[Bubel]

You did not say you got sound or music. Did you? Did you get music in both channels? What were the voltage in and out of the new LM317? Is the voltage out around 7.5 volts with the 9 volt wall wart? Do you get a similar voltage on pin five of all four TDA1543 chips? Or just one channel? I don't know what is causing noise in one channel. The digital noise MAY be coming from one bad TDA1543 chip. But check the manufacturer's solder first. I'm just guessing here. Does toslink and coax both work?

I`m testing it with two CD players via optics and coax in same time - booth works but I`m put them on pause to make AMP louder to check for noise (at my usual listening volume). I`m measured TDA`s voltage - all have 7.58V with 9v wall wart and some time later I heard loud click and then Left`s channel crackling noise is gone. It was completely sounds as it`s should. I turn DAC off to cool down to checked again later - left channel crackling noise was there but after one minute warm up - after a click sound noise is gone again.
LM317 voltage is wierd - only 1.7V and 1.2V - if I`m measuring it right (touching ground with one probe and pins with another (without any resistors)). Sorry - I`m not electrician and English is not my native language.

 

[jwr3]

I`m testing it with two CD players via optics and coax in same time - booth works but I`m put them on pause to make AMP louder to check for noise (at my usual listening volume). I`m measured TDA`s voltage - all have 7.58V with 9v wall wart and some time later I heard loud click and then Left`s channel crackling noise is gone. It was completely sounds as it`s should. I turn DAC off to cool down to checked again later - left channel crackling noise was there but after one minute warm up - after a click sound noise is gone again.
LM317 voltage is wierd - only 1.7V and 1.2V - if I`m measuring it right (touching ground with one probe and pins with another (without any resistors)). Sorry - I`m not electrician and English is not my native language.

You have to have 7.5 volts on v out of the LM317 if you have 7.5 volts at pin 5 of the 1543s. Maybe you're not measuring it right. I always use the RCA input ground as my ground to multimeter. The fact that things clear up after a loud pop makes me think you have a cold solder joint at some pin on one of the 1543s. And when things warm up it becomes OK. why not leave the DAC on all the time. Or inspect the 8 solder connections on the bottom of the board at the 1543s. You may see a loose solder connection or even no solder at the hole. Best of luck.

 

[Bubel]

Located the bad chip tda1543 by pressing hard on each of them - it`s been caused that crackling noise. Tried to re-solder it with no avail and noticed only that one chip have little tint of red on it - someone marked it with red pencil across the markings. It`s even noticeable at fist photo I posted - second chip from the top.
I think the conclusion is they put defective chip on product or not removed it after initial test. Will buy some new chip and try to fix it - I will not trust this board if it could make popping noises during changing temperature. Thank you for your help Jim, you was right!

 

[Bubel]

Hey fellows! Need more help from you! Got TDA1543 but with (A) index at the end, replaced it with malfunctioned one and my Muse producing very loud noise at booth channels. I men noise level same as signal. I replaced LM317 just in case - same result.

 

[rtaylor76]

You sure you are inputing 16/44.1, because it won't do high res.

 

[Bubel]

You sure you are inputing 16/44.1, because it won't do high res.

Yes, I`m using late 90`s CD player I used before with this Muse PCB.
I`m not only have loud noise but audio signal also in same time. Could that one TDA chip I replaced are can`t decode bitstream and send digital signal to both audio channels?

 

[Sapientiam]

TDA1543A has a different input format to 1543 (no A) so will produce loud noise. Find a non-A if you want to get back to beautiful music once again.

 

[Bubel]

TDA1543A has a different input format to 1543 (no A) so will produce loud noise. Find a non-A if you want to get back to beautiful music once again.

Thank you very much for clarification! If I`ll replace all three remaining TDA1543`s with TDA1543A? Would this work? I just have spare TDA1543A laying around or it`s better and worth (in sound quality) to order TDA1543 and wait?

 

[Sapientiam]

Unless you have the EE skills to change the digital format you're sending to the DAC chips (its possible that the DIR9001 can be configured to support that, try downloading its datasheet) then your second option is the reasonable choice.

 

[Bubel]

Unless you have the EE skills to change the digital format you're sending to the DAC chips (its possible that the DIR9001 can be configured to support that, try downloading its datasheet) then your second option is the reasonable choice.

I get it. No - I don`t have that skills - will be waiting for proper TDA`s I ordered. The sound was sweet from my MUSE - that`s why I keep trying to fix this little red bundle of joy Thank you!

 

[Sapientiam]

One of my buddies from DIYA who's a bit of an expert with 1543 chips says the non-A version sounds better to him. So you've another reason to stick with the usual chips in the Muse.

 

[mcgo]

So I've had 8 months or so with the Muse TDA1543x4 DAC and I have to say it is the best value out there! I really enjoy the NOS impulse response -- it is all about the timing! I have a mimby also in my DAC collection and I'd say the main difference in timbre between the two is in the vocal range, for anyone who is curious. The age of technology would say the mimby is more correct in its reproduction, though with the Muse things "pop" into the fore that are overlooked or "buried" with the mimby.

I'm running the DACs via COAX using a pi3b+ as an upnp endpoint. It is exceedingly beneficial to remove the "computer" from the audio equation. In my case, fb2k shunts audio data over ethernet and the digi+ pro clocks it properly without a hitch using the proper crystal for the job (it has 2).

 

[ristesky]

Dear all,

I've had this little gem "Muse TDA1543x4" DAC for almost a year, and I donate it to my friend. The time has come to buy it again! I've searched the whole internet and it seems to me that Muse has retired all of their products from the market. Does anybody have more info about Muse, and if they are selling their products now under another name or maybe know where the same DAC could be found?

Best,
Stefan

 

[mcgo]

I've had this little gem "Muse TDA1543x4" DAC for almost a year, and I donate it to my friend. The time has come to buy it again! I've searched the whole internet and it seems to me that Muse has retired all of their products from the market. Does anybody have more info about Muse, and if they are selling their products now under another name or maybe know where the same DAC could be found?

Hi Stefan,

In my opinion (aside from the cost savings), the Muse per se is not special enough to specifically seek out. I took a look-see today and there are a number of TDA1543 boards out there from China, even x16 models, though most of the cheaper ones have gone USB (which I consider a downgrade!) - For an actual Muse, you might try AliExpress, for example.

Your best best though for something similar is the Pro-Ject DAC Box S FL (https://www.project-audio.com/en/product/dac-box-s-fl/) - It is a TDA1543x4 design like the Muse with coax/toslink inputs. Better components inside, too! Researching this answer made me order a slightly used model for cheap! It will be a welcome addition to my growing DAC collection. I'm trying to stave off a more expensive purchase (ala Metrum Acoustics) now that I'm squarely in the NOS camp.

 

[rtaylor76]

Has anybody opened a Pro-Ject DAC Box S FL?

I just wonder if they are doing any filters or oversampling, and more importantly, looking to see if they are just using resistors for I/V or have an op amp in place for this?