[muad]

Great thank you!
 
I went to order the module... stupid shipping is more than half the cost of the module

 

 

[Tom W]

Quote:

It's the default now.  IIRC Kingwa said somewhere the Fun with Earth and Sparrow (A) were the same, different only in features.  I'm a little reluctant to try and split hairs over optical and USB and other small things with which there is very likely a lot of variance and doesn't matter so much with entry-level gear.  What I'm most interested in doing is comparing the Sparrow or Fun to the on-board sound of my MacBook Pro with the headphones I was using and music I was listening to before I discovered Head-fi.  I want to think about what I would have felt had I bought one from scratch.

 
Have you had a chance to compare the Sparrow to the A.O. of your MPB (or Air Express if you have one)? I was wondering if it would be a worthwhile upgrade for me for the office.

 

 

[muad]

Audio-gd Fun Page was updated with this:
 
 
Quote:

 

Note: [size=small]Note:[/size]
[size=x-small] 5th Augest:   [/size]
[size=x-small]    At the first , We adjusted the AD1852 sound near neutral and  the WM8740 sound on the warm side for customers choice different flavors. That time the WM8740 sound less detail and dynamic than AD1852.[/size]

[size=x-small]    But at 1th  Augest, we re-adjusted the WM8740 sound flavor from warm side to the neutral side , the dynamic and detail can compare to the AD1852.[/size]
 
[size=x-small]and[/size]
 
 
[size=x-small]Uses the Wolfson Hi-End grade chips WM8741. Supports up to 192KHz/24Bit D/A conversion. Sounds much neutral ,the detail and dynamic had recur.[/size]
 
[size=x-small]and[/size]
 
[size=x-small]U[/size][size=x-small]ses the AD1852 chip. Supports up to 192KHz/24Bit D/A conversion. Sounds a bit dynamic with extended highs.[/size]

I decided to pull the trigger on the new module, I want the detail and dynamics of the ad1852 but a more natural tonal balance. I guess we'll see! I also gave him a friendly reminder about making the PCM 1704 module

 

[superchan]

Quote:

Audio-gd Fun Page was updated with this:
 
 

I decided to pull the trigger on the new module, I want the detail and dynamics of the ad1852 but a more natural tonal balance. I guess we'll see! I also gave him a friendly reminder about making the PCM 1704 module

huh putting a pcm 1704 module  = killing  [size=x-small]DAC-19 [/size]
 

 

[Currawong]

I'm not sure there would be much benefit to putting in a PCM1704 as the distortion in the Fun itself would have to be lower. I could be wrong though. The WM8741 is possibly going to be the best value if it is between the AD1852 and 8740.

 

[muad]

This was his response to my questions regarding the da8741 module vs the ad1852 module, plus other little tidbits of info. Sounds like the DA8741 is the best... He also repeated in a third email the need to burn in the module before judging it. He stated each module only had 8 hours on it before it ships...
 
 
Quote:

From my hear, the WM8741 is dynamic and detail as AD1852, and clarity than AD1852 without harsh.
But this is my personal subjective points.
I can't sure you will have same points.
And your AD1852 had burn in a lot time, if you want to compare, you are better burn in WM8741 around 300 hours .
 
I like to use the EARTH with WM8741, feed by my Mac book.
The AD1852 is slight bright than WM8741.
And the total sound depend on your headphone.
If you use a slight bright headphone, you can choice the MOON or LME47910.
And you also can choice the sound flavor in the FUN.
The WM8741 replace in the old FUN want to solder a wire.
And we will solder the wire on the WM8741 module, you only solder another point on the DIR9001 module. But you can't make any wrong , otherwise will shatter the WM8741 module.

 

[tongson]

Apparently you can 'brighten' the WM8740. According to Kingwa you need to solder pins 26 and 27 to GND.
 
Will do it tonight

 

[tongson]

Kingwa sent me this image. He said connect 26 and 27 to that red spot. I think he meant remove the top coating and solder?
 

 

[Currawong]

Yup, under that is the ground plane. 

 

[littletree76]

 
Quote:

Kingwa sent me this image. He said connect 26 and 27 to that red spot. I think he meant remove the top coating and solder?
 
 

According to Wolfson's data sheet for WM8740 DAC, pin 26 (MC/DM0) and pin 27 (MD/DM1) are hardware logic inputs used in setting de-emphasis at various frequencies (off/48kHz/44.1kHz/32kHz correspond to 2-bit control values of 00/01/10/11). Since these two pins are pulled up to logic high internally, the default setting is de-emphasis applied at 32kHz frequency. When these two pins are pulled down to logic low (ground voltage), de-emphasis is turned off and thus no built-in low-pass filter is applied to analog output signal after digital-to-analog conversion.
 
Very old ADCs used in recording tend to have rising noise floor in high end of audio band. In order to eliminate the noise signal, pre-emphasis (high-pass filter) is applied to analog signal before digitized by the ADC into digital format, and corresponding de-emphasis (low-pass filter) is applied to the analog signal after being converted by DAC. This pre-emphasis/de-emphasis process is no longer needed for modern ADC/DAC though many DAC (include WM8740) still retain such feature.
 
In essence, the objective is to remove default 32kHz low-pass filter at analog output of WM8740 DAC after conversion. It removes attenuation of harmonic frequencies higher than 32kHz and high-end roll off to brighten the sound. Old technology used with wrong intent to advantage of modern implementation.
 
I may either try out this simple mod (solder one end of wire between the two pins and the other end to ground) on existing WM8740 module or purchase the new WM8741 module from Audio-GD.

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

 

According to Wolfson's data sheet for WM8740 DAC, pin 26 (MC/DM0) and pin 27 (MD/DM1) are hardware logic inputs used in setting de-emphasis at various frequencies (off/48kHz/44.1kHz/32kHz correspond to 2-bit control values of 00/01/10/11). Since these two pins are pulled up to logic high internally, the default setting is de-emphasis applied at 32kHz frequency. When these two pins are pulled down to logic low (ground voltage), de-emphasis is turned off and thus no built-in low-pass filter is applied to analog output signal after digital-to-analog conversion.
 
Very old ADCs used in recording tend to have rising noise floor in high end of audio band. In order to eliminate the noise signal, pre-emphasis (high-pass filter) is applied to analog signal before digitized by the ADC into digital format, and corresponding de-emphasis (low-pass filter) is applied to the analog signal after being converted by DAC. This pre-emphasis/de-emphasis process is no longer needed for modern ADC/DAC though many DAC (include WM8740) still retain such feature.
 
In essence, the objective is to remove default 32kHz low-pass filter at analog output of WM8740 DAC after conversion. It removes attenuation of harmonic frequencies higher than 32kHz and high-end roll off to brighten the sound. Old technology used with wrong intent to advantage of modern implementation.
 
I may either try out this simple mod (solder one end of wire between the two pins and the other end to ground) on existing WM8740 module or purchase the new WM8741 module from Audio-GD.

Sounds like a good place for a switch?

 

[tongson]

Thanks for the explanation littletree76.
 
My 8740 module it gathering dust so might as well try the mod.

 

[muad]

I'm gonna try it also, the thing is the 8741 is already on it's way but at least this way my old 8740 module will be good for something! I wonder if there is an audible difference between the 8741 and 8740 modules.

 

[tongson]

Mod is a success. Listening to it right now. Definitely brighter and more detailed.
 
Compared to the default AD1852 DAC, the 8740 has a tubey sound.
 
Thanks Kingwa!

 

[tongson]

Quote:

I'm gonna try it also, the thing is the 8741 is already on it's way but at least this way my old 8740 module will be good for something! I wonder if there is an audible difference between the 8741 and 8740 modules.

I doubt there will be any significant difference between the two but if you do please let us know. TIA