[AudioCats]

........ Again the actual caps used were very influential to the improvements. So it might (will) bear fruit to look at the 5v rail.
........

AudioNotes Kaisei, looks to be polarized 680uf/25v.

Not cheap. ($13 each at PCX)

 

[Triode User]

AudioNotes Kaisei, looks to be polarized 680uf/25v.

Not cheap. ($13 each at PCX)

For sure but in the context of a 10k dac a few $13 caps shouldn’t be an issue. And they did sound so much better than the others.

 

[AudioCats]

agree.

I am kind of surprised that the analog rails don't already have kaisei / blackGate non-polar caps.

 

[Reactcore]

To test how my modification compares to a popular external power supply addon to Dave i got the chance to get one of these on my table.

Me and a friend spend serious time A-B comparing the two of them side by side.

On the left the external PSU addon feeding Dave's 5v, +15v and -15v by separated wiring.
On the right the Cap modded Dave as described earlier in this thread

Both units were set to the same volume and configuration and connected to the same source over optical. Then one of us turned his back and the other randomly switched the HP plug forth and back between the two setups
After a pause i listened for longer time period to each of them.

One thing clearly stood out Immediately:
It is very hard to point a difference to the sounds as they both gave meat to the sound bringing authority to the music.
Instruments became even better seperated entities in the soundstage.

It was only with certain tracks and after focussing deeply on different sides of the frequency spectrum i noticed theres a small difference on the grip on bass notes
Where the external PSU seemed to lay focus on about say.. 50hz vs the Cap modded Dave brings the ultra sub low end more to front.

Then i brought one Dave back to stock and combined both modifications in the other and i started listening..

Holy amazeballs Stock sounds so congested missing energy.. its transparency is still there ..nice and open sounding with perfect transient response but it doesnt hit me as much.. less touching my emotions.

Bottom line is that i got my own theory confirmed in that the magic of fuller and mightier sound is gained by making the voltage to the amp section rock solid and this can be achieved by adding low ESR capacitors best placed as close as possible to the internal amp section.

Further theres still the aspect of pushing RF noise back into the mains which a LPS is doing less (better) vs the stock SMPS.
An external amp can benefit from this.

But for solely using headphones straight out of Dave my mind is eased to know im not missing out on more performance..

Thanks for reading my post..
And keep enjoying the music

 

[Somatic]

To test how my modification compares to a popular external power supply addon to Dave i got the chance to get one of these on my table.

Me and a friend spend serious time A-B comparing the two of them side by side.

On the left the external PSU addon feeding Dave's 5v, +15v and -15v by separated wiring.
On the right the Cap modded Dave as described earlier in this thread


Both units were set to the same volume and configuration and connected to the same source over optical. Then one of us turned his back and the other randomly switched the HP plug forth and back between the two setups
After a pause i listened for longer time period to each of them.

One thing clearly stood out Immediately:
It is very hard to point a difference to the sounds as they both gave meat to the sound bringing authority to the music.
Instruments became even better seperated entities in the soundstage.

It was only with certain tracks and after focussing deeply on different sides of the frequency spectrum i noticed theres a small difference on the grip on bass notes
Where the external PSU seemed to lay focus on about say.. 50hz vs the Cap modded Dave brings the ultra sub low end more to front.

Then i brought one Dave back to stock and combined both modifications in the other and i started listening..

Holy amazeballs Stock sounds so congested missing energy.. its transparency is still there ..nice and open sounding with perfect transient response but it doesnt hit me as much.. less touching my emotions.

Bottom line is that i got my own theory confirmed in that the magic of fuller and mightier sound is gained by making the voltage to the amp section rock solid and this can be achieved by adding low ESR capacitors best placed as close as possible to the internal amp section.

Further theres still the aspect of pushing RF noise back into the mains which a LPS is doing less (better) vs the stock SMPS.
An external amp can benefit from this.

But for solely using headphones straight out of Dave my mind is eased to know im not missing out on more performance..

Thanks for reading my post..
And keep enjoying the music

Man. You are making want to do the cap mod so much.

So what was the difference between Farad3 vs Farad3 + cap mod?

 

[TheAttorney]

To test how my modification compares to a popular external power supply addon to Dave i got the chance to get one of these on my table.

A very interesting comparison

To summarize, my understanding of the result is...

1. The external p/s (Farad I think) and your cap mod give broadly equivalent results, with only subtle differences in bass performance.

2. This means that your cap mod is much greater VFM and also much neater because there are no external boxes or cables.
The downside of the cap mod is that soldering is required (therefore some risk) and not 100% reversible (because the solder joints won't be the same as before).

3. But best performance was to have both mods combined. Which was massively better than stock Dave, but not clear how much better this was above each individual mod.

I'm even more interested now what an ARC DC4 p/s would bring to the table in a 3-way shoot-out.

 

[Reactcore]

Man. You are making want to do the cap mod so much.

So what was the difference between Farad3 vs Farad3 + cap mod?

Imo this was very hard to point.
But a fact is that together they pose an even lower combined resistance to signal related currents giving a greater control on the (ultra) low end of the frequency spectrum.

This translates to enormous powerful sound even at low volumes which is a treat for my ears!

 

[Somatic]

Imo this was very hard to point.
But a fact is that together they pose an even lower combined resistance to signal related currents giving a greater control on the (ultra) low end of the frequency spectrum.

This translates to enormous powerful sound even at low volumes which is a treat for my ears!

So will you be getting the Farad3 as well for your setup?

 

[Reactcore]

So will you be getting the Farad3 as well for your setup?

Not at the moment. I guess if i would want to go for a external PSU it would be batteries with 5v and +/-15v out to isolate from the mains entirely.

 

[nkj1]

I'm seriously thinking of adding your decoupling design to my Farad 3 modified DAVE.--- I wonder?

 

[Reactcore]

Since i have a TT2 on my table now for testing the boxed optic link i took the opportunity to deeply compare its headphone stage to the capacitor modded Dave. This because i read everywhere its amp is superior due to the also built in super capacitors.

So in my setup both sets are used with the optic link and fed the same source signal over toslink. On TT2 Fil1 is selected and volumes matched, both crossfeeds off and both Mscaled.

Then while playing swapping my headphone plug forth and back.

Now while listening i focussed on drive abillity, grip and control on my HP's drivers.

I chose mainly tracks with acoustic (double) bass and drums as also EDM, further going to female voice and classical orchestral music that i heard many times.

Impressions
Starting with TT2 i immediately noticed the TT2 has a full mature sound and giving a nice warm presentation.. bass is strong extending equally to sub and to middbass area.
Its easy to follow the low frequency tunes..
Its evident the internal power handling has made progress after Dave's design.

Mid to mid high remains full sounding with quite good noticable reverb and 'in the room' awareness. The textured make of a wooden cello is easy to make out.

On to the treble its with ease reaching to out of my hearing range without noticable rolloff not becoming harsch in the slightest (the optical link helps here too)

Swapping over to Capped Dave i hear some of the warmth disappearing giving a somewhat colder presentation in comparison but the ultra and a little further than TT2 extending bass quickly calls my attention but not equally adding more midbass.. this makes a smooth listen keeping midbassed instruments more separated entities..

The mid area has lots of energy but on some, especially intimide set up music assembles i miss some of the full warmth the TT2 has.. but in contrast this opens up the soundstage, making reflecting sounds on the walls and the orientation of the players better hearable.
On orchestral music this is a big advantage but on blues or EDM this is for me making a kind of thinner signature.

Up to the upper frequencies.. this is where Dave shows its superior transient rendering.
Its the tiniest small details in the background that freely fly around the room reaching my ears. And trumpets.. that schalling vibrations in their metal can touch my bones.. on TT2 this stays warmish and polite.

Bottom line is the TT2 has his strength in some areas over Dave but the warm signature is always there giving a bit fuller presentation.. but when the music becomes really complex it somewhat masks the sound a bit.

The cap mod on Dave gave it more energy overall and brought a mighty low end but didnt changed Dave's colder signature ..well maybe just a tiny bit warmer. Instruments do sound more seperated from each other with better outlined textures.

Dave's amp drive capabillity really came on TT2 level.. now i only wonder if i should go after its midbass rendering .. but its actually very pleasing as it is..

Well thanks for reading yet another post from this mod guy

 

[Somatic]

Man, I wished you lived near me. I would be coming over all the time for these tests LOL

 

[Somatic]

Since i have a TT2 on my table now for testing the boxed optic link i took the opportunity to deeply compare its headphone stage to the capacitor modded Dave. This because i read everywhere its amp is superior due to the also built in super capacitors.

So in my setup both sets are used with the optic link and fed the same source signal over toslink. On TT2 Fil1 is selected and volumes matched, both crossfeeds off and both Mscaled.

Then while playing swapping my headphone plug forth and back.



Now while listening i focussed on drive abillity, grip and control on my HP's drivers.

I chose mainly tracks with acoustic (double) bass and drums as also EDM, further going to female voice and classical orchestral music that i heard many times.

Impressions
Starting with TT2 i immediately noticed the TT2 has a full mature sound and giving a nice warm presentation.. bass is strong extending equally to sub and to middbass area.
Its easy to follow the low frequency tunes..
Its evident the internal power handling has made progress after Dave's design.

Mid to mid high remains full sounding with quite good noticable reverb and 'in the room' awareness. The textured make of a wooden cello is easy to make out.

On to the treble its with ease reaching to out of my hearing range without noticable rolloff not becoming harsch in the slightest (the optical link helps here too)

Swapping over to Capped Dave i hear some of the warmth disappearing giving a somewhat colder presentation in comparison but the ultra and a little further than TT2 extending bass quickly calls my attention but not equally adding more midbass.. this makes a smooth listen keeping midbassed instruments more separated entities..

The mid area has lots of energy but on some, especially intimide set up music assembles i miss some of the full warmth the TT2 has.. but in contrast this opens up the soundstage, making reflecting sounds on the walls and the orientation of the players better hearable.
On orchestral music this is a big advantage but on blues or EDM this is for me making a kind of thinner signature.

Up to the upper frequencies.. this is where Dave shows its superior transient rendering.
Its the tiniest small details in the background that freely fly around the room reaching my ears. And trumpets.. that schalling vibrations in their metal can touch my bones.. on TT2 this stays warmish and polite.

Bottom line is the TT2 has his strength in some areas over Dave but the warm signature is always there giving a bit fuller presentation.. but when the music becomes really complex it somewhat masks the sound a bit.

The cap mod on Dave gave it more energy overall and brought a mighty low end but didnt changed Dave's colder signature ..well maybe just a tiny bit warmer. Instruments do sound more seperated from each other with better outlined textures.

Dave's amp drive capabillity really came on TT2 level.. now i only wonder if i should go after its midbass rendering .. but its actually very pleasing as it is..

Well thanks for reading yet another post from this mod guy

Any other mods that you think you can get increased mid bass from the Dave?

 

[Reactcore]

Any other mods that you think you can get increased mid bass from the Dave?

Actually theres one more on my list.. and thats exchanging the excisting four 470uF capacitors after the regulators for 1000uF and ofc lower ESR.. my current caps are in front of the regulators.

But i must seek and select the best ones that can drop in fit..

 

[AudioDrag]

Actually theres one more on my list.. and thats exchanging the excisting four 470uF capacitors after the regulators for 1000uF and ofc lower ESR.. my current caps are in front of the regulators.

But i must seek and select the best ones that can drop in fit..

Yes, I can absolutely recommend the cap replacement. I did use these 1000µF/25V Nichicon caps for my Dave: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/nichicon/UHV1E102MPD/2598254

They are a bit longer (higher) than the original caps but lead spacing and diameter matches perfectly.

Happy modding!