Cheap DAC working well

[Feanor]

Just for fun I decide to spring for an eBay DAC, priced low with shipping included, from seller 'good.feedback' ... see here. I was particularly interested in getting 24/96 or better hi-rez capability.It's amazing what you can get for cheap this days in the case of DACs. Diminishing returns kicks in early in case of these devices.

My old Assemblage 1.5 DAC is pretty decent, though strictly a 16/44.1 device. It features the the Burr-Brown PCM1702 20-bit "ladder DAC" fed by the venerable Cirrus Logic CS8412 receiver. The output is complex, each channel having an I/V and buffer stage, and each stage utilizing a dual opamp, (total of four dual opamps). I rolled the original opamps for stacked pairs of Texas Instruments of OPA627's.

What impressed me with the eBay DAC, other than the price, is the use of the older but well-regarded Burr-Brown DIR9001 receiver, noted for its jitter tolerance, and the relatively modern (though not latest) Wolfson WM8740 DAC. The WM8740 is 'delta-sigma' device, (as opposed to the PCM1702 'ladder' typd); it has 128x oversampling, (not upsampling), and can handle 24bit & 192 kps. The output, analog stage utilizes a single dual opamp.

Contrary to the eBay blurb the device needs a 9 volt AC, (not DC), supply, not included. Fortuitously I had a 9 VAC, 1 amp wall-wort lyng around. The good news is that board includes all its own linear rectfiers and regulators, so finding a regulated power supply (to replace a switching or unregulated wall-wort) isn't an issue.

The board has a USB input but I won't use this, instead using S/PDIF from my M-Audio Revolution 7.1 sound card.

Overall the sound is excellent with clarity and air perhaps even better than my old Assemblage. The sound is free of blatant colorations and an grain or grunges that I can identify. The high treble might seem a tad bright to some people who prefer a chocolate-coated tube sound, but I wouldn't call it "harsh". I might try swapping the OP275G opamp for a stacked pair of OPA627's which might mellow the sound a bit, but it's not urgent.



Will update after more listening.