[MikeW]

Hey I was thinking of getting a couple of GEN II Sonicap 0.01UF caps to replace the digital input caps, what do you think of that? Some say they noticed an improvment changing these caps out. Dac is sounding much better now, it's getting there. Still bad distortion/static on 96khz, maybe it has somthing to do with that 45 mhz reclocker, anyone know if runing 45mhz instead of 33mhz crystal will have a negative effect, wonder if they just ran out of 33mhz crystals and threw some 45mhz in there for fun, lol u never know with these chinese manufactor. Does anyone know the email address for Michael @ Teradak? maybe he can shed some light on the 45mhz crystal.

 

[Paul_B]

I thought I would post a few pics showing current state of my valab dac. The various mods are still burning in but am very happy with what I am hearing so far.

Mods include a number of BG FK caps, Caddock resistors, the VCap/Sonicap combo and the DC-30W PS.

This is my first soldering job and I know little about caps, resistors etc. It goes without saying that I would not have got this far without the ideas in this and other valab threads and the likes of Bill and Pat with their excellent pics and ideas. thanks guys.

My next job is to work on the placement of the VCaps/Sonicaps - I just need to spend a bit more time making some room and I'll be able to close the lid.

 

[PatOMalley]

Paul B,

I thought you had to remove the regulators to accomodate the DC30. Yours are still in place.

 

[awkwardbydesign]

I think if you cut the + link, as Michael at teradak shows on his blog, then you can leave the regs. in.

 

[zzodhi]

do you have a link to the blog? Having trouble finding it.

 

[MikeW]

I asked kevin about the static/distortion at 96khz, his responce was, this is a nos dac and will only accept 16/44.1 or 16/48 and i'd hear regular music at the correct input frequency. Though we all know the dir 9001 will accept 24/96 and my old dac works fine at 24/96. Maybe somthing has changed in the MK-1 dac. Anyone else with the MK-1 test 96khz ?

 

[dubai2000]

I really don't understand why so many people like the sound of Mundorf caps. To my ears they always sound harsh and mechanical (worst of all are those white MKPs). Of course your milage might vary.
When it comes to the I/V resistors I have tried Allen Bradley (smooth but not muddy), Takman metal (surprisingly smooth - like butter- and very open), Takman carbon (harsh in comparison the the metal ones - big surprise) and - best of all - those resistors from Texas Components mentioned somewhere above. The latter are the most three-dimensional, extremely open but not harsh. With those I can actually listen deeper into the soundfield so that details which were rather obscured before become more obvious (without any artificiality) - great stuff (again: IMO and YMMV)

 

[PatOMalley]

Mudorf silver oil seem to impart this airy detail thing thru the midrange vs weighty impact. I guess it is merely a change if your used to a weightier sounding cap. And I also suppose that Mundorfs may get edgy if coming after a circuit filled with metal film. My systems falls on the seriously non-etchy side of things so maybe I can get away with it.

Funny about the Takman metal foils. Surprise to me to was the realization of how warm the PRP metal films were - a lot of impact.

Maybe it can happen that the naked resistors in combination with Mundorfs turn harsh ... So stay with a warmer resistor when using Mundorfs???

Hard to know, And hard to always know how you got there. Tricky stepping on the rocks across the creek. Nice grippy sneakers may hold nice on a rock where a guy with hard soled shoes will slip right the hell in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dubai2000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I really don't understand why so many people like the sound of Mundorf caps. To my ears they always sound harsh and mechanical (worst of all are those white MKPs). Of course your milage might vary. When it comes to the I/V resistors I have tried Allen Bradley (smooth but not muddy), Takman metal (surprisingly smooth - like butter- and very open), Takman carbon (harsh in comparison the the metal ones - big surprise) and - best of all - those resistors from Texas Components mentioned somewhere above. The latter are the most three-dimensional, extremely open but not harsh. With those I can actually listen deeper into the soundfield so that details which were rather obscured before become more obvious (without any artificiality) - great stuff (again: IMO and YMMV)

 

[MikoLayer]

Mundorf caps are here!
Any obligatory words of caution before I get my hands dirty? Hopefully I might get to work on it sometime tomorrow...

 

[MikeW]

I hope they fit, the damn things are almost as big as a D-Cell battery hehe, I opened up my dac and looked again and there's not nearly as much room as the picture makes it out to be. Good luck, and some pic's would be nice when it's all done.

Actually I also opened up my older 2.1 dac and compared them side by side, and I think I was mistaken to which one has more space, the luxery version just has so much more jammed into it, reclocker board, bigger power supply and the filter caps, and it's also got larger digital decoupling capacitors, they are about twice as tall as the ones in my 2.1 dac. I also noticed my older 2.1 dac seemed to be put together much better, it looks like a pro job compared to my Luxery version, which in comparison seems dirty, and sloppy. The 2.1 board is very clean, where the 3.0 Version had hair in it, and lots of Flux, and alot more scorch marks, and alot of the caps don't sit flush to the board, and on the actual Dac chips section all the solder looks milky and the PCB has what appears to be dried fluid stians, as if this board where the last one in the box sitting on the docks. (moist enviroment). I guess the Rookie put mine together, perhaps I just expect to much out of china, my Head Direct EF-1 is much much better put together though. (also a china product) My Clock crystals also say Teradak on them instead of Valab like the ones in all the pictures. I know Teradak is the oem for valab products, but untill this point all the valab dac's have had "Valab" enscribed clocks. I can't find much information on 45mhz TCXO's what little info I did find leads me to believe they are for scientific measuring instruments and not tailored for audio.

Dac's closing in on 80 hrs now, really starting to open up and sound better, this pretty much exactly mirror's the way my 2.1 dac broke in, but their are obvious improvments in clairity and resolution (as compared to 2.1 dac), and also bass slam, but it's hard to get a handle on how much of an improvement until the dac's fully broke in.

I wonder if adding a pulse transformer to the coax will have as signifigant a differnce for me as it does for the older dacs without the reclocker board, the reclocker may completely mitigate the need for a coupling transformer, it certainly couldent hurt though.

 

[Ranchu]

From what I understand the exact frequency of that txco is not critical, it varies a lot with different NOS circuits. Kusonoki's was 50 mhz, My gigalab is 33mhz...

 

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[Paul_B]

Pat

A bit of background - when I ordered the power supply from Michael I asked him to send a partially completed board to replace my original board which had a few problems. Given I was ordering a DC30W he removed anything power supply related (or so I thought), and I assumed the board was good to go.

I asked Michael about the regs and he tells me they are "useless there and not an issue". Perhaps he made a modification of some sort before sending through the board. I'll think I'll take a closer look.

thanks
Paul

 

[PatOMalley]

I would just go ahead and remove those.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul_B /img/forum/go_quote.gif Pat A bit of background - when I ordered the power supply from Michael I asked him to send a partially completed board to replace my original board which had a few problems. Given I was ordering a DC30W he removed anything power supply related (or so I thought), and I assumed the board was good to go. I asked Michael about the regs and he tells me they are "useless there and not an issue". Perhaps he made a modification of some sort before sending through the board. I'll think I'll take a closer look. thanks Paul

 

[MikoLayer]

I am going through the earlier pages of this thread, got up to page 16 now.

A couple of questions here:
1) what kind of improvement does replacing generic I/V resistors with Caddocks bring? significant (in your opinion, that is)?
EDIT: Pat answered this on the previous page. Maybe I will work on this if I still have enough energy left in me after the output cap mod.
2) if I am using USB input exclusively, can I skip the DIR9001 mod?
3) I have left my unit to get it burn-in for about a week or so. What is a good way to discharge the caps before working on them?

Quote:

Adam- I recommend that you cut the I/V Resistor and Tantalum Cap out leaving as long as legs as possible. Solder your new parts to these original legs. The board is to delicate for repeated soldering attempts.

I am only going to be replacing output caps for now, would it be better to do it as Bill recommends with those too?

Quote:

Just be aware that when using in place leads with the component cut off, the in place leads get fiddly when you heat them up. Solder melts and they move around a bit. A good trick is put a small bit of solder onto the new component lead, set in place, then heat the in place lead. That will hold the in place lead steady and melt the solder on the new component. As soon as the solder melts pull away.

I see, I will try that on mine