[Mavwong]

Those looking to know how to feed the tube out to the HP amp of d1 pls refers to the photo of labeled inner connection. 2 way to do it here. Make a RCA to 3 pin female connector and open up the case to connect them. Or u can solder the connection at the tube out RCA jack and connect to HP amp in.

alright guys and girls. After rolling in opamp LT1364 and LM4562, I found that my right channel gone. So I do a little check up and found a broken wire. I can't find any of these info here, thus I'm on my own with a set of cheapo multimeter trying to figure out what's all the wiring in the D1. First let's see the internal.

Few things interest me here. But first I would like to stress that some of these info are not verified and any mod you try using the above info will be at your own risk, I will not be held of any responsibility if you damage ur D1

Also bear in mind that soldering work will void your D1 warranty.

1) As you can see from the internal shot, a very thin (looks cheap) set of wire was use for DAC output to the vol pot/input sel before going anywhere else. One of my wire break of from the connector after rolling opamps, it sure does easily break off. What I did for temp measure, is use "analog in (to tube)" yellow color wire to replace it. And I immediately notice improvement in the SQ, more separation, dynamic and airiness in the highs. (try with LF353 in the DAC, LM4562 in the hp amp). If you don't use the SS or tube out, you can try this.
On the other hand, if you use only the tube out (as Tube DAC output to external preamp), just unplug the yellow hp out wire jack(lower left) and plug directly to DAC out and you get similar by pass effect but better signal path (I haven't verify this)

2) Having found that the DAC out wire is not as good as the yellow one, may be Ryan should try to replace that with yellow color wire. I personally plan to get some mundrof wire to replace this. Also you can replace the stock wiring from the hp amp out to hp jack with better cable.

3) I was still wondering why D1 design do not feed tube out to the internal hp amp for better SQ? I try Windmill-Getter Raytheon output to pico amp, it sound so open and mid is lush even before proper break in of the tube. I was wondering could I solder some wire and feed the signal from the tube out jack and plug into the hp amp in jack (jack is the same as PC fan jack, should be easy to find)?

4) Back to Opamp rolling. These are just my observation. The 2 stock LF353 doesn't sound similar to my ear for sure. Initially I only roll the HP amp 353 to LM4562. AB the 2 LF353 in the DAC, one sound more dynamic and the other sound veil. I like the more dynamic one, which compliment well with layback/dark sound of LM4562. Later I roll out the DAC 353 with LT1364, and found out LT has better separation, more mid bass, more define bass. But it not as airy as 353. Likely due to LT haven't break in. The LT1364 sure is hot, I can't place my finger in it for more than a second.

5) last, wish to seek advice from some expert here, I plan to mod the caps to mundrof as well. Care to share some suggestion of what to replace other than the hp output caps at C61/C62?

 

[sfrancis]

It's been a while since I visited here last time. Now I just got some new speakers and amp and used D1 as DAC. Definitely sounds better than the squeezebox DAC.
 
Did the opamp rolling for HP output a while back and now I just ordered LM4562 for the DAC output. Will try the tube rolling as well.

 

[sfrancis]

Question: I currently use D1 as DAC for a 2 channel speaker system, and connection is like: squeezebox -> D1 -> integrated amp. I push down the "direct" button and use my integrated amp to control volume. Is this the correct way to use D1 as DAC ? I assume I can still take advantage of tube output ? The confusion is that my integrated amp already have a preamp stage, but the output of D1 has been through pre-amp stage as well.

 

[Ultrainferno]

The D1 is your preamp. It's always best to use the direct button in that case to bypass the volume pot. I used it like that in the past and it gave the best results

 

[sfrancis]

Quote:

The D1 is your preamp. It's always best to use the direct button in that case to bypass the volume pot. I used it like that in the past and it gave the best results

Thanks. I guess what I'm not clear is: if D1 is the pre-amp, then it was feed into the integrated amp, which has its own pre-amp stage. So there are two pre-amp in the chain ?
 
On the other hand, if I push the direct button, the volume control is by-passed which means that the signal no-longer goes through the pre-amp stage of D1 ? But doe that mean I can't really take advantage of tube output if I do that ?
 

 

[Ultrainferno]

Bypassing volume control is not the same as bypassing your pre amp. You can still use the tube out

 

[milosolo]

^^Correct.
 
I don't use the SS out on my D1, only the tube out. With the Direct button "IN" the source flows through the D1, through the tube out into my main speaker system. I control the volume with the main system pre-amp volume control.
 
With the Direct button "OUT" there is a significantly reduced signal passed through the D1 to the main system and I use the D1 pot to control the volume. This is the setting I use when I listen to the HP out on the D1. So yes, there are two pre-amps in the chain. A benefit of this setting is that I can shut the main system completely off and listen through the D1 HP out and the sources I have connected to it. I swear I can hear this lower the noise floor late at night!

 

[Mechnutt]

Hi I am new here.  I bought a tubemagic D1 for my son.  It sounds very good but we have a problem with loud popping sounds when ever we change songs on the CD player.  I have tried the DAC in different systems in my house with different CDP's and it still does the same thing.  I have also tried a 3 to 2 prong adapter for the power cord to take the ground out of the equation and it still does the same thing.  In addition, when using the USB connection to our computer, the DAC makes random high pitched sounds.
 
Has anyone else had this problem?
 
I like the sound of the DAC but I am going to ask Ryan for an exchange for a new one.  I don't see a fix for the popping sound, unless there is a known grounding issue that has a simple fix.
 
One other question, I tried it in my reference 2ch system (Parasound A21 power amp and Van Alstine hybrid tube preamp and DAC with a Music Hall 25.2 CDP as a transport, Magnepan 1.6QR speakers) as a DAC/Pre and it sounded great but the volume was limited.  It appears to be an impedence issue.  Does anyone know the specs for the preamp?
 
Thanks,
 
Larry

 

[kingofbeans]

How Different is this really from the Xiang Sheng model? I know in the condensed FAQ Spanky says it's evolved into a better product...but internally ( and in terms of sound) is it much different? Also I notice the D2 still isn't out a very little info about it is available. If the D1 at least started out as a Xiang Sheng clone, could the Maverick Audio D2 "start off" as a clone of the Xiang Sheng DAC-02A?

 

[_Spanky_]

Quote:

Hi I am new here.  I bought a tubemagic D1 for my son.  It sounds very good but we have a problem with loud popping sounds when ever we change songs on the CD player.  I have tried the DAC in different systems in my house with different CDP's and it still does the same thing.  I have also tried a 3 to 2 prong adapter for the power cord to take the ground out of the equation and it still does the same thing.  In addition, when using the USB connection to our computer, the DAC makes random high pitched sounds.
 
Has anyone else had this problem?
 
I like the sound of the DAC but I am going to ask Ryan for an exchange for a new one.  I don't see a fix for the popping sound, unless there is a known grounding issue that has a simple fix.
 
One other question, I tried it in my reference 2ch system (Parasound A21 power amp and Van Alstine hybrid tube preamp and DAC with a Music Hall 25.2 CDP as a transport, Magnepan 1.6QR speakers) as a DAC/Pre and it sounded great but the volume was limited.  It appears to be an impedence issue.  Does anyone know the specs for the preamp?
 
Thanks,
 
Larry

The USB high pitched noises is typical. Bad USB circuit. Higher-end USB transports usually won't do that but sometimes the grounding circuit in your computer can conflict. Not a big deal, just try to get a good USB transport.
 
The popping while changing songs, turn the volume off, do you hear the D1 clicking when you change songs? If yes, then it's normal. If not, I would contact Ryan to see if you have some kind of fault in your D1.

 

[sizzlincok]

Quote:

How Different is this really from the Xiang Sheng model? I know in the condensed FAQ Spanky says it's evolved into a better product...but internally ( and in terms of sound) is it much different? Also I notice the D2 still isn't out a very little info about it is available. If the D1 at least started out as a Xiang Sheng clone, could the Maverick Audio D2 "start off" as a clone of the Xiang Sheng DAC-02A?

I've seen the pre-html files for the D2 from Spanky's signature. I did some googling of my own. 
 
All I have to say is WOW. It looks EXACTLY LIKE the Xiang Sheng DAC-02A. The drawings and everything look the same.
 
3 opamps, with a tube. BNC added...
 
It's speculated that Ryan and Xiang Sheng are like co-workers or something like so.
 

 

[uelover]

Or a spy.
 
jk =)

 

[Mechnutt]

The popping sound comes through  the speakers very loud when ever we use any button on any of the CD players that I have tried.  I emailed Ryan and he stated that the popping occurs when changing songs because  it see's an intermittent digital signal when changing songs but I think its more that that.  Even turning the CD player on or off causes the loud popping to occur.  It's too annoying to live with. Does any one else have this problem?  If so, then I will return the unit for a refund, if not then I will exchange it for a new one. 
 
Thanks!
 
Larry

 

[uelover]

I seriously don't think what you are experiencing is normal. I never had that with my D1 when used with a cheapo CD player connected via coaxial. Even when changing tracks, I don't hear any 'pop' sound as well.

 

[_Spanky_]

Ryan is correct but I'm skeptical that your pops are the digital signal being turned on/off. That's why I recommended turning the volume off/down to hear if the D1 makes a click sound. If it does, it's normal. It did the same thing with my X-Fi digital output when I changed songs or interrupted playback somehow (pausing, stopping, skipping, etc).