01
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS AND DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MODELS
Technical specifications and differences between DAC models, the chips used, features of their sound, and the influence of various components on the final sound of the devices. How engineering solutions and the selection of components shape the sonic character of the model.
The DAC model numbers correspond to implementations of specific DAC chips.
DAC 1.0 — 1.1: PCM56
DAC 2.0 — 2.4: TDA1541
DAC 3.0 — 3.22: TDA1541
DAC 4.0 — 4.2: PCM58
DAC 5.0: AD1864, AD1865
HERMES/58: PCM58
HERMES/62: AD1862
DAC U — U1: PCM63
HERMES/63: PCM63
DAC X: TDA1540 (coming soon)
DAC Z / DAC 0.1 — 0.11: TDA1543
We can only say about a pair of 2.0 and 3.0, that the third version is a level higher than the second. In other cases, these are independent lines, each on its chip.
Only the SE index indicates the unique sound properties of the device.
It is an index corresponding to special sound requirements. The SE series is distinguished by its glossy black panel. Products with a similar index require more time to assemble, adjust and tune the sound.
The SE series devices use more expensive components - Black Gate capacitors FK, PK, F, STD, Audionote Tantalum non-magnetic and niobium resistors, exotic parts of the 30s; also, transistors in stabilizers are more carefully selected. The principle of Anton Stepichev's contours is applied to a greater extent. Resistors in the converter undergo special processing.
While setting the voice on any device of the SE series, non-standard techniques are also used. All of this allows devices from the SE series to demonstrate an extreme difference in sound from standard boards and kits. The sound tuning of the special series takes place in several stages. The run requires up to 100 hours, and many changes are made in stages. It's impossible to do in mass production conditions.
This is a difficult question since all the listed chips are decent digital-to-analog converters with their qualities. The chip must be considered a puzzle piece in a large mosaic; it does not play by itself. The power supply, output stage, and selection of components - everything significantly affects our impressions of the final sound, sometimes as much as the chip itself can. However, I will try to describe the characteristic sound features of each chip I commonly use in my converters.
PCM63
Characterized by a sweet, velvet voice and creates the illusion of analog sound with warmness and softness. Since this is brought to every recording, it is a matter of taste. The PCM63 works well with a solid-state output stage and many valves. There is no linearity adjustment for the chip, and it is becoming more challenging to get the best class of PCM63 (K, K2, Y grade) chips. The accuracy level of conventional examples is often far from the stated 20 bits.
PCM58
Even without a grade, has the highest accuracy at low levels, thanks to the adjustment of the four most significant digits. However, the voice of this chip is thinner, a few dry, and graphic. This chip, for my taste, requires an output stage with a specific sonic signature. Other advantages include a wide, deep sound stage and a low level of THD. This chip, for my taste, requires only a tube output stage.
PCM56
One of the second generation's most musical and underrated burr brown chips (the first is PCM52, PCM53, PCM54, and PCM55). PCM56 has the cleanest spectrum of all multi-bits, well-defined sound boundaries (somewhat softened in PCM63), a specific linearity setting, and confirmed 16 bits. Of the sound features - is velvet bass. At low levels (second only to pcm58), but the sound stage is not so wide and deep as PCM58 offers.
TDA1541
TDA1541 is the most mysterious and most difficult chip to implement. It can sound different, sometimes creating the illusion of resolution lack, and sometimes, on the contrary, annoying with an excess of details. Due to DEM cells, a tube clock, and three supply voltages - all these factors create many degrees of freedom and complicate the harmonization of the device. However, the exact condition makes it possible to create an engaging, exciting, sound-varied DAC that can combine different advantages of other chips.
Frightening realism, soulfulness, energy, and softness, depending on the musical material. Do not forget, however, that the Philips chip is only 16 bits, as it is a 1984 product. This IC lacks the precision of PCM58 and the sweetness of PCM63, and sonic boundaries are not as clear-cut as the PCM56. But it can convey the intonations of the human voice and micro-dynamic nuances so convincingly that you instantly forget about some of the shortcomings.
For this illusion of live sound, listeners probably idolize TDA1541 in the most successful implementations. If you are not a zealous fan of graphs and digits but prefer to enjoy music, then the TDA1541 will suit you.
I used to count the sound of AD1865 as slightly more synthetic than the sound of Burr Brown, but now we offer DAC 5.0 with this converter, and I am glad to tell you that I have overcome this issue. Please pay attention to this fact - AD1865 is powered by a tube rectifier. World's first!
This signifies the highest level of sound quality. It involves the exclusive use of power transformers crafted by hand using vintage materials, such as copper winding wire and cores, mainly sourced from Germany.
In this line, radio components are selected with exceptional care, and for these models, we manufacture special multi-core wiring for internal connections.
This line also includes more exotic and rare components, which sometimes need to be purchased individually. Achieving the desired sound quality requires extended hours of listening, constant adjustments, and meticulous tube selection.
Additionally, the Signature models feature RCA sockets, IEC connectors, and feet of superior quality.
A detailed list of changes for each model will be provided in a separate article.
Unfortunately, this is not possible. In a finished product, I take full responsibility for the final sound result and deliver an aesthetically complete and harmonious device. When I receive a request for Signature-level boards, it feels equivalent to asking me to make a beautiful violin but send it without strings and a fingerboard, or as a disassembled kit — lower and upper decks, ribs, fingerboard, and so on.
The sound depends on the smallest details: the material and size of the case, the holes in the case, the cable routing, their length and quality, the connection directions, the type of solder, the soldering iron used, and many other factors. The sound is tuned with all of these nuances in mind.
If I send the boards and a buyer with electronic skills assembles them into a housing themselves, they may sound good, but they will never sound like a product assembled by me. They will always sound different.
For this reason, boards sold as DIY kits do not include expensive components such as Black Gate capacitors or Audio Note resistors. These kits offer a fairly high level of sound quality, but the sound of devices I complete personally is on a higher level.
02
How to choose a device?
DAC chip grades, chip specifications and sonic character.
I am absolutely calm about grades. Many people believe this is a sign of higher sound quality, but this is a typical mistake. Grade K only reflects the behavior of the chip at low levels, -60...-90 dB.
In digital recording, unlike analog technology, distortion increases as the signal level decreases. Therefore, chips manufactured under stricter requirements have lower distortion at these levels. They usually receive a special mark, such as a letter or other symbol (e.g., a crown on Philips chips).
At the same time, such a chip may sound worse than a chip without a grade. The sound quality of a chip depends not only on its linearity at low levels but also on many other factors: the purity of materials, year of production, equipment, personnel, country, case material (ceramic or plastic), lead material, the coating of leads, and even the orientation of these leads.
As a result, it is quite common to encounter a situation where a chip without a grade sounds more musical and pleasant than one with a grade. This also applies to the TDA1541A with a crown, S1, or S2.
Formally, a chip with a crown is more accurate, but certain early 1541 chips without additional marks—those that went through a full assembly cycle in Holland (indicated by the production codes HHH)—often sound significantly better than chips with a double crown. Additionally, the later the 1541 chip was produced, the sharper and rougher its high-frequency range becomes. Since 1987, the quality of these chips has changed noticeably, with later chips sounding more aggressive and less melodic.
In my home DAC, I use a TDA1541R1 made in 1986, which I selected from 20 pieces based on the best linearity and matched channels. Channel imbalance remains the main issue with the TDA1541 chip.
For other chips, the issue is similar: It is better to choose AD1865 by sound quality, not by grade. PCM63 and PCM58 chips with grade K, produced in South Korea, usually sound worse than Japanese ones without a grade.
Yes, there are cases when the stars align, and a chip with a grade has not only better linearity but also superior sound. However, this comes down to luck, like winning the lottery.
So, I recommend not creating yet another audio fetish around crowns, K, S1, S2, and other markings.
You see, I don't see the best chip. Each chip has its own advantages and weaknesses.
PCM63 has a cleaner tone, and a more correct overtone structure, but TDA1541 somehow conveys the human voice especially expressively and handles dynamic nuances extremely carefully.
At the fortissimo of a symphony orchestra, PCM63, like the entire Burr Brown family, has noticeable advantages.
PCM58 is the best multi-bit DAC in terms of linearity, but its voice is not as sweet and beautiful as that of the PCM63. It requires serious work to develop its "muscles and flesh."
TDA1540 offers amazing sound, there is an outstanding sound scale and analog expressiveness, but it has issues with reverberations and linearity at low levels. It lacks airiness and lightness.
AD1865 is a kind of average quality, offering purity, clarity, and linearity.
TDA1543 is more dynamic than its more complex sisters 1540 and 1541, but it does not have the same width and depth of the soundstage or purity of tone.
In my home DAC I use TDA1541. It seems to me a reasonable compromise.
As for PCM1702 and especially the 24-bit PCM1704, coveted by audiophiles, multiple comparisons with older chips caused a surprisingly stable reaction – a fit of Homeric laughter. Therefore, I will not say anything about the quality of these chips.
Of course, you will ask about bits, but believe me, there is more marketing in this topic than real achievements.
You have been sold new bits for years (today it seems that the bit depth has reached 32 bits), which cannot be implemented, since the bit depth is limited by physical constraints, such as noise. This is the reason why we still listen to the 14-bit TDA1540 with pleasure in 2024. This is the main proof that in digital technology, it is not so much champion numbers that are important, but rather the high-quality implementation of its principles.
You can work with the format, but there is no technology that would actually implement a resolution corresponding to 24 or 32 bits.
DAC 0.11 | 230/200/120 | 5 kg
DAC 2.4, DAC 4.1, DAC U1, DAC 5.0 | 440/200/120 | 7-9 kg (depends on the configuration)
DAC 3.2 , 6080 headphone amplifier, HERMES, PSYCHE | 400/410/170 | 15-21 kg |(depends on the configuration)
USB converter | 190/200/120 | 3 kg / SOLD
RIAA EL84/EF86 | 450/230/130 | 10 kg
RIAA 6N6P/EF86, Hybrid amp | 360/230/130 | 5-6 kg (depends on the configuration)
03
ORDERS
How the order is processed, rules of order.
Individual assembly and production process
Most devices and pcbs are collected only after prepayment, that is, almost any order is an individual order. If any item exists as finished product and is ready for shipment, that happens rare, this is indicated additionally in the item description. This means that there is always some time between payment and dispatch.
Component selection process
The selection of the elements, and parts significantly impacts the method of manufacturing boards. Vintage components are purchased in auctions in small quantities, so making many copies in a mass production style is impossible. All panels and devices are assembled by hand in several stages.
Assembly stages
Devices with In other cases, take longer to assemble than usual. The radio components are installed after determining the best sound quality, and the resistors undergo special treatment. Then, preliminary technical inspection of the boards is carried out, followed by measurements, washing, drying, varnish coating, repeated drying, installation into the chassis, testing in assembled form, sound tuning, burn-in, applying paint to threaded connections, packaging, and shipping.
Materials and technologies
The assembly is carried out using vintage American KESTER solder.Washing is carried out in a special environmentally friendly solution, VIGON. The second washing cycle is an environmentally friendly detergent.
The build cycle turns out to be quite cumbersome, but this is the only way I have found to make some very good-sounding devices, providing a balancing act between single copy production and mass production, with its limitations.
(!) Please keep in mind that production of complex models like HEPHAESTUS, HERMES, PSYCHE take a lot of time to build.
Other models typically take about a month. However, we cannot provide precise timelines, as they depend on several factors, including the current queue length and the availability of all required components.
Please carefully review the order rules before making a payment. These rules apply in all situations and take effect upon the transaction.
1: Once a prepayment is made, changes to the order content, such as changing the DAC model, or type of the device are not accepted. If you wish to make any changes, please do so immediately.
2: Once a prepayment is made, the order cannot be canceled, as part of the payment is immediately used to purchase the necessary components and parts.
3: After prepayment, you must provide next information:
1. List of ordered items and their features, for example length of cable.
2. Your local AC Voltage
3. Your address in the following format:
— Country
— State/Region/Province (optional)
— ZIP code
— City
— Street
— Street address
Additionally, you need to provide your personal details:
— Phone number
— Email (your main one)
— First and Last Name
If the recipient is not you but a legal entity or another person, please provide all relevant additional details. The delivery address will be filled exactly as you provide it, so please ensure it is detailed and accurate.
4: If the customer is unable to pay the remaining balance for completed device, their order will be stored in the warehouse for as long as necessary.
5: If the customer refuses to pay the remaining balance, the order will be listed for sale, and the customer will receive the advance payment only after the order is sold. There are no guaranteed timeframes for the sale.
6: Returns due to sound quality not meeting expectations are not accepted. In case of technical problems we offer repair for free.
7: If the order is damaged or lost by the postal service, we will cover the costs of repair or replace it with a new unit. Each such case will be handled individually.
8: Servicing of sold units is free of charge; the customer only pays for shipping.
9: If the customer requests an upgrade, the cost of the upgrade is calculated individually.
10: After placing an order, if you send us a message, it’s normal to expect updates from us twice a week or less due to high demand.
‼️The production time promised is a very approximate estimate and cannot be calculated precisely. Extended delivery times for parts, the manual crafting of individual components, and unexpected disruptions such as blackouts are conditions that are beyond our control. Occasionally, we manage to complete some orders earlier than expected, but more often, it takes longer than planned. Therefore, by placing an order, you agree to patiently wait for its completion.
‼️By paying for your order, you agree to all the above rules.