[akwok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif I commend the honesty on this thread. Initially it was going the "protect my resale" direction. There is just no sense in ripping off another set of customers, this is a good forum.

I did not know my D02 had issues until I sold it. The buyer discovered the problem, and I sent it to someone to fix -- but that failed.

Me and my buyer did eventually sell it off though, to at least try to recoup some money (my cost of trying to repair the thing, which isn't cheap) -- but at a huge reduced price, with big disclaimers saying that it was not functioning properly. I guess we sold it for the price of parts.. who knows what the buyer is going to do with it. I think the next buyer will salvage whatever parts he can from it, I guess. My repair-dude did socket the TDA1543 and plop in 8 new ones, so if the next buyer can't fix it, he can just take those chips out without a hitch.

In the end, my first buyer is happy (he got his money back), the second buyer should be happy (he gets a cheap partially working DAC / partsbox), and I'm happy the nightmare is over.

 

[MiChael.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by akwok /img/forum/go_quote.gif In the end, my first buyer is happy (he got his money back), the second buyer should be happy (he gets a cheap partially working DAC / partsbox), and I'm happy the nightmare is over.

And I'm happy I never bought D02!

 

[chesebert]

x2

 

[Patu]

I'm happy that I bought it. It was a good experience and a good sounding dac.

If I wouldn't have been able to sell it before people started to post about the problems here then I wouldn't be so happy.

Only problem my unit ever had was the slight noise from the transformer when it was charging.

 

[jaydeecee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiChael. /img/forum/go_quote.gif And I'm happy I never bought D02!

Well, just to put my two pence worth in. I think the D02 is a fantastic DAC regardless of what it cost.
I got mine from the previous episode of Ken Law doing a disappearing act only to be shamed by "akwok" into eventually delivering.

I have to say that I have had NO issues at all with my DAC but I do not use it with headphones but in a high end audio system. Also my DAC was designed to run on a 230 volt mains supply and at my request has two LARGE ClarityCaps, SA version on the output. I don't know whether that has anything to do with the things that some guys are hearing.

As far as the sound goes I get deep musical bass to the highest of high freqencies (40kHz ribbon tweeters) It is very easy to listen to (analogue like) and not fatiguing at all but also exceptionally detailed with a huge soundstage. I've had a modded Lite DAC 72 and AH but this one leaves them far behind. If Ken was still around and trustworthy I would have no hesitation in investing in his D01 project at $1500 based on the performance of this D02.

 

[rincewind]

My D02 had the same clarity caps as you jaydeecee and was also configured to run on 230/240V AC - I still had the problems until i had it fixed. Ken has completely disappeared off the face of the earth. He's not trustworthy, and I wouldn't go near him with a ten foot pole. The mere fact that he's copped such a bagging on here now and hasn't piped up at all speaks volumes - he's done and dusted with us, in the same way we should consider ourselves finished with him. I agree the DAC sounds good when it works/is fixed, but we're all well over it now as there's little more to be said.

*shoots this thread in the head*

 

[jaydeecee]

I am surprised that so many people say that they have had problems with their D02. Nobody posted any issues during the time of the "first" disappearence of Ken Law, in fact it was the opposite and everyone spoke favourably of it but then it is, (was) a one man operation and I assume each unit was hand produced so it would be obvious that there would be a fluctuation in quality. I must have been one of the lucky ones. I see there is mention of overheating, well I have run mine for as long as five hour stints and the case was not even warm. I noticed that in the photos posted here that the DAC chips do not have heatsinks whereas the D02 I got has a heatsink on each of the eight DAC chips, this could be a reliability issue as these dacs do run hot.
I'm not sure "rincewind" that your caps were the same as mine as I was the person that asked Ken to change to ClarityCaps from the Solens that he was using. If you look at "patu's" photos you will see the red ClarityCaps that Ken has used in all other D02's but I had the SA (black) version which are about three times the diameter of these and barely fit in the case, but yes, I think you are correct and that this is not the issue of unreliability.

 

[ehlim]

I have another story to tell concerning my Storm D02.

I got it as a demo set after reading so much concerning the D02 in this forum. Unfortunately, it failed after a month. I was promised a replacement by Ken which subsequently things just went bad!

I was angry and hopeless and just wanted to throw away the unit. Then, I decided to make an attempt to have it repaired after finding an experienced repairman.

Fortunately, he was good and managed to have it fixed after a month. It was found with bad soldering & bad quality PCB.

I'm happy again now with my Storm D02 running & the effort is worth it. You develop a feeling with the DAC as you get along & I'm glad to enjoy once again the music!!

Despite of all the sad stories we hear about the company, I believe credit should be given to whoever the original designer of D02.

 

[Ruach]

Hi ehlim,

Glad to know that you have got your unit fixed. I suspected that the problem was not a serious one. It is a very nice looking set.

Good thing you did not throw it away.

 

[adhoc]

Looking at that photo posted up earlier:

- the through hole soldering is done very badly! Ugh!
- the wire-something else connections are done badly too
- quite a few large joints have dull finishes; not a good sign
- the SMD components appear to be soldered on a-OK.

Now, on the other hand... whether I'd purchase something with TDA1543 DAC chips inside it which are not paralleled...

 

[morphsci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by akwok /img/forum/go_quote.gif I did not know my D02 had issues until I sold it. The buyer discovered the problem, and I sent it to someone to fix -- but that failed. Me and my buyer did eventually sell it off though, to at least try to recoup some money (my cost of trying to repair the thing, which isn't cheap) -- but at a huge reduced price, with big disclaimers saying that it was not functioning properly. I guess we sold it for the price of parts.. who knows what the buyer is going to do with it. I think the next buyer will salvage whatever parts he can from it, I guess. My repair-dude did socket the TDA1543 and plop in 8 new ones, so if the next buyer can't fix it, he can just take those chips out without a hitch. In the end, my first buyer is happy (he got his money back), the second buyer should be happy (he gets a cheap partially working DAC / partsbox), and I'm happy the nightmare is over.

Well I guess we should finish the saga then, shouldn't we

Well in setting up my office system (Outlaw RR2150, Sony scd-c333es, Wharfedale Anniversary 7.2's, RSA SR-71, BPT Custom balanced power unit) I was in need of a DAC. The Sony is great with stereo SACD (easily the equal of the vaunted 555 IMO) but it is not up to snuff with redbook CD. The idea of a rechargeable, battery powered NOS Dac was intriguing, many people indicated it did sound nice and the price was right so I jumped on it. To make a long story longer, after 30+ different CD's, most played more than once, I have noticed no artifacts due to the D02. These are all CD's I am familiar with, or if new, I have played them through my home system also.

So as it stands, I am happy with "my" D02 but I didn't purchase it at its original price. However, as long as it continues to sound like it has I would still be happy with it at that price. One caveat is that my office system is not the last words in audio resolution so take that into account also. I'll probably Schlep it home and plug it into my stereo system when I get it completed in the next month or so, it should be interesting comparing it to the output of the modded CD-5. It still looks very cool sitting in the rack and almost everyone who comes into my office comments on it.

So there ends the trilogy ... maybe

 

[akwok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by morphsci /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well I guess we should finish the saga then, shouldn't we Well in setting up my office system (Outlaw RR2150, Sony scd-c333es, Wharfedale Anniversary 7.2's, RSA SR-71, BPT Custom balanced power unit) I was in need of a DAC. The Sony is great with stereo SACD (easily the equal of the vaunted 555 IMO) but it is not up to snuff with redbook CD. The idea of a rechargeable, battery powered NOS Dac was intriguing, many people indicated it did sound nice and the price was right so I jumped on it. To make a long story longer, after 30+ different CD's, most played more than once, I have noticed no artifacts due to the D02. These are all CD's I am familiar with, or if new, I have played them through my home system also. So as it stands, I am happy with "my" D02 but I didn't purchase it at its original price. However, as long as it continues to sound like it has I would still be happy with it at that price. One caveat is that my office system is not the last words in audio resolution so take that into account also. I'll probably Schlep it home and plug it into my stereo system when I get it completed in the next month or so, it should be interesting comparing it to the output of the modded CD-5. It still looks very cool sitting in the rack and almost everyone who comes into my office comments on it. So there ends the trilogy ... maybe

Oh man. I'm the one who blew hundreds of dollars trying to fix that stupid D02! And it still didn't work supposedly. Maybe it's a transport issue after all. Man, you got a nice deal on that.

When it is working (i.e. in my system), it went head-to-head with many DACs and always came out on top. Hope you enjoy it!

Ahhhh. Anyways, you might've scored the deal of the year,

 

[Superpredator]

I have a silver D02 (serial #24?) with heat sinks and non-Clarity Caps that works, as far as I can tell, perfectly so long as I keep the lid elevated off the case (I have two 2x2x3 Lego pieces in four corners propping the lid up to give adequate room for ventilation). I can run it indefinitely with the lid propped like this. If I put the lid on the unit will, within a matter of hours, get serious distortion issues. Obviously an overheating problem.

I have a black D02 (serial #18 or so? - I bought it for the case, primarily) that worked flawlessly for the first 2 hours after I set it up. This one had no heat sinks, but did have Clarity Caps and a couple of WIMA whatevers that my silver one did not have. The sound--even through AC power--was noticeably better than my other D02. I mean, it sounded PERFECT. I could get into the differences but giving an impression of a dead product is pretty dumb. Sadly, the black one hasn't worked since, and removing the lid does nothing for it. Adding heat sinks may... but this project is likely to get messy/expensive so I'm saving it for another day.

In the end, I can say with certainty that a used D02 is seriously reckless purchase. But do I regret it? Not a chance. Even though I have to raise the lid off the case with Legos, I can't imagine my rig without a D02.


Quote:

Originally Posted by rincewind /img/forum/go_quote.gif *shoots this thread in the head*

*beats brains out of this thread with a tuna steak*

 

[rincewind]

Hahaha tuna steak

jaydeecee, the caps in the D02 I had are the exact same big, black large ones you have that completely shroud the rest of the circuit underneath them. I had Ken swap out the Solens for mine as well, after reading about others changing out their caps.

Mate I sold my D02 is over the moon about it too. I think it's a great purchase for what he paid and now that it's been repaired.

*drops a nuke on this thread* lol Lock, lock!