DAC. If you do one you have to do the other as it corrects the glare created in the upper mids when bypassing the opamp power supplies. Eliminates the glare without reducing the detail. Ends up sounding balanced & extremely detailed with strong but crisp (detailed) bassthat captures the room acoustics of the recording vinue exceedingly well. Gives you the you are thier feeling on really good recordings..
The parts I use are high quality but quite large & do not fit into tight spaces consequently they cannot be used on a stock soundcard which the manufacturer has to design for a single slot where as with my mods takes up 3 slots.
Large value for metalized films are in my interpretation 2.0uf or larger. 2.0uf is to me the minimum size for this mod. On my latest mods I used 4-12.0uf caps & 2-4.7uf caps on the 5 volt DAC supply.for the Titanium HD & 4-4.7uf on the STX DAC supplies.
Noise may be slightly higher after mods but still inaudible & this will alter distortion specs but actual distortion spectrum in level or distribution is unaltered as is measured frequency response