And for my next dac.

[Gieseler Audio]

Maybe my in box is full - I will make some space now.

The DSC DAC looks very interesting. I did follow the thread for a while on DIYAUDIO.

With transformer output & using the Amanero for the front end it is a bit similar in concept to my Gross DAC so that gets me interested. I really believe the transformer output works very well so it will be interesting to see what you think of the sound.

What transformers are you using?

You have done a great job on the PSU side too which definitely has a big effect on the sound.

Are those Salas shunt regulators?

The DSC DAC design is a different approach which I love too.

Well good luck with the project & please keep us posted on how it sounds.

 

 

 

[Gordon Macfarlane]

Hi Clay , the transformers I am using are just the ones that came fitted though I do have a pair of 10k:10k on the way as recommended by Pavel (designer of the 2.5 and 2.6 gen boards). Strangely he recommends the  Chinese transformers having compared them to Lundahl etc however his boards will accommodate a variety of transformer layouts.

The original designer of the DSC1 and HQ player recommends a high quality psu and there used to be a kit available but I couldn't find it. I wanted to reuse as much as possible of my old transport psu as this was well specced to begin with. The transport psu carries about 50,000uf of capacitance and directly supplies 5 v for the input/ usb and 5v for the relay circuit. I get a regulated 11v out as well and this is regulated down again to 5.5v using an off the shelf lt1083 dual supply giving me an individual power supply for each channel. Finally each chn has an individual LT3045 to regulate down to the 5 v required.

I will order another LT3045 for the input/usb board when funds arrive.

Still trying to sort out the Amanero issue but am beginning to think it may just be a problem with the Asio driver

Will report of the sound quality once I have had a proper listen with both cd, and pc but it was astonishing for the time I listened.

[Gieseler Audio]

Hey thanks for the detailed reply & all the info.

I use the LT3045’s as well & they are excellent - just very tricky to solder.

What was the actual problem you were having with the Amanero?

[Gordon Macfarlane]

12 hours ago, Gieseler Audio said:

Hey thanks for the detailed reply & all the info.

I use the LT3045’s as well & they are excellent - just very tricky to solder.

What was the actual problem you were having with the Amanero?

Hi Clay , have not tried doing any SMD soldering yet so I get my LT3045'S from here : http://www.ldovr.com/product-p/lt3045-a.htm

Have to go out shortly so will answer further later on.

[Batty]

SMD soldering is fun to say the least, get your tweezers out and a decent maggie lamp or microscope if possible.

[Gieseler Audio]

Yes the boards from Ldovr.com look really good.

The gap between the pins on the LT3045 is tiny & quite challenging  when hand soldering.

I’m just playing with the reflow oven technique at the moment & it certainly looks promising.

[Gordon Macfarlane]

12 hours ago, Gieseler Audio said:

Yes the boards from Ldovr.com look really good.

The gap between the pins on the LT3045 is tiny & quite challenging  when hand soldering.

I’m just playing with the reflow oven technique at the moment & it certainly looks promising.

Thanks Clay.

Question, I note on the diyaudio forum that they appear to supply power to the 3045 board at it's inputs , they remove the first e-cap on the dac board but only appear to connect the +ve output of the board to the +ve terminal of the removed cap. I am assuming that they have connected the ground input of the 3045 board to the dac board at the dac boards gnd terminal and connected the gnd of the dac board to the input gnd of the 3045 board, ie the gnd of the 3045 board doesn't need to be connected at both ends?

[Gieseler Audio]

If you want to give me a link to the diyaudio thread I’ll take a look at it.

[Gordon Macfarlane]

Hi guys , apologies about being slow on updates but I am still waiting for a replacement power supply and Amanero board before I can give any useful info on performance.

[Gordon Macfarlane]

Hi guys , still waiting for the Amanero board but installed the lt3045 regs for the left and right chns and running in as I type.

The recommended 10k-10k transformers have arrived but as my desoldering station is broken I will have to wait till I can afford a new one to replace the stock transformers.

So no tests with pc music as yet but using my CD transport into the dac ,upsampling to DSD 256 the sound is most enjoyable; very smooth will a well extended and weighty bass, mids are gorgeous( no grain) , top end is a bit recessed for my taste particularly when compared to my to my diy dual AK4495 based unit.

Again comparing to the AK based dac pace seems a bit slower , timing excellent on both dacs.

At the moment I would say the AK is more lively and the DSC 1 a bit easier on the ears. The dsc1 still has a ways to go with  before I 'sign-off' on it whereas the AK dac is finished given my abilities and wallet.

Stay tuned for a comparo of both dacs connected to the music server and some thought after longer listening sessions.

As usual a big thank you to Clay for yet more advice

Edited May 22, 2018 by Ozcall

[Gordon Macfarlane]

Well that's mildly embarrassing : Was playing the new dac again the other night and was still noticing the rolled off top end. Thought to myself "I don't remember it sounding like that when I first built it". Checked the filter settings to find I had inadvertently changed the setting away from my preferred 'Short Sharp '. Once changed back to SS the roll off disappeared and I was rewarded with probably the best sound I have had on my system that I can remember.

In my defence the dac has 'one button to control all', with a combination of long and short presses to set  mode , input selection , up-sampling level and filter. 

So it looks like my initial assessments were correct  and this is a stunningly good sounding option for not a lot of money.

Once the Amanero board arrives I will report back on how the sound is with my diy music server but given the 'grain free' nature of the dac with cd transport I am expecting big things.

[rocky500]

I have I think the same Desoldering station as you. I think I actually bought it from your recommendation.

If you still need one, you can borrow mine. I am on the 2nd hand piece for it too.

Edited May 22, 2018 by rocky500

[Gordon Macfarlane]

7 hours ago, rocky500 said:

I have I think the same Desoldering station as you. I think I actually bought it from your recommendation.

If you still need one, you can borrow mine. I am on the 2nd hand piece for it too.

Cheers Rob , will pm you tomorrow.

[Gieseler Audio]

Hi Gordon,

well what was the final outcome?

Did the replacement Amanero get the PC input side of things working & how did it sound vs the CD transport input?

I’ve actually ordered some of the Chinese 10k/10k transformers so it will be interesting to see how they compare sound wise to the Jensen’s I use.

[Gordon Macfarlane]

7 hours ago, Gieseler Audio said:

Hi Gordon,

well what was the final outcome?

Did the replacement Amanero get the PC input side of things working & how did it sound vs the CD transport input?

I’ve actually ordered some of the Chinese 10k/10k transformers so it will be interesting to see how they compare sound wise to the Jensen’s I use.

Hi Clay , I still haven't gotten round to ordering an Amanero board. I am using a Singxer F1 board still, feeding the spidf input of the AK4137 over a few cm long coax soldered in place. When I was using the Singxer externally with my AK4495 dual dac and ak4118 input board I found that even short lenghts of coax and plugs destroyed the  performance however I got a hard wired male-male rca coupler and the sound quality improved to an acceptable level. I mounted the F1 internally with it's own dedicated low noise psu in the dsc dac and soldered in the short length of coax and got a great result. I would have used the I2s connections but the F1 would need to be set in slave mode when connected to the AK4137 board and there is no firmware available for that. The DSC dac remains my favourite at the moment and has not been out of the main system since I finished the build and mods. I have found a potentially hi-end Amanero clone that is reprogrammable with  other genuine firmwares but keep spending money on other things as the sound I am getting is very satisfying .

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32897930615.html?spm=2114.10010108.1000010.1.3f0f3108cUSmGR&gps-id=pcDetailLeftTrendProduct&scm=1007.13438.100207.0&scm_id=1007.13438.100207.0&scm-url=1007.13438.100207.0&pvid=178945d4-c880-47e9-b669-053368a996cc

[Gieseler Audio]

Hey  thanks for the detailed reply Gordon.

 The Amanero clone looks really nice.  I’ve been playing around with clocks lately and those Crystek

units perform really well.

 I’m even thinking again of making a USB to I2S board based on the Xmos chip.

I been doing some tests with isolators, reclocking, clock buffers etc & feel pretty comfortable with it all now.

Unfortunately it would cost a bit more than the Amanero clone.

I’m sure if you moved away from S/PDIF to I2S you would get a noticeable audio improvement.

The Singxer F1 actually uses a dc to dc converter to run the back end (eg the S/PDIF chip) so not the best.

Anyway I think that the DSC1/2 is an excellent design especially coupled with the AK4137 like you have.

Well done!

 

[kukynas]

$150 for crystek version? geez, buy the cheap clock version for $85 and solder those clocks yourself, CCHD 575 (better than 957) cost $12 pcs on digikey

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32975757328.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.22.3cf35eadsDFhT4&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0%2Csearchweb201602_8_10065_10068_319_10059_10884_317_10887_10696_321_322_10084_453_10083_454_10103_10618_10304_10307_10820_10821_537_10302_536%2Csearchweb201603_52%2CppcSwitch_0&algo_expid=7e97ca2d-fc33-4db6-b112-7b28ab8986c9-3&algo_pvid=7e97ca2d-fc33-4db6-b112-7b28ab8986c9&transAbTest=ae803_4

 

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/crystek-corporation/CCHD-575-25-24.576/744-1747-ND/5423299

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/crystek-corporation/CCHD-575-25-22.5792/744-1746-ND/5423298

 

[Gieseler Audio]

Yes the CCHD 575 clocks look very good but they don’t have a standby/enable pin like the original Amanero clocks so they are not a drop in replacement.

 

Edited July 6, 2019 by Gieseler Audio

[kukynas]

and do you need them for some specific application?  

[Gieseler Audio]

Yes unfortunately other wise I would be upgrading the Amanero clocks to the Crystek CCHD 575 clocks.

In the Genuine Amanero board the two clocks are permanently connected to the 3.3v rail & then the CPLD chip

sends an enable signal to whichever clock is required. This type of clock uses  “try-state” logic so if it connected to power but the enable pin is low the output is high impedance. It is a very handy feature in a dual clock setup as you

can just parallel the clock outputs & just enable the one you want. The CCHD 575 does not have this feature - just 

Vdd, Ground & output - dam shame.

[kukynas]

 

10 hours ago, Gieseler Audio said:

 It is a very handy feature in a dual clock setup as you can just parallel the clock outputs & just enable the one you want. 

ah ok, if that's what you need then understandable, I haven't checked but NDK NZ2520SD might have enable pin but it's pain in the wood to work with such small clocks

[Gieseler Audio]

Yes the NDK NZ2520SD’s have the enable pin but like you mentioned are extremely small

& difficult to work with. The connection pads on the bottom are recessed from the edge 

so the only way to solder it on a board is with solder paste & a heat gun -carefully!