Soekris dac1101 R2R DAC/Amp

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by Cspirou, Oct 7, 2015.

Tags:
  1. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,904
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Europe
    In fev, after i go to sweden i will ask again, hopefully by that time there will be more reviews or impressions, thanks.
     
  2. alvin1118

    alvin1118 MOT - VINSHINE AUDIO

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2016
    Likes Received:
    196
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Guys, eye-candy while waiting for the assembly to complete & ship! ;)

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,904
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Europe
    A curiosity why did u decided not to include balanced headphone output?
     
  4. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,276
    Trophy Points:
    113
    The DAC isn't inherently balanced. You'd need an extra DAC board for that.
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2016
  5. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,904
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Europe
    Thank you, much appreciated.
     
  6. alvin1118

    alvin1118 MOT - VINSHINE AUDIO

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2016
    Likes Received:
    196
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Yep. To realize true-balance, two R2R DAC board is required. Nonetheless, it sounds incredible even with single ended.
     
  7. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,467
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Winnipeg
    Just slap down a couple hundred bucks for some nice output transformers. Presto change-o you've got balanced :D
     
  8. Priidik

    Priidik MOT: Estelon

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,153
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Estonia
    No need. There are XLR-s, which do output differential signal from se-->balanced buffer, if it's in original conf.
    This is exactly for these people who demand balanced, no matter that the unbuffered output is the only worthy one from this dac.
    Sometimes I regret desoldering output buffer on mine. It could have been used for watching youtube videos (without stressing my tubes).
     
  9. alvin1118

    alvin1118 MOT - VINSHINE AUDIO

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2016
    Likes Received:
    196
    Trophy Points:
    33
    For my DAC, the raw output is used for headamp, while output buffer is still in its original config with the single ended and balance differential output :)
     
  10. Priidik

    Priidik MOT: Estelon

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,153
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Estonia
    While I can see why you decided not to have unbuffered rca outs (it requires some competence from the user), I think for true enthusiasts it's the only right way to use this dac. The buffers noticeably smear the microdynamics, soundstage and liveliness that this wonderful board is capable of.
    The problematic part is that the user needs to know what he/she is doing, as the unbuffered output is rather weak. Even so, I preferred my studio monitors from the straight ladder out to the balanced buffer.
     
  11. alvin1118

    alvin1118 MOT - VINSHINE AUDIO

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2016
    Likes Received:
    196
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Yes indeed, you're absolutely right. That says, the headphone out gonna be the real highlight of this DAC whilst the RCA and XLR compliments the needs for downstream equipment for stereo hi-fi listening.

    Competence users may even connects the headphone output (its enabled in VAR mode) to integrated amp / power amp for true enthusiastic sound of this Soekris R2R DAC .
     
  12. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,276
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Why not let people rewire the thing? Or add a simple DIP switch.
     
  13. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,467
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Winnipeg
    Idle hands inside a finished product is surely a customer service nightmare. :confused:
     
  14. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,276
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Violectrics have jumpers and dip switches inside. But you have a good point.
     
  15. Hekeli

    Hekeli Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    149
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Finland
    So does Benchmark, but I suppose it's safe to open even live, since the SMPS appears to be cased and you can't touch high voltage? Violectric has wires out in the open behind the AC connector.. but I guess you can't sue for millions in Germany. :D
     
  16. alvin1118

    alvin1118 MOT - VINSHINE AUDIO

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2016
    Likes Received:
    196
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I'm a perfectionist and minimalist, I like to keep my hi-fi simple. You can tell from the design and layout of the DAC , isn't it looks neat and clean ?

    Don't get it wrong, the buffered single ended and balanced sounded excellent too. In my opinion, R2R DAC strength is it's ability to produce natural sounds with additive of tons of emotions to the music which many Delta sigma DAC chip is lacking.
     
  17. uncola

    uncola Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    596
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Oahu, Hawaii
    kind of a silly question but if I want to install spike feet, what threading does the amp use? or just adhesive rubber feet? I have some M8 8mm threaded ceraball clones from china I could use.. I can just remove the threading and use double sided tape too

    [​IMG]
     
  18. alvin1118

    alvin1118 MOT - VINSHINE AUDIO

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2016
    Likes Received:
    196
    Trophy Points:
    33
    @uncola, use the 3m doublesidedtap to stick on will do.

    p/s: your DAC will be reaching you real soon.
     
  19. alvin1118

    alvin1118 MOT - VINSHINE AUDIO

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2016
    Likes Received:
    196
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Alvin @ Guangzhou reporting!
    Walk through the Audio Precision 525 tests, results are promising ! S/N Ratio > 115db; THD-N: < 0.005℅.

    [​IMG]

    Built quality are solid, exceeded my expectations! The choice of shiny knob and silver plaque were right, the dac is marvelous!
    [​IMG]

    How it sounds ?
    [​IMG]

    The DAC was fed with AES/EBU signal from Cdpro2 transport, it was in Variable Output Mode as preamp, balanced output connected to Poweramp.
    Initially it sounded cold and nothing surprising; soundstage was narrow and vocal was dull. ???

    After a few tracks like 20-30mins of warming up, the dac came alive! It revealed it potential to produce music with additive emotion in vocal and natural sounds with good soundstage ;D

    I leave the rest of the imagination to you. Cheers!
     
  20. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,276
    Trophy Points:
    113
    What digital filters were you using?
     

Share This Page