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TDA1541A-R1 & SAA7220P/A DIY DAC from CHINA

Interesting thread. I have been scratching my head on why I remember CDs to sound much better to me when I was a teenager compared to right now. Apparently I wasn't imagining things. At the time I had a Philips CD473 player connected to a Denon PMA-720 amp and a pair of KEF Chorale speakers.

Clearly this was an absolute killer combination that sounded out of this world. The (ugly as sin) Philips CD473 has the 1541A in it which I think is a large part of the explanation.

Are there still a lot of CD players that have this chip? From looking at eBay it seems everything that has a 1541 in it is sold at high prices. Are there external DACs with this chip? I wouldn't mind having the sound of my teenage years back in my life!
 
setup1 said:
If you backtrack to page 1 you'll see pics of TDA1541 DAC kits from China. I mine Magnavox CDps with dead lasers for DAC chips.
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Sadly I don't have the skills nor the tools to do that kind of DIY stuff.
Are these being sold pre-made anywhere?
 
setup1 said:
If you backtrack to page 1 you'll see pics of TDA1541 DAC kits from China. I mine Magnavox CDps with dead lasers for DAC chips.
Click to expand...

Found a local guy selling three Magnavox players that all have the TDA1541. Should I jump on this?

He's asking $125 for the lot.

I really only would like the 473 one so maybe I can sell the ICs?
 
You'll have to excuse my lack of knowledge on DACs - I know the basic functions only

I think its the TDA1315H pictured maybe? And I'm trying to figure out what will happen if I feed it 24bit audio, it looks like (from the datasheet) the TDA1315H just converts the extra depth to 0's depending on how its configured? Anyway, my ears will be the decider if 24bits no good.

Also, can I change the 6x NE5534's for OPA604s will this make an improvement?

I have been using the Schiit Eitr just for testing but I want to hook it up to the output of my DigiOne, hence the 24bit capability question.

20210728_062941435.jpg
 
Vegemite said:
You'll have to excuse my lack of knowledge on DACs - I know the basic functions only

I think its the TDA1315H pictured maybe? And I'm trying to figure out what will happen if I feed it 24bit audio, it looks like (from the datasheet) the TDA1315H just converts the extra depth to 0's depending on how its configured? Anyway, my ears will be the decider if 24bits no good.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I'm not familiar with the TDA1351.

AFAIK, the TDA1541 was designed for 16 bit resolution. Higher resolution sources will have to be down sampled.

Vegemite said:
Also, can I change the 6x NE5534's for OPA604s will this make an improvement?
Click to expand...

I've used the OPA604s in place of the supplied NE5534s on my TDA1541 DAC board - cleaner sound.

But after converting my 1st generation Arcam Delta Black Box to NOS operation, I became convinced that a discrete analog stage was on another league. This experience led to grafting a vacuum tube analog stage to my TDA1541 DAC.

Vegemite said:
I have been using the Schiit Eitr just for testing but I want to hook it up to the output of my DigiOne, hence the 24bit capability question.
Click to expand...

I have an RPi3B+/Allo DigiOne but my digital listening is limited to 16 bit/44.1 kHz.
 
Suppose I should chime in here, I bought a L1541dac Gold off AliExpress couple months back. Been using it a few hours a day every day of the week. Had to remove the USB daughter card they glued in to install both of the IC's that were purchased seperate. My filter chip is SAA7220P/B X and have no idea what the letter X indicates, possibly it was certified for audio?

The TDA1541A came from the seller's other store and they sent me a single crown S1 even though I paid $40 for a normal IC. Very pleasant surprise!

What was an even a nicer surprise is the sound. We've had lots of different DAC's and nothing sounds as smooth as the TDA1541 decoder. Not sure who Lee is of Lee's HIFIAudio but he did an awesome job designing this DAC around the TDA1541 decoder. So much clarity and so smooth.

Supposedly they had it right the first time and only stopped using them in CD players because it was way too expensive to build around the TDA1541A. In China they refer to the IC chip as "The Vocal King" and most of us understand why.
 

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Thank you setup1!! Built your dac and it sounds wonderful! I had a dead Adcom gcd-575 that I stole the chassis, power transformer and tda1541 from. Tube power transformer was scavenged from an Eico mx99 multiplex autodaptor. I could not be happier with the sound quality! At some point i will spruce up the face.

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tubetime said:
Thank you setup1!! Built your dac and it sounds wonderful! I had a dead Adcom gcd-575 that I stole the chassis, power transformer and tda1541 from. Tube power transformer was scavenged from an Eico mx99 multiplex autodaptor. I could not be happier with the sound quality! At some point i will spruce up the face.

View attachment 2344568 View attachment 2344569 View attachment 2344570
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Sorry for the late reply, I just saw this. Good job with the chassis! Mine is still in the breadboard.:D

I'm glad you're enjoying the nosTDA1541tube DAC. :)
Happy listening!:beerchug:
 
setup1 said:
Sorry for the late reply, I just saw this. Good job with the chassis! Mine is still in the breadboard.:D

I'm glad you're enjoying the nosTDA1541tube DAC. :)
Happy listening!:beerchug:
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Hi there, I am also interested in this build... Will have a look at your blog soon... I am designing something of this kind, but at the moment it is in a study phase... Do you have a schematic of your build or the blog entries are enough for a complete build?
Thank you!
 
Michelag said:
Hi there, I am also interested in this build... Will have a look at your blog soon... I am designing something of this kind, but at the moment it is in a study phase... Do you have a schematic of your build or the blog entries are enough for a complete build?
Thank you!
Click to expand...

The schematic is in the blog as well as high resolution pictures. Anyone who has successfully built a tube line stage preamp based on a schematic should have no problems. Otherwise, it can be a dangerous project since it involves a 300VDC B+ supply.
 
setup1 said:
The schematic is in the blog as well as high resolution pictures. Anyone who has successfully built a tube line stage preamp based on a schematic should have no problems. Otherwise, it can be a dangerous project since it involves a 300VDC B+ supply.
Click to expand...

Yes thanks, I'm experienced, so no worries...

Well, is there a way I can use dsd files and 24 bit resolutions with an R2R dac?
Ok they're NOS, good, but who's the responsible for an eventual downsample from the higher resolutions?
 
Michelag said:
Yes thanks, I'm experienced, so no worries...

Well, is there a way I can use dsd files and 24 bit resolutions with an R2R dac?
Ok they're NOS, good, but who's the responsible for an eventual downsample from the higher resolutions?
Click to expand...

I built that DAC for my CD collection and RPi streamer. I don’t have software beyond 16 bit/44.1 kHz, but you can probably downsample higher rez files via software.
 
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