Author Topic: DDDAC1543 MK2 (Read 29921 times)

tuyen · « **on:** January 21, 2011, 01:55:37 PM »

http://www.dddac.de/

Upto 60x TDA1543 dac chips. USB/SPDIF interfaced.

(Front end:
USB DDDAC, 5 tower with 60 dac chip in all -No digital or analog filter, no op-amp.
XXHighEnd player in dedicated vista PC.)

tuyen · « **Reply #1 on:** January 21, 2011, 02:13:59 PM »

Or this one which is used on a full GOTO setup. Running 120 TDA1543 dac chips!! Crazy!

ozcal · « **Reply #2 on:** January 21, 2011, 05:39:51 PM »

There really is some amazing kit around T

kajak12 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 21, 2011, 07:15:02 PM »

Quote from: tuyen on January 21, 2011, 02:13:59 PM

Or this one which is used on a full GOTO setup. Running 120 TDA1543 dac chips!! Crazy!

interconnects are a worry too many electrolytics imho

vitavoxdude · « **Reply #4 on:** January 21, 2011, 08:22:17 PM »

Fantasitc links there Mr. T, I enjoyed looking through them.

Maybe a seperate sticky page of good links like yours would be good to have on this site, I know I loved it!

I have been looking for a good 8 or 16 x TDA1541 DAC design if you know where one is.
regards
V

tuyen · « **Reply #5 on:** January 24, 2011, 02:52:42 PM »

No problems V. Happy to share interesting webpages whenever I come across one. Appreciate it if others would too.

I usually just post the links to the current opened threads that it may relate to. if there is none, I'll just create one.

Happy for you to start up a new thread (I can make it to sticky page) with interesting links!

Don't know if any multi TDA1541 dacs out there sorry. I do know of a dac called the Phasure NOS1 DAC. It's a 192k NOS dac running 8x PCM1704-UK chips. It looks very promising. Apparently, paired with his XXHighEnd playback software and connected to the dac via some pci-e interface card, it is the 'ultimate' no-compromoise way of digital 16/44 playback according to few guys over in Europe. I know few of the GOTO-philes in Europe are running the DDDAC1543 (60 or 120 chip version) with the XXHighEnd software. I still have yet to be converted to this. Maybe give it a try one day

http://twogoodears.blogspot.com/search?q=GOTO

vitavoxdude · « **Reply #6 on:** January 24, 2011, 08:02:32 PM »

Hi T

Wow, now they look interesting horns, shame they are MDF. I have never seen an MDF cello, violin or double bass for good reason. I see there was a link to the dueland caps discussing prices etc. Nice. I have just blown another 8K on buying some more JBL's, hopefully that will be all the drivers I will need for quite a while, gosh this habit is getting expensive!

I made enquiries to obtain some big valve power amps (300watters) but at 10K ex factory each I got cold feet pretty quickly so will have to see how the 211se holds up to driving multiple horn bass drivers; I am hoping the >108dBW will be dramatic with 18 watts nudging them, time will tell.

Looking forward to the GTG this coming weekend and making some new friends of the audio pursuation.
rgds
V

ozmillsy · « **Reply #7 on:** January 24, 2011, 09:43:34 PM »

I cant believe those huge horns are being driven by a PC !

ozcal · « **Reply #8 on:** January 24, 2011, 09:53:41 PM »

Quote from: vitavoxdude on January 24, 2011, 08:02:32 PM

Hi T
Wow, now they look interesting horns, shame they are MDF. I have never seen an MDF cello, violin or double bass for good reason. I see there was a link to the dueland caps discussing prices etc. Nice. I have just blown another 8K on buying some more JBL's, hopefully that will be all the drivers I will need for quite a while, gosh this habit is getting expensive!

I made enquiries to obtain some big valve power amps (300watters) but at 10K ex factory each I got cold feet pretty quickly so will have to see how the 211se holds up to driving multiple horn bass drivers; I am hoping the >108dBW will be dramatic with 18 watts nudging them, time will tell.

Looking forward to the GTG this coming weekend and making some new friends of the audio pursuation.
rgds
V

Looking forward to meeting you too V.

zenelectro · « **Reply #9 on:** January 25, 2011, 12:25:46 AM »

Quote from: vitavoxdude on January 21, 2011, 08:22:17 PM

Fantasitc links there Mr. T, I enjoyed looking through them. Maybe a seperate sticky page of good links like yours would be good to have on this site, I know I loved it!

I have been looking for a good 8 or 16 x TDA1541 DAC design if you know where one is.
regards
V

WRT multiple 1541's, I think this is most likely a dead end street, quite a few have tried it already, Thorsten Loesch comes to mind.

1 x 1541 running optimally is a better bet but many things need to be right. Most modern DACs use CMOS internal switching logic,
the 1541 apparently uses differential current steering logicwith bipolar transistors. This is probably one of the reasons it sounds so
analog-like.

As such, power supply and quite a few other things can be made specifically to get the best out of the 1541's design.

That's all I'll say at this point in time.

Terry

tuyen · « **Reply #10 on:** January 25, 2011, 02:14:30 PM »

Hi Terry,

What do you think about the setup of the DDDAC1543 MK2 ? Is the idea of running heaps of the dac chips together beneficial to the sound? It has no 'tubes' in the psu or the output stage, yet there are some guys (mainly in Europe) who swear by it.

Could it be a matter that they just have not heard any better? Or is it a 'No tubes? No chance!' case? haha

I only ask the question as some of the guys I have spoken to have also tried many 'high-end' commercial dacs (AN DAC 4/5, dCS, EMMS LAB, etc..) and found them all unfavourable in comparison. Hence possibley putting them on similar grounds to us guys here (in regards to quality of music playback on their systems) ? Any thoughts?

Interested to hear your thoughts from a technical perspective. With no one local with with one, a listening perspective is not possible.

http://www.dddac.de/ma_dac31.htm - Introduction
http://www.dddac.de/ma_dac32.htm - Construction
http://www.dddac.de/ma_dac33.htm - Results

cheers!
tuyen

zenelectro · « **Reply #11 on:** January 26, 2011, 02:38:34 PM »

Quote from: tuyen on January 25, 2011, 02:14:30 PM

Hi Terry,

What do you think about the setup of the DDDAC1543 MK2 ? Is the idea of running heaps of the dac chips together beneficial to the sound? It has no 'tubes' in the psu or the output stage, yet there are some guys (mainly in Europe) who swear by it.

Could it be a matter that they just have not heard any better? Or is it a 'No tubes? No chance!' case? haha

I only ask the question as some of the guys I have spoken to have also tried many 'high-end' commercial dacs (AN DAC 4/5, dCS, EMMS LAB, etc..) and found them all unfavourable in comparison. Hence possibley putting them on similar grounds to us guys here (in regards to quality of music playback on their systems) ? Any thoughts?

Interested to hear your thoughts from a technical perspective. With no one local with with one, a listening perspective is not possible.

http://www.dddac.de/ma_dac31.htm - Introduction
http://www.dddac.de/ma_dac32.htm - Construction
http://www.dddac.de/ma_dac33.htm - Results

cheers!
tuyen

1543 was designed / manufactured as a cheaper lower performance DAC to the 1541.

I havent heard the DDD but all of the 1543 DAC's I have heard including a multiple 1543 that Joe Rassmussen had for a while were inferior to the
best 1541 implementations. The 1543 has around 10 x the distortion of the 1541 and does not use the same ophisticated internal circuitry.

But as stated, I haven't heard an actual DDD MK1 or 2 so see if you can get one for a listen - you may love it.

My approach is stick to what you know and refine it. For 0 x OS TDA1541 is it for me, for more modern higher bit depth / SR's I have an
ESS Sabre to play with - but that is down the road somewhat.

cheers

Terry

kajak12 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 26, 2011, 03:13:58 PM »

one of joes dacs

flemo · « **Reply #13 on:** January 26, 2011, 07:51:25 PM »

Quote from: tuyen on January 21, 2011, 02:13:59 PM

Or this one which is used on a full GOTO setup. Running 120 TDA1543 dac chips!! Crazy!

Yepp keep the links coming Tuyen, very interesting to see what else is out there.

I would love to hear something like this, just to know if the kdacs are still right up there, or is there something else we should consider? Either way I think keeping an open mind is healthy for the hobby (and us)!

tuyen · « **Reply #14 on:** January 31, 2011, 03:14:55 PM »

Quoted from email sent by Doede Douma to me on the weekend. I asked him his thoughts and his personal experience with the TDA1541 chip.

Yes, my USB-I2S converter will drive directly a TDA1541, no problem

Basically the 1543 is more direct, more dynamic. The 1541 is softer from nature, very filigrane. At the end it can be a matter of taste so to speak.

I do prefer clearly the TDA1543 as of it (only in many parallel mode by the way) analogue character in mid-range. VERY nice…..

The DAC is only 44.1/16 or 48/16 ….

Yes you can run the USB Dac from 9 – 15 Volt DC Battery or power supply….. it only takes like 100mA

His words have got me curious and so I intend to purchase a kit with 2 dac modules to start with (ie. 2 12x TDA1543 chips = 24 chips running in parallel) to try. If it sounds promising, I may purchase another 3 dac modules, thus running a total of 60 dac chips in parallel (as his personal recommendation). Will give it a go after I come back from holidays at start of March. How close will it get to the mighty KDAC?

We will have to wait and see!

ozcal · « **Reply #15 on:** February 03, 2011, 09:04:37 PM »

Interesting stuff T.
I wonder how one of his SPIDF to I2S boards would sound on the Satch.

tuyen · « **Reply #16 on:** March 09, 2011, 06:29:22 PM »

Ordered the USB-24 Kit a week ago. Hopefully should arrive within the next week.

Kit includes:

1x USB Module (version3.2) with 12 MHz Tent XO Clock
2x DAC Module (12 TDA1543) complete with Tower Heatsink Tooling

Apparently the diff between 5x DAC module (60 chips) vs 2x modules (24 chips) is quite substantial. But it will atleast give me a rough idea of the voicing from the unit/design. If it sounds promising, I may have to save to purchase more dac modules

Getting the USB module will also allow me to use a laptop as transport and compare differences between cdp transport and usb computer transport. Also can compare the KDAC vs the DDDAC using i2s from my cdp transport.

Keep yas all updated as it comes

dumptydum · « **Reply #17 on:** April 14, 2011, 08:23:33 PM »

Hi Tuyen,

How's the dac and computer source going???

Cheers

tuyen · « **Reply #18 on:** April 15, 2011, 12:18:04 AM »

Hi Beng!

Just finished setting up a 2TB NAS drive and now plan to start ripping all 1000+ cds to flac when I have some spare time

DAC works really well with the GOTOs. Highly recommended. May/may not be ordering a number more dddac modules to try. 60 or 120chip!

Did you end up getting a Lampizator DAC? I wouldn't mind sending my DDDAC over for you to have a listen..

How's your GOTO project going? Be warned, there's no chance of turning back!

kajak12 · « **Reply #19 on:** April 15, 2011, 06:27:48 PM »

Quote from: tuyen on April 15, 2011, 12:18:04 AM

How's your GOTO project going? Be warned, there's no chance of turning back!

now you got me worried tuyen i think i will bring ear plugs to your house its safer