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Post by PinkFloyd on Apr 19, 2006 19:49:18 GMT
Just thought I'd show off my recently built Meier Corda HA-1 MKll. I got the board from Meier Audio free (well, had to pay P&P) and had most of the stuff to populate it apart from the Buf 635 which were a pig to source but I got them eventually. Anyways, enough waffling here she is: Initial fit: Final Fit: Replaced the OMEG pot with an ALPS RK27 10K log, opamps LM6171, Caps PANASONIC NHG 105C, Silvered Mica, WIMA, Buffers - Burr Brown buf 634, Transformer - Nuvotem Talema, LED - Amber, Enclosure - Lincoln Binns (£10) With another knob and blanking grommets in place.
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Apr 20, 2006 16:33:25 GMT
Cool Mike.
As you know I am no longer involved in the Head-Fi thread on this so seeing the end products is something I will miss.Whenever i get around to building mine (busy busy busy man ;D) I will post the pics along with the "woodie" Cross-1
BTW-don't put that sucker on a high shelf or someone could lose an eye (the knob ;D) !
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Post by PinkFloyd on Apr 20, 2006 17:03:22 GMT
As you know I am no longer involved in the Head-Fi thread on this so seeing the end products is something I will miss.Whenever i get around to building mine (busy busy busy man ;D) I will post the pics along with the "woodie" Cross-1 Took me three attempts to read that Rick, I was walking past my amp last night and........ Now you tell me!
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thegreatroberto
100+
The Great Roberto "himself" The real deal on a stick!
Posts: 157
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Post by thegreatroberto on Apr 20, 2006 17:05:01 GMT
Mike,what's it sound like , compared to a V2 and a V3 ?
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Post by PinkFloyd on Apr 20, 2006 19:44:18 GMT
Mike,what's it sound like , compared to a V2 and a V3 ? Not too bad Roberto. Extremely neutral (to the point of being sterile with some recordings) with a typical LM6171 signature, fast and clean. Lacks the overall warmth of the V2 and certainly lacks the grunt of the V3. A good little tool for analysing the minutae of a recording but not a "fun" easy going listen. Having said that I haven't critically evaluated it and it's only got about 20 hours on the clock so things may change over the course of time, I'll report back after she's got a good 100 hours on the clock. One good feature if you listen to a lot of extreme stereo is the crossfeed, it has a low and medium setting and is pretty effective when you listen to something like the early Beatles recordings...... it also takes the edge off modern recordings throwing them ever so slightly forward out of your head. Some people may not like crossfeed but there's an "off" switch so that's not a problem. A damned fine little amp though and great for picking out detail in a clinical, revealing way but just a little too on the lean side for my taste.
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xerxes
Been here a while!
Posts: 1,115
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Post by xerxes on Apr 21, 2006 2:32:44 GMT
In that case, here's one I made earlier: www.tdsf.co.uk/xfeed/DAC.htmlI have never used an external DAC before and I'd seen some positive reports on non oversampling DACs and wanted to try one, so I got this one from DIY Paradise. It was fairly inexpensive, even though I bought it as a pre assembled board. I used a 12 SLA battery to power the DAC and used Rick's trick again and included some capacitors on the power input. Given the low cost I was pleased with the results, compared to my Cyrus CD 8x CD player's internal DAC the midrange is a little more pronounced and is very nice with female vocals. On the other hand, the bass is just a touch softer and on balance I think I prefer the CD players internal DAC overall. However, it's close and given the price difference I think it's pretty impressive. The DAC might make a cost effective upgrade to a slightly less capable CD player. The Cyrus CD 8x is by no means high end, but I think it's pretty good at it's price point. My next step is to try a PC as music source via a USB enabled DAC. I've read some articles that suggest that this can actually sound better than some very good CD transports. Links: www.dddac.de/ma_dac33.htmwww.wavelengthaudio.com/Cosecant.htmlAll I need now is to find the right USB enabled DAC. There are a few around, but choice is quite limited compared to those with the usual SPDIF and optical connections. I have ruled out Wavelength Audio's $1,750 USB Brick DAC and their even more ludicrously priced $10,000 Cosecant USB DAC. You can see in the pictures in this review: stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/905listen/ that you don't appear to be getting much for your $1,750 - maybe $50 to $100 worth of components and what looks like a standard $10 diecast box to my untrained eye. All I can say is that badge and the paint must be expensive.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Apr 21, 2006 7:03:19 GMT
Lovely job Xerxes! I must try a DAC next they seem to be all the rage the moment. Really nice job man, keep up the good work!
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xerxes
Been here a while!
Posts: 1,115
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Post by xerxes on Apr 21, 2006 11:47:38 GMT
Thanks Mike, I'd like to see what you make of a DAC and you surely must be up to your ears in headphone amps (geddit?) by now. ;D For the NOS, non oversampling, DACs there are basically 3 chips, the Phillips TD1541A, TD1543 and TD1545A and opinion seems to be that the TD1541A is the best sounding of the three, the TD1543 the worst and the TD1545A somewhere in between. However, there are several versions I've seen that use multiple TD1543 chips in parallel, ususally eight, which is said to overcome some of its shortcomings and the DDDAC1543 MK2 can be configured with anything from 12 to 60 running in parallel. I considered the DDDAC and it is available with a USB input module, but there were a couple of things that put me off. First, the kit is only available as a self build, no pre assembled modules. I reckon I might be able to cope with the assembly, but when I look at the soldering in the WNA amp and the DIY Paradise DAC I have, I think there's no way I would make such a neat job of it and I would sooner pay the little extra for an assembled board. Secondly the power requirements, Doede, the DDDAC designer reckons that it sounds best battery powered, however, to run a full 60 way dac for 10 hours would require a 50Ah battery! I thought I might be able to use the USB module from the DDDAC with the TD1545A based DAC I have, but it turns out that the input formats are incompatible. The TD1541A and TD1543 chips use an I2S format and the TD1545A uses a EIAJ format, and the USB module is I2S format, so a no go. In any case, if you build a DAC I looking forward to finding out which one you go for and what you make of it.
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Apr 21, 2006 16:25:54 GMT
full agreement here,nice work Try the Monica or the Hagerman when you are ready to tackle a DAC mike.The Monica is cheap and a nice tidy design but is non OS which is not for everyone.I come from an analog tape/vinyl background so the harmonic nature suits me though my chip of choice is the "bitch to use Non-OS" AD1865.I cheated on the interface by copying the one designed by Audio Note in their DAC Kit 1.1 ;D get yourself a PCM2706 chip and build it just as the eval board offered by TI.Use the I2S buss directly to your Monica DAC For USB to "normal" external DACS it is the PCM2704 chip which has both a SPDIF and Analog/headphone output oops ! Just read you want a pre-assembled module DAC.In that case check out the eval board from TI which is a drop in and play board though maybe a tad expensive.Other than that you are pretty much stuck with one of the various DIY versions floating around or the Hagerman USB-SPDIF interface
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xerxes
Been here a while!
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Post by xerxes on Apr 21, 2006 17:18:37 GMT
That won't work, the TD1545A, as used in the Monica, accepts EIAJ rather than I2S.
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Apr 21, 2006 18:29:18 GMT
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Apr 21, 2006 20:15:54 GMT
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Apr 21, 2006 20:19:14 GMT
BTW Mike,do you have the ability to "split" threads so we can keep this one clean to the original topic while having the USB/EIAJ discussion ?
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xerxes
Been here a while!
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Post by xerxes on Apr 21, 2006 21:59:25 GMT
Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack the thread, this started of as a "show and tell". With regard to the I2S to EIAJ conversion, I'm not sure I need to go this route as in addition to a USB enabled DAC I also want a DAC that offers a significant step up from the internal DAC of my CD player. The Monica 2 is good, especially for the price, and offers an alternative presentation, but I wouldn't say it's better than the internal DAC. I am not dead set on a non oversampling DAC and it does not necessarily have to be a kit, just good value for money, which kind of rules out the Wavelength Audio stuff. ;D
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