[wushuliu]

It's been about a month since the SI384 DDC and the accompanying -100hz clock arrived.  With the dacs I have on hand, I actually prefer the UAC1 DDC.  The SI384 exhibits a more studio quality sound.  With each dac I tried, there's more space/air/detail and such.  But, the UAC1 sounds more musical to me.  Then, I found a Pontus mk1 on audiomart and the seller is very local to me.  So, wtheck might as well try it out.  I did previously own a Pontus mk2 but didn't like it but that when I had the Singxer SU6 and didn't appreciate the lack of longer term listenability. 

First, I plugged in the Pontus to the UAC1 via RCA/SPDIF.  It didn't sound annoying compared to the previous Pontus but it sounded kind of boring.  The Pontus 2 had a huge sound to it but its fake N/OS sound was hurting my ears after 10 minutes.  With this, it has long term listenability but lacks the charm of my other dacs when connected to the UAC1.  So, the UAC1 has an i2s output.  I thought what's the chance that they are actually compatible.  Well, they are compatible.

With i2s, the sound changed slightly.  Cleaner in a good way.  Slightly raised soundstage and less background noise.  But, only marginal improvement.  Then, I plugged the Pontus into the SI384.  The SI384 actually made a bigger improvement on the Pontus than the UAC1 did.  And, weirdly, it didn't improvement the sound by making it more audiophile sounding.  It's actually very listenable and even a bit charming.

Overall, I think SI384 is a bargain in terms of matching it up with your pre-existing Denafrips.  But, in terms of dac/ddc, I think I still prefer the UAC1/TDA1543 dac.  The sound has more character.  And, it's so small and diminutive on the hifi stand.  But, this is with the HDPLEX300 powering the pair.  If using lesser PSU, the SI384/Pontus probably sounds better if memory of my listening experience sans HDPLEX300 is correct.

Thanks for the update!

[wushuliu]

Following up on this little wonder. I now have a proper 2-channel setup working again and have been cycling through different dacs, preamps, and amps as I dial things in and 're-calibrate' myself since it's been a good 5-6 years of primarily headphone listening. This tiny dac has been in the mix with an Assemblage DAC (PCM1702) I got for cheap, the Wiim Ultra internal Sabre DAC, a Parasound D/AC 1100 (PCM63P), and a Holo Cyan 2. The Holo is still cooking and listened to just briefly so I'll leave it out of the comparison. What I will say is that using Wiim coax output the PCM56 does not embarrass itself at all. Most of the wonderful qualities I highlighted previously are there. More rolled off top end than the rest and imaging less defined but still punching way beyond its $40 price especially if you like R2R sound. But here's where I was caught by surprise: I switched to using the Wiim USB output to feed a Singxer SU-6 DDC into all the DACs. And that was a game changer. With the DDC feeding it the PCM56 sounds so good, certainly better than the internal Sabre (which IMO sounds very good). The clarity, resolution, upper frequency extension, imaging, all up by several notches. You would not guess this is a $40 dac. I don't think you'd guess it to be less than $1K. Lesson here I suppose is get a good DDC for your R2R DACs as this performance bump was audible with all of mine but MVP award goes to the PCM56.

Of course this is all taste and need dependent as I'm more or less a 16/44 listener only and not chasing DSD/MQA/24-96-768 etc.

Well kiss my grits. This little cheap azz R2R arrived today. Much smaller than I expected, too and looking basic AF. Takes 18-24v, so I plugged in my bench supply and connected a cheap USB/SPDIF converter.

Hot damn. This $40 box sounds *good*. Really good. No, really really good. Anita Baker's voice has tactility and sweet emotion. Piano notes have a kind of naturalness and weight I don't normally hear with the usual dacs, not even my modded Soekris 1021. Transients have snap, even snappier than the Topping E50 (not E30) I wrote about recently. Very dynamic. Organic, realistic bass punch, but not overwhelming. Not syrupy or rolled off, though like the Muse TPA1543 I once had (and an AC'er borrowed and never returned  ). Very good extension. Has that R2R organicy, natural presentation. Surprisingly comes off as very quiet to me. Microdetails also pretty decent.

I'm not even going to compare it with the other Peanut DACs. It's a step or two above them easily. Instead I'll compare to pricier 'budget' fare I've heard/owned. Closest in sound signature is probably the $270 Topping E50, which has a similar toe-tapping quality. But the E50 doesn't have the naturalness of tone and midrange as this PCM56 and isn't as dynamic. The ~ $400Sabaj A20d has better instrument separation, more precise image, overall better extension in the extremes, but again not as good in natural tone/timbre/PRaT. The Soekris also has better separation, imaging, and a bit more dimensionality overall but the PCM56 I think wins on midrange and tone. The Soekris has always had a great sense of space but a little bit thin in the mids. This little black box is the opposite. They definitely share a similar organic, textured delivery. I wish I had my 2 channel setup running because I would love to compare the two through some good speakers. Alas my HD6XXs must suffice for now and with my headphones I think the two are *maybe* evenly matched just a question of tradeoffs. Will have to really spend time to compare. But I mean, my Soekris runs on LT3045 regulators and LifePo batteries. This little black box shouldn't even be in the ring.

'The last shall be first and the first shall be last'.To say my expectations were low is an understatement. I bought this dac on a lark just to get a little 'vintage' R2R flavor in the peanut mix. Also as much as I like to mess around with cheap dacs I am ready to tackle another new higher end project like the Soekris. My intent was to get one of Soekris' newer boards and go all out, but I may have to consider some other projects based around these old R2R/Multibit chips...

[viggen]

welcome to the thunderdome!  these cheap and ancient r2r dacs when fed by ddc and lpsu sound amazing. 

i did have the su6 and matrix xspdif2 but prefer the cheap UAC1 i got off ali. 

i've tried various chip based dacs in the past year from 1704, pcm63, CS6xxx, 1543 amongst others and 1543 is my fave thus far.  i did try a 1541 dac before but that was before i discovered the wonders of ddcs on r2r dacs.

i do see this pcm56 dac on ali and your post got me curious:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806892894197.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.16ca1f71bVoOd0&algo_pvid=0f3dc576-3ea1-4cb8-9ee7-c84847907f72&algo_exp_id=0f3dc576-3ea1-4cb8-9ee7-c84847907f72-0&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%2123.52%2119.76%21%21%2123.52%2119.76%21%402101e9a217262318142777882e265d%2112000039331604699%21sea%21US%214349778353%21X&curPageLogUid=6y5kz95IE7SK&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A

[wushuliu]

welcome to the thunderdome!  these cheap and ancient r2r dacs when fed by ddc and lpsu sound amazing. 

i did have the su6 and matrix xspdif2 but prefer the cheap UAC1 i got off ali. 

i've tried various chip based dacs in the past year from 1704, pcm63, CS6xxx, 1543 amongst others and 1543 is my fave thus far.  i did try a 1541 dac before but that was before i discovered the wonders of ddcs on r2r dacs.

i do see this pcm56 dac on ali and your post got me curious:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806892894197.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.16ca1f71bVoOd0&algo_pvid=0f3dc576-3ea1-4cb8-9ee7-c84847907f72&algo_exp_id=0f3dc576-3ea1-4cb8-9ee7-c84847907f72-0&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%2123.52%2119.76%21%21%2123.52%2119.76%21%402101e9a217262318142777882e265d%2112000039331604699%21sea%21US%214349778353%21X&curPageLogUid=6y5kz95IE7SK&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A

Interesting, even cheaper than mine at only $20. I'll have to give it a go. I did try the UAC1 w/ my Wiim Ultra but it was not compatible. Also contemplating getting a Holo Red or Magna Mano Ultra DDC.

[viggen]

the UAC1 is pnp with my pc but it does have a proprietary "million" usb driver.  were you able to use the uac1 at all?  will be curious to see how you stack it against your other ddcs.  i also have the other "million" ddc with the external clock which i think you have already read.  that one uses a more standard amanero usb driver.  i think i would prefer this over the su6 but still prefer the uac1 over both.

i like how the cheap $20 dac has all the interface in the back so easier to hide cables.

[wushuliu]

the UAC1 is pnp with my pc but it does have a proprietary "million" usb driver.  were you able to use the uac1 at all?  will be curious to see how you stack it against your other ddcs.  i also have the other "million" ddc with the external clock which i think you have already read.  that one uses a more standard amanero usb driver.  i think i would prefer this over the su6 but still prefer the uac1 over both.

i like how the cheap $20 dac has all the interface in the back so easier to hide cables.

Hm, the UAC-1 appears to be working now. Maybe because of the latest Wiim firmware update. I'll spend some time with it later.

[viggen]

did you try out the pcm56 dac with different psus?  the $40 1543 dac sounds different with every psu i tried with it.  the hdplex is my fave as it gives it a fat warm enveloping sound.  been tempted to buy a farad to try out with the dac.  so it's peanut dac with caviar psu.

[viggen]

I never really loved any BB chips I've heard in DACs.  And, this dac implementation with PCM56 and with a few hours of burn I'd say it's very competent probably as good or better than the GCD600 (63) and GCD700 (1702) I've tried and perhaps a bit easier to listen to than 1704s.  BBs usually has an airier and a stronger midbass presentation than Philips and AD chips do.  Going to give it a few more days/weeks for another assessment.

[viggen]

i have to eat my words about bb chips.  this $20 pcm56 dac is starting to become a favorite surpassing the $40 1543 dac after:

1) 1 week of burn in
2) swapped psu from HDPlex300 to a no name LPSU I bought off ebay

this has all the strengths of the TDA1543/HDplex300 combo but with better vocals and stronger midbass.  the attack is visceral and the sound is intoxicating.

i might be happy with my front end now.

[mick wolfe]

Call me a very recent fan of the PCM56 as well. In the amazingly cheap DAC category, I'm liking it better the the Phillips Little Giant. In fact at this point, it's got my pricier DAC's looking over their shoulders. Time will tell of course. FWIW, using it with a Swagman 12V LPS.

[viggen]

Call me a very recent fan of the PCM56 as well. In the amazingly cheap DAC category, I'm liking it better the the Phillips Little Giant. In fact at this point, it's got my pricier DAC's looking over their shoulders. Time will tell of course. FWIW, using it with a Swagman 12V LPS.

Are you using a DDC in front of the DAC?  I highly recommend it and highly recommend the UAC1.

Which PCM56 dac do you have?

[mick wolfe]

Strictly used for CD playback from a Cambridge CXC transport. BRZ HiFI PCM56 NOS DAC with passive filter. ( I'm reading right off the faceplate) Bought from AliEx of course, but I don't recall the seller name. There were a few. Roughly a shade over $20 delivered. As already mentioned... powered by a Swagman 12V LPS.

[viggen]

ah we have the same dac.  i have a many 12v powered dacs now.  i do wonder what improvements i'd get if i splurged on a higher end psu like farad or hynes.

[mick wolfe]

FWIW, I think the Swagman was around $150. I don't think they're around anymore, but not sure. That said, that's about as much as I care to spend on a PS. When I powered the Phillips Little Giant with the Swagman, I heard very little if any difference between it and the $70 iFi wall wart PS. But there seems to be excellent synergy with the Swagman/PCM56 combo by comparison. Something like the Farad is simply priced out of my pay grade. I certainly wouldn't consider one without a generous audition period being offered. Even used, they top out over $700.

[viggen]

yes synergy is more important.  the pcm56 has better synergy with the $100 lpsu than with the HDPlex which is a $600 lpsu.  true the farad is expensive but you can usually sell it for what you buy it for used.