Caiman passive output mod revealed

[Puffin]

No Sorry I meant the 10uf's

[leo]

No Sorry I meant the 10uf's

Sorry I must be confused Its hard to explain things by text so you'll have to let me know if I'm not very clear

For the passive output mod I have only tried two different types of caps so far, first was big polypropylenes and the second was those blue polyester types.

10-47uf should be ok to use

[Puffin]

The next thing is to fit a 47uF non-polarized capacitor between the point on the PCB that was scraped off, and the top side of the Fixed output socket. Make sure that you don't accidentally also solder back the cut pieces of the connector when you solder the cap to the connector!
Do the above for both left and right channel.
I advise the use of some sort of insulation over each leg of the caps. That will avoid any bare wire shorting against another part of the DAC. I left out the insulation in the picture so that the soldering locations are a bit better to see.

So Leo, are the blue caps your version of the passive mod as described by Stan here?

[leo]

So Leo, are the blue caps your version of the passive mod as described by Stan here?

Yes, same mod I just implemented it a little differently to Stan, my version is just temporary for easy comparing of various caps.
I've not tried those 47uf grey caps in the passive mod yet

[Puffin]

Thanks.

[leo]

Thanks.

No probs

I've now fitted some Blackgate NX Hi-Q, these sound a lot different

[AndrewR]

Okay guys, before you get your soldering irons out, leo's post (number 106) inspired me to remove the op-amp board and directly insert the 47uF caps into the PIN3A socket in the board underneath.



From back to front of PIN3A (actually called "PIN3B" on the lower board) the connections are:

o Cap A +ve
o Cap A -ve
o no connection
o Cap B -ve
o Cap B +ve

I happened to find I had some spare 16V Blackgate 47uF (FK Series) - while I've previously had a rough time breaking in BGs in valve amps in the past, these are starting to improve quite rapidly (15 mins now).

The great thing about doing it this way is that I can swap in/out caps to find my favourite - probably a better final result than sticking with the first or second iteration that's been soldered in. Also better for the resale value when upgrading to any lovely future recipe exiting Stan's front door

Just using headphones, but the sound is already more "direct" and far better bass. Also starting to get some more texture to the sound. The volume setting on my amp had to be adjusted from 73/100 to 90/100.

Might consider making a standalone headphone board. Anyone know the name of the PIN3A and PIN4A connectors?

Andrew

[leo]

Nice one Andrew, I was going to do the same , its certainly easier for normal sized caps
Infact I got a pair of 47uf 16v BG FK's which I'll try next.

[AndrewR]

Nice one Andrew, I was going to do the same , its certainly easier for normal sized caps
Infact I got a pair of 47uf 16v BG FK's which I'll try next.

I'm still listening and an hour-in, drums are really now sounding like drums - some heft, body and weight. Rhythm Guitar on Freebird now sounds a lot like it does when ploughing a diamond through a black disk - it didn't get anywhere close before, even with just the fantastic tirna mods (which are still very much relevant).

Andrew

[leo]

I just put the FK's in Didn't like the NX Hi Q's, very soft so we'll see how the FK's go.