Modding iBasso D1... can anyone explain this to someone totally new at DAC's?

[The_X]

I have very little experience dealing with circuits so I didn't understand what mods people were talking about in the big iBasso D1 thread. I just ordered mine this weekend and would like to learn just what the big deal about modding is, and how to do it.

First off I saw that Black Gates were supposed to be part of the mod--what exactly are Black Gates, where do I get them, how do I install them, and what do they change about the sound?

What else does modding the D1 entail? I don't know anything about op-amp rolling but from what I've gathered from various threads, it just involves pulling chips out of sockets and replacing them with different ones? Thanks!

 

[souperman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_X /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have very little experience dealing with circuits so I didn't understand what mods people were talking about in the big iBasso D1 thread. I just ordered mine this weekend and would like to learn just what the big deal about modding is, and how to do it. First off I saw that Black Gates were supposed to be part of the mod--what exactly are Black Gates, where do I get them, how do I install them, and what do they change about the sound? What else does modding the D1 entail? I don't know anything about op-amp rolling but from what I've gathered from various threads, it just involves pulling chips out of sockets and replacing them with different ones? Thanks!

I can't provide all the info you need, but all the info you need is in that big iBasso D1 thread, including opamps/blackgates/where to get them/how to do the mods.

 

[Ricey20]

Well to answer some of your questions black gates are capacitors that are very popular with the audio community here. To install them you have to desolder the old caps and solder the black gates in their place.

For opamps, some opamp implementation requires you to just pop out the old one from a socket and pop in a new one. Others you will have to desolder them off and then you have 2 choices. You can directly solder on a new opamp to replace it or solder the new opamp to an adapter like a brown dog which will make future opamp replacement easier and it also depends on what opamp your going for. You should really go through that huge thread about the ibasso to read up and learn whats needed and what opamp/buffer combinations people used and how they sounded.

 

[Schalldampfer]

Capacitor rolling voids the warranty.

 

[Capunk]

Capacitor rolling may even voids your ibasso D1
unless you have experience in soldering and know what your going to do.

Meanwhile, it safer to do OpAmp rolling, rather than changing capacitors & stuff.

 

[ehlarson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ricey20 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well to answer some of your questions black gates are capacitors that are very popular with the audio community here. To install them you have to desolder the old caps and solder the black gates in their place. For opamps, some opamp implementation requires you to just pop out the old one from a socket and pop in a new one. Others you will have to desolder them off and then you have 2 choices. You can directly solder on a new opamp to replace it or solder the new opamp to an adapter like a brown dog which will make future opamp replacement easier and it also depends on what opamp your going for. You should really go through that huge thread about the ibasso to read up and learn whats needed and what opamp/buffer combinations people used and how they sounded.

One of the big features of the D1 is that all of the Op Amps are socketed, so you don't need to desolder them. If you use DIP-8 opamps as replacement no soldering is required to roll the D1 op amps. Otherwise you need to solder the opamps to an adapter - this is pretty fussy work and requires a fine touch, but it doesn't put your D1 at risk if you mess it up. On the other hand changing the caps is not for the inexperienced. The solder iBasso used is a quite hard variety and not easy to remove without damaging the D1 circuit board.

 

[The_X]

Ok, thanks! That's what I needed to know. I'll stick with swapping in the op-amps down the road, then.