[b0bb]

   
What is your experience which change will be more beneficial for audio quality: Volent/LKS USB upgrade or opamp change?

My recommendation is to swap out the opamp first it is the easiest and goes part of the way to address one of the most common complaints of the Sabre32, the overbright top end and the listening fatigue than can follow from that.

 

[tribon]

Thank you b0bb.

 

[justbenice]

 
You can subsitute with Panasonic FM caps
 
Here is a link from Farnell
http://uk.farnell.com/panasonic-electronic-components/eeufm1c102/cap-alu-elec-1000uf-16v-rad/dp/1219463
 
If you can post a closeup of the markings on the blue caps on your unit, I might be able to identify them.

Dear Bobb,
 
Please see my "blue caps"  :

 
 
 
 
 
Could you see this ebay link :
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-circuit-nyuu-J-FET-input-high-quality-sound-HiFi-operation-amplifier-MUSES01-/201442863391?hash=item2ee6ee291f:g:5RsAAOSwVL1WEdXF
 
I am gonna buy Muses01 from them. Do you think they are legit ? 
The Muses01 quite expensive, do you know any another place have better price ? 
 
And because i am not using pre-amp, just power amp so i need 5v trigger from the DAC to turn off the amp remotely. Do you think those i2s input port can have 5v so i can trigger on/off my amp? I do that with usb port in my  Oppo Bluray Player and it work great, wonder if i can do it in this DAC.
 
Thank you so much !

 

[b0bb]

  Dear Bobb,
 
Please see my "blue caps"  :
 
Could you see this ebay link :
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-circuit-nyuu-J-FET-input-high-quality-sound-HiFi-operation-amplifier-MUSES01-/201442863391?hash=item2ee6ee291f:g:5RsAAOSwVL1WEdXF
 
I am gonna buy Muses01 from them. Do you think they are legit ? 
The Muses01 quite expensive, do you know any another place have better price ? 
 
And because i am not using pre-amp, just power amp so i need 5v trigger from the DAC to turn off the amp remotely. Do you think those i2s input port can have 5v so i can trigger on/off my amp? I do that with usb port in my  Oppo Bluray Player and it work great, wonder if i can do it in this DAC.
 
Thank you so much !

The Blue caps with the 150 KO printed on the sleeve are Vishay BC 150RMI caps.
http://www.vishay.com/docs/28323/150rmi.pdf
 
About the same ESR as the Panasonic caps, the Panasonic FMs have 50% more ripple current capability (3.2A vs 2A).
 
You might want to leave them alone.
 
Price sounds about right for the Muses01, beware the lower-price counterfeits coming out of the usual places, it is all too easy to print the Muses logo on a fake opamp.
 
Check the I2S pins on the LKS with a voltmeter and see if that changes when you push the front panel switch, the I2S pinout is in the LKS manual, the DAC leaves portion of the digital input powered on in standby mode.

 

[justbenice]

  The Blue caps with the 150 KO printed on the sleeve are Vishay BC 150RMI caps.
http://www.vishay.com/docs/28323/150rmi.pdf
 
About the same ESR as the Panasonic caps, the Panasonic FMs have 50% more ripple current capability (3.2A vs 2A).
 
You might want to leave them alone.
 
Price sounds about right for the Muses01, beware the lower-price counterfeits coming out of the usual places, it is all too easy to print the Muses logo on a fake opamp.
 
Check the I2S pins on the LKS with a voltmeter and see if that changes when you push the front panel switch, the I2S pinout is in the LKS manual, the DAC leaves portion of the digital input powered on in standby mode.

 
 Thank you b0bb !
 Last night i was gonna ordered a Ticha 994 from Sonic Imagery Labs but i found out that was 94$ plus shipping fee for ONE unit, and it become too expensive to me as more than 200$ for a pair.  Do you have any subsitute  for that Ticha 994enh ?
 About the muses01, have you ever tried to replace with the muses02?  I read in some Chinese forum they use muses02 more often than the muses01.

 

[b0bb]

You can experiment with the Muses02 vs the Muses01 it is not in a critical location.
 
The Ticha994, on the other hand, is in the most critical location and I have not found a substitute for it, this is the critical but expensive component that transforms the LKS from the normal Delta-Sigma junk sound to something the rivals and exceeds some of the better R2R DACs out there.
 
(In plain terms, the LKS can sound like crap as the I/V opamp runs out of steam trying to deal with the output current coming from 16 DACs on each channel)
 
The LKS modified in this manner, produces soundstaging, rhythm, pace and slam and overall quality that equals and in some cases exceeds the much praised Schiit Yggdrasil.
 
The Yggdrasil on some material can sound like a DS DAC compared to the modified LKS.
 
I have the Yggdrasil and the LKS is smoother and, I dare say produces a more "analog" sound, the clarity and precise instrument placement is left intact.
(You can hear the musicians moving around and perhaps farting like some have claimed on both of these DACs)
 
If you have to choose, leave out the Muses and put the money towards the Ticha994. The Muses sounds worse than the default opamp in the I/V converter location.

 

[justbenice]

Thank you bobb, i will try to get those opamp then

 

[tribon]

b0bb, I noticed that in March post you mentioned that DSD 256 is working with Raspberry Pi 2
 
"Hirez PCM DXD and DSD256 works as advertised, using it with Audirvana and the Raspberry Pi 2"
 
How did you manage to convince Raspberry to play native DSD with LKS?
I was testing moOde and Volumio and it seams that both are working with DSD 64 (LKS is reporting DSD on screen) but when playing DSD 256 there is only silence and "un-lock" or "PCM384K" on screen (depends on software and DoP settings).
I have to say that I was able to play DSD 256 files with PC/Foobar.

 

[b0bb]

Bill of Materials for Amanero board powersupply mod per PM request from another member.

 
TO220 Diodes: Vishay MBRF10H100-E3/45 Qty:4
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vishay-Semiconductors/MBRF10H100-E3-45/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtQ8nqTKtFS%2fJkHNs4hgXaDnS4NPJ13sko%3d
 
Oscon 16V 1000uf 16SEPF1000M Qty:4
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Panasonic/16SEPF1000M/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsIwzbKW1rlgZRRlI97jKasCG1BVDIrDtw%3d
 
Kemet 330uf 10V Polymer Tantalum Qty:1
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Kemet/T530X337M010ATE004/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtZ1n0r9vR22RUW7UikPrjokjMznnXmFd4%3d
 
WIMA 10uF 50V MKS2 Qty:1
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/WIMA/MKS2B051001N00JO00/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMv1cc3ydrPrF7l45uRd9dVhvGS3cHOkNOA%3d
 
C6 is a stacked cap made with a 10uF MLCC ceramic and 1uF FILM cap

1. Panasonic ECP-U1C105MA5 1uF 16V Acrylic 1210 SMD Cap  Qty:1
2. https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ECP-U1C105MA5/PCF1132CT-ND/285459

 

1. Taiyo Yuden EMK325B7106KNHT SMD CAP CERAMIC 10UF 16V X7R 1210   Qty:1
2. https://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?vendor=0&keywords=587-3334-1-ND

 
C5 is a stacked cap made with a 33uF MLCC ceramic and 4.7uF FILM Cap

1. Rubycon 16ST475MC14532 SMD CAP FILM 4.7UF 20% 16VDC 1812 Qty:1
2. https://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?vendor=0&keywords=1189-1798-1-ND

 

1. TDK CGA8P1X7R1C336M250KC SMD CAP CERAMIC 33UF 16V X7R 1812 Qty:1
2. https://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?vendor=0&keywords=445-7912-1-ND

 

[b0bb]

  b0bb, I noticed that in March post you mentioned that DSD 256 is working with Raspberry Pi 2
 
"Hirez PCM DXD and DSD256 works as advertised, using it with Audirvana and the Raspberry Pi 2"
 
How did you manage to convince Raspberry to play native DSD with LKS?
I was testing moOde and Volumio and it seams that both are working with DSD 64 (LKS is reporting DSD on screen) but when playing DSD 256 there is only silence and "un-lock" or "PCM384K" on screen (depends on software and DoP settings).
I have to say that I was able to play DSD 256 files with PC/Foobar.

DSD on the RPi is via DSD-Over-PCM (DoP) and it tops out at DSD128.
DoP passthru requires ALSA hardware passthru, how that is done is player specific, Squeezelite uses the following command squeezelite-armv6hf  -o hw:Amanero
 
There are experimental patches for the RPi Linux kernel for native DSD that is not encapsulated in PCM and for DSD256 and above but nothing official

 

[tribon]

Thank you b0bb, I hope they will implement DSD256 in close future!
 
Amanero upgrade boards are on the way to me. I was thinking about above mentioned parts swap but would like to use original spare 8V output in toroidal transformer. More details here: http://www.hiendy.com/hififorum/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=85552&extra=page%3D1&page=2 Is it good approach? It seams that you are using separate transformer.
 
I can see that you are using MUSES01 on unbalanced side. Can you describe difference compared to original opamp?

 

[justbenice]

Hi bobb,
Have u ever tried to swap a muse01 opamp in the unbalanced side to the Supreme Sound Burson Opamp ? I think if we already have a best opamp Ticha for i/v section, why don't we have better muse01 opamp in unbalanced side ? 

 

[b0bb]

  Thank you b0bb, I hope they will implement DSD256 in close future!
 
Amanero upgrade boards are on the way to me. I was thinking about above mentioned parts swap but would like to use original spare 8V output in toroidal transformer. More details here: http://www.hiendy.com/hififorum/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=85552&extra=page%3D1&page=2 Is it good approach? It seams that you are using separate transformer.
 
I can see that you are using MUSES01 on unbalanced side. Can you describe difference compared to original opamp?

The MUSES01 is much warmer than the original opamp, the original is a little cold and sterile sounding.

 

[b0bb]

  Hi bobb,
Have u ever tried to swap a muse01 opamp in the unbalanced side to the Supreme Sound Burson Opamp ? I think if we already have a best opamp Ticha for i/v section, why don't we have better muse01 opamp in unbalanced side ? 

Never tried the Burson, I pass on devices that are not fully specified.

 

[justbenice]

 
Never tried the Burson, I pass on devices that are not fully specified.

You should try and tell us which is the best ! Heh .