Eastern Electric DAC

NotoriousBIG_PJ · « **Reply #540 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 01:11 pm »

Is this dac still for sale? I sent an email but never received a response.

Biggie.

Levi · « **Reply #541 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 01:35 pm »

Thanks to Shek for turning me into the EE DAC. It looks like you saved over $1K plus ended up with a highly resolving 32bit dac. He he he...

Wayne1 · « **Reply #542 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 01:58 pm »

Quote from: NotoriousBIG_PJ on 21 Apr 2010, 01:11 pm

Is this dac still for sale? I sent an email but never received a response.

Biggie.

Biggie, I talked to Bill over the weekend. I believe the first shipment of the DAC is sold out for now. I think he said he should be getting another shipment the beginning of next month.

I had a chance to live with this DAC for a few days, last week. I came up with a few mods to change the sound of it. I took a listen after the mods and I was VERY impressed. I contacted Bill and Alex and received their blessing to offer mods. Another unit is on the way to me for more research.

Have any of you guys tried swapping the first op-amp? It is being used as a low-pass filter after the DAC chip. I think there could be a lot of fine tuning of the sound by using different op-amps in combination with different tubes. If you do decide to swap the op-amps, make sure you use an IC extractor like one of these:

from Digi-key to avoid bending the pins. You also might want to use an IC inserter

This kit is available from Radio Shack for under $10.00. Make sure you make note of which way the IC is oriented in the socket. It is possible to put them in backwards. They don't really like that

roscoeiii · « **Reply #543 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 02:05 pm »

Wayne,

You may not want to reveal the mod details quite yet, but I'm curious about your impressions of the stock player as well, and how it compares to other DACs you are familiar with. Could you perhaps post your impressions on the Eastern Electric DAC Reviews thread? Probably more appropriate than this Industry ad thread...

Levi · « **Reply #544 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 02:07 pm »

Thanks Wayne for the tip. I am actually thinking about doing an OPamp swap. I asked Occam to help on this as he knows lots about OPAmps. The EE DAC's solid state sound is another option to look into. That Saber DAC chip is truly a great chip!

Bill@LakeGeorge · « **Reply #545 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 02:13 pm »

Wayne did a few mods to my EE Dac and this thing sounds fantastic. Huge soundstage, depth and clarity. Perhaps when he pins down other mods to the power regulators and opamps I'll send it back. I have been rolling 3 dacs here for the last couple of months and this is now by far the best. I'll try to list the things Wane did and he can chime in if I missed anything.

Bypass volume control
Add bypass capacitor
Add resonance control pucks to the caps

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #546 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 02:50 pm »

Quote from: Bill@LakeGeorge on 21 Apr 2010, 02:13 pm

Wayne did a few mods to my EE Dac and this thing sounds fantastic. Huge soundstage, depth and clarity. Perhaps when he pins down other mods to the power regulators and opamps I'll send it back. I have been rolling 3 dacs here for the last couple of months and this is now by far the best. I'll try to list the things Wane did and he can chime in if I missed anything.

Bypass volume control
Add bypass capacitor
Add resonance control pucks to the caps

I see you already use a pre. Perchance have you tried the DAC as volume control w/o your pre in the loop?

Wayne1 · « **Reply #547 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 03:07 pm »

Roscoeiii,

I really did not have much time with the DAC. I did not listen to it stock. I took a look inside and made some suggestions to Bill@LakeGeorge. He did not want to be without his DAC while I was waiting for parts so I did what I could with the parts I had on hand.

I did listen to it after the mods and I feel it is one of the best DACs I have heard. It was one of the few DACs for under $4,000.00 that I thought sounded better than one of my analog modded SBs.

When I get another one, I will be happy to post my thoughts on the stock unit in the appropriate thread.

Big Red Machine,

One of the mods I did was to bypass the volume control from the signal path. This removes a few mechanical connections and a fair amount of wire. You lose some versatility, but you should get some improvements in sound quality. I also bypassed the selector switch as Bill@LakeGeorge only uses the RCA input. I also installed a WBTNextGen RCA connector and I changed some of the wiring for the digital input section.

When I start working on more mods, I'll create a post to talk about them in my circle.

Sorry for derailing this thread a bit.

Bill@LakeGeorge · « **Reply #548 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 03:08 pm »

I did not try that because it sounded so good and switching connections on my system is a major PIA.

satfrat · « **Reply #549 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 03:13 pm »

Quote from: Bill@LakeGeorge on 21 Apr 2010, 03:08 pm

I did not try that because it sounded so good and switching connections on my system is a major PIA.

I can attest to that one.

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #550 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 03:17 pm »

Quote from: Wayne1 on 21 Apr 2010, 03:07 pm

Roscoeiii,

Big Red Machine,

One of the mods I did was to bypass the volume control from the signal path. This removes a few mechanical connections and a fair amount of wire. You lose some versatility, but you should get some improvements in sound quality.

But if it were the only volume control in the system would I be replicating possible sound issues by adding a tube buffer (Dodd) that has a volume control after bypassing the DAC's vol control? So am I just robbing Peter to pay Paul IOW? Or is the vol control in the DAC not up to our "typical" standards (I think someone mentioned it was "digital")? I like the idea of volume control in the DAC to eliminate other components in the system. This is why I contemplate the W4S or this DAC. I'll add the Dodd buffer if I have to if it will be a better vol control.

srb · « **Reply #551 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 03:21 pm »

Quote from: Big Red Machine on 21 Apr 2010, 03:17 pm

But if it were the only volume control in the system would I be replicating possible sound issues by adding a tube buffer (Dodd) that has a volume control after bypassing the DAC's vol control? So am I just robbing Peter to pay Paul IOW? Or is the vol control in the DAC not up to our "typical" standards (I think someone mentioned it was "digital")? I like the idea of volume control in the DAC to eliminate other components in the system. This is why I contemplate the W4S or this DAC. I'll add the Dodd buffer if I have to if it will be a better vol control.

The volume control in the EE Minimax DAC is analog. As far as it's quality, I don't know. But those that are using a volume control in a preamp or buffer would prefer to bypass it and not have the signal go through a second volume control in the DAC.

Steve

satfrat · « **Reply #552 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 03:24 pm »

The EE dac has a very high output gain to it,,, much higher than the other 2 Dac's that Bill is demo'ing and way to high to sound any good for my system. With the volume control at it 5:00 max, I had to turn it down to 3:00 before it was even usable for me. I also felt the lower volume setting made Bill's system sound better, thou he might feel differently. This higher gain was a major stumbling block for me personally so if Wayne was able to tame that and a volume control isn't a nesessity for the users system, I can only see it's removal as a huge plus,, just my opinion.

Cheers,
Robin

roscoeiii · « **Reply #553 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 03:39 pm »

Still nothing on the Morningstar site on the DAC. Does anyone know the V RMS for this DAC. (I miss the "search this thread" option available in other forums). How much above the CD player standard 2V RMS is it?

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #554 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 04:44 pm »

Quote from: roscoeiii on 21 Apr 2010, 03:39 pm

Still nothing on the Morningstar site on the DAC. Does anyone know the V RMS for this DAC. (I miss the "search this thread" option available in other forums). How much above the CD player standard 2V RMS is it?

Bill emailed me these specs. I think they were mentioned somewhere in this thread way back somewhere:

Specification:

Frequency Response: 15Hz-32KHz
Sampling Rates: 32 bit 32KHz 44.1KHz 48KHz 192KHz ( except USB)
Dynamic Range: 129dB
Digital Input Impedance: 75 ohm
Output Impedance: Tube 22K , Solid State 10K
Output Voltage: Tube 3V =- 0.5dB, Solid State 2.5v +- 0.5dB
S/N ratio: Tube 90dB, Solid State 95dB
THD: 0.5% (Tube), 0.02% ( Solid State)
Power consumption:12W

Is that output voltage what you needed?

Wayne1 · « **Reply #555 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 05:05 pm »

There is a very good quality pot in it. This could be changed to a stepped attenuator type, if it could be made to fit in the case.

The output level might be able to be reduced with some circuit changes or adding a fixed amount of attenuation at the output jacks.

It all depends on the rest of your system and how you want to use this DAC.

Bill O'Connell · « **Reply #556 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 09:01 pm »

Quote from: Wayne1 on 21 Apr 2010, 01:58 pm

Biggie, I talked to Bill over the weekend. I believe the first shipment of the DAC is sold out for now. I think he said he should be getting another shipment the beginning of next month.

I had a chance to live with this DAC for a few days, last week. I came up with a few mods to change the sound of it. I took a listen after the mods and I was VERY impressed. I contacted Bill and Alex and received their blessing to offer mods. Another unit is on the way to me for more research.

Have any of you guys tried swapping the first op-amp? It is being used as a low-pass filter after the DAC chip. I think there could be a lot of fine tuning of the sound by using different op-amps in combination with different tubes. If you do decide to swap the op-amps, make sure you use an IC extractor like one of these:

from Digi-key to avoid bending the pins. You also might want to use an IC inserter

This kit is available from Radio Shack for under $10.00. Make sure you make note of which way the IC is oriented in the socket. It is possible to put them in backwards. They don't really like that

Wayne ,

Thanks for posting the picture of the tool that is needed to pull the op-amps.
Needless to say, if you don't have this tool your probably not qualified to change the op-amps

Or if you think you can do as good a job with a needle-nose pliers

you are mistaken so don't even try it!

mumford · « **Reply #557 on:** 21 Apr 2010, 10:28 pm »

Quote from: Wayne1 on 21 Apr 2010, 01:58 pm

Have any of you guys tried swapping the first op-amp? It is being used as a low-pass filter after the DAC chip.

Quote from: Wayne1 on 21 Apr 2010, 05:05 pm

There is a very good quality pot in it. This could be changed to a stepped attenuator type, if it could be made to fit in the case.

Maybe you can kill 2 problems at the same time by using a transformer volume control.

However, I am not sure what can be fitted inside the existing case. A bigger 2U sized metal case would provide extra room for mods.

I have been listening to this DAC for the past couple weeks, and it sounds good. Switching between my PC, PS3, and SB Duet is a big bonus. I actually like the fact that it outputs slightly higher voltage.

John151 · « **Reply #558 on:** 22 Apr 2010, 02:24 am »

Quote from: satfrat on 21 Apr 2010, 03:24 pm

The EE dac has a very high output gain to it,,, much higher than the other 2 Dac's that Bill is demo'ing and way to high to sound any good for my system. With the volume control at it 5:00 max, I had to turn it down to 3:00 before it was even usable for me.

I have not noticed a gain issue with either a Candella or Modwright SWL. Perhaps these pre-amps are compensating for the gain?

Wayne - Add me to your list of parties interested in EE DAC mods. In addition to sound mods, I would be interested in replacing the BNC connector with an RCA/coax (currently using an adapter) as I have two coax sources.

mumford · « **Reply #559 on:** 22 Apr 2010, 02:44 am »

Quote

In addition to sound mods, I would be interested in replacing the BNC connector with an RCA/coax (currently using an adapter) as I have two coax sources.

AS BNC is a vastly superior connector standard, shouldn't you mod your source instead?