I'm looking for recommendations for a DIY DAC - preferably bare PCB, I can source components and build power supply etc. What's currently out there?
I appreciate this is a bit of an open question - ultimately it's to go in my main hi-fi, 2 channel only, CD and raspberry Pi (Roon) sources, optical and coax inputs would be useful. Not too worried about USB input. I've got plenty of experience with DIY builds but most of these have been pre and power amps (SS and valve).
My preference would be something with a flat/linear frequency response, or at the very least something that someone has done some meaningful measurements on so I can check out performance of the design before spending my hard earned...
Hit me up with some suggestions 🙂
I appreciate this is a bit of an open question - ultimately it's to go in my main hi-fi, 2 channel only, CD and raspberry Pi (Roon) sources, optical and coax inputs would be useful. Not too worried about USB input. I've got plenty of experience with DIY builds but most of these have been pre and power amps (SS and valve).
My preference would be something with a flat/linear frequency response, or at the very least something that someone has done some meaningful measurements on so I can check out performance of the design before spending my hard earned...
Hit me up with some suggestions 🙂
I can both highly recommend the Soekris R-2R and the DSC2 DAC.
The two are completely different, both in topology and effort since the former is a great R2R DAC and the latter is a DSD only DAC that for requires some way of converting all PCM audio to DSD, of which the best way is the HQPlayer software. Plus for the best performance the output transformers from @bisesik should be used. Beware, that the BOM for the DSC2 is not 100% correct, but I should have one from my build somewhere, and the biggest downside is there are no PCB's for sale so you have to get one produced somewhere with the available gerbers. Sadly, before he became inactive on diya, @gionag didn't share any details about his continuation of the DSC2 with his DSC St!ck project which looks like a better and easier build...
To sum it up, I would currently go for the Soekris R-2R 🙂
The two are completely different, both in topology and effort since the former is a great R2R DAC and the latter is a DSD only DAC that for requires some way of converting all PCM audio to DSD, of which the best way is the HQPlayer software. Plus for the best performance the output transformers from @bisesik should be used. Beware, that the BOM for the DSC2 is not 100% correct, but I should have one from my build somewhere, and the biggest downside is there are no PCB's for sale so you have to get one produced somewhere with the available gerbers. Sadly, before he became inactive on diya, @gionag didn't share any details about his continuation of the DSC2 with his DSC St!ck project which looks like a better and easier build...
To sum it up, I would currently go for the Soekris R-2R 🙂
If you want impressive measured figures for a relatively small amount of money, don't build my valve DAC. I guess one of the modern multibit sigma-delta chips best fits your requirements then, like one of the ESS90xx designs.
I've ordered boards to build Miro's AD1862 DAC 🙂 looks like a fun project. I'm in the UK 🙂
Check this Thread: https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/dac-ad1862-almost-tht-i2s-input-nos-r-2r.354078/unread
Miro has published the gerbers, which you can use to get boards made at your choice of board houses (I've had good results for a great price from https://jlcpcb.com/). There is no Kit per se, but the BOM is also available in the thread. There may be other members who have spare DAC and PS boards (I may have a spare PS board if no one else has them). The biggest issue will be getting the AD1862 chips themselves. You can take a chance on buying from Ebay, but if you want the originals, you have to get them from Rochester Electronics and they have a minimum buy of 11 units, so you may need to find some others to do a group buy with (or check to see if one is ongoing at the moment).
Well worth the effort for the AD1862's, even my wife preferred the music compared to the delta-sigma in the CD player.
No doubt it could be a worthwhile project to do.
I checked ebay and nothing much AD1862 on sale. At Rochester, each cost $23, with 11pcs as minimum.
However, I found this. I’m not sure if anyone in the forum has experience with it. $170 with DAC chips included....like buying the 2 chips for $50. But it is a completely finished board.
I checked ebay and nothing much AD1862 on sale. At Rochester, each cost $23, with 11pcs as minimum.
However, I found this. I’m not sure if anyone in the forum has experience with it. $170 with DAC chips included....like buying the 2 chips for $50. But it is a completely finished board.
this https://www.ebay.com/itm/125077125788?hash=item1d1f2d7a9c:g:7sgAAOSw5Flhzii5 might be an option.. (6 units available at $30 each...)
@Paddy Garcia member has some for members as written in the first page of the link given by @miro1360 in his first post. This page that describes the ressources is worthing a read.
Here's the link to the board ...
https://www.diyinhk.com/shop/audio-...sampling-nos-audio-dac-with-fifo-reclock.html
If cost as well as performance is an issue, DIY these days for these things might not be the best bet. Remember it is not just the schematic anymore. Small things will ultimately affect the performance of DACs especially if performance is desired. Of course if the fact that DIY was a major aspect then indeed DIY fills the bill.
I was down that road with a 9028PRO. Ultimately when the costs for premium parts, cases etc were tallied up, it was on par as purchasing a Topping D90SE off the shelf. I came to the realization that the volume mfrs. get chips for far less money, same for cases and power supplies and in the case for this DAC it came with SOTA specs that I am sure I could not meet with my DIY project. As far as the circuits itself, they built the D90SE exactly as I would have myself. Finally comparing the DIY that cost as much as a finished D90SE, the finished product bested my own DIY by a slight margin. But I had fun and it was a learning experience so not all was in vain. But I now own two...actually 5 DACs. The key realization was when I acquired a Khadas Tone Board 1 for $99. Then it hit me the direction DACs were going. All this for $99 and it did not sound bad at all!
I was down that road with a 9028PRO. Ultimately when the costs for premium parts, cases etc were tallied up, it was on par as purchasing a Topping D90SE off the shelf. I came to the realization that the volume mfrs. get chips for far less money, same for cases and power supplies and in the case for this DAC it came with SOTA specs that I am sure I could not meet with my DIY project. As far as the circuits itself, they built the D90SE exactly as I would have myself. Finally comparing the DIY that cost as much as a finished D90SE, the finished product bested my own DIY by a slight margin. But I had fun and it was a learning experience so not all was in vain. But I now own two...actually 5 DACs. The key realization was when I acquired a Khadas Tone Board 1 for $99. Then it hit me the direction DACs were going. All this for $99 and it did not sound bad at all!
Similar to what you said, it's for fun and learning experience for me. I started doing DAC with a cheap chinese board (ES9030Q2M based) which is the topic of a long thread here in diyaudio. Did all sorts of mods, mostly suggestions from thread followers, and finally ending up running the DAC using deep-cycle battery that made the greatest impact. Yes, it cost money - more than the cost of the board itself - to improve its performance. I gained valuable knowledge from the experience.
I also tried the Khadas tone board1 recently, it sounded good right from the box. Unfortunately, it died on me (distorted sound), probably due to my testing and too much tinkering. I might just revisit this and get another one. But I'm also intrigue with this AD1862 R2R.