[Porksoda]

Hey guys and gals (know there are a FEW gals frequenting here...),

I am in the finishing stages of my dynalo, which I LOVE, I've got my new SR-125s, and I am ordering parts for cables soon, so that just leaves the SOURCE! I've got an AV-710 for optical out, and an iHP-140, so it seems to make sense to find some sort of relatively compact, good quality DAC project for both home and semi-portable, or perhaps just break down and buy a commercial one...

At any rate, I feel like I am coming very close to having the audio setup I want, but I need a really good source to top it off. I've not done a lot of looking into DAC design, so I really don't know what's out there in terms of good DIY projects for higher-end stuff.

I am very much open to suggestions for projects

Thanks!

 

[dsavitsk]

A good place to start is a NOS DAC. They are very cheap and sound very good for the money. There are better DACs out there, but you will likely need to put some real money and skill into them.

For particulars, Scott Nixon seems to not be selling kits anymore, but I built one from diyparadise.com and I think it is pretty good -- cheaper and a bit more flexible that Scott's too. Otherwise, I'd check out diyaudio's digital section for ideas. Oh, and while both of the above take coax in, you could build an adapter of some sort, or there might just be an extra usb -> spdif adapter floating around from the group buy

-d

 

[Porksoda]

I have nothing against putting some work and cash into it. I just sold off some tubes so I've got about $500 to work with, and I go to school for engineering so I have an entire lab with soldering stations, etc. at my disposal. I really wanna go for something nice so I can stave of upgrade-itis for a good while.

 

[dsavitsk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porksoda I have nothing against putting some work and cash into it. I just sold off some tubes so I've got about $500 to work with, and I go to school for engineering so I have an entire lab with soldering stations, etc. at my disposal. I really wanna go for something nice so I can stave of upgrade-itis for a good while.

To my ear, you will need to spend 3x that amount to beat a NOS with 8 to 16 paralled chips and a good PS.

 

[Fresno Bob]

Porksoda heres some of the dac chips i hve been thinking of using. I have not picked one yet but maybe one of these would make a good project as a dac for you

PCM1771PW
PCM1770PW
PCM1738E
PCM1737E

 

[skyskraper]

i believe the stock answers are tthe diyparadise.com and the scott nixon (tube so you can use all those tubes u scored from school) NOS dacs

 

[00940]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fresno Bob Porksoda heres some of the dac chips i hve been thinking of using. I have not picked one yet but maybe one of these would make a good project as a dac for you PCM1771PW PCM1770PW PCM1738E PCM1737E

Why would you want to use something as awful as those pcm1770, 1771 ? They are designed for cheap applications.

The PCM1738 is better though but requires a micro-controller, making it uneasy to use for diyer.

The PCM1730 is easier to use. But the new PCM1794/PCM1798 are to be considered too if you want to stick with TI products.

 

[skyskraper]

oh there are also some interesting ones on diyclub http://eshop.diyclub.biz/index.php?c...6d577cb492aa22

 

[Fresno Bob]

00940 Thats what i found in my parts bin...

 

[skyskraper]

what were u using them for before?

 

[Fresno Bob]

Nothing i guess i forgot i had them. and never really knew anything about a diy dac.

 

[pburke]

http://didnt.doit.wisc.edu/audio/dddac16/dddac16.html

about $550-600 in parts - should satisfy your upgrade-itis urge for a while.

the basics of this project are posted at www.dddac.de where you can get the base parts in a kit. All I did is tweak it a little

Peter

 

[randytsuch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pburke http://didnt.doit.wisc.edu/audio/dddac16/dddac16.html about $550-600 in parts - should satisfy your upgrade-itis urge for a while. the basics of this project are posted at www.dddac.de where you can get the base parts in a kit. All I did is tweak it a little Peter

Hi Peter,
I was just at AA reading the thread there about this project.
Nice site you put on for it.
Wondering what changes you made to it, over the standard DDAC, other than adding 8 more 1543's?

I just finished building Peter Daniels 1543 DAC, and am very happy with it. I don't have a high end DAC to compare it to, but I like the way it sounds.
But, now I wonder how much better it would be to have a bunch of parallel DAC's, like you have.

And, apoligies to the original author of this slight tangent.

Randy

 

[Porksoda]

So how do these DIY projects end up comparing to commercial options?

 

[Fresno Bob]

Porksoda from i have read it depends on the part you choose and how you put them together theres low jitter clocks and other tweaks theres the powersupply you use for it theres tube stages ect it's builders choice..