Eastern Electric DAC mods

Levi · « **Reply #400 on:** 12 Mar 2011, 05:27 pm »

Congrats on your Wayne modified EE Dac! Yours comes with Pavane tube? No?

Quote from: ecod123 on 12 Mar 2011, 04:33 pm

JLM, Gopher, Turnandcough, Wayne and Bill,

Thanks for responding and providing clarity to my questions.

I can't wait to try the phase function on some recordings and . . . roll some tubes!

ecod123 · « **Reply #401 on:** 12 Mar 2011, 06:02 pm »

Quote from: Levi on 12 Mar 2011, 05:27 pm

Congrats on your Wayne modified EE Dac! Yours comes with Pavane tube? No?

I wish mine is Wayne modified. As mentioned earlier, it's a used but mint stock unit and I am saving towards a Wayne Level 1 mod - hopefully sooner than later.

JLM · « **Reply #402 on:** 13 Mar 2011, 07:33 pm »

Thanks for the clarification (I'm new to tubes).

Gopher · « **Reply #403 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 02:28 pm »

Any new feedback from the tour on the DAC? I had the chance to compare it against the Modwright Transporter again and my preference for Waynes level 1 modded DAC was clearer than last listen. More relaxed/effortless without sacrificing big dynamics--similar resolution and staging but the EE might get the nod--but the BM EE is just... less digital sounding.

Wayne1 · « **Reply #404 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 03:12 pm »

I have gotten far behind in mods and updates to existing gear.

The tour DAC is here, waiting in line to be updated.

There was a rush of interest in the mods and I have many units to work my way through. Hopefully I can get a few out in the coming weeks.

Gopher · « **Reply #405 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 03:19 pm »

In this climate, busy is good!

Maybe I shouldn't even open this can of worms, but with the Hynes Regs becoming more available, is there any chance maybe 6 months from now after this tour is done you'll do the updates to level 2 and send that on tour for the level 1 guys?

Wayne1 · « **Reply #406 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 03:38 pm »

Fred,

That's up to Bill O'Connell. He still owns the base modded tour dac. I'm sure he wants to be paid for it someday.

The Hynes regulators do offer a substantial improvement. They are also a PITA to install. I'm not too sure I want to offer upgrades from Level 1 to Level 2. Lots of parts will have to be removed and reinstalled to put in the Hynes regs. The traces on the board are already fairly fragile. A problem with the ROHS spec is the high heat required to work with no-lead solder makes reworking connections very delicate.

If an upgrade to level 2 is ever offered, it will be quite a bit more than just the price difference between the two.

Gopher · « **Reply #407 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 03:50 pm »

perfectly understandable, on both accounts though it probably removes it from consideration for me even if offered. Doing it one shot really is the way to go it seems.

ajayrav · « **Reply #408 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 04:11 pm »

Quote from: Gopher on 23 Mar 2011, 02:28 pm

Any new feedback from the tour on the DAC? I had the chance to compare it against the Modwright Transporter again and my preference for Waynes level 1 modded DAC was clearer than last listen. More relaxed/effortless without sacrificing big dynamics--similar resolution and staging but the EE might get the nod--but the BM EE is just... less digital sounding.

Gopher,

Just to make sure I have this right...when you say the 'EE might get the nod', you are talking about comparing a Modwright Transporter with a Bolder modded Touch feeding a stock EE DAC. Is that correct? And when you compare the MWTP to the Bolder modded touch feeding the modded EE DAC, the latter combination was definitely better. Right? I'm considering getting a stock transporter to feed my EE DAC which is currently being modded by Wayne, but maybe I should just stick with my Bolder modded Touch....

Thanks,
Ajay

Gopher · « **Reply #409 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 04:43 pm »

Ajay,

The comparisons were with my Bolder modded Touch equipped with B.M. Elpac and a B.M. EEMM (Pavane tube) vs. the Modwright Transporter with Black Treasures and EML tubing.

The first time in my rig it was using a generic XLR to RCA converter Bill O'C was nice enough to send me to try the AES/EBU input which he preferred. A/Bing the two, both hardwired to my LAN the minimax got the slight nod in my system for sounding a little more natural and resolved.

The second time we shot out the exact two pieces at Berto's house but I was using my Wywires digital coax and it was more than a nod. We both had a clear preference for the Bolder.

Considering the price difference between the two, the minimax is the steal. I'd talk to Wayne about whether the Transporter (stock or modded) is a better option than the Touch with mods. I know I don't like the Transporter's display as much.

ajayrav · « **Reply #410 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 04:47 pm »

Thanks, Gopher for clarifying that. I'm on the WyWires Western tour so am very interested in adding that to the mix as well!

Ajay

Wayne1 · « **Reply #411 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 04:55 pm »

Ajay,

I can state with extreme bias that the Bolder modded Touch with a linear PS is better sounding than a stock Transporter on digital output into a modded EE DAC

I have compared a Transporter to most of the mods I have done. The modded Touch is by far the best sounding mod. Depending on what power supply is used, the difference can be quite wide.

The Deluxe PS with Bybee Music Rails is currently the king.

Levi · « **Reply #412 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 05:30 pm »

Hi Wayne, do you think an external larger powersupply would be a worthwhile upgrade to the EE Dac?

ajayrav · « **Reply #413 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 05:42 pm »

Thanks, Wayne for your take. I have an older version of your power supply (in a gray metal case). Would upgrading either to the basic or deluxe power supply make a huge difference over the PS I currently have? Or should I be considering adding Bybee music rails in my old power supply?

Ajay

Wayne1 · « **Reply #414 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 06:46 pm »

Ajay,

I made a couple of different designs of PS in the older case. I have changed most of the parts around and the current Standard does sound better than the older Basic. Some of the parts can be changed to the current ones, but the problem might be the size of the case.

The Bybee Music Rail will improve any of the power supplies I have made. Again the difficulty would be physically getting the Music Rail to fit in the case.

Levi,

Some larger, dedicated transformers would help things out with the EE DAC. One problem is there is no room to mount anything else in the case. There isn't any room to even bring in an umbilical if you wanted to mount something in an additional case.

The answer that I have been working on is to remove the board and put it in a different case along with a different power supply design. This is rather costly for small scale. I'm not sure about if the difference it would make would be worth the expense. I guess I can tell you that whenever I get the time to put more work into that project.

In the meantime, I had better go finish up Ajay's mod.

ajayrav · « **Reply #415 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 06:55 pm »

Quote from: Wayne1 on 23 Mar 2011, 06:46 pm

In the meantime, I had better go finish up Ajay's mod.

Yippeee!!!

Turnandcough · « **Reply #416 on:** 24 Mar 2011, 02:08 am »

I'm using a CIA VDC-SB 2.2 amp power supply on my BC modded Touch. How does it rank compared to other offerings?

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #417 on:** 24 Mar 2011, 12:43 pm »

I just received one of these to use for the power supply to the SB:

http://shop.vendio.com/evan2002/item/969813531/index.html

Wayne1 · « **Reply #418 on:** 24 Mar 2011, 02:17 pm »

Dusty's PS and the industrial supply are both a lot better than the stock switcher. The PS I build are designed just for the SB. I use the highest quality parts. All AC parts are silver plated and cryo treated. The silver plated, cryo treated, ceramic fuse I use costs more than most power supplies. Everything is hand wired, point to point. Again, I can't stress nothing but the highest quality parts. HUGE transformer. Film cap bypasses. They do sound better.

The addition of the Bybee Music Rail does take my PS to a whole 'nother level. I have directly compared the Deluxe PS to the $1800.00 Ultimate Nirvana PS and the Deluxe sounded better.

I have added the Music Rails to a few of the Ultimate PS and that was an amazing sound.

If you are after the best sound from your SB, the Deluxe is the best PS. If you are after something better than stock but not the best, Dusty's PS and the industrial one are good values.

Rim bought a used HP bench supply that retailed for over $5K new. He compared it to my Ultimate PS. He bought the Ultimate. The Deluxe is better sounding than the Ultimate.

MarkM · « **Reply #419 on:** 25 Mar 2011, 05:29 pm »

Quote from: Wayne1 on 23 Mar 2011, 03:38 pm

Fred,

The Hynes regulators do offer a substantial improvement. They are also a PITA to install. I'm not too sure I want to offer upgrades from Level 1 to Level 2. Lots of parts will have to be removed and reinstalled to put in the Hynes regs. The traces on the board are already fairly fragile. A problem with the ROHS spec is the high heat required to work with no-lead solder makes reworking connections very delicate.

If an upgrade to level 2 is ever offered, it will be quite a bit more than just the price difference between the two.

The Hynes regulators are tops on many lists for good reason, but with space being a real issue inside this dac, there are other choices that are a direct drop in for the LM317 & 337 with a few minor resitor changes. I installed the Belleson 2a regulators. Would have gone with my stand by Tentlabs regulators, but when I measured the current draw, (38ma-depending on op amps used) it exceeded the ratings of Guidos offerings.

Heat sinking is another issue as there isn't much room to add one that dissipates real energy. The stock heatsink allows for the small footprint wit a different regulator.

To get the most out of the opamps in this cool little dac, a clean low noise-low impedance regulator is key IMHO.

Another option perhaps for your customers?