[elvispreasley]

Knew about this DAC for several years, but never had a chance to listen its performance, as by the time I heard about it first - it was not for sale any longer.
However, last week, browsing through the local marketplace, I spotted DAC 2 for very reasonable price. Not thinking long, I made a deal with a seller and few days later the DAC was with me. I've changed the old batteries on a new ones, available from Amazon. Also I found the great suitable power supply (heavy, with transformer and apparently linear) from some Yamaha equipment (obviously the connector needs to be changed), added famous "audiophile grade" 1 kilo door stopper and all I can say - this little boy sounds absolutely amazing! Rich, full body, natural sound with great presents of "magic" in it. Haven't notice lack of highs with my speaker system, but got a great bass boost for sure. Overall, I can highly recommend this DAC for anyone, as it may stop you for quite a long time from jumping from one peace of gear to another, bringing back the true joy of listening and enjoying the music from your audio system.

 

[Haden2866]

Knew about this DAC for several years, but never had a chance to listen its performance, as by the time I heard about it first - it was not for sale any longer.
However, last week, browsing through the local marketplace, I spotted DAC 2 for very reasonable price. Not thinking long, I made a deal with a seller and few days later the DAC was with me. I've changed the old batteries on a new ones, available from Amazon. Also I found the great suitable power supply (heavy, with transformer and apparently linear) from some Yamaha equipment (obviously the connector needs to be changed), added famous "audiophile grade" 1 kilo door stopper and all I can say - this little boy sounds absolutely amazing! Rich, full body, natural sound with great presents of "magic" in it. Haven't notice lack of highs with my speaker system, but got a great bass boost for sure. Overall, I can highly recommend this DAC for anyone, as it may stop you for quite a long time from jumping from one peace of gear to another, bringing back the true joy of listening and enjoying the music from your audio system.

Amen, brother. Welcome aboard.

 

[richard51]

I was in the obligation to replace it.... Not because it is not a good dac.... For the S.Q. ratio/price, and on this scale it is the best..... I pay it new 20 bucks on a bid. It was selling around 300 us bucks at the end or more.... Dont look for a negative review i read it all , there is none.... Its magic come from his clever minimalistic design and internal battery .... I keep it even if i cannot use it now... Buy something else if you own a more than 50,000 bucks system..... It is my advice....Never upgrade before thinking....

 

[elvispreasley]

I was in the obligation to replace it.... Not because it is not a good dac.... For the S.Q. ratio/price, and on this scale it is the best..... I pay it new 20 bucks on a bid. It was selling around 300 us bucks at the end or more.... Dont look for a negative review i read it all , there is none.... Its magic come from his clever minimalistic design and internal battery .... I keep it even if i cannot use it now... Buy something else if you own a more than 50,000 bucks system..... It is my advice....Never upgrade before thinking....

Exactly. Because what's the point? How many battery powered DACs with TDA1543 chip we have on market at the moment? Another words, if you want to get this sound signature in your system - where you have to go to? Considering the fact that this DAC is rarely appearing on eBay or elsewhere. No good reason to sell it, so it's definitely better to keep and enjoy its performance.

 

[goodvibes]

I truly don't understand this NOS DAC infatuation. I was a user of R2R DACs for a long, long time but that's no longer a big deal and all of a sudden, it becomes a thing. It's like vinyl. I always preferred it to CD and still have a Linn/Aro etc combo but 24 bit digital done right...

 

[richard51]

I truly don't understand this NOS DAC infatuation. I was a user of R2R DACs for a long, long time but that's no longer a big deal and all of a sudden, it becomes a thing. It's like vinyl. I always preferred it to CD and still have a Linn/Aro etc combo but 24 bit digital done right...

I dont give a damn about NOS....

It is not a NOS infatuation, it is the ratio S.Q. /price , on this scale the SPS effective quality/price is over the roof... At his beginnings it was sold around 100 bucks....

 

[elvispreasley]

I truly don't understand this NOS DAC infatuation. I was a user of R2R DACs for a long, long time but that's no longer a big deal and all of a sudden, it becomes a thing. It's like vinyl. I always preferred it to CD and still have a Linn/Aro etc combo but 24 bit digital done right...

There is no exact answer of why NOS DACs should be better then OS ones. Also there is no even a point so far that NOS DACs are something special at all. Its all about some particular implementation of some particular audio chip, in terms of DAC technology. TDA1543 was and still is one of the very special chips, which were highly known for it's "musicality". I've read quite a few cases, when the people, who have huge experience of listening TOTL DACs, says that the best what they heard so far was the DAC, based on TDA1543 audio chip. Of course that was not this particular DAC, but the fact still remains.
This particular device is quite good implementation of TDA1543 based DAC concept. It sound reach, big, full body and very "musical". Take out of the consideration it's price tag and we can easily find a scenario - to compare the sound of this DAC to the equipment 5-10 times more expensive. Because it easily gives the sound, a lot of people may enjoy to listen. It's just so pleasant, that I personally don't want to analyze it to much

 

[richard51]

I thought the same...

There is no exact answer of why NOS DACs should be better then OS ones. Also there is no even a point so far that NOS DACs are something special at all. Its all about some particular implementation of some particular audio chip, in terms of DAC technology. TDA1543 was and still is one of the very special chips, which were highly known for it's "musicality". I've read quite a few cases, when the people, who have huge experience of listening TOTL DACs, says that the best what they heard so far was the DAC, based on TDA1543 audio chip. Of course that was not this particular DAC, but the fact still remains.
This particular device is quite good implementation of TDA1543 based DAC concept. It sound reach, big, full body and very "musical". Take out of the consideration it's price tag and we can easily find a scenario - to compare the sound of this DAC to the equipment 5-10 times more expensive. Because it easily gives the sound, a lot of people may enjoy to listen. It's just so pleasant, that I personally don't want to analyze it to much

 

[elvispreasley]

TDA1543 is so magically good sounding chip, that I've read many times an opinion that it's really hard to make the DAC, based on it, which going to sounds bad)
Hifiman 601/603, Shigaraki clay DAC, MUSE 1543, DAC2/DAC3, Lite DAC, Border Patrol, Audio Note 0.1x, SW1X (don't remember exact model) - all of this DACs have major hype in the time, when they were made. There are tons of DACs come and gone with a time, but I feel like TDA1543 will always shine and collect great feedback, no matter of the time and available technologies)

 

[richard51]

Anyway, to improve on an already good dac as the SPS TDA 1543 someone must improve all his other audio components BEFORE buying another dac... Why ? Because the SPS dac is basically flawless, even if it is not for sure the best NOS dac at any price... Then upgrading it without upgrading all the audio components BEFORE, will not be a wise expanse nor a wise move ...It will takes a more than only good audio system to reveal big differences between the SPS aqnd an another costlier NOS dac...

In audio the master key is the S.Q. /price ratio scale, nothing else....

 

[Haden2866]

I was in the obligation to replace it.... Not because it is not a good dac.... For the S.Q. ratio/price, and on this scale it is the best..... I pay it new 20 bucks on a bid. It was selling around 300 us bucks at the end or more.... Dont look for a negative review i read it all , there is none.... Its magic come from his clever minimalistic design and internal battery .... I keep it even if i cannot use it now... Buy something else if you own a more than 50,000 bucks system..... It is my advice....Never upgrade before thinking....

Hi Richard, good to hear from you. I hope you are well.
What has happened to your SPS DAC? Could it be repaired?

 

[richard51]

Hi Richard, good to hear from you. I hope you are well.
What has happened to your SPS DAC? Could it be repaired?

Thanks my friend....

No my SPS is not broken but i cannot connect it now around the audio system dedicated to my new headphone.... I use a less noisy battery dac from Hidizs because i use no more a USB connection , which dac i use also as my files bank and equalizer all in one .... It is also a good dac who complement well my mighty K340 ....

But i keep the SPS because, i think all in all it is a more "musical" dac and i will use it someday with another audio system dedicated to another top headphone... The AKG K340 headphone ask for a very clean or analytical dac.... I will use the SPS with a very analytical AKG K240 DF which will compensate its analytical side with a more "musical" trend ....The balance will be perfect

My very best to you....

 

[goodvibes]

Had it or a variant in various things like the original Naim CDS etc and the 1704 is even better, especially since you can strip the sampler and filters and do your own. Still stellar if that's done optimally. All IMO of course. I'm old and been there. LOL.

 

[Haden2866]

I truly don't understand this NOS DAC infatuation. I was a user of R2R DACs for a long, long time but that's no longer a big deal and all of a sudden, it becomes a thing. It's like vinyl. I always preferred it to CD and still have a Linn/Aro etc combo but 24 bit digital done right...

This particular DAC, and whether it's common to all TDA1543 DACs I can't say, has taken me places that no other DAC I've heard can get close to. I haven't heard anything particularly hi-end, but I have a pretty decent Sigma Delta DAC to compare with (Allo Revolution), and some experience with hi-rez PCM, MQA and DSD.
I also have a heavily tweaked (not by me) TDA1387 NOS DAC that also sounds 'musical, organic, wholesome, analogue' and all that great stuff, but the performance of this SPS TDA1543 DAC is almost limitless, I would say.
Occasionally, and with mine you never know when it might happen, there's something like a phase shift or phase coherence, or something that happens that just lifts it to another level. The listening experience is truly transcendent when this occurs - it's like you are not listening to hi-fi any more. Any concerns about speaker performance, or any other aspect of SQ just dissolve and there's just this music being piped in to nourish your soul. There's clearly a psycoacoustic effect at work - my guess is that your brain is able to 'dial in' to a true stereo field and resolve both channels in 3D without the usual effort, causing a euphoric effect as that part of the brain let's go. It reminds me of looking at a stereogram image, and when the hidden 3D image is resolved you can also see an exponentially increased level of detail in the background.
Anyway, for me, this DAC is special in a way that other mutibit and R2R NOS DACs I've heard just aren't, in my experience. YMMV, of course.

 

[richard51]

Exactly and well said .... And forgot anything else anyway, the ratio S.Q./price is the only scale in audio for me.... And the SPS ratio is over the roof... Is there better dac ? Yes.... But really better and at which price? Very costly....Then it is better to invest many many thousand dollars in new headphone or amplifier or speakers than upgrade an already marvellous low cost dac... Simple....