[atomikkid]

hello all i am new to the forums and thought i could use some help from some of you out there. i just bought an hifidiy.net aune mk2 se headphone amp dac. sight unseen in sounds pretty impressive for the price point but i will know if i have blown my money foolishly in a couple of days. anyways i had a couple of questions my questions are
1) what power supply is best for this unit and where can i get one. i have heard elpac mentioned in previous threads but i don't know which one would be best, where to get it and how much i should expect to blow on one
2)now that some time has passed between this and previous threads is there a general consensus on which opamps and other ic are best to roll to other components
3)most of the threads seem to concern the first version has anyone reviewed the mark 2 se yet? i am wondering if it is a big improvement of the earlier incarnations.
 
thanks to all in advance for your input

 

[atomikkid]

any ideas anybody

 

[ccklone]

Hey Now,
 
I bought a used Aune from a fellow Head-fier who did the following mods >
 
1. Changed the single Burr Brown 2604 opamp from the amp stage to 2 mono AD797 opamps on Brown Dog adapter. This makes a significant difference in the sound specially since we are using two dual mono opamps. The AUNE has a Blue ALPS potentiometer which is totally quiet and has Nichicon and WIMA caps in the signal chain. This is a very high quality system for the price.
 

 
2. Changed the DAC's opamp from the Burr Brown 2134 to the high regarded LM4562. Audiophile products uses this opamp in their Spitfire DAC which was rated as the best DAC below $300 by What Hifi.
 
3. The AUNE has the following options:
a. USB and SPDIF input for the DAC
b. Analog input for a cd player
You can switch between all three inputs i.e. you can have 3 devices connected to the AUNE using the 3 inputs and switch between them using the front panel switches
c. It has a preout which will bypass the amp stage and directly outputs the DAC stage. This is a fixed preout and here the AUNE works as a stand alone DAC.
 
4. I am including two power supplies. The original 15V 1A AUNE power supply which is fantastic but am also including an Elpac 18V 1.3A switched power supply. This power supply adds control and lowers the noise floor significantly. (My comment - the oem Aune power supply did not work, kept getting dropoffs, the Elpac worked great).
 
5. I am also including the original opamps i.e. BB2134, BB2604 and 2 dual mono LM6171 opamps (used in Meiers flagship amp). The AUNE will come with the AD797 dual monos and LM4562 installed.
 
6. This is a fantastic little headphone amp. It is VERY comfortable driving everything up to 300ohms without a sweat but can also drive my 600ohm T1's.  
 
I traded the Aune to upgrade to a Maverick D1. The Aune was a very good sounding unit with the above mods. Don't know how an oem one sounds. The mods are not too difficult, I did similar upgrades to my Maverick D1 and Creek OBH-11 (I actually replaced the opamp to LM4562 with a DIP socket and the 7 oem capacitors with Elna/Nichicon ones).
 
--
Finest kind,
Chris

 

[maslinar]

Sorry for reviving an old thread...I also have an Aune MKII SE and couple of LM4562 opamps so i tried to change 2134 to LM4562 but it seems that its simply not working properly.I hear lots of distortion in bass and a clicking sound.When I return 2134 its all good again.Mine is the same Aune except 4 capacitors are black not gold.Seems like you had got it working but how? Thanks

 

[francisdemarte]

 
There's a whole Aune thread here with a large discussion on mods and power supplies. I prefer a power supply of between 15v-18vDC and 1 amp, best is a regulated supply and not a switched.
 
Be sure you have your opamps in the right way.