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Dirt cheap USB only Phillips TDA1837 R2R DAC sounds wonderful

magicscreen said:
Has your smart TV USB output? Or can you convert HDMI to USB? This DAC has only USB input port.
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I was looking at the manual (TV is on the wall and I can't see the outputs easily) and I only have optical audio out. All of the HDMI and RCA on the TV are for IN. Guess I'll have to look at another DAC for my needs.
 
Scott66 said:
I was looking at the manual (TV is on the wall and I can't see the outputs easily) and I only have optical audio out. All of the HDMI and RCA on the TV are for IN. Guess I'll have to look at another DAC for my needs.
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I'm not 100% sure but I think Creative Labs still makes the SB1240, an external DAC that sounds much better than any internal sound card that company has ever produced, so it's probably made by someone else and re-badged. In any case, it's pretty sophisticated for a USB-powered unit and unlike most it does have optical in and out so in theory you could use it it with your TV. But since optical carries no power you'd still have to use the USB connection. That's not a problem though, just use a USB hub for power and the optics for the audio signal from your tv. This DAC also has RCA ins and outs so simply forward the processed signal to your receiver via the outs. One oddity though, it uses a female mini C USB connector for power in (and audio signal when not using optical) instead of a standard USB printer connector. At 6" x 4" it is larger than your typical USB-powered unit, and sports rather complex circuitry using good quality Japanese caps, OP-amps and resistors. IIRC the actual DAC chip is from ESS, good stuff.
 
This L1387 4xTDA1387 is an incredible good quality DAC.
But only for my Jds Labs Atom and Marantz solid-state headphone amps.
Using with the hybrid (tube/SS) Loxjie P20 and MCTH it becomes too muddy/syrupy.
Syrupy means gummy, sticky, slow, soft bassy. (not sweet)
 
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Part of the reason for the soft bass is it relies on the USB bus power, no local regulation is used. Supply stability isn't very good at the receiving end of a USB cable.
 
xdd said:
Part of the reason for the soft bass is it relies on the USB bus power, no local regulation is used. Supply stability isn't very good at the receiving end of a USB cable.
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It is also subject to substantial EMI-induced distortion when used with a cheap entry-level motherboard lacking sufficient circuit insulation. You really need all those 5w and you need them clean so PSU and and motherboard must be up to the task. This only concerns very cheap boards though, like the x10 series from Asus. A $100 x50 mobo will usually do okay with a 600w+ PSU.
 
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