My new NOS DAC project-TDA151X based

[sumanhomroy]

Dear All...the DAC PCB is ready...we will test TDA1541A and TDA1541A-R1 chips in this boaard and this will not have any digital filter installed...Please note that the PCB is designed and made in house....this is no kit/ board bought from ebay/alibaba/aliexpress or any other place, hope you will like the craftsmanship of this board

 

[saikatbiswas82]

Dear All...the DAC PCB is ready...we will test TDA1541A and TDA1541A-R1 chips in this boaard and this will not have any digital filter installed...Please note that the PCB is designed and made in house....this is no kit/ board bought from ebay/alibaba/aliexpress or any other place, hope you will like the craftsmanship of this board

Wow...this looks awesome.

 

[sumanhomroy]

Thanks Bro...soon the Receiver PCB and Input selector PCB will be ready

 

[saheb11123]

What will be the input? usb? spdif? coax?

 

[sumanhomroy]

We have designed the PCB for the following inputs-

1. Coax
2. BNC
3. USB
4. Optical/ Toslink

Thanks for taking interest in our project.

 

[sumanhomroy]

Hi friends...our TDA1543 based DAC is ready for testing operation, the enclosure of the same will ready in few days for completion, following are the details of the DAC-

1. We have used 4 parallel TDA1543 DAC chip in this design.
2. Received used in CS8412.
3. There is no digital filter added in the DAC network to minimize any frequency loss or cut off.
4. There is no OPAMP in between the DAC and tube out, that means tube out is not used as buffer network but direct tube analog out from the DAC.
5. We have used only one dual triode tube for the tube out, we can use the tube out with 5814, 5814A, 12AU7, 12AU7A, 5963, 5965 etc tubes, the out put voltage tested so far with 5814 is 1.98 V, if more gain is required then we can also use 12AY7. So far we have tested the board with GE 5814A, BEL 12AU7, Mullard 5963, Sylvania 5965, Mullard 12AY7.

So far we have tested with the following sogs-

1. Leonard Cohen- Show me the place.
2. Diana Krall- If I take you home tonight.
3. Eagles- Hotel California.
4. Daft Punk- Random Access Memories- Within.
5.Taal- Taal se taal.
6.Beethoven- Symphony No.5- Allegro Con Brio
7. Acoustic Alchemy- Jamaica Heartbeat.
8. Simon & Garfunkel - The sound of silence.
9. Foxes- Youth (Acoustic)
10. Billy Joel- Lullabye

Sound impression (This is obviously matter of personal taste)- Bass is deep however neutral not overemphasizing, Vocal is absolute brilliant, the way Leonarc Cohen, Diana Krall and Simon & Garfunkel came out was a treat to hear, highs are clear without losing any of the texture. Sound stage excellent with great instrument separation and insight, imaging is 3D(This will vary as per the tube used).

Very happy with the results, cant wait for the TDA1541A to be ready...expecting more from TDA1541A as it is always reffered as the more premium DAC chip than TDA1543...thanks for your encouragement friends...

 

[sumanhomroy]

Oh by the way the source CD player was Marantz CD63 SE.

 

[sumanhomroy]

Dear All...good to post this update after a break..actually I was away from town for urgent work...that's why the delay.Now following is ready and under testing-

1. TDA1541A DAC PCB.
2. Power supply for the DAC board.

First impression- Dual Dac chip performs better than single chip, comparing to TDA1543, TDA1541A is bit linier and natural, sound is smooth as butter, however frequency response might be a little better in TDA1543 ( Or is it for the design?? 4 Dac chip parallel).

IMHO both the chips are worth listening to, and then let your senses decide which one satisfies you the most.

Next up- 1. Enclosure, 2. integration 3. Final testing process 4. comparison with other available DAC's (I can only compare with the DAC's which friends have already, do not expect me compare with the latest here).

 

[saheb11123]

Where are you located in kolkata?
I also did a diy dac maybe we can compare?
Did you use a shunt psu after linear regulation?

 

[sumanhomroy]

Yes we have used salsa shunt regulator in the power filtration module.

 

[sumanhomroy]

Where are you located in kolkata?
I also did a diy dac maybe we can compare?
Did you use a shunt psu after linear regulation?

Yes, we can do the comparison...that would be great to understand how did our efforts go...our DAC is almost ready, we were waiting for the cabinet completion, hopefully by next week we will have the DAC firing...

 

[vktarun]

Glad to see such a nice DIY project . Awesome !!

Regards,
Vipin.

 

[saheb11123]

Yes, we can do the comparison...that would be great to understand how did our efforts go...our DAC is almost ready, we were waiting for the cabinet completion, hopefully by next week we will have the DAC firing...

Hoping to hear back when the dac gets completed.

 

[amit11]

Yes, we can do the comparison...that would be great to understand how did our efforts go...our DAC is almost ready, we were waiting for the cabinet completion, hopefully by next week we will have the DAC firing...

Any further update on the DAC? I know its a old thread, just landed here when searching for NOS.

Amit.

 

[Ulle67]

Try out the Philips d8884. It's made true nos and beats all my other players/dacs.
New Panasonic FC's, silmic II and Takman carbon resistors in signal path, muses02 for I/U conversion and OPA2134 for output buffering. I just use som cheap Van Damme silverplated signal cable inside and this boombox has line outputs. Beats all my other players and the 12 volt power supply makes it very convenient. The noise level is very low and the output filtering is correct. Be careful and don't buy the late version with the Yamaha dac and cdm4 since it is inferior in my opinion. Enjoy your CD's as they was intended to be enjoyed!