Others here and elsewhere write very fine reviews using all the right words in all the right places, so I won’t pretend to have that ability. However, I do hope to convey something through my story that I think is just as important as circuits and sound.
I have something that most folks don’t: no, not venereal disease...a JIMDAC/Chime. I was lucky and won a prototype board through a contest last year. Jim H. decided not to offer this as a half-kit due to some less-than-ideal waveforms and parts availability issues. Regardless of waveforms, etc., it sounds great paired with a Cambridge 640C CD player though an inexpensive Blue Jeans digital cable. It makes music by eliminating what I perceive to be digital harshness while preserving details and introducing no noise. The tone of the JIMDAC/Chime is spot on and sounds natural with the stock tubes. No more exaggerated mids and highs from some of my CD's.
People familiar with Jim’s products understand the value offered and how great they sound. The JIMDAC/Chime is another star. I believe that the HAGDAC surpasses the JIMDAC, but I haven’t read any comparative reviews. Anyone looking for a fine quality DAC at a sane price should consider Jim’s current HAGDAC offering. And the Chime has a USB connection and a volume control; two very cool features affording operational flexibility.
The scribbles part:
In 12/05, Jim H. posted a blurb about offering a JIMDAC in exchange for logo design ideas. I sat at the breakfast table Sunday morning and made a few scribbles of this simple stylized tube thingy. Shortly afterwards, Jim posted another note saying that I had won the JIMDAC board. So, a few days passed and I got this little PC board, a TDA 1543a chip and a schematic. I immediately bought a Chime kit (the plug-in output section) and schemed to find time to start the build process. In July 2006, I finally sat down to scribble a parts count from the schematic and order the parts for the JIMDAC. I had trouble finding a through-hole CS8412 chip, but did find a surface mount version along with a supplier of soic to dip adapters that would make this part compatible with the board. Anyway, I finally got it all together and it made music; very, very distorted music.
(sorry about the bad photo)The (important) nice guy part:
After being convinced the adapted CS8412 was the culprit and having limited instruments and knowledge, I gave up troubleshooting and e-mailed Jim. He was very gracious to offer help on something that he gave to me and I mailed the little DAC off for a rehab in paradise. Within days of receiving the circuit board, Jim had the answer and took his time and parts to repair my mistake. It seems that in my hurry to list the parts from the schematic, I added a “k” to 49.9 ohms. So I had installed five or six 49.9k ohm resistors while the rating should have been 49.9 ohms. He substituted the correct parts and immediately priority mailed it back to me. He wouldn’t talk about being compensated for his trouble.
The point of all this rambling is to reveal that Jim helped me with service that was both timely and polite. I think it was especially noteworthy since Jim took his time to fix something that he gave me, he somehow did it extremely fast, and he did it free.
Jim turned my DAC dilemma into an enjoyable memory. Jim, thank you for all of the courteous assistance that you’ve given to me over the past few years. I appreciate it very much.
