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No problem. :)
I can't really help you with headphones as I don't use them much. On the subject of power supplies, I made my own based around a Teddy Pardo SuperTeddyReg. There are some threads about building power supplies that you could read. If you'd prefer to buy something already built then Teddy sells full power supplies but they're not cheap. I would also recommend Paul Hynes. He sells some awesome supplies which some people believe are the absolute best. They're also not cheap but he does do a wide range. They're mostly not listed on his website so you'd need to email him.
If they're all a bit too expensive then you can get cheaper linear supplies. I'd probably ask Stan what he recommends. You just need to make sure that you avoid any that are SMPS (switched mode power supplies). Linear is what you need. Preferably with 1A (1000ma) output or above at 15V. Don't use any higher voltage than this as this will damage the DAC unless you do extra modifications inside the DAC. :)
If you're looking at getting the ultimate power supply setup then I would talk to Paul Hynes about sending your Caiman to him for him to upgrade. Ask him to upgrade voltage regulators (to his design), input reservoir cap (to a higher voltage film cap) and supply one of his power supplies set to an appropriate voltage for his regulators. This really won't be cheap though. ;)
I should also mention that if your Caiman is quite new then you really need to run it for at least 100 hours of music playing time before you pass judgement on it's sound quality. Stan's DACs always take a long time to run in and can change quite a lot over this time. So you may find that the sound improves. :)
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Here's a good power supply at a sane price -
http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/p...er-supply.html
I use a similar one on my Squeezebox Touch, and it was a very worthwhile upgrade. The chap that builds these is a friend and a member of this forum.
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I've just had a quick look on the RS website and they have this linear regulated supply that can be set to between 5V and 24V with a 2A output: LINK
You would probably need to make a suitable cable to go between it's output and your Caiman. Stan might do that for you. I think the picture on the website is wrong. If you look at the datasheet it shows spring clip terminals for the output.
The only problem is it's currently out of stock. According to the UK website it's back in stock in stock next week. I think you will struggle to find a linear regulated supply with a suitably high output current for less than €80. :)
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Hi guys!
Well, I read carefully what you sent to the post, and after some consideration and also, (but not only...), from the point of view of good sense and reasonable price, I decided that the
http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...313#post256313
is the "GO!" for me. It is in the same perspective of StanB advice, (the grant PSU), but I found that this one has a litle extra care of a dedicated DIY, if you know what I mean... It is not the most affordable, but still is reasonable for me. (I also like the looks!, and it counts for me). So I think that I will ask for one in a week or two.
I am someone who likes to decide, but I allways accept other points of view and I can change my decisions if someone opens my eyes.
Now that my decision seems to be taken, (is this correct??), I wonder what other meanfull upgrades can I do inside the litle box of the Caiman - allways at a fair price, of course. Tirna?
Thanks again, for both of you, (It includes Ali Tait. Hi Ali!)
Then I can go on with the choice of an amplifier...
UUFFF!!
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That's a very nice PSU and I'm sure it will produce a worthwhile improvement.
If you decide you want to take things even further then I'd look at improving the DAC's internal power supply. The following things are possible:
1. Upgrade the voltage regulators.
2. Swap the reservoir capacitor to a higher voltage film type of around 10uF to 22uF.
3. Swap the protection diode on the power input for a wire link.
4. Swap the resistor behind the 5V regulator for a wire link
Upgrading the regulators will ensure that the DAC circuits get the cleanest possible DC supply. This mod provides the biggest improvement.
The original reservoir capacitor is a large value (10,000uF I think) 16V electrolytic model. As the standard input voltage is 15V, this capacitor is being run close to it's voltage limit. So a higher voltage capacitor is safer. Also, high quality linear supplies work better when feeding a smaller film capacitor. So something like a polyester film 10uF 25V+ model would be better. You will need to ensure that the lead spacing on the new capacitor is the same as the holes in the PCB. Also make sure that it's low enough to fit in the case.
Swapping the protection diode that's in series with the power input (before the reservoir cap) for a wire link will allow a little more voltage through to the voltage regulators. This will ensure that they are working at peak efficiency. Don't do this until you have upgraded the reservoir capacitor! Also, if you do this you need to be 100% sure that your power supply is the correct polarity otherwise you will kill the DAC. The MCrU power supply will be correct but be careful if you try other supplies later.
Swapping the resistor behind the 5V regulator for a wire link allows a little more voltage to the 5V regulator. Personally I don't think this is worth doing with most regulators as it will just make it run hotter.
Probably the best regulators are those made by Paul Hynes. You will need to ask him which he recommends for the Caiman. The only other regulators I recommend for the Caiman are NewClassD. These may be available from a supplier in France. You need a +12V model and a +5V model. You need to be 100% sure that these are fitted the correct way round!
Tirna may be able to do these mods for you but I wouldn't recommend that you use the Murata regulators that they are fitting. They have caused several people problems.
The other mods relate to the small capacitors around the DAC chip. I would say that these change the sound but don't necessarily improve the sound. So I would leave these until last, as you may not need them if you find you are happy with the sound you get.
You don't need any mods relating to opamps or opamp board capacitors as all of them were replaced by the Gator board. I would recommend you just stick to the power related mods for now. They provide the greatest improvements.
If you don't have any soldering experience then I would recommend that you get somebody else to do the work for you, as some of the mods are quite tricky, especially the regulator swap. Also be careful if you're reading through the forum for info as lots of things have changed as new versions of the Caiman have come out. If you are unsure how to do something then I recommend that you ask in the general Caiman Mods thread where I'm sure someone will be able to help. :)
EDIT: I forgot to mension about price:
The regulators will probably cost around €30-40 each plus postage, the new film reservoir capacitor should only cost about €3 or less, although you may have to buy a bag of 10 depending on the supplier. The wire for the links should only be cheap. Look for some copper or silver wire around 1mm diameter.
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Great!
I can do this, with someone checking things before I turn on, after each upgrade. I'm very used to soldering and I will use the OTA cable from 47Labs. It allways gave me incredibly results. I will post one or two clear photos, after making each upgrade and before feeding the caiman board. I saw the regulators, and I think it will be a very nice upgrade. I will buy the PSU first. It is the most important upgrade, (I think), and with the new PSU, future upgrades will make bigger differences. The Caiman PSU is good, but is obviously a compromisse to keep prices really down, but for the price it couldn't be better! Great great help! Thanks. I will post photos in a good french forum, when time comes.
Just check this out:
http://classdaudio.com/amplifier-kit...ansformer.html
Do you know this? I bet this is better than Hipex modules. I'm tempted to buy one. I allready asked prices with vat, ship fees, etc.
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Hi HighFidelityGuy
I finaly decided that I will do the upgrade myself. It's not complicated and I don't have to send the dac away and wait weeks.
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Hello everyone!
I'm about to make the passive mod for my Caiman, I will try the Clarity Cap ESA first but have a few questions regarding this:
1. My Audiolab 8000A has an input impedance of 20k, so I should be using somewhere around 4uf. I'll try the 3.9uf, no problem here, right, or should I try another value first. If a brand doesn't have the 3.9uf, should I use a lower (3.3uf) or a higher (4.7uf) one?
2. Is there any difference in SQ between 250v or 630v? Can I use the smaller one?
3. What is the largest capacitor that can fit inside the case, or what are the dimensions free for placing a cap of this dimension? Can I use something like an AUDYNCAP MKP PLUS which is 35x63mm or an AMPOHM FP-CA-AU 4.7uf with 30x70?
4. Can I use some other cap 0.1uf in parallel and will I find any improvement?
5. Has anyone used any Mundorf here, like the MCAP MKP or the MCAP SUPREME, or is this just hype and marketing?
Thank you all in advanced for your help!
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1. use the higher value - 4u7
2. use the lower voltage - 250V as they will be smaller
3/4. I can't say as I'm not at home to measure at the moment
4. it's unlikely that a bypass for such good caps will alter the sound, but it's worth trying
5. no but the 2u2 Auricaps I tried were excellent
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Thank you Martin for your kind reply!
Unfortunately, the cheapest I can find for the Auricaps is £28 a piece, so this is too expensive. The ClarityCap ESA cost £4 and the Mundorf M-Cap cost under £3, so I will start off with a cheaper one and later move on to a better one, after going through all the other recommended mods.
The Auricaps 2u2 are 20x22mm, do you recall if there was much free space available after installing them?
