DDDAC1543 MK2 Testimonies

(...upgrading output cap with Mundorf Silver/Gold...)

Hi Doede,

letzte Nacht habe ich gelötet, das hat mir doch keine Ruhe gelassen. Um 2
Uhr war ich fertig. Da schlief hier alles, und ich habe nur probiert, ob
alles funktioniert. Und es funktionierte. Gott sei Dank. Aber was ich da
hörte, war schlichtweg sensationell. Ohne Einbrennen, direkt aus dem
Stehgreif eine solch deutliche Verbesserung im Klang, daß es mir den Atem
verschlug. Ich konnte nur ganz leise hören, und auch nur ein zwei Minuten,
dann mußte ich leider aufhören.

Heute nachmittag habe ich dann die ersten drei Stunden richtig gehört. Es
ist in der Tat abartig gut. Sämtliche Dinge, die man der CD negativ
nachsagt, sind damit weg. Nichts Spitzes, nichts Schrilles, nichts
Aufdringliches, ein bisher unerreichter Grad an Natürlichkeit.

Doede, mit Deiner Empfehlung hast Du mal wieder den Nagel auf den Kopf
getroffen. Und ich bin Dir sehr dankbar dafür, glaube mir. Diese
Verbesserung läßt mich fragen: Kann man das noch weiter treiben, mit noch
größeren Mundorfs und noch mehr Kapazität, oder gibt es da eine "natürliche"
oder "technische" Grenze ?

Da ich weiß, wie sich Dein DAC mit zunehmendem Einspielen noch verbessert
hat, bin ich jetzt ganz nervös und kann es kaum abwarten, was mit diesen
goldenen Versionen noch so alles passiert. Auf jeden Fall ist dies der
absolut richtige Weg. Noch mehr Offenheit, noch mehr Präzision, noch mehr
Detailreichtum, noch mehr Natürlichkeit, und vor allem noch mehr Dynamik.

Toll, ganz toll.
Viele Grüße

Reinhard

Doede:

Thanks for sharing this design and making it available. I bought the basic kit last April and assembled the circuit board and tested it just this last weekend. I was shocked on how good the 1543TDA DAC sounded as well as the PCM2797. I'm still getting a kit out of swapping from one DAC to the other and listening to the different music players on my PC. For comparison,

I have a modified Marantz CD-67SE CD player ,re-clocked with upgraded opamps, upgraded caps, defeated muting circuit, and with RFI filtering. The DDDAC1542mk2 sounds near identical in clarity and sound stage. I can't wait to add a master and slave DAC modules and advance my listening pleasure to next level.

Again, thanks for sharing your remarkable DDDAC design available at such a reasonable cost.

Best regards.

Bill

Hi Doede,
XO Tent Labs arrived this morning
Just finished to mount, now i'm doing a listening session to compare to crystal clock.
At the moment i can say that sound imagine seems more focused and instruments are more separated.
Soundstage increased a lot, a modify that i suggest to everyone !!!
In addition i feel less listening fatigue then before.
Now the combination of PC source, USB DAC with reclocking, fullrange speaker and gainclone amplifier is perfect (before was a little too metallic, for my taste).
Thanks a lot
Massimiliano, Italy

Ha Doede,

Heb net de DAC even houtje touwtje aangesloten,en ben erg onder de indruk
van de prachtige weergave van de DAC.
Eindelijk een cd weergave waarnaar het prettig luisteren is!
Heeft het apparaat nog een lange in speeltijd?maakt ook niet uit,ga morgen
de DAC inbouwen in een fatsoenlijke kast....kan ik m'n audiovrienden ook
eens laten horen hoe goed een nos-dac kan klinken!

bedankt,en misschien dat er in de toekomst nog een USB print en een extra
DAC bijkomen.

Vriendelijke groeten,

André

I finally finished the 11V power supply for the DDDAC. It works great, and is dead quiet.

Very pleased.

Thanks again,

Phil

Hallo Doede,

Het pakketje is binnen, bedankt en gad it weekend hem in elkaar zetten.

Ben erg benieuwd naar de nieuwe DAC en kan hem mooi vergelijken met de
"oude".
Ik kan al wel zeggen dat de oude DAC met een CD-pro 2M LF loopwerk erg goed
presteerd,
veel rust detail tevens veel controle in het laag. het sub laag is erg fraai
en detailrijk met voldoende druk.

De stemmen zijn mooi strak en helder zonder scherpe klanken en slisserig.
Het middengeboed heeft een mooie plaatsing en geeft de instrumenten een
goede plek waarin veel rust aanwezig is.

Kortom erg fraai nu al, en dat op een plankje met geen demping ophanging
etc.

Toevoegingen die nog komen zijn een ebbenhouten ophanging van het loopwerk
tesamen met een puk van ebbenhout.
En een klasse A uitgangstrap, nou dan moet ie wel af zijn op een mooie
behuzing na, maar dat komt wel goed.

Nogmaals dank.

Vriendelijke groeten,
Arjen de Boer
NoNo Cables

Just letting you know that I received the kit 2 days ago and have the USB module and 1 of the towers together. VERY satisfied. My Cavalli-Futterman is really singing now!

Thanks,

Phil

Doede,
The DAC module arrived this morning and is now built and working
perfectly. I am using the BG NX output caps from the single chip board
and all the other caps you recomend including 1500 microfarad at the
tower decoupling. It is sounding fantastic with only 1 hour on the
clock! So much more power and bass than the single chip which was a bit
weak to drive the amp. I have a couple of vitamin q caps arriving
tomorrow and will try them for output. Can´t wait to finish the burn in.
I am extremely pleased with the set up now. Once again many thanks for
making a high end DAC available to the DIY enthusiast for a very cheap
price. Construction is so simple! Non oversampling and no filters is a
different world. Passive i/v is way better than opamps etc. less in the
signal path I guess.
It has been an education to me and a pleasure to benefit from all your
hard work.
Cheers,
Robin

Hi Doede,
der wandler ist fertig und klingt unverschämt gut (-:
jetzt hätte ich gerne einen zweiten für experimente(-:
die bestellung ist im anhang.
L.G.
kai

Ha die Doede,

Zoals beloofd een impressie van de DDDac (SPDIF + 2 x dac-module):

Het (bouw)pakket en de pcb's zijn duidelijk, overzichtelijk en eenvoudig
te monteren. Mbv. de foto's op je site kun je zo goed als alle vragen
beantwoord "zien". Een mogelijke bron van zorg is het opbouwen van de
DAC-toren, of liever gezegd, het weer demonteren: Bij het niet correct
functioneren van (wellicht) 1 van de TDA1543's in de toren, zoals bij
mij het geval was, moet de toren weer afgebouwd worden. Hier werken de
fantastische pcb's een beetje tegen want doordat de montage-gaatjes
doorgemetalliseerd zijn is het niet eenvoudig om zonder schade alles te
desolderen/verwijderen. Natuurlijk hoeft de toren "slechts" gedemonteerd
te worden tot aan de "foute" TDA1543.. (wat overigens ook de onderste
zou kunnen zijn). Met name de koellichamen zijn niet eenvoudig te
verwijderen, wellicht is een advies om eerst de opgebouwde dac-pcb aan
te sluiten en te testen zonder dat de koellichamen van de dac-toren zijn
geplaatst op zijn plaats?
Na het opnieuw opbouwen van de toren voldeed deze en kon worden ingezet.
Na het afregelen van de bias van de parallel gezette 24 TDA1543's op de
geadviseerde 3.85V (wat overigens goed te horen is!) heeft de dac een 48
draaiuren gehad voordat er verder mee geexperimenteerd is. Deze
uitvoering, met 2 x een dac-module, "trekt" een kleine 1.5 Ampere
ruststroom en vraagt dus om een "stevige" voeding. Wanneer dit met een
accu gevoedt zou moeten worden trek je mi. de accu keer op keer "ruw"
leeg en ervaringen hiermee (het voeden van 1 Ampere gloei-draden van
direct verhitte buizen) leren dat een accu dan "slechts" plm. een jaar
meegaat... De dac is trouwens tijdens de inspeelperiode wel vanuit een
12Ah SLA gevoedt. Wat opviel is dat de dac toch zeker een 15 tot 20
minuten nodig heeft om "op klank" te komen... Vanuit praktisch oogpunt
en gezien het genoemde "nadeel" was er voor mij reden om de dac te
voorzien van een netvoeding met als voorwaarde dat de dac niet slechter
moest presteren dan wanneer gevoed vanuit de 12Ah SLA. Aktief
gereguleerd, zoals er op je website een paar voorbeelden van staan, viel
snel af: Het lijkt of de dac dynamiek inlevert. Passief bleek "the way
to go" met als eindresultaat veel "ijzer": Dezelfde rust als bij de
12Ah SLA met zelfs een winst in dynamisch vermogen. Met name de
choke-input is in deze voeding cruciaal...(zie schema).
Hierna de queeste naar de juiste koppel-C. Zoals je al aangeeft is deze
condensator grotendeels klankbepalend voor de dac. De uiteindelijke
keuze zal persoonlijk zijn omdat deze moet aanlsuiten op het karakter
van de installatie. Bij mij waren alle exotsiche papier-in-olies
(Vitamin-Q etc), folie-types (Mundorf etc) en zelfs BlackGate N(x)
(Super E-cap) niet opgewassen tegen een oeroude 0,47uF Wima MKC...een
rood polycarbonaat blokje...
Nu de DDDac is ingespeeld levert deze tov. mijn non-oversampling
solo-TDA1543 dacje meer detail, ruimte en dynamiek zonder het organische
karakter te verliezen... En dit allemaal met standaard "niet audiofiele"
componenten(!). Ook commerciele ontwerpen, tot aan 2000 Euro nieuwprijs,
moesten het afleggen tegen de modulaire DDDac.... en dan zou 60 x
TDA1543 parallel nog beter zijn?
Doede, een fantastisch ontwerp! Ik geniet er elke dag weer van!

Mvrgr
Rob

Dear Doede.
My parcel arrived yesrterday and I, of course, imidiately put it togeather and
add to the my DAC. Result is fantastic. I did not expect such difference.
Imidiately I get even mor punch and dinamics. Microdinamics improved to. On my
Hary Belafonte Carnegy hall CD now I can hear some instruments in background
wich I can not before. Soundstage beter. I can now listen to RCA Carmina
burana CD wich I newer liked because of harsh and fuzzy sound. Need to put
more power in loudspeakers due obviously garbage is cleaned from sound.
When I will have some more budget I will most probably oreder one more module
and finish the story there.
Thanks and Marry Chrismas again.

Best regards.

Vlatko

hi doede,
i just finished the kit from you (spdif 12 tda1543 mkII) and spent my last night, guess how? :))) listening
I just wanted to thank you for creating such a great opportunity for us, silly diy freaks!!!

The sound is awsome , with a bloody huge soundstage. All the instruments are represented as should be,
with very precise coordinates. The front-back sources reproduction is far beyond my expectations! thus mating the soundstage,
giving the sensation of greather dynamic range.
Voices are played like in heaven, making this DAC to sound more HUMAN than expected from a digital device !
Listening at very lower levels in the midhight was an elevated pleasure.

I just used as output caps two Mundorfs pio 0.47 uF, and as IV resistors Dale 1% precision 5watt.
I added also a huge aluminium-copper_core heatsink, supposed to cool a PC processor (whithout the associated fan), mounting the 12 tda's tower directly to
this with the 2 M4X60 screws plus thermal compound between chips, tower pieces and the big sink. The sink is getting 47 C deg after 2 hours at 20 C deg ambient.

Because of using a little woodden box, I was cuttinng the heatsink of Lm317- on the twer pcb - a bit, adding instead some extra small copper sinks to compensate for the surface loss.

I started with a 10 Volt Ni Cd accu, but lasted only about 1 hour . I switched then to a switching 13Volt PS made by Canon (I'm a photographer :-) i have laying around- the
supply you feed a profi digital camera when working indoor, to save your batteries - not a cheap one I guess, but I will measure it soon.
Results are amazing; I hear no significant difference between the switching PS and battery!!!
For example, the difference for this dac with or without reclocking is huge! good clock doede :)

Robert

wow!!

You've given me the upgrade of the century!!
I've read about this kind of enlightenment when reviewers drop this bit or that bit of new kit into their systems.

Black background ... timing sounds right now instead of having to make yourself believe its ok, and hearing detail now that never existed before.

I'm so happy with it I've just ripped out my Arcam DV27 and I'm going to sell it. No point in keeping it now.

So, I'm having fun with it to say the least. Once I've sold the Arcam I'll be back to buy another of these kits from you so I can try out the tweaks and still keep a working unit :-)

cheers
Alistair

Hi Doede,

What can I say other than it sounds greate!
Mik

Dag Doede,

Voor enige tijd terug usb-I2S print bij je besteld en ingebouwd/aangesloten op de I2S bus van mijn zelfbouw TDA1541 DAC. Deze is voorzien van step-up tafootjes en een mu-stag buizentrapje ingebouwd in een Philips CD speler. Doordat de I2S bus ingang van de 1541 nu omschakelbaar is tussen usb ingang of de af te spelen CD, is vergelijken tussen een CD en harde schijf erg goed mogelijk. Het DAC circuit blijft tenslotte hetzelfde. Gewoon tegelijk de CD en de hardeschijf bestand starten en eenvoudig omchakelen. En ik kan niet anders zeggen dan, tsjonge, wat klinkt afspelen van schijf toch verschrikkelijk mooi. Bij de ene opname is het beter hoorbaar dan de andere maar vooral de natuurlijkheid en ruimtelijkheid zijn beter dan vanaf CD. Een ding is zeker, de CD speler heeft zijn langste tijd gehad. Bedankt voor dit moois!

Groet Richard Rieksen

Hi Doede

I just wanted to write and thank you for the DDDAC kit. I finished it yesterday. It was a very nice project to build. The aluminium pieces for the dac tower, in particular, made it much easier to build than I had expected. I am running it from a TREAD psu (Tangent) but may build a better supply before I put it all into a box.

At the moment, the output capacitors are the ones you supplied, the Rload resistors have not been optimised for 3.85V yet and everything is just fixed to an open wooden board. Despite this, the sound is very good and is what I had hoped for when I started reading about NOS dacs. Probably the best way to describe it is that I find myself just listening to and enjoying the music rather than thinking so much about the equipment. I recently finished a pair of two way active speakers (Siegfried Linkwitz’s Pluto design) and although I liked the sound very much, I felt there was something missing. I thought the cd player (NAD C542) was the weak link and your dac seems to have remedied that.

I am going to upgrade the output capacitors. Could you clarify for me – do I need to replace the 100nF film and the 100uF electrolytic capacitor with just a 470nF Mundorf or is an electrolytic needed as well?

I will order the usb kit sometime soon – I like the idea of a computer-based sound system.

Many thanks again.

Regards

Peter Halfpenny

Hallo Doede,
erst mal ein großes Dankeschön und Lob für deine Web-Seite.
Einige Themen, wie NNFB-Endstufen, Aktiv- Konzepte ... beschäftigen mich
schon fast Jahrzehnte.
Aber nun zum DAC:
Ich habe mit dem USB-Bausatz einen DAC, ähnlich deinem ersten
Bauvorschlag in einem USB-Gehäuse aufgebaut (siehe Fotos).
Fast alles hat wunderbar geklappt, nur musste ich feststellen, dass der
PCM2707 die Buffer bei 8 DAC's schon braucht.
Wenn ich direkt betreibe, klingt es irgendwie nicht so "voll und dynamisch".
Einen Brumm habe ich noch, den ich mit einem einfache Übertrager aus dem
KFZ-Audio-Bereich vollkommen beseitigen kann.
Und nun kommt schon gleich die erste Frage?
Gibt es Optokoppler, mit denen man den I2S trennen kann, (bei TNT habe
ich gelesen, dass die alle zu langsam sind) oder kennst du hochwertige
Übertrager, die auch problemlos beschaffbar sind.
Die optische Trennung würde ich vorziehen, damit der versäuchte PC- Gnd
vom Analogteil abgehängt wird.
Und nun zum Klang:
Mit Meßwerten kann ich nicht aufwarten, aber dem DAC in meinem Onkyo
SR702 AV-Receiver optisch zugespielt ist er ganz klar überlegen.
Was soll ich sagen, man ist einfach näher dran !!!!
Beste Grüße
Josef

Hi Doede,

I was away for the weekend so I did not get to listen more........
But, back for a few days, YES your DAC sounds better each CD than what I was
using before......
I continue to listen and find new things in my music.....

Thank you again.

Ron

Hello again Doede,
Just thought I'd let you know that I've completed the build and everything worked first time. Very straightforward, even for me, who hasn't populated a circuit board in a very long time. Good to know I've not completely forgotten how to do it..

Well, what can I say? It's been on for about half an hour playing music so far. I have it wired up to a 12V battery and I've just played a selection of tracks through Foobar after it recognised the USB DAC straight away.

I am between houses at the moment and living in a flat, hence my turntable and all of my vinyl are in storage for the next 6 months, which was my reason for this project in the first place. Strangely, the AC97 sound from my shuttle PC sounded very good through my Musical Fidelity A3.2 Pre-Power amp combination and Mission M71i speakers (a bit of a mish-mash of equipment I know), there is some very strange synergy between the components as the combination already sounded better than most digial audio I have heard.

I was going to do an A-B comparison of the new DAC with the AC97 output, but within 2 songs it was clear that this was a waste of time as the differences were completely obvious. Much wider sound stage, better dynamics, really clean sounding. Instrument timbre like I'd never heard from a computer before, depth, involvement, detail.. All improved massively. I'm a compulsive song swapper, never playing anything to completion, especially when I have new kit to listen to, but not here. Every single song I have heard so far has demanded my undivided attention and made me sit all the way through, such is the level of involvement. It's truly breathtaking and I have to admit that it's way beyond anything I was expecting, especially considering that this is the DAC in its most basic form with no tweaks. I am astounded and extremely excited at the prospect of spending the rest of my weekend listening to MUSIC! It also has that quality that makes you want to play everything loud ;-) as there's just no fatigue inducing sounds in there.

WOW! That's all I can say! And it's not even 'burned in' yet. I guess that the initial enthusiasm will subside in the coming weeks and I'll start to find faults here and there, but the beauty of that is that when I do.. I just order the next stage of the DAC from you.. I'm so happy!

Thank you once again Doede, you have turned someone who has spent the last 15 years being very cynical towards digital audio into a total convert.

I have to get back to my music now.. I hear it calling.

All the best

Richard

My system centers on Maggie 1.6s. I’ve been doing a lot of upgrading and exploring over the past 6 months, often hearing signs really nice sound, but it was not until I replaced my Bel Canto DAC-2 with the 24 chip DDDAC1543 MK2 that my system really opened up – as if my system had all kinds of potential that was being held back at the very source. The improvement in imaging was huge! Vocals and instruments took on a special kind of leanness where they became well defined, with each note occupying its own space, but without sounding lean or edgy.

There was also something present in my other DACs (which also included the Benchmark), that was annoying the heck out of me and was especially noticeable in vocals. I’m still not sure what was causing this annoyance, be it RFI, smearing due to digital filters, IM distortion, or one of the many other possible causes, but I’m happy to say this annoyance disappeared immediately after installing the DDDAC1543!

A lot of exciting stuff has been happening to computer based audio in the past few years, but the USB interface has had its share of limitations. For example, I notice a lot of “pseudo” USB DACs on the market that lack necessary advances like the I2S interface. Not so with the USB version of the DDDAC1543, which contains the latest and greatest advances and truly unleashes the many advantages my computer based audio has to offer.

Many thanks to Doede Douma for taking the time to produce a truly advanced DAC and providing it to audiophiles for a fraction the amount one would otherwise have to pay to achieve this level of quality!

Hallo Doede,

klar, wollte Dir eigentlich schon längst geschrieben haben. Also: Dein DAC
ist einfach sensationell. Ja, ja, sensationell. Im Augenblick habe ich zwar
"nur" den 12er DAC dran, und der wird immer noch besser - obwohl er doch
schon eingebrannt ist ? Oder geht das mit den Verbesserungen so noch
unendlich weiter?

Das, was mich am meisten fasziniert, sind die "Rechtecke". Die bringen eine
bisher unbekannte Päzision, Reinheit, Tiefe, Natürlichkeit ins gesamte
Klangbild, und zwar so, daß es mir schlichtweg den Atem verschlägt und ich
hier sitze - mit Tränen in den Augen vor Glück. Also wahrhaft richtig toll.
Wie Du hasse ich Superlative, aber vermutlich gehöre ich zu den Wenigen, die
in der Verstärkung und den Lautsprechern auch absolute Rechtecke wiedergeben
können... klingt jetzt nach Angabe vielleicht, ist aber so. Und Dein DAC
zeigt jetzt allen Komponenten, was Sache ist und wo es wirklich langgeht...
Also Dein Teil hat so gefehlt, wie das letzte Mosaik im Gesamtbild.

Das ganze klingt jetzt so toll und vor allem so natürlich, daß ich mir
gegenwärtig eigentlich kaum mehr eine Verbesserung vorstellen kann. Ja. Ja.
Ich kann es mir wirklich kaum vorstellen. Insofern bin ich natürlich
gespannt, was der 2. DAC - und später der 60er DAC denn dann noch so alles
bringen wird... Und danach dann USB...

Reinhard

P.S. Ich spare schon für die restlichen 36er DACs.

Hello Doede, hope you are well.

I have managed to get some sleep this week finally, although no thanks to your wonderful DAC ;-). I have spent the last two nights solidly listening to it and having no time for anything else. You know when you have got yourself a great new piece of hi-fi equipment when you find you can re-discover your entire music collection and hear things you never heard before. I'm amazed that even though the first part of the DAC sounded excellent and I was beginning to have my doubts about how much better the next stage would be, those doubts have been well and truly quashed and now I see where the shortcomings of the built in DAC were. The music now seems to breath. There is so much more richness to voices. It's very natural and flows along beautifully. It also has, what I call the "LP12 groove". I owned a Linn LP12 many years ago and I found that the timing of that deck and its ability to get your feet tapping was far beyond any other piece of hi-fi equipment I ever owned. But this DAC has that quality and I find that truly amazing. It really does say to you, "Forget the sound, just listen to the music", and that's what I've been doing for the last couple of nights.

I do have one slight concern though. When I put the board together, I followed the component names on the board. I had the circuit diagram there for reference but I have to admit that I was not taking too much notice of it as the board was very clearly laid out. Which means that I had a few components spare at the end namely the output caps and 100K resistors... Which for the last 2 nights have not been used at all. Would I be right in saying that is why the output is a lot lower than it was with the built in DAC? The only problem I have at the moment is that I am still using naked circuit boards and the interconnects to the amp are soldered directly to the output from the board. I am hoping to source a case to put it all into this weekend where I will be able to mount the output caps and resistors, but my question is... Is it safe in the meantime and what am I losing out on without those components in place?

Once again I cannot thank you enough. I am looking forward to a very relaxing weekend of non-stop music. I also have my friends asking about it, so don't be surprised if there are more orders for DACs from me (as I will inevitably have to build them) in the near future ;-).

All the best
Richard

Well, yesterday I built the DAC and paired it with one of the T-amps. I configured XP for USB output. And...it blows my mind! Beyond excellent! Incredible! And I didn't calibrate voltages or anything yet!

But after a minute it overheated and stopped. I built the chip tower without the two side heatsinks. Surprising how hot it becomes! But today I will finish it properly and look for some Mundorf capacitors too.

So, thanks for your great design! I feel like my system now sounds as good as anything I have heard in the $10,000 stereo store in San Francisco. (Except for their $100,000 reference system, but I believe the price may be too high.) Probably next month I will add a slave module, just for the fun of it.

Hey, just wanted to say some more about the DAC, now that I have run it for a few days.

Initially I used a junk PC power supply for it and my T-amp. Now I have a battery. I got a UPS on ebay for $20, so that's a 12V 7AH battery and charge system for cheap. The sound quality is better. The PC supply had some noise from the fan or something, but of course the battery is perfect. I'm not sure it needs any input capacitors.

When I checked calibration voltages on the board, they were all in the middle of the range already. Is there a precise value that they should be? Would things sound better if I calibrated more exactly?

Configuration of XP and Foobar for the USB is interesting. I set the driver to "use audio features" and "map through this device." It doesn't seem to work without "use audio features," and I use "map" because I like to hear PC audio too... I don't think XP changes the data between Foobar and the DAC, so music quality is not affected...or?

In general, I'm just 100% happy with the sound, and your design is classic. Use cheap parts to produce better signal quality than one expensive part, what a good idea!

The DA works absolutely great !!!!! J I had to make several tests with my « standard » capacitors at the output stage. Finally I am at a nice level, much better than the analogue out of my DVD.

installed the Mundorf silver-oil caps on Monday. Amazing change! The sound moved back some meters through my wall!

This is my first (and only) outboard DAC. But I found a StereoLink 1200 for $20 and compared it. With the normal caps, the two DACs sounded similar (of course, I'm using Anthony Gallo Nucleus Micro sat/sub speakers, not too bad but probably not capable of revealing small important differences) but of course the Mundorfs made it obvious...and when I build new full-range speakers, I am sure I will hear even more.

PC USB audio must become the standard method. No transport errors, instant queue and seek, USB noise insulation...why use CD players at all? I will play only .ape format now, and use a wifi PDA to control the server in another room...only speakers and small DAC/amp in the listening room.

Thanks for the great Mundorf tip. I should probably order more kits to build for friends, when they hear my little system!

Habe mit dem langen Wochenende meinen DAC jetzt fertig gestellt. Hatte Probleme mit einem Modul sobald es angeschlossen wurde hatte ich einen deutlich hörbares Rauschen. Das komische war das man keine Verzerrungen hörte. Also habe ich Stück für Stück die Bauteile gewechselt und als das alles nicht zum Ziel führte blieb nur der Turm über. Habe dann ein IC nach dem anderen abgelötet und siehe da nach dem 7. IC war Ruhe. Bin dann schnell nach Zilles gefahren und habe mir 12 neue TDA's gekauft und den Turm komplett neu aufgebaut auf Anhieb alles korrekt. Hast du schon mal einen solchen Fehler eines IC's gehabt? Bin dann heute zu meinem Hifi Freund gefahren der sich mittlerweile die Martin Logan Summit an seine Anlage gehängt hat. Außerdem hat er sich den Jadis DAC JS1 MKIII den er günstig für 9500,-€ erwerben konnte zugelegt "er gönnt sich ja sonst nichts"! Was soll ich sagen wir konnten nach mehrstündiger Session keinen Sieger besser gesagt keinen signifikanten Unterschied zwischen den DA-Wandlern feststellen und meiner ist ja nicht mal eingearbeitet. Das ist ein super Sonntag ich bin stolz auf mich und deinen Bausatz. Nachteil des Sonntags ich hätte jetzt auch gerne die Summit, vielleicht überfalle ich ne Bank? Aber mein Freund hatt natürlich etwas zu nörgeln es war schon etwas aufwendig die gleiche Lautstärke zu bekommen mein DAC hat eine geringere Ausgangsspannung und er meinte eventuell hätte es am dauernden einregeln gelegen das sein Jadis "Superteil" nicht besser abschnitt. Ich möchte diese letzte "Unsicherheit" von seiner Seite wegnehmen und meine Frage an dich wie bekomme ich ohne Klangeinbuße einen höheren Ausgangspegel hin. Hast du hierfür etwas im Programm oder einen guten Tip? Mit freundlichen Grüssen der fröhliche Hörer aus den Niederlanden Guido

Hello Doede, after a couple of assembly weeks now I'm a satisfied buyer of your "DDDAC 1543 MK2" kit. Performance are so high, compared to the usual sound quality of my equipment! I have posted my experiences with your kit here:

This is still a "work in progress" but, if you are interested, you can use freely my link in your website as an example of customer satisfaction :-) Very soon I will ordered a 4 dac towers kit. Ciao,

IMPORTANT: The information provided on this page is intended as guide for DIY activities and therefore free to copy and or publish. If any one wishes to use any of the information from my WEB site, please make sure to refer and footnote to my URL Link as source! Doede Douma