DAC Chips

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DAC Chips

Postby afterglow » Thu Sep 19, 2013 10:30 am

I'm currently using a TDA 1545A based DAC that I'm pretty happy with. However, due to its limited inputs, I'm considering moving up. The DAC I'm considering uses the Burr Brown 24bit/192kHz chipset. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to buy it online and will not be able to audition. I realize that the TDA could be considered a bit long in the tooth but is the Burr Brown a definite step up? I'm planning to use it with my NAD cdp and to stream iTunes (AACs) via Airport Express.
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Re: DAC Chips

Postby timber715 » Thu Sep 19, 2013 12:30 pm

Dac and dac chips like most gears is a matter of preference imho. With the technology movement I would suggest getting the newer ones like an ESS Reference audio (ES9018) 32 bit DAC (like the wyred4sound dac2).
Depending on the budget, there are good ones locally. There even one on the marketplace right now :lol:
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Re: DAC Chips

Postby rtsyrtsy » Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:06 pm

Are you DIYing a DAC and are selecting only the DAC chips? Or are you selecting an already-built DAC and are selecting a model?

For me, a DAC is the sum of all its parts:

-quality (such as low jitter) of inputs (toslink / spdif being most ubiquitous, AES/EBU is the alleged "professional recording engineer's choice," asynchronous USB which is the buzzword these days amongst the streaming crowd, I2S which I frankly have no clue what it is about :rock: .

-power supplies. I am home auditioning a Naim Supercap. 'nuff said.

-output stages. Op amps are probably the most common. I once had a tubed output stage from Audio Note (thinking of bringing it back) whose higher end options use all silver transformers, black gates, tantalum, etc.

-the chip itself. I was and still am a fan of non-oversampling chips--generally more raw, more energy. I now use an upsampling one and enjoy it thoroughly--generally more refined. Neither is good or bad, none is better than the other. System matching is critical. I was happy with the raw edginess of non-oversampling when I had Conrad Johnson pre and power amps. I now have a livelier, bouncier (integrated) S/S amp so the upsampling DAC works well.

Cheers!
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Re: DAC Chips

Postby detubo » Fri Oct 18, 2013 12:34 am

TDA 1543 non up sampling floats my boat. My tweak is a power supply that can drive a push pull tube amp and with 2 chokes. There is also no power switch just a plug
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Re: DAC Chips

Postby endrik35 » Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:02 am

This is purely subjective but to my ears, the TDA-1541A dual crown gets my vote. This was released at a time that cd players was starting to upstage turntables and Philips made this DAC chip as analog sounding and close to the vinyl sound as possible. . . Regret selling my sony and marantz cdp up to this day:-( it just sounds analog:-)
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Re: DAC Chips

Postby Oldfogey » Fri Oct 18, 2013 12:44 pm

A very subjective what-do-I-know post. I echo the above, and vote for the TDA 1541A Double Crown chip. It works for me. :)
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Re: DAC Chips

Postby endrik35 » Sat Oct 19, 2013 6:32 am

Oldfogey wrote:A very subjective what-do-I-know post. I echo the above, and vote for the TDA 1541A Double Crown chip. It works for me. :)



Thanks for confirming my suspicion! Ha ha! The dual crown 1541's are almost unobtanium that you have to slaughter a Marantz Cd-7 if you're going to build a diy dac! Got a 14 bit tda 1540 dac on my marantz cd84 before. Sounds analog too! ;)
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Re: DAC Chips

Postby Light Dependant » Sat Feb 01, 2014 10:45 am

Hi
Currently enjoying my Ultra Analog 20400 Dac Audio Synthesis DSM. It does not use SPDIF ( what rubbish ) rather BCK DATA and LRCK are transferred as three separate discrete paths. I published info about this in 1997 and i have yet to hear a better digital or for that matter analog front end.
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Re: my recommendation

Postby muypogi » Sat Feb 01, 2014 11:31 am

Newer one carry more detail, like my 32 bit Fostex HP-A7 DAC which is a JDM model from what I know. It uses an AKM chip I believe. Very detailed.

However, in my main setup, I prefer the more organic sound on a relatively ancient Musical Fidelity X-DAC, with an 18-bit Burr Brown chip.

Also very organic sounding was my modded DAC-AH (from Ferds) which used TDA chips with raised voltages to accomodate a passive output (non-op-amp) stage. Medyo mabagal lang tumunog and hrolled off yung highs ng konti.

To be honest, I think a lot of how a DAC sounds is also on the how the output stage is implemented. I also had a Rega DAC, which sounded very nice and "analog", despite having the latest chipset. The outstage of that DAC from what I know also did not use op-amps like my modded DAC-AH.

So you may have an analog-sounding chipset, but you also have to consider the output stage in a DAC as well.

If you want an analog-sounding DAC with a lot of inputs, you may want to consider the Rega DAC which is available locally as well. It's non-oversampling as well, and has the inputs and the more modern chipset.
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Re: my recommendation

Postby Light Dependant » Sat Feb 01, 2014 1:51 pm

Hi
The Ultra analog 20400 audio synthesis DSM implementation was provided with an output stage which looking at the schematic really does little , however i agree - more is less- and you are quite right it does sound better without that output stage.


muypogi wrote:Newer one carry more detail, like my 32 bit Fostex HP-A7 DAC which is a JDM model from what I know. It uses an AKM chip I believe. Very detailed.

However, in my main setup, I prefer the more organic sound on a relatively ancient Musical Fidelity X-DAC, with an 18-bit Burr Brown chip.

Also very organic sounding was my modded DAC-AH (from Ferds) which used TDA chips with raised voltages to accomodate a passive output (non-op-amp) stage. Medyo mabagal lang tumunog and hrolled off yung highs ng konti.

To be honest, I think a lot of how a DAC sounds is also on the how the output stage is implemented. I also had a Rega DAC, which sounded very nice and "analog", despite having the latest chipset. The outstage of that DAC from what I know also did not use op-amps like my modded DAC-AH.

So you may have an analog-sounding chipset, but you also have to consider the output stage in a DAC as well.

If you want an analog-sounding DAC with a lot of inputs, you may want to consider the Rega DAC which is available locally as well. It's non-oversampling as well, and has the inputs and the more modern chipset.
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