Christmas has come early part 2

bostod · Post by **bostod** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 6:50 pm

i have just received my ak4396 eBay dac. without trawling through the hundreds of pages on the Diy audio forum. can anyone outline the simple changes to improve this Dac. Simple diagrams or photos would be appreciated. bear in mind I have very limited knowledge of electronics so the instructions need to be simple.
had a sneaky listen while burning it in and i am impressed already

pre65 · Post by **pre65** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 6:51 pm

I'm still happy with mine as it was built.

Modification is not compulsory.

richardcooper2k · Post by **richardcooper2k** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 10:12 am

Hesitant to respond to this especially as its a crimbo pressie !

reason being - as you are probably aware printed circuit boards have thin strips of metal on them. When you remove items from a board it is very easy to damage them.

I worked under the assumption i might ruin the board and have to buy another. But as they are so cheap this didn't deter me. You can also buy unpopulated boards and solder in all the components so you don't risk damage removing unwanted ones

richardcooper2k · Post by **richardcooper2k** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 10:17 am

Bill of materials and a digram of component positions are elsewhere here

Look at towards the end of this thread
http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/phpBB2/view ... 1&start=30

al newall · Post by **al newall** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 3:11 pm

I would leave well alone for a hundred hours or so, to give it chance to settle.
By which time you will be familiar with the sound it makes.
Easiest and possibly most significant mod to do is swap the op-amp. Others here will tell you which are the best bet.

Changing the input cap will make a difference. Also relatively easy to do..
Adding extra capacitance to the power supply might help, and isn't hard to do.
The other listed upgrades probably do make a difference but i'm not sure if they are a real benefit. Certainly the mods affecting components around the op-amp, should be worth doing.
I don't use the op-amp so can't really advise much.

bostod · Post by **bostod** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 2:13 pm

changed the op amp to the lm4962 and let it play for 72 hours. the op am was an old one from the Caiman pre gator days. well I have had a good listen comparing my new dac with the caiman gator. at the moment unmodified the Caiman just has the edge in detail and resolution although there is not much in it.

Neal · Post by **Neal** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:26 pm

Do you mean the LM4562? Its a wide bandwidth opamp and while its stable in most circuits it doesn't suit all. There are numerous others that you could try like the OP275, OP2604 etc

bostod · Post by **bostod** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:53 pm

is there an op amp that stands out head and shoulders over the others.i know this may be subjective but sometimes one will shine through

pre65 · Post by **pre65** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 8:15 pm

I'm happy with my LM4562.

Neal · Post by **Neal** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 12:36 am

bostod wrote:is there an op amp that stands out head and shoulders over the others.i know this may be subjective but sometimes one will shine through

Its down to personal preference....IE: the OP2134 will give a much more rounded and full sound...

...or you could go for the holly grail OP627 but you will need one of those mono-to-dual adapters off Ebay...

bostod · Post by **bostod** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 12:31 pm

Neal wrote:Do you mean the LM4562?

yes that is the one

richardcooper2k · Post by **richardcooper2k** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:32 pm

Mine had AD826 at Owston :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1PCS-AD826AR- ... 1823wt_954

Have bought OPA627 but havn't tried it yet:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2pcs-BB-OPA62 ... 1742wt_954

bostod · Post by **bostod** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 4:41 pm

Neal wrote:...or you could go for the holly grail OP627 but you will need one of those mono-to-dual adapters off Ebay...

got one on order to see what its like coming from china though it may take a while

richardcooper2k wrote:Mine had AD826 at Owston :

I will try one of these if I don't get on with the op627 or if its cheap enough i might get one anyway

bostod · Post by **bostod** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 4:51 pm

I have let it burn in now for 150hours+ and i have just had a good listen. I must say that the Dac is impressing me. I have compared it to the Caiman with Gator and there is not much in it.
The Caiman sounds more hi rez without improving the detail. I.E cymbals and vocals sound slightly clearer but a little harsher.the the information retrieval on both seem superb. I think I am leaning towards the AK4396 as it is easier to listen to and I can pick out the subtle details without any fatigue.
I think I will buy another board after Christmas to play about with and upgrade some of the components. that way I will not ruin this great little dac.

thank you all for your input so far it has contributed greatly to my listening experience at selections so far without making any costly mistakes.

colin.hepburn · Post by **colin.hepburn** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 11:48 pm

Hi All
Well not sure how much hour my AK4396 eBay dac has had but must be a 100 plus by now I like Philip changed the op to a LM4562 and an happy with the sound but as this is the only dac
I have ever had canâ€™t say if itâ€™s good or bad to other Dacs but to me it sounds very good
I will likely change the input cap and change all 10uf caps around the dac chip with same value Oscon caps and maybe the psu caps for 2200uf 63volt to get lower ESR
I have just received my second AK4396 and this one will undergo the above changes and have a valve output stage added I see that the components that they use are not consistent to all the dac this one has different type caps around the dac chip and other chips plus the regs and psu caps are all Sanyo electrolytic

audio-talk

Christmas has come early part 2

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