New DAC

Ordered one of these to have a play with:

http://diyparadise.com/dackit/1545bdackit.html

It was sent on monday from Kuala Lumpa and landed at my desk this morning.

I already have the Derek Shek dac so once I put this togther it'll be a straight fight, the winner stays.

Similar in principle to the Derek Shek dac but this uses the 1545 instead of the 1543 and features a 80mhz clock on the pcb. It uses decent components and is nicely done. Stay tooned for an update.

 

have fun, just made me think - i had nothing on my Chrstmas list - perhaps i should ask Santa for a decent PSU for my shek nos.......

 

Id be very interested in what you think of it when youve finished it off. Ive been looking at this one for a bit now. Hope you like it.

 

Managed to have a quick play Monica last night. Had to crudely hook it up via an old wall-wart and leave dangling in mid-air!

First impressions are that the output is alot lower than my previous DAC, I had to turn the volume up quite abit to get the same level. Anyway it took about 20 mins to show I already have a winner, I'll be selling the Derek Shek DAC!

 

dangling mid air, powered by a wall wart and its a winner - cant be bad.........

also think you should copyright your new style of 'equipment support' and get it marketed1
Base model = string to hang your kit from, superior model Cryo treated string - its the future!.............

 

Already on to it, phoned Russ this morning. He thinks there might be something in doing a kimber weave with some string in order to regect air-borne nasties. Early prices indicate about £90 p/m. I think I'll put in a case though..........

 

nah -sell the idea to m**a - £90 per foot - then encourage folks to upgrade to hi fi nirvana - '8th base' - for the best in audio support - the floor..................

 

Ahh I like your thinking, though I thought m*** was no longer with us??

 

So you liked TDA1543 based dac, you liked TDA1545 based one even better, wait until you hear a nicely implemented TDA1541

 

Yes.... very good...

 

Well after a weekend of mucho listening Im not sure after all. There's three BG's in there so I'll give it a good run.

 

Any updates on what you think of it? Am trying to choose between this and the Storm Digital 1543. As Thorsten suggested, I could get the 1545 Monica 2 and place it in the case with power supply and stuff of the Storm Digital unit...

 

Not really had a chance to have a proper listen since Sunday, at best its been background music this week.

However, swapping between that and the Derek Shek (1543) does show that the 1545 has the edge, there is more detail nd the soundstage is better, but in all honesty I was hoping for more clear water between the two. Im working on the components settling down over the next few weeks.

Its probably isnt worth buying it if you already have a decent 1543 like I have but for those wanting a new DAC Id go for it.

I shall conclude at a later date.

 

Some (poor) pics of Monica2

 

Looks nice, I always wanted to build something in one of those cool looking cases

How does it sound though?! At the moment this is on top of my list for a new DAC, and will put it in the Storm Digital box.

 

Hi,

The way Yeo chooses to use the TDA1545 may be partially responsible (if he still bossts the supply voltage and output voltage). I would suggest to revert back to the original schematic, not his "improvement" and to live with the low output voltage (if you can). The TDA1545 will rapidly loose sound quality as you increase the Supply Voltage above 5V and the output voltage with passive I/V conversion above 0.7V RMS.

Ciao T

 

The output voltage is very very low as it is! way below that of my 1543, Im not sure it can go lower without being a major issue. I did actually mail him about the output voltage, he told me to turn the amp up..............

 

Hi,

Yes, this an issue with the 1545, it cannot support large output voltages without seperate analog stage. As long as your volume control is not at the endstop, just turn up the Amp.... ;-)

And be aware that to make valid A/B tests you must equalise out the level differences between the two DAC's.

Ciao T

 

Guys, sorry to intrude in this thread, but: is there a design for a 1541-based nos dac some where?

 

No, my nornal listening level was around 8 o'clock on the pre, now its between 9-9.30 to get the same level, so its no problem at all.

As for the A/B testing, all things equal the Monica is the better Dac, not by a huge amount but enough plus Ive just sold the 1543 so it doesnt really matter anyway.

1541 Dac, Ive heard of conversions for 1541 based players but not a stand-alone Dac. Im sure someone like T will have knowledge of such a thing.