EFN
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2006
- Posts
- 3,034
- Likes
- 21
First thing first, there's not many Head-Fier out there use portable DAP with optical in capability. Largely because optical-in capable DAPs are limited to two models, the iRiver H120/H140 and Edirol R-09HR. And there's a few PCDP that supports them but PCDP is becoming a very niche segment as well.
After dwelling with modded iPods (iMod, GMOD & DIYiPods) for two years, I decided to tread the road less travelled and hence find myself in the transportable rig realm in search of "higher fidelity" out of a portable rig.
Why was this necessary? To migrate from the iMod rig to an even bulkier setup? well here's why:
- If I am going to lug around a three bricks setup of iMod + V-Caps Dock + Amp, might as well lug around a fully functional DAC yes?
- I am 100% running portable battery operated rig and does not have a plan for a home setup. So the one and only rig that I have must be the very best I can find and yet maintain portability
- Most importantly, the DAP + Optical + DAC + Amp has been proven to be superior to any modded iPod setups. This I will explain in details below
What are the options:
- Get yourself an iRiver H1XX series. They popped up on eBay regularly and I have seen even up to four instances within a week. But they are NOT cheap; the price is well above any used 5G iPods. I paid as high as $200 for a used H120. To date I have owned two H120 (one sold already) and two H140 (both fried and one already sold). So I am left with one H120 which is in pristine condition (and hopefully I will remember the bitter lesson not to plug in an 18V power adapter to it like I did with my H140)
- Get your optical cables here. These folks make custom ordered optical cable.
- Buy a portable amp of your choice; this should not be a problem at all because there are tons of choices out there. But it is a good idea to grab the slimmest available like the RSA P-51 Mustang, Xin SuperMini-IV or the Pico...up to you. My first choice now is a MiniBox-E+
- Now get your DAC. The problem is, there's not many portable battery operated DAC available today. The most popular choice was the HeadRoom MicroDAC 2006 and iBasso/MAD D1 (both no longer in production). Most DACs nowadays sport USB input and you're lucky if they have optical in. Even if they do, most likely they will operate on wall wart and no battery option
After doing some intensive searching, there's still hope. This is when I come across these three DACs:
HifiDIY.net Mini1793 SPDIF DAC Board -PCM1793+DIR9001 (Aluminum Box)
HifiDIY.net Mini SPDIF DAC TDA1543 DIR9001 NOS (Aluminum box)
SuperPro 24-bit USB/Coax/Optical DAC (No Longer in eBay active list but available through ALO as well)
But the problem is they are all NON Battery operated and only offer RCA output which is not suitable for a portable rig (but may be a good companion to Lisa III amp)
So, if you want to use them on the move, get this 12V battery pack:
SUPER 12V RECHARGEABLE LITHIUM BATTERY FOR CCTV CAMERA
* Priced at US $17.99, it's a steal because this battery has been proven to power my PCM1793 DAC for more than 12 hours continuously. The battery is rated at 1800 mAH with three cells of Li-Ion bars. Buy from he same dealer as an earlier model I purchased somewhere else was not performing as expected
* The battery comes together with a short patch cable which will work perfectly with the DACs DC in
So there you have a DAC solution for less than $200. BUT the gripe for this setup is that you will have to deal with four bricks now (DAP+DAC+Batt pack+Amp) so it is not going to be a light transportable rig at all. But hey nowadays I see tons of people lugging around over 2KG of DSLR, so why not an audio rig?
[size=small]Going to the dark side...[/size]
But determined to carry only 3 bricks, and against all hope - I actually expect my transportable to be POCKETABLE
- So I DIYed the DAC and Battery Pack into a singular unit which will be half the thickness of both combined.
I purchased two DAC kit (Mini1793-SPDIF-DAC-Board-PCM1793-DIR9001) from the eBay seller chenxueqian_cn2 (Clark). He's a jolly guy who responded fast to all of my queries and accommodate my requests right on the dot. I requested that he remove the Coaxial Jack, Selector Switch and RCA Jacks from the 2nd board because I don't need them.
Next, I purchased a Hammond aluminum box which is long enough to accommodate both the battery and DAC board. The model is 1455J1601 purchased from mouser.com
I don't want to elaborate too much on the DIY details but the finished product looked like this:
The DAC board with some modifications of my own. The three cells 12 battery is now hard wired directly to the board and have recharging capability via a DC in jack at the back
Ready for action!
The mod include:
- OPA2134PA swapped out for an AD8620
- Hard wired the Analogue out using 0.6mm Pure Solid Core 5N Silver wire
- Japanese 3.5mm Female Jack
- Relocated leds
[size=small]Now on to the sound[/size]
As I mentioned earlier, I have extensive experience with iMod and DIYiPod setups. To date I have used 4G RWA iMod, 5 & 5.5G iMods, 5.5G DIYiPods, 5G GMOD and an iPod Mini DIYmod. All using the same concept of removing and bypassing the crappy internal caps for higher grade make. There's no need for me to elaborate on iMod/DIYiPod SQ, it has been discussed to death all over the forum and the majority agreed that they claim the crown for DAP+Amp category.
So how does this DAP+Optical+DAC+Amp fares against an iMod/DIYiPod rig? I have very limited experience with external DACs but over a year ago I was fortunate enough to listen to a Benchmark DAC1 at a local Head-Fier meet. It dawned to me that there's much that I am missing with my iMod rig which I dearly loved at that time. DAC1 was a revelation, the sound was utterly clean and pristine. Since then I was determined that I must have that sort of sound on my portable rig and so began the long staggered journey to the path less travelled.
Companion Gears:
* iRiver iHP-120 Optical Out (Rockboxed)
* I use FLAC V3 exclusively on my iRiver DAP
* Pure 5N Solid Core Silver + Switchcraft Plugs IC in three braid configuration IC used to patch the DAC > AMP
* Glass Toslink IC from Bengal LLC
* Highly modified/silver recabled Etymotic ER-4S with 98 oHM impedance
* Three Stones MiniBox-E+ head amp with 6db Bass Boost active
The Details:
- Large and non-constricted sound. In contrast this is very similar to an iMod + Mundorf ZN 4.7 uF rig. The differences are small but the DAC tend to sound more like a full blown CD deck that I used to listen to with my ER-4S
- Much refined dynamics and nuances. With the iMod + V-Caps, it is already an improvement, it was easy to discern delicate nuances but due to the limitation of the internal Wolfson DAC, some delicate passages may become euphonic sounding and congested. Not with this DAC, it is now possible to sustain steady dynamics at complex passages as can be found in most multi instruments tracks
- Full bodied bass response. When you are using a cold sounding IEM like the ER-4S, you gonna need all the bass masses you can get. No shortage of bass response here. Audibly, my amp was able to make use of the improved bass response for a highly charged output. Overall improvement with visceral impact and slam with deep extension which I thought only an iMod can offer previously. Bass decay and reverb was picked up by the amp easily and have brought my ER-4S into becoming a bass monster
(6db bass boost active on the amp). Well this does not necessarily mean that my rig is bass heavy now, I am merely getting back that delicate balance that was missing from the ER-4S
- Deep, intimate mids - yet still very transparent and realistic. Notably the mids are a bit warmer now (effects of AD8620 + MiniBox 6db bass boost) but I would say that the mids now closely resembles Westone signature - something of a crossover between Ety and Westone, interesting yes? I am heavily into Nick Cave, Diana Krall and Morrissey where vocals are the main attraction; the DAC was able to project a very clear yet warm tube-like output which will not fail to impress even the most picky audiophile - this I am very certain of because I find myself rotating the songs over and over again like never before. Most importantly, the DAC does not emphasize on the vocals to generate "Ssss" sibilance unlike iMod 5G. It is still focused yet sibilance has been suppressed commendably. With ER-4S, vocal sibilance can be a real killer and I was relieved that the problem now no longer a threat for marathon listening.
- Treble. Honestly, I do not need any improvement beyond what an ER-4S can offer. But it was a blessing to hear that treble and treble extension is very silky smooth with this DAC. There's significantly less treble sheen and spiky-ness to the sound compared to an iMod rig. This means it is a lot more forgiving and yet extended treble can still be enjoyed to the fullest extent. The decays are more realistic and engaging, one of the most difficult part to accomplish on most rig. Traditionally the ER-4S will have short and curt treble decays, now it is closer to Grado/Alessandro decay style and this resulted in a lush presentation - depending on the listener, this could be a love/hate affair
Soundstage:
There's not much can be said about soundstage on an IEM. The best I can hope for is a non congested presentation with 360 degree imaging. I recall iMod 5G + Mundorf ZN 4.7uF + SuperMicro-IV being the largest sounding soundstage I have ever heard on a portable IEM setup. This DAC combo fall short by a hair in comparison. Perhaps if I switch back to OPA2134PA I can improve the soundstage but I am beginning to like AD8620 tubey output very much
Separation/Details:
This DAC is a clear champ in instrument separation and miniscule details, even more that an iMod can hope to offer. The differences are in very well placed and distinctive separation between instruments and it was easy to follow a bass line or violin passages. They are spaced realistically with very little hint of intermingling which can mask the intended output. Detail freaks will find joy in hearing audible and distinctive projection of trivial sound such as Diana Krall inhale/exhale breath between words, stringed instruments reverb, guitar pre/post effects etc. But this also can be a curse on poorly recorded and mastered songs as I am getting floor noises as well as part of the package. The noises are not from the rig but from the recordings itself
Transparency/Imaging:
This is never a problem with ER-4S and I would expect that pairing it with the DAC rig can only project what is already there. Notably, my current DAC rig is geared for a tube like presentation and at the same time I would want them to remain as transparent as possible - that's asking a lot actually and yet the DAC rig delivers. To me, a good rig must excel in imaging and focus - music is all about immersing the listener into the songs realm and I am getting it from the rig - in short I would expect my brains to be melted with intense musical attack - but mind, they have to be non fatiguing at the same time
Sound summary:
The best thing that I like about this DAC setup is the ability to project a very organic analogue sound. This is very clearly evident as I switch between my DELL laptop and the DAC. The laptop output was very digital sounding even if it is good at the same time. I would say that the DAC offers very modest and realistic output, there wasn't a hint of aggressiveness and exaggerated presentation. If my memory serves me well, I recall Benchmark DAC1 being a bit too analytical and surgical like - if you want to analyze the music that's fine - but it may be too clean for musical purposes. This DAC isn't high end, but who cares if the sound fits the bill and you get musical enjoyment that you can carry all over the place?. The DAC also project a very clean background and as silent as an iMod - no more no less.
There's nothing that I can really complain about this setup sound wise. This is definitely a next step attainable in transportable rig and so I am still aligning myself with the whole experience. It is no longer as convenient as before.
The not so good side:
- For some reason, the DAC will emit annoying noises if the optical link is severed. But once there's an optical signal passed through, it will be as silent as night. I am not sure if this is a "feature" of this DAC or it may be that I have broken something during the DIY transplant
- The DAC itself is not small and practical anymore with the addition of the 3 cells batteries. The overall dimension is very similar to a Lisa III amp now. But hey, nothing is perfect
After dwelling with modded iPods (iMod, GMOD & DIYiPods) for two years, I decided to tread the road less travelled and hence find myself in the transportable rig realm in search of "higher fidelity" out of a portable rig.
Why was this necessary? To migrate from the iMod rig to an even bulkier setup? well here's why:
- If I am going to lug around a three bricks setup of iMod + V-Caps Dock + Amp, might as well lug around a fully functional DAC yes?
- I am 100% running portable battery operated rig and does not have a plan for a home setup. So the one and only rig that I have must be the very best I can find and yet maintain portability
- Most importantly, the DAP + Optical + DAC + Amp has been proven to be superior to any modded iPod setups. This I will explain in details below
What are the options:
- Get yourself an iRiver H1XX series. They popped up on eBay regularly and I have seen even up to four instances within a week. But they are NOT cheap; the price is well above any used 5G iPods. I paid as high as $200 for a used H120. To date I have owned two H120 (one sold already) and two H140 (both fried and one already sold). So I am left with one H120 which is in pristine condition (and hopefully I will remember the bitter lesson not to plug in an 18V power adapter to it like I did with my H140)
- Get your optical cables here. These folks make custom ordered optical cable.
- Buy a portable amp of your choice; this should not be a problem at all because there are tons of choices out there. But it is a good idea to grab the slimmest available like the RSA P-51 Mustang, Xin SuperMini-IV or the Pico...up to you. My first choice now is a MiniBox-E+
- Now get your DAC. The problem is, there's not many portable battery operated DAC available today. The most popular choice was the HeadRoom MicroDAC 2006 and iBasso/MAD D1 (both no longer in production). Most DACs nowadays sport USB input and you're lucky if they have optical in. Even if they do, most likely they will operate on wall wart and no battery option
After doing some intensive searching, there's still hope. This is when I come across these three DACs:
HifiDIY.net Mini1793 SPDIF DAC Board -PCM1793+DIR9001 (Aluminum Box)
HifiDIY.net Mini SPDIF DAC TDA1543 DIR9001 NOS (Aluminum box)
SuperPro 24-bit USB/Coax/Optical DAC (No Longer in eBay active list but available through ALO as well)
But the problem is they are all NON Battery operated and only offer RCA output which is not suitable for a portable rig (but may be a good companion to Lisa III amp)
So, if you want to use them on the move, get this 12V battery pack:
SUPER 12V RECHARGEABLE LITHIUM BATTERY FOR CCTV CAMERA
* Priced at US $17.99, it's a steal because this battery has been proven to power my PCM1793 DAC for more than 12 hours continuously. The battery is rated at 1800 mAH with three cells of Li-Ion bars. Buy from he same dealer as an earlier model I purchased somewhere else was not performing as expected
* The battery comes together with a short patch cable which will work perfectly with the DACs DC in
So there you have a DAC solution for less than $200. BUT the gripe for this setup is that you will have to deal with four bricks now (DAP+DAC+Batt pack+Amp) so it is not going to be a light transportable rig at all. But hey nowadays I see tons of people lugging around over 2KG of DSLR, so why not an audio rig?
[size=small]Going to the dark side...[/size]
But determined to carry only 3 bricks, and against all hope - I actually expect my transportable to be POCKETABLE
I purchased two DAC kit (Mini1793-SPDIF-DAC-Board-PCM1793-DIR9001) from the eBay seller chenxueqian_cn2 (Clark). He's a jolly guy who responded fast to all of my queries and accommodate my requests right on the dot. I requested that he remove the Coaxial Jack, Selector Switch and RCA Jacks from the 2nd board because I don't need them.
Next, I purchased a Hammond aluminum box which is long enough to accommodate both the battery and DAC board. The model is 1455J1601 purchased from mouser.com
I don't want to elaborate too much on the DIY details but the finished product looked like this:
The DAC board with some modifications of my own. The three cells 12 battery is now hard wired directly to the board and have recharging capability via a DC in jack at the back
Ready for action!
The mod include:
- OPA2134PA swapped out for an AD8620
- Hard wired the Analogue out using 0.6mm Pure Solid Core 5N Silver wire
- Japanese 3.5mm Female Jack
- Relocated leds
[size=small]Now on to the sound[/size]
As I mentioned earlier, I have extensive experience with iMod and DIYiPod setups. To date I have used 4G RWA iMod, 5 & 5.5G iMods, 5.5G DIYiPods, 5G GMOD and an iPod Mini DIYmod. All using the same concept of removing and bypassing the crappy internal caps for higher grade make. There's no need for me to elaborate on iMod/DIYiPod SQ, it has been discussed to death all over the forum and the majority agreed that they claim the crown for DAP+Amp category.
So how does this DAP+Optical+DAC+Amp fares against an iMod/DIYiPod rig? I have very limited experience with external DACs but over a year ago I was fortunate enough to listen to a Benchmark DAC1 at a local Head-Fier meet. It dawned to me that there's much that I am missing with my iMod rig which I dearly loved at that time. DAC1 was a revelation, the sound was utterly clean and pristine. Since then I was determined that I must have that sort of sound on my portable rig and so began the long staggered journey to the path less travelled.
Companion Gears:
* iRiver iHP-120 Optical Out (Rockboxed)
* I use FLAC V3 exclusively on my iRiver DAP
* Pure 5N Solid Core Silver + Switchcraft Plugs IC in three braid configuration IC used to patch the DAC > AMP
* Glass Toslink IC from Bengal LLC
* Highly modified/silver recabled Etymotic ER-4S with 98 oHM impedance
* Three Stones MiniBox-E+ head amp with 6db Bass Boost active
The Details:
- Large and non-constricted sound. In contrast this is very similar to an iMod + Mundorf ZN 4.7 uF rig. The differences are small but the DAC tend to sound more like a full blown CD deck that I used to listen to with my ER-4S
- Much refined dynamics and nuances. With the iMod + V-Caps, it is already an improvement, it was easy to discern delicate nuances but due to the limitation of the internal Wolfson DAC, some delicate passages may become euphonic sounding and congested. Not with this DAC, it is now possible to sustain steady dynamics at complex passages as can be found in most multi instruments tracks
- Full bodied bass response. When you are using a cold sounding IEM like the ER-4S, you gonna need all the bass masses you can get. No shortage of bass response here. Audibly, my amp was able to make use of the improved bass response for a highly charged output. Overall improvement with visceral impact and slam with deep extension which I thought only an iMod can offer previously. Bass decay and reverb was picked up by the amp easily and have brought my ER-4S into becoming a bass monster
- Deep, intimate mids - yet still very transparent and realistic. Notably the mids are a bit warmer now (effects of AD8620 + MiniBox 6db bass boost) but I would say that the mids now closely resembles Westone signature - something of a crossover between Ety and Westone, interesting yes? I am heavily into Nick Cave, Diana Krall and Morrissey where vocals are the main attraction; the DAC was able to project a very clear yet warm tube-like output which will not fail to impress even the most picky audiophile - this I am very certain of because I find myself rotating the songs over and over again like never before. Most importantly, the DAC does not emphasize on the vocals to generate "Ssss" sibilance unlike iMod 5G. It is still focused yet sibilance has been suppressed commendably. With ER-4S, vocal sibilance can be a real killer and I was relieved that the problem now no longer a threat for marathon listening.
- Treble. Honestly, I do not need any improvement beyond what an ER-4S can offer. But it was a blessing to hear that treble and treble extension is very silky smooth with this DAC. There's significantly less treble sheen and spiky-ness to the sound compared to an iMod rig. This means it is a lot more forgiving and yet extended treble can still be enjoyed to the fullest extent. The decays are more realistic and engaging, one of the most difficult part to accomplish on most rig. Traditionally the ER-4S will have short and curt treble decays, now it is closer to Grado/Alessandro decay style and this resulted in a lush presentation - depending on the listener, this could be a love/hate affair
Soundstage:
There's not much can be said about soundstage on an IEM. The best I can hope for is a non congested presentation with 360 degree imaging. I recall iMod 5G + Mundorf ZN 4.7uF + SuperMicro-IV being the largest sounding soundstage I have ever heard on a portable IEM setup. This DAC combo fall short by a hair in comparison. Perhaps if I switch back to OPA2134PA I can improve the soundstage but I am beginning to like AD8620 tubey output very much
Separation/Details:
This DAC is a clear champ in instrument separation and miniscule details, even more that an iMod can hope to offer. The differences are in very well placed and distinctive separation between instruments and it was easy to follow a bass line or violin passages. They are spaced realistically with very little hint of intermingling which can mask the intended output. Detail freaks will find joy in hearing audible and distinctive projection of trivial sound such as Diana Krall inhale/exhale breath between words, stringed instruments reverb, guitar pre/post effects etc. But this also can be a curse on poorly recorded and mastered songs as I am getting floor noises as well as part of the package. The noises are not from the rig but from the recordings itself
Transparency/Imaging:
This is never a problem with ER-4S and I would expect that pairing it with the DAC rig can only project what is already there. Notably, my current DAC rig is geared for a tube like presentation and at the same time I would want them to remain as transparent as possible - that's asking a lot actually and yet the DAC rig delivers. To me, a good rig must excel in imaging and focus - music is all about immersing the listener into the songs realm and I am getting it from the rig - in short I would expect my brains to be melted with intense musical attack - but mind, they have to be non fatiguing at the same time
Sound summary:
The best thing that I like about this DAC setup is the ability to project a very organic analogue sound. This is very clearly evident as I switch between my DELL laptop and the DAC. The laptop output was very digital sounding even if it is good at the same time. I would say that the DAC offers very modest and realistic output, there wasn't a hint of aggressiveness and exaggerated presentation. If my memory serves me well, I recall Benchmark DAC1 being a bit too analytical and surgical like - if you want to analyze the music that's fine - but it may be too clean for musical purposes. This DAC isn't high end, but who cares if the sound fits the bill and you get musical enjoyment that you can carry all over the place?. The DAC also project a very clean background and as silent as an iMod - no more no less.
There's nothing that I can really complain about this setup sound wise. This is definitely a next step attainable in transportable rig and so I am still aligning myself with the whole experience. It is no longer as convenient as before.
The not so good side:
- For some reason, the DAC will emit annoying noises if the optical link is severed. But once there's an optical signal passed through, it will be as silent as night. I am not sure if this is a "feature" of this DAC or it may be that I have broken something during the DIY transplant
- The DAC itself is not small and practical anymore with the addition of the 3 cells batteries. The overall dimension is very similar to a Lisa III amp now. But hey, nothing is perfect
