A low-cost portable battery powered DAC for that pure vintage "analog" listening experience...
It fits in the palm of your hand, and can be battery operated, so you can take it with you and have your friends enjoy it too !
TDA1543 + DIR9001 + Battery power = GREAT SOUND !
Why did you design this DAC ?
Nobody can be "told" what a good DAC is, you have to hear it for yourself...
After searching myself for the "perfect" DAC, I stumbled on forum discussions about how these "vintage" DACs from Phillips sounded so good.
I was getting a little skeptical about those "natural" and "analog" statements for the sound of those converters, but as so many people seemed to make converging descriptions, I was left with the feeling it was not just a legend...
I decided I had to build one, and try for myself !
As the result was more than surprising... I told myself : wow, I got to show that to my friends...
And what most of my friends said : "can you build one for me ?"
Call that a market study...
Why do audiophiles do not like the sound of current oversampling DACs ?
Oversampling DACs are textbook correct, right ? So they should sound perfect, no ? Well ...
While it is true that oversampling DACs are textbook correct, if you make the wrong assumptions about the human hearing system, you may end up making mistakes, even if you do the math right !
Let me give you a simple example : it is generally assumed we hear the spectrum of sounds, but can't hear the phase.
Now try "binaural beats" on Google and listen for yourself. These clearly show the phase information IS sensed, AND remains present far inside the brain.
So maybe the spectrum-only approach to DAC design is not telling the whole story...
Traditional non-oversampling DACs from the past did not make any assumptions about hearing mechanisms, they just tried to replicate in analog what you fed them digitally as closely as possible...
What are the main features of this DAC ?
And what are the main goals of its design ?
- Extract the pure performance of the last built non-oversampling true 16-bit TDA1543 DAC from Philips
- Optical & Coaxial inputs (leftmost switch on the photo)
- DIR9001 96 kHz SPDIF Receiver (lowest-jitter on the market - 50ps)
- Supports sampling frequencies from 28kHz to 108kHz
(continuous
range, including non-standard frequencies)
- TDA1543 16-bit DAC - the original from Philips®
- Passive I/V conversion
- No Op-Amp - direct output with 2Vpp (will drive any
power amp
well)
- Huuuge capacitors on the output path provides
sub-Hertz cutoff
frequency (<0.3Hz on a 10kOhms input)
- Dual Stage power supply regulation (for a super low background noise level)
- Separate voltage regulator for the DAC and the Digital
SPDIF
receiver (same reason as above)
- Battery-powered with dual 9V NiMH batteries
- Smart battery charger on-board (quickly charges the batteries when depleted, keeps them charged at low current when idle)
- When both power switches are on, the batteries are recharged, and are also used to buffer the external power, completely removing hum.
- Will Directly drive any power amplifier
- Easy to carry around and make it listen to yours friends
- 4+ hours of listening on the batteries alone
Why is the cost so low if it sounds so good ?
Simple is beautiful...
The less you process sound, by adding unnecessary stages, the more transparent result you get.
A minimalist non-oversampling DAC will achieve that goal, giving you great sound, and low cost too.
What are owners of this DAC saying ?
This is the type of ebay evaluations I get about my DAC ...
Includes :
1x Battery DAC board (mounted & tested)
2x NiMH Batteries (one is shown in the picture for scale, two are actually mounted inside)
Note : power supply is not included (any 12V-15V wall transformer will do, laptop supplies are ok too, car power also...)
See also : USB version with always-active reclocker (USB/Optical/coaxial)
Available on ebay.com and also on ebay.uk
Video with detailed explanations on the design of my new USB DAC :
If like me, you have the habit of cranking up the volume knob of your amp just to check if the device connected to it has its power on... don't do it with that DAC ! It's background noise is so low (no kidding) it just will fool you into thinking it's maybe not connected. Pressing the "play" key on your CD transport or favorite PC software will blow your speakers, kill your ears, piss-off your neighbors... How do I know... Well, it happened to me...
Return Policy:
If you don't fall in love with this DAC after listening to 2 or 3 or your favorite tracks with it, I'll refund your purchase without discussion.