Oh my gosh, the sound of this DAC is out of this world gorgeous! I've only just completed most of the wiring and have some clean-up work to do (like fix the grounding scheme, of which there is currently none!), and it needs break-in and other changes, but wow, out of the box it is ~beautiful~.
The wooden cans you can see on top of the DAC are output transformers ... 1:10 ratio or some such. They're doing fill-in duty until I get a new chip from Vincent (the DAC's designer) to route signals in ways I've intended for this particular unit.
Let me explain that. This particular DAC has 3 channels: balanced-L, balanced-R and L+R subwoofer. It is currently programmed to operate each such channel in L+R mode, hence the output transformers doing substitute duty. Output transformers for the balanced version of this unit are FineMet (Feastrex) transformers glued to the chassis beneath the DAC board. These are 1:1 jobs that should give me enough voltage swing when the DAC is operated in balanced mode.
So ... the DAC is wired with 5 arrays of Hynes supplies, one array for each of the discrete DAC functions, being one each for:
• the L channel
• the R channel
• the subwoofer channel
• the analogue chips
• the digital chips.
Each array is as follows:
transformer --> 12VDC series --> 9VDC series --> 5VDC shunt
The one exception is the array for the digital chips which adds a 1.2VDC reg for the main digital chip.
Each of the L and R channels operate in balanced mode (or will do so when I get the new programming chip), hence are better off, methinks, with the single regulator array dedicated to them. Noise generated on these rails will sum in the output transformer.
I've also added passive filtering after each transformer to keep power supply noise from these arrays from interacting.
Like I said, the sound is off the charts. I've never heard digital with such fine, delicate detail and resolution. Thank you to Vincent and Paul for their awesome awesome products!
