Gieseler Kompakt II TDA1541A DAC - an audio love story

[pete_mac]

I'm a bit of an audio romanticist at heart.

Not only do I love my music, but I love the gear that reproduces it. I love the back-story behind my gear... who designed it, the engineering philosophy that underpins it, and the ongoing quest for better sound. I become invested in these details and it adds a special magic to the listening experience. My allegiance must be earned by gear which does not just talk the talk, but also walks the walk. I not only listen with my ears, but also my heart.

On the amplifier front, I always have been, and always will be, a Sansui guy. Partly due to their superlative sound, but mainly due to the audio journey that Dad @skippy124 and I have enjoyed together, spanning gear from the early 70s to the mid 90s.

On the digital audio front... enter Australia's Gieseler Audio.

Clayton Gieseler's wonderful gear has played a key role in my system for over a decade now, starting with the original Klein DAC that, then a Klein III, and the original AKM-equipped Kompakt - and a few power supplies for good measure! Clay's formula seems simple yet others rarely manage to implement it as effectively - solid DAC chip implementation, quality components, robust electronic engineering, and GET THE POWER SUPPLY RIGHT!

Each iteration of DAC improved upon the last and my system continued to evolve. After acquiring the original AKM Kompakt, I was very satisfied with the sound and stopped thinking about the "next big upgrade" on the digital front.

Along came the Kompakt II TDA1541A - a modern DAC designed around a legendary chip that harks from the 80s.

"Pete, would you be interested in having a listen to the TDA in your own system? You've heard a lot of my DACs and many other DACs and I'd love to hear your thoughts against the AKM Kompakt. No obligation, send her back when you're done. Enjoy!"

An innocent flirtation, nothing more. I was already happy. I'd listen, the DAC would be returned, and that would be that. Too easy. Nobody would get hurt.

Famous last words.

Upon firing her up... I was immediately taken by this DAC's joint talents of nailing timbre/tone along with a sound stage that you simply swim within! My mind is blown with just how good a properly implemented non-oversampling DAC can sound.

Pianos, brass instruments and violins - simply delectable!

Vocals (both male and female) are beautifully fleshed-out. A few of my go-to demo tracks blew my mind - I've never heard Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" sound better, and one of my slightly more obscure references which brings tonally light-weight DACs to their knees is Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York. Kurt's anaemic rasp is not the friend of tonally deficient DACs! I also hear more well-presented and realistic detail than any of the hyped-up ESS Sabre DACs that I've previously owned. This combination of tone and resolution is the TDA1541A's one-two punch - it allows me to suspend disbelief, relax, and make me think "I am there". I don't need to work hard for this payday - the attributes of this DAC make listening sessions easy and oh-so-natural.

I also listen to a lot of well (and not-so-well!) produced electronic music, including various iterations of house, techno, and hybrids of electronic/modern classical music. The TDA1541A weaves the same convincing story - superbly wide and deep sound staging, clarity and tone. It's all too easy to blow away an entire evening and listen well into the wee hours.

Clay also sent me a Reinigen which elevates the Kompakt II to another level, especially when intervening between the USB output of my Squeezebox Touch and the DAC. All of my initial listening comparisons occurred between the Kompakt 1 vs II at first, with the Reinigen arriving later. Adding the Reinigen takes the Kompakt II to another level and it's not going anywhere. It's effect is not subtle. That is a story for another thread though. This is all about the TDA1541A.

I also love a good nudie pic or three. Gotta love those Nichicon Fine Gold and Muse caps, along with Panasonic's finest but I'm equally happy to see a few Elna Silmic II caps in there! Robust CLC power supplies. Delicious Nichicon decoupling caps around the DAC chip. Last but not least, the Amanero 384 USB board working its magic. As I said earlier... quality designs, quality components, quality engineering.

Kudos to Clay and his passion for extracting the most out his gear through careful design, sound engineering, and continuous improvement. I can confidently say that my system has simply never sounded better.

The Kompakt II has been purchased. Cancel the return flight home Clay - this tourist is staying put. Thanks mate.

(no affiliation with Gieseler Audio - just a very happy fan of quality audio gear from down-under)

System
Squeezebox Touch with Gieseler PSU
Gieseler Reinigen
Gieseler Kompakt II TDA1541A
Sansui AU-alpha 907MR integrated amplifier
Legacy Audio Studio HD speakers

 

[Oasis8]

I listened to a prototype of this DAC, fantastic sounding DAC.

 

[pete_mac]

I listened to a prototype of this DAC, fantastic sounding DAC.

Indeed, it's a bit special!

 

[pete_mac]

Now what have we here?

Thanks to @Oasis8 I now have a TDA1541A S1 single crown DAC chip in the Gieseler DAC. It's from the same manufacturing date as the original DAC chip.

Listening impressions will come later.

 

[pete_mac]

So, my thoughts on the 1988 "standard" TDA1541A chip vis the S1 single crown:

Back to back in my system, I found that the standard chip has a sightly more forward presentation in the vocal/presence region and seems to give voices a bit of an extra "pop" in the sound stage. It's quite addictive really!

The single crown puts voices a bit further back in the sound stage relative to the standard chip (not too far back overall - just compared to the standard chip) and provides a slightly cleaner and more polished overall presentation. There's a little more clarity and space/separation around elements of the music.

To be clear, we're talking about relatively small differences here - tweaks to the sound of what is a simply magnificent DAC.

The beauty of these two chips is that I can swap between them to tweak the sound and presentation of my system. For the time being the single crown will remain in there.

I think it's a credit to Clay's design that it can show the differences between these chips. Nothing is being obscured or hidden. That's part of the beauty of this DAC in my opinion - it lets the chip shine in all its glory.

To throw a spanner in the works... on the topic of different chips and "crowns" it is worth reading up on what this all actually means. There are some good websites and forum discussions on the topic and as I understand it, a single crown is not a guarantee of superior measured performance. Not all chips were graded during any given production run, so there's a chance that ungraded chips could have performance specs that meet the single or double crown specs! It's a bit of a lucky-dip regarding what you get. I can only speak for my personal experience which has been positive - it may not be the same for everyone.

 

[Oasis8]

Very good write up, Pete.

I had three different Holland crown chips at one point and they were all very different to one another, one out of a early Marantz DA12 had very meaty bass and mids, while that one you have was much more even handed across the frequency range, and I also had one out of a Quad player that was lighter and very detailed and airy.

 

[mjw21a]

My first high performance DAC was one of Clay's creations. I really aught to get another one of these days though I've been on the all discrete R2R DAC with integrated network streamer path for some time now.