Can somebody educate me about DAC?

[Paden501]

I'm kicking around the idea of building my own outboard DAC. I know that there are chip DAC's available for DIY kits and stuff, but that where my knowledge ends. I have the ability to solder and put electrical components together, I just don't know what to buy and what price range these things go.

Does anybody have any resources or knowledge that they can share with me concerning building your own DAC?

Thanks much,

[Lasareath]

Here's a place i bought from before. He has dac's starting at $99, maybe you can research some of those companies and find out what your looking for:

http://www.obadimports.com/page/page/4377355.htm

[Lasareath]

Here's a Pre-dac that costs $5000!!!! WTF

http://www.angelfire.com/biz/bizzyb/PreDAC.html



Edit: wait, it's $1799 by credit cards or $999 by Money order, yeah sure!, LOL!

[concealer404]

Here's a Pre-dac that costs $5000!!!! WTF

http://www.angelfire.com/biz/bizzyb/PreDAC.html



Edit: wait, it's $1799 by credit cards or $999 by Money order, yeah sure!, LOL!

That's ridiculous.

The Spiffy USB -----> SPDIF converter for $44 seems like an interesting idea, though...

I could sure use something like that for the laptop.

[Lasareath]

I'd love to try one of these one day:

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/system...erter/dac1-pre

[GV#27]

Does anybody have any resources or knowledge that they can share with me concerning building your own DAC?

http://www.twistedpearaudio.com/digital/buffalo.aspx

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/show...+brown+pcm1792

[sucks2beme]

Head fi has serveral running DIY DAC building threads.

[BlueFox]

I'd love to try one of these one day:

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/system...erter/dac1-pre

I have 2, but one is gathering dust at the moment. I replaced it with a Bryston DAC and, while close to the same price, it was a big step up in sound quality. But the Bryston isn't a pre-amp, just a DAC.

[praedet]

I have been looking into the Twisted Pear Audio Buffalo...

[kcoc321]

IF / when I get setup to DIY a DAC I would go Buffalo

Link
http://www.twistedpearaudio.com/digital/buffalo.aspx

[Paden501]

Thanks for the great resources all.

I may look into making one of the Opus DACs from Twisted Pear. I do have another question or two though (please excuse my ignorance)

I noticed on the PCB for the Opus dac's S/PDIF reciever module that there was an input area for an external clock. Is a clock required for this reciever or is there also a built on board clock?

Second question is about the low current power supply. Do I wire 120vac directly into the S1 and S2 areas of the board, or is some transformer or other power conditioning circuitry required first?

$175 seems like a really reasonable price for the 3-piece kit. Maybe in the next month or two I'll be trying this out.

Thanks again,

[danz1906]

Check this out!

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89152

[steveinaz]

I have the Benchmark DAC/Pre and like it very much. I have the non-remote controlled version at $1595. They now have a remote controlled version, I believe at $1795.

I had the basic Benchmark DAC1 for about 3.5 years prior to buying the DAC/PRE. The DAC/PRE has new features covering most DAC1 complaints--a slightly dimmer LED, a stand-by mode/power switch, and a single analog input for TT or tuner, or whatever. Treble smoothness has been tweaked as well with upgraded op-amps. As always, it's dead quiet. Stereophile said of its measured performance "this is about as good as it gets."

See my connection scheme: http://members.cox.net/stepheninaz/a...ion_scheme.xls

[Paden501]

Thanks for the comments all.

@danz1906: Wow that's a very generous karma!

@all who suggested twistedpear - That's great information. Exactly what I was looking for really. It looks like I have a few good options.

@steveinaz: That's a little pricey for my blood. Thanks for the input though and the spreadsheet may be useful to me.

Thanks all for the help!