|
| |
Welcome to my DIY Audio System site. Here you will find details about my current
audio system and the things I have tried along the way.
For me the enjoyment is not only the high quality sound but also improving it.
This system is a product of ideas born from the diyAudio.com community. I give credit to those whom I have
learned from and incorporated their ideas. I aspire to contribute to that same spirit
of openness and sharing.
The USB1543 DAC you see below is where most
of my efforts have been focused. In 2005 I designed version 1.0
of the circuit board using a program called Eagle. 5 prototype boards were made
(v1.0), a few adjustments were made (v1.1) and 50 boards were made.
The last 7 or so years I have spent tweaking it for the best sound quality. Tweaks I currently use:
- Reclock BCK signal from the PCM2707 chip before sending to TDA1543. Reclocker operation explained
- use Sonicap 3uf 200v Gen I coupling cap for C26 and C27
- use large power transformers, Hammond 185F28 and 185F16
- break electrical connection between computer and DAC. diy kit
- use XXHighEnd player with settings: engine=4, KS Mode=Standard, Buffer=32, ThreadPro=Realtime, Q1-5=0, Demo Mode=true
- try more than one computer to see which sounds best, usually higher performance computer will sound better. I recommend at least dual core 2Ghz CPU
- not all USB cables sound the same. Try a few inexpensive ones to see which you like best, stay away from ones with the filters on both ends, keep the length short as possible
This audio system is a minimalist design which helps to keep the cost down, makes it easier
to build, easier to understand the
electronics, and provides less chances to get it wrong. Less is more.
|
|