[geek42]

I'm not sure if this is the proper place (if not, mods: please move to the proper place

) but I recently acquired a Chaintech AV-710 sound card and was wondering if there was any potential on modding it to improve the sound... I don't know a lot about DIY audio, but I can use soldering iron, and if i screw up a 25 dollar sound card, it's not the end of the world.

Anybody have any ideas, or done anything with this card? I could provide pics on request for those who haven't seen it...

 

[beats unbeaten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geek42 Anybody have any ideas, or done anything with this card? I could provide pics on request for those who haven't seen it...

The electrolytics by the Wolfson DAC, output caps on the rear channel, and PS caps (upper right hand side of card) are all prime candidates for replacement. I spent about half a day following the traces on this thing, but it's quite a PITA considering the dark PCB color, cramped space, obscured traces, and switching for going from surround sound -> hi-res.

Severing the traces from the Wolfson to the rear channel jack and adding a separate, quality jack for the hi-res output with only coupling caps in the path would be the next step. Plenty of room on the bracket too!

Check out the data sheets for the Wolfson, links are in a thread I started on the same subject in DIY and another in the sources forum... haven't actually done any of this yet

but it's definitely on my list of things to do

 

[geek42]

Sweet! I definately don't have the knowledge to boldy go, as it were, but if anybody gets around to it, hopefully I'll be able to follow in their footsteps. I can't wait to see what happens with this card in the future... for the moment, I guess I get to keep my money - not something I'm accustomed to around here

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by beats unbeaten The electrolytics by the Wolfson DAC, output caps on the rear channel, and PS caps (upper right hand side of card) are all prime candidates for replacement. I spent about half a day following the traces on this thing, but it's quite a PITA considering the dark PCB color, cramped space, obscured traces, and switching for going from surround sound -> hi-res. Severing the traces from the Wolfson to the rear channel jack and adding a separate, quality jack for the hi-res output with only coupling caps in the path would be the next step. Plenty of room on the bracket too! Check out the data sheets for the Wolfson, links are in a thread I started on the same subject in DIY and another in the sources forum... haven't actually done any of this yet but it's definitely on my list of things to do