I started using this Blog-Site subdomain from dddac.com to blog my audio adventures đ I will be starting to post here several topics and projects. As I have some projects done in the past, it will not be all very chronological, but more what I like to show for now – It will be…
Introduction My thesis for the development of the DDDAC1794-MK3 was to have a as low output impedance and low noise for the on-board regulator as possible (the LT1763). Especially in the low frequencies! In my introduction post on the newly designed DDDAC1794-MK3 (link here) I already showed some measurements from my AP-System. But not…
Introduction (with update 24-07-2024) I am in the process of building my own DDDAC1794MK3 “Signature” with an external, separate I2S streamer based on Gentooplayer and a Raspberry PI 5. I quickly found out (The WEB is full of it), that the RPI 5 is intended to be powered over USB-C with PD protocol. Powering…
Introduction I spent most of the past year working on a follow-up for the good old (10 years) DDDAC1794-PBT. I promised this would be available for DIY as well and here it is! An introduction story for the DAC and for the Dual Power Supply which is designed to go together with the DAC…
Introduction Just a small in-between quick & dirty little project… It all started with a R2R DAC from Stefano, which was kindly sent to me for review, by Marcin. By the way…. there is a long thread about this Stefano DAC and the developments over time on the DIY Audio Forum: https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/italian-r2r-ladder-dac-no-cpid-dsp.390541/ Point is…
Introduction In my post on the DDDAC Power Supply, I have already been pointing out, that using a CLC-Filter after the rectifier is an improvement over the standard RCRC-Filter. Several DDDAC DIY enthousiasts have been reporting the positive sound impact of using CLC instead of RCRC only. The Magic Power Supply from the Audio…
Introduction It is in the name DDDAC… I have spent so many years on DACs, it was about time to follow up on my curiosity on R2R ladder DACs. Not the ones inside a chip – we know them well in the meantime – but the discrete ones. A decade or so ago, very…
No Technical Stuff this time… I just wanted to wish everyone very nice holidays and a super start into 2024. We ended 2023 with the obsolesce of the 10-year-old good old dddac1794, as it was, with the stacked modules on a mainboard. In 2024 I will introduce a rehaul of the DDDAC in a…
UPDATE February 4th, 2024 Dear DDDAC Fans, Feb 4th. The Boards are back from the SMD Assembly. I will test if all is 100% and than the kits will be prepared by Audio Creative and shipped out to the customers. I have made a few extra boards, if you are still interested, send me…
Doedeâs (DDDAC) “DD MC PRE PRE” “Something completely different” I too listen a lot to vinyl (LPs). Mainly inspired by Marco and Dick, who are playing with their restored Garrard series and brought their beautiful arm “Groove Master” to the market, I decided to beef up my analog playing gear. First, I built a…
The chronicle of this successful DIY-Project and a suggested roadmap for upgrading I just realized; it is already 10 years ago I designed the first version of the DDDAC1794! So, I thought it to be a good idea to write a short chronicle of the DDDAC history. The DDDAC1794 which is still available as…
Final clock upgrade for my DDDAC This is supposed to be the last and “final” blog about clocks. In the previous parts I did a lot of testing and reviews on all kind of oscillators for use in a DAC and for use with Ian Canada FiFoPi and Reclocker (The reclockPI). Ultimately, for me…
NewClassD Neutron Star 3 Clock Daniel from Berlin was so kind to send me this summer (yes sorry for late response and post !) his newly acquired NewClassD Neutron Star 3 Clock for comparison with the Andrea TWTMC (The Well Tempered Master Clock). The comparison was not 100% apples and apples as this was…
Today Tests What’s on the menu today? A short meal this time, but hopefully as interesting as short đ “JĂŒrgens” Clock – with thanks to Mamal from Berlin Listening to the possible impact of power supply to the Andrea Clock JĂŒrgens Clock Mamal from Berlin wrote me an email after reading the earlier posts…
The test goes on… This time mostly thanks to Stefan Wapstra, who was so kind to send me three 45Mhz Clocks. The First version of Andrea’s DRIXO Driscoll clock PCB, a Crystek CCHD-957-25 and the standard Clock delivered with the FiFoPi Q3. Next to those I had the Accusilicon Clocks 318 and 338 warmed…
Follow up from the earlier Post! In the earlier post I went into a lot of detail on this topic, so you might want to refer this post as well. In this second part I wanted to compare the new Accusilicon 338. I now finally received these with the Chinese parcel service but still…
More background on this special DDDAC output transformer (OPT) Some History The problem I faced was the small residual DC off set between the DAC outputs (POS and NEG can have somewhere between 0 and 30mV max) This might magnetize the core and introduce more distortion and non linearity. I sought help with Brian…
Introduction Are we in agreement, that DACs are sounding better when a good quality low phase noise clock is being used? Yes? keep reading… There is a lot of information and good articles on this topic, so I will keep it brief and not go in all possible backgrounds of phase noise, clocks and…
A fresh new setup after 15 years… Now that I will spend more time in my work shop, it was about time to get things fresh and renewed. After many (15) years of organic and chaotic growth I wanted to get things more organized and all test equipment and work space more handy. Well…
A small update from the DDDAC world It is hard to be consistent in ones blogging I must admit. LOL, I thought I would be constantly blogging after I quit my busy day job one month ago. I spent the March month to pick up on many things which were lying around in my…
Introduction Inspired by the many reports on the audiophile improvements when using UltraCaps (or super capacitors) in Audio applications, I decided it was time to start looking into this subject myself. For starters I wanted do some tests with it on my own DDDAC. Of course I am also interested in the technical aspects…
Introduction Here you see the well known DDDAC Power supply. I designed it to go together with the DDAC1794 kits, Of course it can also be use for many other audio applications. As DDDAC kit it comes as “5V” or “12V” version. As it is adjustable, the range is a bit wider than that…
Introduction We all know these FFT plots with a noise pattern. I see them all the time in Forums and other websites. The term Noise floor is always close… But is that also the Signal to Noise ratio (S/N ratio)? Or is this the noise voltage output from a voltage regulator for example? NO…
And how PCB capacitance spoiled the fist version⊠As you might have read, I am working on designing and building a tape head tube amplifier. For this you need quite some overall gain to overcome the gain losses in the equalization filter. Like at least 200.000; reason to split it up in 3 stages….
Introduction For many years now, I have been using Dick’s (Audio Creative) N30P Mu Stage Design. He called it the Cleo 6. It is a great double mono MU-Stage amplifier (see circuits) with top components. Over the years I started to see the benefit of using Arduino computer boards as a control tool, so…
Sometimes pictures tell more than a thousand words… Here is a nice photo story of the construction of my CLEO 7Tube Pre Amplifier
Somehow I feel, that this should not be necessary, but experience shows that this WARNING is absolutely needed over and over again… All my projects are working with high voltages. 230V AC mains or even over 500 Volt DC voltage in tube amplifiers. These voltages does not only hurt like hell if you touch…
As mentioned in the earlier PR99 blog, I wanted to design and build a universal tape head amplifier. Just for fun and to see what I could squeeze out of the magnetic source, avoiding the internal Revox electronics. Which sounds great, but honestly I still do not get it as it is full with…
Rediscovering Reel to Reel I recently re-discovered the joy of Reel to Reel music reproduction. I started with an old, somewhat refurbished 4 track NAB Revox B77 with 3.75 and 7.5 ips speed. I use this one for the simple work, experimenting with electronics and playing the wonderful old pre recorded tapes from the…
This is just a gallery – It speaks for itself I hope đ – I will add text later (Still lots of WIP for my blogging site !) Views: 1,124