[adamus]

inspired by some of the various mods being done to a close relative of the noodle dac I decided to go down the tranformer route.

I bought a pair of sowter (uk tranformers) for £7.99 off ebay (they are normally £54 each) and replaced the entire output stage of the dac with two tranformers and a couple of low pass filters (45khz).

How does it sound? natural, that slight glare from the lm4562 is gone, that occasional bass confusion of the opa2107 is gone. It just sounds natural!

 

[digger945]

Interesting. I'm guessing the sowters are 1:1. Happen to have thier impedance and/or model number?

 

[adamus]

5069's, 600:600

 

[digger945]

I dropped my candy about a month ago when a gent from the UK had a few sowters on ebay, 12 or 15 iirc, for sale for what was then about 60 or 70 usd. Some of them were unbal to bal.

 

[AudioCats]

Interesting. Does it sound better than an output section with opa627's?

 

[adamus]

yes to my ears.

Its taken some grain out of the equation, and somehow created a bit more depth. voices are centre stage instead of balancing on the front.

I'lll have to give it some more time, the difference isnt that subtle, but so far i am really liking it. However, it sounds different so that 'new toy' factor may be apparant.

 

[smeggy]

That's pretty cool, how else can these be used for good effect out of curiosity?

 

[DKJones96]

Has anyone tried the Ratshack 1:1 output transformers?

<flame suit on>

 

[MrSlim]

I've been following the thread over at DIYaudio.com, and they are trying a bunch of different transformers with this DAC. There are some Edcors that are very reasonably priced ($12.50) that someone was talking about trying, but no info yet on them.
Being the Cheap B@stard that I am, Id like to try one of these, but I think I'll go for one of the original Noodle DACS, since they are still about $57 including shipping. As far as Lucas(sp) is concerned, the smaller one is easier to mod, since it is easier to remove the SMD caps on it, vs the "Big" DAC.

I have heard some opinions that the CS4397 sounds better than the CS4398 , although I don't suppose I would hear the difference anyway.

 

[adamus]

i have the small originial noodle dac, and yes its very easy to mod.

and, with the transformers it is really doing very well, it shows my cambridge audio dacmagic a clean pair of heels in the sound department, but isnt quite so versatile.

in total it has cost me

£21 for the noodle and powersupply
£20 for the hifi2000 case
£7.99 for the transformers

and its very good.

 

[burgunder]

Adamus I see your listing a Dacmagic in your signature is the Noodle dac comparable to that even without the transformer mod?

 

[adamus]

with standard caps and opamp no it isnt.

with better opamp (lm4562, or opa2107) and replacement of the output caps with films, then yes it is comparable, and with my speakers i actually prefer it.

 

[MrSlim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamus /img/forum/go_quote.gif i have the small originial noodle dac, and yes its very easy to mod. and, with the transformers it is really doing very well, it shows my cambridge audio dacmagic a clean pair of heels in the sound department, but isnt quite so versatile. in total it has cost me £21 for the noodle and powersupply £20 for the hifi2000 case £7.99 for the transformers and its very good.

Adamas, we colonials sometimes have trouble with your British Colloquialisms.. Could you explain "a clean pair of heels?"

 

[adamus]

apologies, it means better than. term coming from coming first in a race, showing the second place man you heels.

I have given it some exteneded listening. It is definately a step up. Very please with it.