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Dominic Harper

17-01-2013, 13:00

Hi peeps. I put this dac together a few months ago now, basically because I was so p****d off with cd reproduction compared to vinyl.
I actually purchased a Chinese dac from ebay for around £60.
It was one of the AK4396 dacs with R core transformer in a nice case just to see if it would be an improvement over the Sony XA20 ES in built dac.
I wasn't much of an upgrade to be honest, so it sat unused for quite some time.
My mate Greg who post on here from time to time suggested I look at upgrading it as he and others were using these dac boards to great effect.
So a tube buffer board, new toroid for the tube buffer, a usb input board and new chassis were purchased. Greg was a great help here. He sourced the toroid, buffer board and usb board.

Once all the parts were here I proceeded to assemble. I wanted to keep the original on/off buttton, so the front panel was milled out with tapped screw holes to the rear also. The chassis had to be drilled to affix the three pcb's using nylon standoffs and stainless allen screws and also the transformers.
The rear panel also was milled to fit the usb inlet.
All in all in took me a couple of days to put the thing together.

Now came the moment to plug it in and switch on. Powered up straight away with no problems, apart from me wiring the toroid to the wrong contact on the on/off switch. This was sorted and all was good.

The stock dac was ok but certainly didn't excite me as much as I thought it would, but adding the tube stage has completely transformed it.
I now have a dac I am proud of that to my ears does things I didn't think was possible from digital. Adding the usb input means I can connect the laptop also.
Vinyl is still top dog, but digital can be incredibly good now and at least I am listening to my CD collection again!

http://i990.photobucket.com/albums/af30/hifimaster/nwa%20dac/DSC02698.jpg

http://i990.photobucket.com/albums/af30/hifimaster/nwa%20dac/DSC02705.jpg

synsei

17-01-2013, 13:16

Very nice job that, Dom. How much did it end up costing you in total?

Dominic Harper

17-01-2013, 13:23

Ta very much!
Original dac was around £60
Tube buffer with tubes around £17
USB board £25 ish
Chassis £65 ish
Toroid £80 ish But Greg sourced it so he may chip in with the price.
Then just some sockets and wiring was done with Gotham coax.

I did end up changing the 5532 op amp to a 2604 as this was holding it back a little but it wasn't night and day.

John

17-01-2013, 13:57

Nice work Dom

Firebottle

17-01-2013, 16:57

Nice construction job Dom.
Have you got details of the tube buffer board for £17?

:cool: Alan

Dominic Harper

17-01-2013, 18:06

Hi Alan,

here you go-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200723854909?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

I did replace the output tubes but quickly reverted to the supplied ones as they were better.

Greg2010

17-01-2013, 19:57

You're pretty much spot on with the prices Dom, although the imported parts have come down in price recently. The toroid was from Canterbury windings, which is worth a mention. Terry does a good service for bespoke windings as well as off the shelf items.

Power rating: 75VA
Primary: 0-240V @ 50Hz
Secondaries: 150-0-150V @ 0.165A rms + 0-6.3V @ 4A rms
Regulation: approx 9%
Estimated dimensions: 92mm diameter away from leadouts x 52mm high
Mounting: standard mounting kit (adds approx 4.5mm to the height)
Leadouts: approx 200mm long flexible (stranded)
Audio grade construction
£75.77

Regards
Greg

Jonboy

18-01-2013, 06:55

very nice Dom, i see the valve board is a pre-amp with a volume control if required

Canetoad

18-01-2013, 08:43

Dom,

I like that case! Do you mind telling me where you got it? :scratch:

Dominic Harper

18-01-2013, 10:17

Everything was purchased via ebay except the toroid.

You could in theory add a volume and selector and turn it into a Pre/DAC.

Canetoad

18-01-2013, 17:58

I've been searching and can't find it Dom. Can you give me a link?

Mike g

18-01-2013, 18:53

So Dom any plans to start producing commercially? Sounds like it could be a very interesting alternative to something like an Eastern Electric dac...

Dominic Harper

18-01-2013, 19:40

Hi Bernie. I can't find the chassis now, but these look very nice for just a little more,

http://www.modushop.biz/ecommerce/cat063_l2.php?n=1

Mike, I had not planned on building any, but if someone wants one I can certainly build one.

Canetoad

19-01-2013, 10:06

Thanks Dom. :)

Dominic Harper

19-01-2013, 10:30

This should work Bernie-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110910437563?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Tim

19-01-2013, 12:05

I like those cases you linked to earlier Dom, could be good for my next music server build - I would like a self contained single unit, containing a Paul Hynes linear power supply. . . . its going to sound superb :D

Dominic Harper

20-01-2013, 12:14

I forgot to mention, this DAC supports 24/192, coax and usb input.
Ta.

bobbasrah

24-01-2013, 18:50

I forgot to mention, this DAC supports 24/192, coax and usb input.
Ta.

I think that is the same DAC a certain gentleman from Dunfermline got beefed similarly with bottles, which seemed to see off some fairly exotic DACs...
Nice neat job..:cool:

brian2957

24-01-2013, 19:03

Yes looks very similar Bob . I've heard that particular Dac a couple of times and it's very good indeed.

bobbasrah

24-01-2013, 20:05

Yes looks very similar Bob . I've heard that particular Dac a couple of times and it's very good indeed.

Would love to hear it, but rarely back in the UK, let alone Dunfermline these days. Unfortunately with working overseas such a beast is impractical to get through border control, have enough trouble explaining why I have a separate hard drive of music.... :mental:
Someday maybe...:rolleyes:

brian2957

24-01-2013, 20:14

The one I heard was an 'work in progress ' DAC Bob . I believe there is a finished version coming soon which is supposedly better again . The nice gentleman from Dunfermline may be able to enlighten you further .

Ali Tait

24-01-2013, 21:54

The dac Nick is working on at the moment is a new design from the ground up. It shares the same AK4396 chip as the one he built for me, but Nick has designed bespoke pcb's and power supplies himself, as well as all the software. I believe he has just got it to stream DSD via USB.

It will have a valve output stage using 5687's and Sowter output trannies.

I'll be buying one when they are available.

wee tee cee

26-01-2013, 18:00

Ali Tait

27-01-2013, 11:02

You're not the first to ask that!

wee tee cee

27-01-2013, 18:10

Aw shite......would some strawberry tarts push me up the list!!!!

Ali Tait

27-01-2013, 20:13

Aye, might do!

brian2957

27-01-2013, 20:39

Ma strawberry tarts are bigger than yoors :eyebrows:

wee tee cee

28-01-2013, 16:22

Dominic,
What is the chance of you doing a wee run of these beasties, AOS special so to speak!!!!
If you dont mind me asking, what potential cost could you produce one for...there is quite a bit of work and time involved no doubt?
Just out of interest,like!!!

bobbasrah

28-01-2013, 18:54

wee tee cee

29-01-2013, 17:40

10 billion strawberry tarts at least......;)

Feck!......thats a lot.

337alant

29-01-2013, 17:47

Nice job Dominic there are quite a few nice Dacs on ebay and Ive tried a few

This one I paid £39 for 3 years ago and just got round to putting in a case last year with a transformer from Canterbury windings ( excellent) and it was really very nice and knocked my Dacmajic off its shelf, the treble was a bit hard but I replaced the output caps with wet tants and that was just what it needed, so for the price of them its worth experimenting with them :)

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh290/337alant/dac3.jpg

Im presently using a M2 Tech Young dac which I got cheap second hand so I knocked up my own power supply and that is nice but not that much in it between the £39 Dac :eek:
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh290/337alant/M2Techpowersupply.jpg

I also bought one of these about 6 months ago http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120870273244?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
and its a really well built dac with a nice dual power supply again it sounds excellent and has 6 filters to tailor the sound as you like
Its a close call with the Young dac so again for the price its a bargain really
Alan

Dominic Harper

29-01-2013, 17:52

A Tube output Dac for me is the only way to go.
Those that are interested in me putting one of these together for them should pm or email preferably and I can discuss.
I have an awful lot on at the mo, what with the new phono stage, arm conversions, turntable restorations, and developing my own carts etc etc.

Marco

29-01-2013, 21:11

Nice job, Dom :)

A Tube output Dac for me is the only way to go.

If you're looking for CD to sound as close to vinyl as possible, you should try building a TDA1541 S2-based DAC. Those old multi-bit chips make most of today's bitstream ones sound rather lean and 'frigid' - just the opposite of the sound of your lovely Garrard!

Trust me, for 'analogue sounding' digital, and a sonic presentation as close as possible to that of a good turntable, you can't beat TDA-1541 DACs - and you don't need a tube output stage to make them sound 'organic', like vinyl, either... ;)

Marco.