I forgot to mention that this DAC has a very hot output signal. It's said to be 5V on SE outs but I think it's even higher since it's louder than most 5V BAL outs in a direct comparison. Beware of this if deciding to make one. Some preamps might not accept such high signals. If you doubt that could be the case, Cathode follower might be a better option. I made Anode follower version since Fikus prefers it sonically.
@iiWiReviews thanks for replying. Like you said in the video, it seems going balanced would be a lot of extra unnecessary work and money. I have an Aune S17 Pro, have you tested your dac with the review sample S17 you have? If it can tolerate the 5V single ended that would be great news and I'll probably dive straight into the project 😄
Greetings from Poland, I'm long-time friend of Łukasz Fikus (pronounced "Wukasz", first letter like in "wow" or "woman"). DIY is a funny hobby :) I believe your DAC sounds great, heard many of Łukasz DAC's. Cirrus logic chips where used by MBL sources as well, now you see that delta sigma or r2r is not everything, tubes also contribute to the final effect and other parts and their values. Also I know (and used) copper PiO caps but from Audio Note, despite that miflex is from Poland :)
The AN are excelent also..........Miflexx is a little upfront ........Duelund tinned copper is my favoured ......the easy going timing of the notes are more to my taste and not as upfront as Miflex ...Miflex is an excellent quality for the price nevertheless........ Tinned copper sou nds better than silver and copper hybrid....personal opinion !
Thanks Srba for bringing up to us this do it yourself project based on Lukasz early work. It is indeed a great DAC competing with any high market several thousand € ones. As I build it myself almost like yours with the same miflex capacitors I could concord with your review about the great sound. Also I compared myself at friend locations this dac with others high tier ones like Romanian made Rockna high end dac etc. and my smile was big when all the peoples present had prised it. Yes I used Amperex PQ golden pin they are 6922 tubes and I was thrilled with them, they had very extended bass great midrange and very extended highs, they matched perfectly, better that 6n6p with my former Wharfedale Linton speakers, because Lintons d'ont go such low and are a little rolled off on highs. But on the other hand now I changed the speakers with Golden Ear Triton one...and this speakers are truly full range from at least 20 hz to 32kz and they do not need Amperex tube in the DAC, it is to much, and rolled back to 6n6p that are more thru balanced sounding. But what is clear is that by changing different tubes you could significantly calibrate the sound.
This was a lot of fun to watch. Do it yourself kits were once more common. My brother’s first stereo system had a kit built Dynaco integrated amplifier.
I too have recently completed this build using a 12ax7 output stage. It is indeed a truly great sounding dac and a welcome successor to my outgoing Chinese device. Thanks, Srboljube for making us aware of this and well done with your wonderful over-the-top Lampucera!
@@therealpotato8031 Hi and thanks for making contact. I would be most happy to assist you if I can. What output tube are you planning on using? Which schematic are you having difficulty understanding? Cheers.
Thank you for making us aware of such an interesting build. Being non-technical, I have a friend who is prepared to do the build. A definitive list of parts would be really, really useful! Fabulous work.
This was for me the most interesting video on DAC´s I have seen. I love to see this amazing inventive work. It seems that less is more. Thanks for uploading all necessary information. Much appreciated.
My youngest brother has a Lampizator DAC (I’d have to find out the model from him). Years ago we spent a weekend building a Lampucera and then comparing the two. It’s too long ago to remember the details but we put the Lampucera at 90-95% of the Lampizator. The Lampucera improved with Mundorf output caps and Elna Silmic caps in the power stage.
I have an old 3D Lab cd300 cd player with CS4327-KS inside. Never heard deeper bass in my life from a dac . That is why i still keep this player up and running .
Easy upgrade then. I just bought an old Ahh Tjoeb modified marantz CD player with a tube output. Brilliant sound. For superior to a standard modern DAC. I have to check what DAC chip it has
I just bought a 24 yesr old Ahh Tjoeb CD player, which is a Marantz CD player modified with an EC88 dual tube output. I had one new years ago but sold it to travel. I had to get it again for personal reference. And wow it's the best digital sound I've had since I sold it 20 years ago. Now I understand how I listened to that CD player for hours a day. Definitely need tubes on a digital output. I almost bought one of the digital kits you talk about years ago. And will do it now to see how much better it can be and compare it to the Tjoeb circuit. Thanks heaps for the video. ❤❤
@@sean_heisler yes that's when I bought it too. I am surprised it sounds better than I remember. When I sold it it took 3 days before I could pack it up and post because I didn't want to b let it go. 🙃 Looking inside now I am also surprised it doesn't bypass the op amp. It's simply an add on buffer stage.
@@CanberraProtest-dm6hu The tubes do act as a buffer as opposed to an analog/gain output stage. Those opamps can be rolled, I’m sure you know. There’s a good refresher about the modifications in a Stereophile review if you search for it.
@@sean_heisler @sean_heisler I am going to send a signal from my professional hi res Tascam digital recorder into it and see how it goes. There is a little degradation of transient sound through the buffer but adds more life than it takes away. I guess that is what a good pre amp does. I've never has a good pre amp that improved the sound. It never made sense adding more circuitry should degrade it.
WoW! Thanks! Just what I've been looking for. Sent for the dac bundle. There was another Lampucera board and power supply using the PCM1798 DAC from a different seller. 2 things you might like to consider. 1 Decouple the valve from the case using rubber mount standoffs. 2 Using chokes in the power supply. I intend to try both. Also intend to try using 2 valves for independent L & R. They often come on matched pairs. Thanks again.
THANKS SO much for sharing sO deeply Your project And thanks Lukass for sharing your original design & Not being greedy to keep it just for you Grear STUFF i ll try it if ican find parts in Africa
This experiment fits the statement that I saw in a video from channel OCD HI-Fi Guy where it is said that the output stage and power supply are the most important parts of a DAC sound quality and that chips can basically be ignored.
I had my power amplifiers capacitors upgraded from Jantzen Audio Superior-Z caps to Miflex Audio caps and experienced similar improvement/result as you did with your DAC. I too would recommend the Miflex Caps.
Amazing work and description. Congrats and thanks for sharing. I realise it's basically an off the shelf Delta-Sigma chip with careful point-to-point tube preamplification! The tuning of the sound comes mainly from the capacitors and tube choice. It comes to show that a preamp is so important. Musical Paradise MP-701 mk2 is a popular preamplifier that reminds me of his analog section (prob. without the gain) in which you can upgrade capacitors and tubes to get the sound that you want.
Well you sold me on this DAC, I ended up buying the DAC board to build my own version. Going to try a better 5V LPS and Ultracapacitors for the DAC, they made a big difference on my WiiM Pro+.
Thank you for making this information available! I think sometimes its hard to evaluate the value of DIY-projects since components became quite expensive, especially if you opt for more esoteric parts. Whats missing is a benchmark to compare the output of these projects to commercial products, so I´m hoping to see more DIY videos on this channel! :)
Thanks for the nice video! I build a prototype of the lampucera 2.0 with the PCM1798 and using the SRPP circuit with 1N16B-V. 2 transformers, one for the digital section and one for the analogue section. All good components but not over the top as this was a prototype. As output capacitors I used Jantzen superior caps. To cut to the chase although it sounds good it does not really compare with my reference (holo may DAC) especially in terms of ping point accuracy (what I would call time domain information). Yes, the MAY is a strong competitor but nevertheless I was expecting a little better from this DAC, on top of that the removal of the subsonic filter creates a lot of high frequency aliasing that some amplifiers do not tollerate. Looks like from your feedback that the version 1 lampucera sounds better and I am happy for you, unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to listen to it before building it. My aim is to move away from commercial designs for my own interest as my hobby. The DAC is the one that I have not cracked yet. Now I am trying to build the Sygnalist DSC3 but this built is not for the average DIYer. For reference I use a speaker set called the loudspeaker 3 (Troels Gravesen), for amplifiers the solid state 2022 and the hybrid 2023 (see audiodesignguide website). For pre I use a Macintosh but also several DHT designs from bartola (the 01a low gain pre is my latest build).
I just picked up an old Ahh Tjoeb CD player which I believe has an SRPP output. (But still need to check the circuit) it does muddy the high frequencies a little. But gee for listening pleasure and realism it is far superior to a standard op amp DAC output. Main point is possibly SRPP is not the best circuit for pin point accuracy. With its more complex tube stage. But pretty good if not comparing to the best of the best. I've had disappointments with basic home made preamp tube stages. Haven't found what's stopping the magic in those designs yet
ADDITIONAL NOTE: After seeing this video I started wondering why there was such a massive difference in sound between Rev 1 and 2 of this DAC. Was not Rev 2 supposed to be better after all? I went back to the prototype and remove the cathode bypass capacitor as I could not see this installed on some SRPP boards I had pictures of. The sound immediately focused and improved drastically. I still need to compare it properly with the MAY DAC but first impressions are good. without this video I might just have given up!
UPDATE 2: after some extended listening without the bypass cap on the cathode resistor the rev2 of this design changed drastically. Compared back and forth with my MAY DAC (using my spectacular 01a pre) and this DAC just sounds fantastic….really impressed now :)
@@CanberraProtest-dm6hu can confirm the same experiece with several self built tube pre-amps. But my over 20yrs old TDA1541 with step up transformers and SRPP tube output still sounds wunderful.
I feel a little dismayed. The video says that if you can solder, read a schematic, and have some experience building stuff, this should be easy. But looking through the documentation, it seems to be targeted to very experienced builders. I don't see a BOM or general instructions, and the schematics are kind of scattered around with multiple versions for different options that are not clearly identified. Someone would be doing the world a huge favor by organizing, documenting, and simplifying this project, just a little.
@@alanhuth7568 I sent the info over to my guitar amplifier tech. He said he could build it. 3-4 hours labor. I'm in. I hope you make it happen somehow.
Love your diy videos! You now got end game dac, end game pre amp, your sprit wind I bet is your end game speaker, now I'm waiting to see your end game amp and the review of your avanger end game system!
wow thank you very much for sharing your build, experience, and schematics! i bought this kit along with it's matching tube buffer maybe 5 years ago but never got around to assembling it. Your review and design sound like it will be a very rewarding project. thanks again!
6N1P is not a direct equivalent to ECC88/6DJ8, in fact it's really not equivalent to anything and is a unique Soviet design. 6N23P is the Soviet equivalent to ECC88. We do a lot of work with the 6N6P and consider it a "super tube", capable of doing an excellent job as a voltage gain amplifier (as in this case), cathode follower (CF stage) and also it can handle enough current at low enough impedance to be considered as an output tube in an OTL amp. But what's really important is it produces a very clean, dynamic, full/rich sound and fits nicely into your "everything over built/over spec" approach to this DIY build. For some reason a lot of people can't stick with a spec'd tube type and insist on trying anything and everything that will plug into the socket. This is the wrong approach unless you can design within the tube domain. A better approach is to take the advice of the designer and plug a 6N6P in, you'll never want to try anything else!
Cool project! Would be interesting if you reviewed the musical paradise MP-DX. It is a DAC with a tube output stage were you can change capacitors. :) Also, you can upgrade the clock too!
I'm a bit late to this video, but I really enjoyed it. It opened up my mind to the world of DIY audiophiles. I started out as a budget music listener with respectable, but entry level equipment. Later, and after a few years of research, I shelled out more money for a serious "audiophile" system. I love it and enjoy it, but I don't see myself ever stepping up to five figure components. For a system yes, but not individual components. So basically I'm topped out in my current system. Now I can just swap out components in the future to flavor the sound in a particular way and to have fun. After watching your video, I did some research and there is a healthy DIY community making everything from dacs to amps to speakers. Some of these designs are from very respected makers. To hear from you that the results of a good DIY design can equal retail prices 2 or 3 times the parts cost is exciting. That means I can double or triple the amount of components I could try, provided I make it myself. The only disadvantage I see is proper casework procurement. That's it. Your build is what I would like to tackle first. I have one question if you have time. If not I completely understand. I currently use an Rme adi2 fs dac. I gave no experience with ladder dacs. I'm told if they are good, it is a more believable sound, with only a tiny bit less detail. That may be wrong, but I just don't know. What do you think I might expect to hear from this dac compared to my Rme dac? Thank you!
Compared to RME you should get bigger, fuller, more musical, and richer sound all around. The better the rest of the system, it's more noticeable. There is a viewer and a patron of mine from Romania that had ADI-2, made this one, and never looked back. I belive he left a public comment in this comment section if you care to browse for it.
Brilliant video, I think I have found my next diy project, after assembling the CSS 1tdx speakers and Hypex Nilai power amp this seems a natural next step project. Thank you this video was inspiring.
@@connorduke4619 yes very happy with the Nilai, enough to stop me scratching the upgrade itch. I paired it with a ladder bach preamp and they seem to pair very nicely in my system. Not really a price comparable pairing perhaps but thought I would give it a try and it has worked well for me.
@@jonathanhart-sc6ix Awesome thanks for your update! I wonder if your combo beats Hegel H190 integrated amp despite being at a significantly lower price,... that would be fascinating to know.
I am a little sad that I know I won't do a project like this myself. In my life I have pursued what I wanted quite fanatically, as I age I see my corners are being worn down, the experience is novel, a more relaxed enjoyment of the wider picture. I know my gear solution is as good it gets (for me), not perfect but the music can be beautiful and the glass is clean... and I can explore vicariously through you. Thanks!
No reason to be sad. Audio gear got real good and I could easily live happily with many DACs from the last few years. This is more of an obsession and proving myself how far can I go. Music can be fully enjoyed with much less.
Yeah, but those capacitors and the power supplies and the rest, so sexy! Takes me back to days when I advanced from my crystal set to building my own radio (which did not work :). Which brings me to ask a question; when are you going to build an amp that gets its power from the universal field?
Thank you very much for this very interesting video and sharing your personal experience building and listening to this DAC. Of course, many of us will not be able to build such a project and probably, some are wondering how you can approach your DAC with a commercial product. In my opinion, the closest is the Musical Paradise MP-DX ES9068 / ES9039MSPRO DAC. Even if the chip used here is different (ESS ES9039MSPRO), the spirit is quite similar, with the possibility of changing the output capacitors by yourself and without any solderingvery easily and without difficulty (2,2 uF / 400-600 Volts - Miflex, Jupiter, Duelund ...). Only two capacitors and two tubes are used with RCA cables, reducing costs. The four capacitors and tubes are however required with balanced XLR cables. It is also possible to vary a large number of tubes used in this DAC. The designer of this product is someone who carefully refines their devices through listening. After much thought, this is probably the direction I am heading to replace my Denafrips Ares II. Many thanks again for the quality of your videos and a great new year 2024 to all of you :)
Cool video. I have built multiple DIY dacs. Amazing what can be achieved in a shed. I also used a Lampizator circuit with 6n2p valves. 8x TDA1387 dacs.
Wow! I'm good at Diy but not done any electronics unfortunatly apart from a bit of wire soldering😅. It's a shame as would love this DAC, you really sold it to me!
Thank you iiWi for your share of the info. As for the 6n6p tube, I downloaded a white paper written by Lucas a dozen or so years ago where he talks about this 6n6p tube then he goes on to say he discovered a sister tube the 6n1p which he liked better then discovered another sister tube the 6n2p which he says was sonically even better. You might want to check out the 6n2p… Thanks again, Marc
6n2p(ecc83) it is the tube with great amplification factor, which is useful as a first voltage amplification in vinyl correctors, mic amp. and so on. but it operates with small anode current only (
I would love to do this. I have the basic skills (I replaced the capacitors and resistors to audiophile grade in my Schiit Freya + with great success). This project is not above my abilities to construct if it was a kit. If I had specific parts for one build, sourcing for the parts and a video perhaps about basic assembly, then I could build this...but with all the scattered info here, multiple choices, extra notes and no firm structure to the presentation, as a beginner I am afraid that I do not have the ability to sort thru all of this information and make appropriate choices to layout a complete plan with sourcing.. This is very frustrating...I can see the candy...but the glass case will not let me touch it. ARRRGGGGHH! 😀😊😊 This sounds like a rewarding project!!!
thanks for this video i grabbed some of your files and will maybe do a version of it in the future. But know I would have to also change things as i dont work well to a recipe. I had dropped you and many of my subscriptions to reviewers about 18 months ago once i decided to go the DIY path. I liked your content but was concentrating on trying to learn for myself. Recently have looked at some of those sold reviewers and super happy to have watched this video and to re-subscribe. A video on a comparison of your 4 different versions would be interesting. You are lucky to have a group to learn with ; would be very useful to work in a group, has taken me two years to build a tube amp as there is a lot to learn and spare time is limited. Thanks again for all l the information.
Where did you get the case? I did not see that in the Google Doc. Would be nice to see a Google Spreadsheet with every part, quantity, link to purchase... Thank you
Fantastic work! I find it very interesting to learn about how how complex, yet simple these DACs are, and that you get this great sound from these high quality components. I hope you will continue to explore and review tube gear. Best wishes, and happy new year!
Fascinating...but predictable after looking inside. The output stage is so important! Musical Paradise had a tube rectified DAC with screw terminals to roll in different caps. This looks like a similar approach. Hi-fi Cave's Loic went DEEP upgrading one with PIOs and external tube rectifiers. He's on YT. Careful, its a slippery slope at the edge of the Musical Paradise money pit😮 I have the Musical Paradise MP701mk2 preamp with similar flexibility. I recognise the attributes of the Mundorfs and V-caps you described since they're in my collection. 🎵🎶🤫🎶🎵
I chose the Musical Paradise MP-DX ESS ES9039MSPRO DAC. The spirit is close to this DIY DAC.For financial reasons, I have to wait until early March to place my order. In the meantime, I've ordered Miflex 2.2 uF KPCU 600 v capacitors, as well as two Duelund by pass Capacitor 0.01uF 600Vdc JDM-Sn/Cu Series Tinned Copper Foil Paper Oil. On the other hand, there is a wide range of choices when it comes to tubes. Difficult choice. I hope that a lucky owner of this DAC will write a review of his musical experience with his new DAC.
Thanks so much for this!!, I’m going to combine your output stage design with the Ian Canada dac build around the raspberry pi platform. (Which I had already started). The op amp option for the Ian Canada build gets rave reviews so I might do a comparison test with them, and add it as a switchable output stage if I like it. One other potential upside to the Ian Canada build is far more input flexibility. I2s, hdmi, aes/ebu, etc.
Thank you for this! I was wondering about the parts, process and your personal results with this build. I am not experienced with schematics and electronics assembly, but might see if I can find someone to guide and help me. A very happy new year to you and yours, Srboljub 🙏🏼🎊
Many thanks - it would be really appreciated if you also covered lower capability DACS with USB. At the moment very happy with a Khadas Tone Board. I will fit the seperate power supply, isolation circuit and reset switch between 2 perspex sheets. The downside is that sometimes the DAC stops decoding and needs a DC reset.
The cs4397 already outputs a differential voltage signal- you don't need an additional amplification stage. Pick up the chip output from pin 24 and 19 - pass through a 1uf low voltage cap to RCA out for single ended operation. As far as dacs go its decent but lacks the performance of the classic r2rs like PCM1704 and AD 1862 1865. You can find the perputual technologies p3a dac, from 2000s its 96khz capable. It uses the cs4397 and it easy to extract the voltage output from chip. Sound will be cleaner than passing through any additional (unneccesary) voltage amp stage. You can only detract from signal or add artifact. Mhdt tube dacs are great platforms for modding and can get super high performance if you understand the principle of less is more.
From my experience it’s those copper caps. I’ve heard they aren’t all that. Just saying. The caps take too long to break in for too much $$. But honestly I haven’t even been excited about DAC until now. Dude u rock .
Svaka čast na projetku 👌. A posebno se zahvaljujem na sugestiji za: The Rita Collective "Killing in the Name" 🤓 ... fascinantna stereo slika - neverovatne dubine i preciznosti pozicioniranja instrumenata. Na mom integralcu (sa ugrađenim DAC-om) Denon PMA-1700NE i zvučnicima Triangle ESPRIT - AUSTRALE Ez, dobio sam stvarno fascinantnu zvučnu sliku, koja počinje jedno metar iza zvučnika (i pruža se na dalje u dubinu), sa precizno raspoređenim instrumentima od levog - do desnog zvučnika ... najlepšta stereo slika koju sam do sada iskusio 🤓. Uskoro mi stiže Musical Paradise MP-DX ESS ES9039MSPRO (u Full-u, sa eksternim MP-CLK) + MP-501 V5 sa KT150/6SJ7 cevima (Denon ne mrda nigde, ostaje kao daily driver), pa se nadam potpunom uživanju 🤓
I chose the Musical Paradise MP-DX ESS ES9039MSPRO DAC. The spirit is close to this DIY DAC.For financial reasons, I have to wait until early March to place my order. In the meantime, I've ordered Miflex 2.2 uF KPCU 600 v capacitors, as well as two Duelund by pass Capacitor 0.01uF 600Vdc JDM-Sn/Cu Series Tinned Copper Foil Paper Oil. On the other hand, there is a wide range of choices when it comes to tubes. Difficult choice. I hope that a lucky owner of this DAC will write a review of his musical experience with his new DAC.
@@douxreveur131Sorry for my bad English. I wish you many hours of musical enjoyment with MP-DX 👍 Maybe Srbolja Stojanović "iiWi reviews" will be interested to test MP-DX DAC ... I will be happy to lend it to him for that purpose :)
Great video! Did you try replacing bridge rectifiers with hand build discrete 4 x MUR860 or other similar diodes ? It makes a really nice difference for very very little investment , sound great on analog section rectifier. Also some of the electrolitics caps repalced in key areas will have great affect on sound . For example 2 Black Gate NX when wired into Super E canceling Cap way would being noise levels into ridiculous levels affecting sound in amazing way. It can now be tried now with current Rubycon AudioNote Kasei NonPolars at not very high cost ... ❤ This is fantastic project to learn how different parts affect sound quality ....yes they all affect the sound 😉 How would a main value Miflex cap sound when bypased with V ODAM of say 0.1uf ? Have fun and enjoy your hobby and passion for sound .
I didn't but I may at one point. For example I would like to try Mundorf electrolytics in the PS. That's all for some later time when I get bored and feel the upgrade itch. 🙂
@@iiWiReviews Just have fun with it. Mundorf electrolitics in my power amp sound very low noise , neutral tonally, have punchy bass and great bass control . I'm using 4 pole Jensen's that are obsoleted and they sound richer tonally but maybe a tad less punchy... Audio Note Kasei are super clean and low noise sounding cap with lush sound and open top with soundstage to die for. Some of lower values are priced all right .
Thanks for sharing your nice video! I believe that you can even improve your project a little. At first, you can remove the caps betwen dac chip and tube grid and connect it directly. As an example old tube sheme like Loftin-White. Yes, Lukasz was wrong about it, you can do it! So, you need just to recalculate catode resistance for +2.5v bias instead 0v at a grid. Of course much Better to use output tubes in most linear point(current/anode voltage) after analizing I/U characteristics which depends on kind of applied tube... And second thing you can do it is se anode output transformers. I have used such solution in several devices like upgraded arcam cdp(wm8940) or aune 5s digital player( ak4490) with self made symmetric transformers 10+10:1+1 on cores 3-5-10 cm2. It works fine Even with small tubes with reassonable Ri like ecc88, ecc82,802, ecc180, 6922, 6n23/24p , 6n3p or excelent (really love it) but very rare 6n26p(possible replacement 6s3p/6s4p or pentodes in triode mode with anode current 10-15mA. But you ned transformers with around 10000 turns in primary to reach inductance over 100- 150H, so specific design for coils necessary. The main features for such solution: simple ultimative great soundung shematic with minimalistic set of component, galvanic separation for output, low output impedance like 600ohm and less. So you can use amplifiers with input resistance 1-10k and significantly improve sound quality. A couple more thing- stabilisators for tube heater and anode power with soft start and capacitors battery 5000+ mkF (of course bypassed by mica/mkp/paper-oil caps...).
Cool project👏I could probably think of trying it🤔You may be able to eliminate the pop sound by having a bleeder resistor in the power supply (100k) in parallel with the electrolytic. Then after the rectifier put a 100n capacitor in parallel with the electrolytes to remove rectifier noise and even better replace the rectifiers with a small rectifier tube for the anode voltage it will improve the sound quite a bit it can be an EZ81 it uses 6.3v for the heater and finally I would also add a decoupling capacitor in parallel at each cathode resistor. Veliki pozdrav😊
Liked your video very much, thank you. I have a Abbas audio 2.2. dac (tda 1541 chip with tubes). It was my first (and last?) purchase on a DAC. I'm curious how it sounds in comparison with your tube DAC. Curiousity will stay in the audio buisiness I guess 🙂
Thanks for a great video. As A DIY sucker I'd love to do this but unfortunately I am technologically incapacitated. Actually, it sounds like the same philosophy of design as Border Patrol. Tube rectifier and keep it high quality and simple. I have observed Akatika amplifier kits for a while but vision issues precludes me making one of their amp r preamp kits. People seem to love them.
These days Lampucera A.D 2023 would be build on SMSL SU 1 or PO100AK. Sorry to say but functionality of Lampucera is kind of stone age type. I did this project 15 years ago but it was replaced with Behringer upsampler with AKM chip where whole analog stage was passive built on Lundahl transformers. It beat Lampucera all the way. Lampuceras design in to simple to be end game but it's fun to work on. Try to make active filtering for tubes based on mosfet transistors. You will need to redefine end game scenario to your dac 😂
Your build sounds great but quite expensive too. Just Lundahl transforms cost is probably equal to this whole build. Maybe one day I get to think about something like that. Lampucera is old but simple and fairly affordable to build. Its sound is maybe not up to your end-game standards but done this way for most people it would be. Its price to performance ratio is the real star in my opinion. Cheers 🍺
@@iiWiReviews I know that capacitors that you've used were not cheap either. That's real rabbit hole in tube's world. I will try Fikus idea with modern Dac. SU-1 is almost perfect choice. Best donner would be cheapest dac with I2s input. Maybe smsl will come up with SU-2 😜
You mention of The Rita Collective recording - it includes a track called The Astounding Eyes of Rita. That is the title track of an outstanding recording - you should check it out, too!
Great build, congratulations! I was very interested in this dac until you clarified that its output is quite hot😂 That is the last thing my Supratek Cabernet needs, I have been interested in the Audial S5 for a while, very elaborate power supply and a galvanized usb input, also an output off 2.1volt so good for my pre. Is there any chance you will review this dac in future? Great channel.
You have used two separate buttons to turn on and off the device and you have to pay attention to the order. How about using three-position knob instead? Anybody could operate that and never mess up the order.
I don't see any video (yet) about vinyl, but if you ever get into that world, would be fun if there was a Lampucera Phono version.. there certainly is a Lampizator phono!
I wish someone would do a RUclips video showing how to make one of these from start to finish, I would love to make one myself. My soldering skills are pretty good but I can't read schematics.
Greetings! Thank you for this video. I am interested in building this DAC. I would like to use a ESS chip. Is this possible? Also, would you consider building a streamer of similar quality? I am thinking of a streamer design such as the Aurender series. Finally for this DAC why not use a separate power supply unit?
It's possible of course. I belive that all ESS chips are with current output (this one is voltage) so you would need to add the I/V conversion in that case. How that's done would also influence the final sound quality. So it's not a straightforward chip change but needs different output stage. Streamer is a whole different beast, and software plays a huge role there, so I'm not ready to tackle that topic. 🙂
Hi iiWi. Great video. Can you possibly share a schematic of your super Lampucera? It seems to be simple enough for my amateur skills. More power to your channel!
Like you I regard the enance of sound itself is the jewel in a sound system ,unlike you I have never soldered though. Given the limits of my budget and my technical knowledge my idear therefore was to have as much scope for change as posible. I therefore have the RME DAC with it's astonishing number of prioritizable E.Q. prestes ,(not to mention all the other parameters.) matched with a Prima Luna integrated valve amp so that I also have more choices there.(P.S. Focal speakers) Even though your sound system no doubt out performs mine where I think mine wins out is that I can instantly react to different recordings at the touch of a button. I constantly go from thinking I have my perfect set up, to feeling there is sum thing needing tweaking. One soon realises that it is down to the recording, 21st century recordings spanning frequency ranges that you just didn't get in the early recordings for example. Part of the reason I am A subscriber is because I respect your "ear" so I am curios to hear how you think your DAC handles poor recordings? Is there a perfect sound that fits all?
I was thinking the same as you until recently I also had rme adi 2 dac, and other possibility to play with the sound but slow and step after step I realized that if you build your system with all great quality parts everything start to fit in place and no sound tampering needed...the sound will be the most pure and hires version that could be, and even recordings that had sound very bad in the past became as by miracle at least enjoyable. But clearly it is not simple and not cheap to arrive at this objective. I think that for most affordable systems a possibility to EQ remain very important.
@@Sorin_F I'm shore your right . the best is the best it's a simple formula. I almost bought the schit bifrost 2/64 because in my budget range it seemed that it might sound even better than adi 2 but in the end I chose set ability over someone else's "Ear" The trough is I like my sound so I have not yet dared change the settings. I am though waiting for my first ever "tube rolling" experiment ,I have gust ordered quad matched 6L6GC-HARMA valves .
Wow, three (!) toroidal transformers in a DAC seems a bit over the top. Those transformers must certainly be capable of handling at least 30 W, each. The one in the middle looks capable of around 60 W. I also do not understand how/why the capacitors can be/are so big given their modest filtering capability of 2.7 microfarads. On the other hand there seem to be 4 more capacitors (maybe Elna?), so perhaps it is the combination that makes the magic? Anyway, very interesting stuff. I am something of a newbie to Hi-Fi and am basically just weathering my ignorance loudly.
following this vid as I have built my own overkill tube dac... came across some info that makes sense regarding the output coupling caps and bypassing them with another cap. I will type the advise verbatim for you to digest at your convenience: BYPASSING: Do not use bypass capacitors in the signal path. A single capacitor for DC blocking/AC coupling creates a simple path with one time constant. The signal quality will be compromised if a bypass or multiple bypass capacitors are added to a signal path capacitor. Bypass capacitors were used in the past to bypass low quality film capacitors or electrolytic capacitors. The bypass was the lesser of two evils. With the advent of better quality film capacitors the need for a bypass capacitor was eliminated. Bypass capacitors create multiple signal paths with multiple time constants. These time constants are very short but they can still be heard as a smear or overall loss of focus. ALWAYS bypass power supply capacitors. This maintains a low source impedance to the power supply over a wide bandwidth. If budget and space permit it is good to use multiple value power supply bypass capacitors with the smallest value being installed directly at the active device. (Tube or transistor_
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I forgot to mention that this DAC has a very hot output signal. It's said to be 5V on SE outs but I think it's even higher since it's louder than most 5V BAL outs in a direct comparison. Beware of this if deciding to make one. Some preamps might not accept such high signals. If you doubt that could be the case, Cathode follower might be a better option. I made Anode follower version since Fikus prefers it sonically.
P
Do you know if a scaled up version of yours that is made for XLR would output 5V? Or would an XLR version double the output and be 10V?
XLR would be double the voltage.
@iiWiReviews thanks for replying. Like you said in the video, it seems going balanced would be a lot of extra unnecessary work and money.
I have an Aune S17 Pro, have you tested your dac with the review sample S17 you have?
If it can tolerate the 5V single ended that would be great news and I'll probably dive straight into the project 😄
I haven't but I will do it due to the popular demand. 😊
Greetings from Poland, I'm long-time friend of Łukasz Fikus (pronounced "Wukasz", first letter like in "wow" or "woman"). DIY is a funny hobby :) I believe your DAC sounds great, heard many of Łukasz DAC's. Cirrus logic chips where used by MBL sources as well, now you see that delta sigma or r2r is not everything, tubes also contribute to the final effect and other parts and their values. Also I know (and used) copper PiO caps but from Audio Note, despite that miflex is from Poland :)
The AN are excelent also..........Miflexx is a little upfront ........Duelund tinned copper is my favoured ......the easy going timing of the notes are more to my taste and not as upfront as Miflex ...Miflex is an excellent quality for the price nevertheless........
Tinned copper sou nds better than silver and copper hybrid....personal opinion !
Wow this sounds like a lot of fun. I would love to do something like this
Super cool project! I hope to see an ULTIMATE digital transport build in the future!
Thanks Srba for bringing up to us this do it yourself project based on Lukasz early work. It is indeed a great DAC competing with any high market several thousand € ones. As I build it myself almost like yours with the same miflex capacitors I could concord with your review about the great sound. Also I compared myself at friend locations this dac with others high tier ones like Romanian made Rockna high end dac etc. and my smile was big when all the peoples present had prised it. Yes I used Amperex PQ golden pin they are 6922 tubes and I was thrilled with them, they had very extended bass great midrange and very extended highs, they matched perfectly, better that 6n6p with my former Wharfedale Linton speakers, because Lintons d'ont go such low and are a little rolled off on highs. But on the other hand now I changed the speakers with Golden Ear Triton one...and this speakers are truly full range from at least 20 hz to 32kz and they do not need Amperex tube in the DAC, it is to much, and rolled back to 6n6p that are more thru balanced sounding. But what is clear is that by changing different tubes you could significantly calibrate the sound.
salut! de unde esti ...ca esti singurul om din ro care si-ar fi facut dacul asta! tare as fi curios sa aud parerea ta despre el!
This was a lot of fun to watch. Do it yourself kits were once more common. My brother’s first stereo system had a kit built Dynaco integrated amplifier.
I too have recently completed this build using a 12ax7 output stage. It is indeed a truly great sounding dac and a welcome successor to my outgoing Chinese device. Thanks, Srboljube for making us aware of this and well done with your wonderful over-the-top Lampucera!
Hello good sir, can you help me out with this build? I have a hard time understanding the schematics.
@@therealpotato8031 Hi and thanks for making contact. I would be most happy to assist you if I can. What output tube are you planning on using? Which schematic are you having difficulty understanding? Cheers.
Thank you for making us aware of such an interesting build. Being non-technical, I have a friend who is prepared to do the build. A definitive list of parts would be really, really useful!
Fabulous work.
Hello, I know this is late but did your friend did it? I couldn't understand the schematic at all.
Imo the inside of your DIY DAC is beautifully laid out and wired. Congratulations!
Hi, correct name is Łukasz Fikus. You pronounced very good but first letter is Ł (pronounced as W in english).
This was for me the most interesting video on DAC´s I have seen. I love to see this amazing inventive work. It seems that less is more. Thanks for uploading all necessary information. Much appreciated.
My youngest brother has a Lampizator DAC (I’d have to find out the model from him). Years ago we spent a weekend building a Lampucera and then comparing the two. It’s too long ago to remember the details but we put the Lampucera at 90-95% of the Lampizator. The Lampucera improved with Mundorf output caps and Elna Silmic caps in the power stage.
I have an old 3D Lab cd300 cd player with CS4327-KS inside. Never heard deeper bass in my life from a dac . That is why i still keep this player up and running .
Easy upgrade then. I just bought an old Ahh Tjoeb modified marantz CD player with a tube output. Brilliant sound. For superior to a standard modern DAC.
I have to check what DAC chip it has
I just bought a 24 yesr old Ahh Tjoeb CD player, which is a Marantz CD player modified with an EC88 dual tube output. I had one new years ago but sold it to travel. I had to get it again for personal reference. And wow it's the best digital sound I've had since I sold it 20 years ago. Now I understand how I listened to that CD player for hours a day. Definitely need tubes on a digital output. I almost bought one of the digital kits you talk about years ago. And will do it now to see how much better it can be and compare it to the Tjoeb circuit. Thanks heaps for the video. ❤❤
Ha, I almost forgot about that unit. I owned one back around ‘99 or so, great sound!
@@sean_heisler yes that's when I bought it too. I am surprised it sounds better than I remember. When I sold it it took 3 days before I could pack it up and post because I didn't want to b let it go. 🙃
Looking inside now I am also surprised it doesn't bypass the op amp. It's simply an add on buffer stage.
@@CanberraProtest-dm6hu The tubes do act as a buffer as opposed to an analog/gain output stage. Those opamps can be rolled, I’m sure you know. There’s a good refresher about the modifications in a Stereophile review if you search for it.
@@sean_heisler @sean_heisler I am going to send a signal from my professional hi res Tascam digital recorder into it and see how it goes. There is a little degradation of transient sound through the buffer but adds more life than it takes away. I guess that is what a good pre amp does. I've never has a good pre amp that improved the sound. It never made sense adding more circuitry should degrade it.
miflex caps looks great, and three toroids looks expensive 😅 overall it's your best video in 2023 👍 Thank you.
WoW! Thanks! Just what I've been looking for. Sent for the dac bundle. There was another Lampucera board and power supply using the PCM1798 DAC from a different seller.
2 things you might like to consider. 1 Decouple the valve from the case using rubber mount standoffs. 2 Using chokes in the power supply. I intend to try both. Also intend to try using 2 valves for independent L & R. They often come on matched pairs.
Thanks again.
I use that board with SRPP 6n2p tube excellent sound :)
Great vide. Thanks for getting out of the box and doing something that no other reviewer does. Happy Holidays🎉
THANKS
SO much for sharing sO deeply
Your project
And thanks Lukass for sharing your original design & Not being greedy to keep it just for you
Grear STUFF
i ll try it if ican find parts in Africa
This experiment fits the statement that I saw in a video from channel OCD HI-Fi Guy where it is said that the output stage and power supply are the most important parts of a DAC sound quality and that chips can basically be ignored.
I had my power amplifiers capacitors upgraded from Jantzen Audio Superior-Z caps to Miflex Audio caps and experienced similar improvement/result as you did with your DAC. I too would recommend the Miflex Caps.
Amazing work and description. Congrats and thanks for sharing. I realise it's basically an off the shelf Delta-Sigma chip with careful point-to-point tube preamplification! The tuning of the sound comes mainly from the capacitors and tube choice. It comes to show that a preamp is so important. Musical Paradise MP-701 mk2 is a popular preamplifier that reminds me of his analog section (prob. without the gain) in which you can upgrade capacitors and tubes to get the sound that you want.
I own that DAC and it's very good. I just don't understand where the Musical Paradise company is going at the moment.
Wow. This video blew me! It would be nice if you did a build vlog for this dac. Im really interested in building one.
I was waiting for this one..... very happy you review a DIY product, you are probably one of the very few who has done that !
Well you sold me on this DAC, I ended up buying the DAC board to build my own version. Going to try a better 5V LPS and Ultracapacitors for the DAC, they made a big difference on my WiiM Pro+.
I've been waiting for this video for months. We'll worth the wait. Great project. Well done.
Happy New Year Srbo, all the best!
I hope you'll continue to make DIY projects like this outstanding DAC is (I've heard it and it's really amazing).
Thank you for making this information available! I think sometimes its hard to evaluate the value of DIY-projects since components became quite expensive, especially if you opt for more esoteric parts. Whats missing is a benchmark to compare the output of these projects to commercial products, so I´m hoping to see more DIY videos on this channel! :)
Thanks for the nice video! I build a prototype of the lampucera 2.0 with the PCM1798 and using the SRPP circuit with 1N16B-V. 2 transformers, one for the digital section and one for the analogue section. All good components but not over the top as this was a prototype. As output capacitors I used Jantzen superior caps.
To cut to the chase although it sounds good it does not really compare with my reference (holo may DAC) especially in terms of ping point accuracy (what I would call time domain information). Yes, the MAY is a strong competitor but nevertheless I was expecting a little better from this DAC, on top of that the removal of the subsonic filter creates a lot of high frequency aliasing that some amplifiers do not tollerate. Looks like from your feedback that the version 1 lampucera sounds better and I am happy for you, unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to listen to it before building it. My aim is to move away from commercial designs for my own interest as my hobby. The DAC is the one that I have not cracked yet. Now I am trying to build the Sygnalist DSC3 but this built is not for the average DIYer. For reference I use a speaker set called the loudspeaker 3 (Troels Gravesen), for amplifiers the solid state 2022 and the hybrid 2023 (see audiodesignguide website). For pre I use a Macintosh but also several DHT designs from bartola (the 01a low gain pre is my latest build).
I just picked up an old Ahh Tjoeb CD player which I believe has an SRPP output. (But still need to check the circuit) it does muddy the high frequencies a little. But gee for listening pleasure and realism it is far superior to a standard op amp DAC output. Main point is possibly SRPP is not the best circuit for pin point accuracy. With its more complex tube stage. But pretty good if not comparing to the best of the best. I've had disappointments with basic home made preamp tube stages. Haven't found what's stopping the magic in those designs yet
ADDITIONAL NOTE: After seeing this video I started wondering why there was such a massive difference in sound between Rev 1 and 2 of this DAC. Was not Rev 2 supposed to be better after all? I went back to the prototype and remove the cathode bypass capacitor as I could not see this installed on some SRPP boards I had pictures of. The sound immediately focused and improved drastically. I still need to compare it properly with the MAY DAC but first impressions are good. without this video I might just have given up!
what are your thoughts on the different bartola DHT preamplifier? Strongly considering one as my next build!
UPDATE 2: after some extended listening without the bypass cap on the cathode resistor the rev2 of this design changed drastically. Compared back and forth with my MAY DAC (using my spectacular 01a pre) and this DAC just sounds fantastic….really impressed now :)
@@CanberraProtest-dm6hu can confirm the same experiece with several self built tube pre-amps. But my over 20yrs old TDA1541 with step up transformers and SRPP tube output still sounds wunderful.
Just had to comment. The mic you use for your videos is excellent.
I feel a little dismayed. The video says that if you can solder, read a schematic, and have some experience building stuff, this should be easy. But looking through the documentation, it seems to be targeted to very experienced builders. I don't see a BOM or general instructions, and the schematics are kind of scattered around with multiple versions for different options that are not clearly identified. Someone would be doing the world a huge favor by organizing, documenting, and simplifying this project, just a little.
Bumping this so it finds a home
@@DJayH34TB34TZ Thank you. Still really interested in this.
@@alanhuth7568
I sent the info over to my guitar amplifier tech. He said he could build it. 3-4 hours labor. I'm in. I hope you make it happen somehow.
I started a build thread over at DiyAudio. Once that is completed, there will be good documentation for making a US version of this Lampucera.
@@alanhuth7568 good to know. Thank you sir
Love your diy videos! You now got end game dac, end game pre amp, your sprit wind I bet is your end game speaker, now I'm waiting to see your end game amp and the review of your avanger end game system!
wow thank you very much for sharing your build, experience, and schematics! i bought this kit along with it's matching tube buffer maybe 5 years ago but never got around to assembling it. Your review and design sound like it will be a very rewarding project. thanks again!
Bravo Srboljube, palac gore za ovakav sadržaj i Lampućeru!
6N1P is not a direct equivalent to ECC88/6DJ8, in fact it's really not equivalent to anything and is a unique Soviet design. 6N23P is the Soviet equivalent to ECC88. We do a lot of work with the 6N6P and consider it a "super tube", capable of doing an excellent job as a voltage gain amplifier (as in this case), cathode follower (CF stage) and also it can handle enough current at low enough impedance to be considered as an output tube in an OTL amp. But what's really important is it produces a very clean, dynamic, full/rich sound and fits nicely into your "everything over built/over spec" approach to this DIY build. For some reason a lot of people can't stick with a spec'd tube type and insist on trying anything and everything that will plug into the socket. This is the wrong approach unless you can design within the tube domain. A better approach is to take the advice of the designer and plug a 6N6P in, you'll never want to try anything else!
Cool project! Would be interesting if you reviewed the musical paradise MP-DX. It is a DAC with a tube output stage were you can change capacitors. :) Also, you can upgrade the clock too!
Such a great video to the end of the year! Really well done! Thanks!
Sometimes I just like the way he says "Juicy"
I'm a bit late to this video, but I really enjoyed it. It opened up my mind to the world of DIY audiophiles. I started out as a budget music listener with respectable, but entry level equipment. Later, and after a few years of research, I shelled out more money for a serious "audiophile" system. I love it and enjoy it, but I don't see myself ever stepping up to five figure components. For a system yes, but not individual components. So basically I'm topped out in my current system. Now I can just swap out components in the future to flavor the sound in a particular way and to have fun.
After watching your video, I did some research and there is a healthy DIY community making everything from dacs to amps to speakers. Some of these designs are from very respected makers. To hear from you that the results of a good DIY design can equal retail prices 2 or 3 times the parts cost is exciting. That means I can double or triple the amount of components I could try, provided I make it myself. The only disadvantage I see is proper casework procurement. That's it.
Your build is what I would like to tackle first. I have one question if you have time. If not I completely understand. I currently use an Rme adi2 fs dac. I gave no experience with ladder dacs. I'm told if they are good, it is a more believable sound, with only a tiny bit less detail. That may be wrong, but I just don't know. What do you think I might expect to hear from this dac compared to my Rme dac?
Thank you!
Compared to RME you should get bigger, fuller, more musical, and richer sound all around. The better the rest of the system, it's more noticeable. There is a viewer and a patron of mine from Romania that had ADI-2, made this one, and never looked back. I belive he left a public comment in this comment section if you care to browse for it.
@@iiWiReviews thank you so much. I will go through the reviews more thoroughly as well.
Brilliant video, I think I have found my next diy project, after assembling the CSS 1tdx speakers and Hypex Nilai power amp this seems a natural next step project. Thank you this video was inspiring.
Are you happy with how Hypex Nilai sounds... and which preamp do you pair it with?
@@connorduke4619 yes very happy with the Nilai, enough to stop me scratching the upgrade itch. I paired it with a ladder bach preamp and they seem to pair very nicely in my system. Not really a price comparable pairing perhaps but thought I would give it a try and it has worked well for me.
@@jonathanhart-sc6ix Awesome thanks for your update! I wonder if your combo beats Hegel H190 integrated amp despite being at a significantly lower price,... that would be fascinating to know.
The top most interesting video from you by far!
I am a little sad that I know I won't do a project like this myself. In my life I have pursued what I wanted quite fanatically, as I age I see my corners are being worn down, the experience is novel, a more relaxed enjoyment of the wider picture. I know my gear solution is as good it gets (for me), not perfect but the music can be beautiful and the glass is clean... and I can explore vicariously through you. Thanks!
No reason to be sad. Audio gear got real good and I could easily live happily with many DACs from the last few years. This is more of an obsession and proving myself how far can I go. Music can be fully enjoyed with much less.
Yeah, but those capacitors and the power supplies and the rest, so sexy! Takes me back to days when I advanced from my crystal set to building my own radio (which did not work :). Which brings me to ask a question; when are you going to build an amp that gets its power from the universal field?
Thank you very much for this very interesting video and sharing your personal experience building and listening to this DAC. Of course, many of us will not be able to build such a project and probably, some are wondering how you can approach your DAC with a commercial product.
In my opinion, the closest is the Musical Paradise MP-DX ES9068 / ES9039MSPRO DAC. Even if the chip used here is different (ESS ES9039MSPRO), the spirit is quite similar, with the possibility of changing the output capacitors by yourself and without any solderingvery easily and without difficulty (2,2 uF / 400-600 Volts - Miflex, Jupiter, Duelund ...).
Only two capacitors and two tubes are used with RCA cables, reducing costs. The four capacitors and tubes are however required with balanced XLR cables. It is also possible to vary a large number of tubes used in this DAC. The designer of this product is someone who carefully refines their devices through listening.
After much thought, this is probably the direction I am heading to replace my Denafrips Ares II.
Many thanks again for the quality of your videos and a great new year 2024 to all of you :)
Cool video. I have built multiple DIY dacs. Amazing what can be achieved in a shed. I also used a Lampizator circuit with 6n2p valves. 8x TDA1387 dacs.
Wow! I'm good at Diy but not done any electronics unfortunatly apart from a bit of wire soldering😅. It's a shame as would love this DAC, you really sold it to me!
Thank you iiWi for your share of the info.
As for the 6n6p tube, I downloaded a white paper written by Lucas a dozen or so years ago where he talks about this 6n6p tube then he goes on to say he discovered a sister tube the 6n1p which he liked better then discovered another sister tube the 6n2p which he says was sonically even better. You might want to check out the 6n2p…
Thanks again, Marc
6n2p(ecc83) it is the tube with great amplification factor, which is useful as a first voltage amplification in vinyl correctors, mic amp. and so on. but it operates with small anode current only (
Amazing video. I might have to try this project.😊
I would love to do this. I have the basic skills (I replaced the capacitors and resistors to audiophile grade in my Schiit Freya + with great success).
This project is not above my abilities to construct if it was a kit. If I had specific parts for one build, sourcing for the parts and a video perhaps about basic assembly, then I could build this...but with all the scattered info here, multiple choices, extra notes and no firm structure to the presentation, as a beginner I am afraid that I do not have the ability to sort thru all of this information and make appropriate choices to layout a complete plan with sourcing.. This is very frustrating...I can see the candy...but the glass case will not let me touch it. ARRRGGGGHH! 😀😊😊
This sounds like a rewarding project!!!
Same dude, did u manage to somehow build it tho?
Keep up the good information you provide. Congratulations and bravo on your success. Cheers!
thanks for this video i grabbed some of your files and will maybe do a version of it in the future. But know I would have to also change things as i dont work well to a recipe. I had dropped you and many of my subscriptions to reviewers about 18 months ago once i decided to go the DIY path. I liked your content but was concentrating on trying to learn for myself. Recently have looked at some of those sold reviewers and super happy to have watched this video and to re-subscribe. A video on a comparison of your 4 different versions would be interesting. You are lucky to have a group to learn with ; would be very useful to work in a group, has taken me two years to build a tube amp as there is a lot to learn and spare time is limited. Thanks again for all l the information.
Has my Tradutto met its match? Excellent vid. Happy New Year
I think it has. 🙂 Thanks and happy new year!
Very interesting project. I, obly voried about that nois going downstreamto speakers.
Where did you get the case? I did not see that in the Google Doc. Would be nice to see a Google Spreadsheet with every part, quantity, link to purchase... Thank you
Incredible video/review! Excellent info & deep dive in to this dac. Would love to see more DIY projects covered! Happy new year!
Fantastic work! I find it very interesting to learn about how how complex, yet simple these DACs are, and that you get this great sound from these high quality components. I hope you will continue to explore and review tube gear. Best wishes, and happy new year!
maybe bcs the cans limitations, at certain points sound improves bcs of synergy only, not so much abt better dac
still theyre more than great for 'welcome' cans
Great Diy Dac, thanks and happy newyear !!🥳
In Polish „lampucera” means a woman with lots of makeup on her face, usually not a very pretty one ;)
Another great video. I love DIY, so much bang for the buck. And it is fun to build and test.
Fascinating...but predictable after looking inside. The output stage is so important!
Musical Paradise had a tube rectified DAC with screw terminals to roll in different caps.
This looks like a similar approach.
Hi-fi Cave's Loic went DEEP upgrading one with PIOs and external tube rectifiers. He's on YT.
Careful, its a slippery slope at the edge of the Musical Paradise money pit😮
I have the Musical Paradise MP701mk2 preamp with
similar flexibility.
I recognise the attributes of the Mundorfs and V-caps you described since they're in my collection.
🎵🎶🤫🎶🎵
I chose the Musical Paradise MP-DX ESS ES9039MSPRO DAC. The spirit is close to this DIY DAC.For financial reasons, I have to wait until early March to place my order. In the meantime, I've ordered Miflex 2.2 uF KPCU 600 v capacitors, as well as two Duelund by pass Capacitor 0.01uF 600Vdc JDM-Sn/Cu Series Tinned Copper Foil Paper Oil. On the other hand, there is a wide range of choices when it comes to tubes. Difficult choice. I hope that a lucky owner of this DAC will write a review of his musical experience with his new DAC.
Thanks so much for this!!, I’m going to combine your output stage design with the Ian Canada dac build around the raspberry pi platform. (Which I had already started). The op amp option for the Ian Canada build gets rave reviews so I might do a comparison test with them, and add it as a switchable output stage if I like it. One other potential upside to the Ian Canada build is far more input flexibility. I2s, hdmi, aes/ebu, etc.
I would love to hear your comparison between this and the IanCanada.
Thank you for this! I was wondering about the parts, process and your personal results with this build. I am not experienced with schematics and electronics assembly, but might see if I can find someone to guide and help me. A very happy new year to you and yours, Srboljub 🙏🏼🎊
Dude, such a great and informative video.
Many thanks - it would be really appreciated if you also covered lower capability DACS with USB.
At the moment very happy with a Khadas Tone Board.
I will fit the seperate power supply, isolation circuit and reset switch between 2 perspex sheets.
The downside is that sometimes the DAC stops decoding and needs a DC reset.
The cs4397 already outputs a differential voltage signal- you don't need an additional amplification stage. Pick up the chip output from pin 24 and 19 - pass through a 1uf low voltage cap to RCA out for single ended operation. As far as dacs go its decent but lacks the performance of the classic r2rs like PCM1704 and AD 1862 1865. You can find the perputual technologies p3a dac, from 2000s its 96khz capable. It uses the cs4397 and it easy to extract the voltage output from chip. Sound will be cleaner than passing through any additional (unneccesary) voltage amp stage. You can only detract from signal or add artifact. Mhdt tube dacs are great platforms for modding and can get super high performance if you understand the principle of less is more.
From my experience it’s those copper caps. I’ve heard they aren’t all that. Just saying. The caps take too long to break in for too much $$. But honestly I haven’t even been excited about DAC until now. Dude u rock .
They do take too damn long to break in. I now people who wrote them off as sounding muddy because they couldn't wait past the initial bad phase.
Refreshing content video. Great. And thanks
Thank you. What a wonderful explanation.
Svaka čast na projetku 👌. A posebno se zahvaljujem na sugestiji za: The Rita Collective "Killing in the Name" 🤓 ... fascinantna stereo slika - neverovatne dubine i preciznosti pozicioniranja instrumenata. Na mom integralcu (sa ugrađenim DAC-om) Denon PMA-1700NE i zvučnicima Triangle ESPRIT - AUSTRALE Ez, dobio sam stvarno fascinantnu zvučnu sliku, koja počinje jedno metar iza zvučnika (i pruža se na dalje u dubinu), sa precizno raspoređenim instrumentima od levog - do desnog zvučnika ... najlepšta stereo slika koju sam do sada iskusio 🤓. Uskoro mi stiže Musical Paradise MP-DX ESS ES9039MSPRO (u Full-u, sa eksternim MP-CLK) + MP-501 V5 sa KT150/6SJ7 cevima (Denon ne mrda nigde, ostaje kao daily driver), pa se nadam potpunom uživanju 🤓
I chose the Musical Paradise MP-DX ESS ES9039MSPRO DAC. The spirit is close to this DIY DAC.For financial reasons, I have to wait until early March to place my order. In the meantime, I've ordered Miflex 2.2 uF KPCU 600 v capacitors, as well as two Duelund by pass Capacitor 0.01uF 600Vdc JDM-Sn/Cu Series Tinned Copper Foil Paper Oil. On the other hand, there is a wide range of choices when it comes to tubes. Difficult choice. I hope that a lucky owner of this DAC will write a review of his musical experience with his new DAC.
@@douxreveur131Sorry for my bad English.
I wish you many hours of musical enjoyment with MP-DX 👍
Maybe Srbolja Stojanović "iiWi reviews" will be interested to test MP-DX DAC ... I will be happy to lend it to him for that purpose :)
@@zenmaxer пас де соуци, мон Англаис ест биен пире куе ле вотре (Гоогле традуцтион Мерци :) Је суис сур ку'ил сера цуриеук ет интерессе. Ј'адоре цетте цхаине ет сес цритикуес! Амитие де Франце :)
@@douxreveur131 Nous verrons.
Sincères salutations de Serbie
Great video!
Did you try replacing bridge rectifiers with hand build discrete 4 x MUR860 or other similar diodes ?
It makes a really nice difference for very very little investment , sound great on analog section rectifier.
Also some of the electrolitics caps repalced in key areas will have great affect on sound .
For example 2 Black Gate NX when wired into Super E canceling Cap way would being noise levels into ridiculous levels affecting sound in amazing way.
It can now be tried now with current Rubycon AudioNote Kasei NonPolars at not very high cost ... ❤
This is fantastic project to learn how different parts affect sound quality ....yes they all affect the sound 😉
How would a main value Miflex cap sound when bypased with V ODAM of say 0.1uf ?
Have fun and enjoy your hobby and passion for sound .
I didn't but I may at one point. For example I would like to try Mundorf electrolytics in the PS. That's all for some later time when I get bored and feel the upgrade itch. 🙂
@@iiWiReviews Just have fun with it.
Mundorf electrolitics in my power amp sound very low noise , neutral tonally, have punchy bass and great bass control . I'm using 4 pole Jensen's that are obsoleted and they sound richer tonally but maybe a tad less punchy...
Audio Note Kasei are super clean and low noise sounding cap with lush sound and open top with soundstage to die for. Some of lower values are priced all right .
Excellent video, thanks for sharing your experience. Happy New Year! 🎉
Thanks for sharing your nice video! I believe that you can even improve your project a little. At first, you can remove the caps betwen dac chip and tube grid and connect it directly. As an example old tube sheme like Loftin-White. Yes, Lukasz was wrong about it, you can do it! So, you need just to recalculate catode resistance for +2.5v bias instead 0v at a grid. Of course much Better to use output tubes in most linear point(current/anode voltage) after analizing I/U characteristics which depends on kind of applied tube... And second thing you can do it is se anode output transformers. I have used such solution in several devices like upgraded arcam cdp(wm8940) or aune 5s digital player( ak4490) with self made symmetric transformers 10+10:1+1 on cores 3-5-10 cm2. It works fine Even with small tubes with reassonable Ri like ecc88, ecc82,802, ecc180, 6922, 6n23/24p , 6n3p or excelent (really love it) but very rare 6n26p(possible replacement 6s3p/6s4p or pentodes in triode mode with anode current 10-15mA. But you ned transformers with around 10000 turns in primary to reach inductance over 100- 150H, so specific design for coils necessary. The main features for such solution: simple ultimative great soundung shematic with minimalistic set of component, galvanic separation for output, low output impedance like 600ohm and less. So you can use amplifiers with input resistance 1-10k and significantly improve sound quality. A couple more thing- stabilisators for tube heater and anode power with soft start and capacitors battery 5000+ mkF (of course bypassed by mica/mkp/paper-oil caps...).
Thank you for a great presentation and a wonderful project
Cool project👏I could probably think of trying it🤔You may be able to eliminate the pop sound by having a bleeder resistor in the power supply (100k) in parallel with the electrolytic. Then after the rectifier put a 100n capacitor in parallel with the electrolytes to remove rectifier noise and even better replace the rectifiers with a small rectifier tube for the anode voltage it will improve the sound quite a bit it can be an EZ81 it uses 6.3v for the heater and finally I would also add a decoupling capacitor in parallel at each cathode resistor. Veliki pozdrav😊
Liked your video very much, thank you. I have a Abbas audio 2.2. dac (tda 1541 chip with tubes). It was my first (and last?) purchase on a DAC. I'm curious how it sounds in comparison with your tube DAC. Curiousity will stay in the audio buisiness I guess 🙂
Thanks for a great video. As A DIY sucker I'd love to do this but unfortunately I am technologically incapacitated. Actually, it sounds like the same philosophy of design as Border Patrol. Tube rectifier and keep it high quality and simple. I have observed Akatika amplifier kits for a while but vision issues precludes me making one of their amp r preamp kits. People seem to love them.
Goes to show how power supply and output stages are sooooo important in a DAC. The DAC chip or R2R network is secondary and inexpensive.
Please review Audial S5 DAC it's a product from your country! It's amazing implementation of TDA1541 I have one and I think it's my end game.. :)
Really great. 👍
Very nice!
Duland caps , and Jupiter capacitor are also good
Amazing work🎉
Great video, and an excellent idea!
These days Lampucera A.D 2023 would be build on SMSL SU 1 or PO100AK.
Sorry to say but functionality of Lampucera is kind of stone age type.
I did this project 15 years ago but it was replaced with Behringer upsampler with AKM chip where whole analog stage was passive built on Lundahl transformers. It beat Lampucera all the way. Lampuceras design in to simple to be end game but it's fun to work on.
Try to make active filtering for tubes based on mosfet transistors. You will need to redefine end game scenario to your dac 😂
Your build sounds great but quite expensive too. Just Lundahl transforms cost is probably equal to this whole build. Maybe one day I get to think about something like that.
Lampucera is old but simple and fairly affordable to build. Its sound is maybe not up to your end-game standards but done this way for most people it would be. Its price to performance ratio is the real star in my opinion.
Cheers 🍺
@@iiWiReviews I know that capacitors that you've used were not cheap either. That's real rabbit hole in tube's world. I will try Fikus idea with modern Dac. SU-1 is almost perfect choice. Best donner would be cheapest dac with I2s input. Maybe smsl will come up with SU-2 😜
Curious about that active filtering with MOSFETs, as I am playing with the latter, already dabbled with tubes too.
@iiWi Reviews do you think Aune S17 Pro will be a good match for Lampucera ? or better to build DIY amp ?
This is a burning question I have too lol
the best video on your channel!!!😊😊👋👋👋
I wish that quality DIY HiFi kits were more of a common thing, like it was decades ago. Dynaco, Heathkit, Hafler, etc…
You mention of The Rita Collective recording - it includes a track called The Astounding Eyes of Rita. That is the title track of an outstanding recording - you should check it out, too!
Yeah, that one is fantastic. 👌
@@iiWiReviews - another recording with possibly the largest soundstage I have ever heard is Duke Ellington's "Blues In Orbit".
Great build, congratulations! I was very interested in this dac until you clarified that its output is quite hot😂
That is the last thing my Supratek Cabernet needs, I have been interested in the Audial S5 for a while, very elaborate power supply and a galvanized usb input, also an output off 2.1volt so good for my pre.
Is there any chance you will review this dac in future?
Great channel.
You have used two separate buttons to turn on and off the device and you have to pay attention to the order. How about using three-position knob instead? Anybody could operate that and never mess up the order.
I wanted to make it symmetrical visually with all buttons glowing orange but that's a great and fuss free idea.
I don't see any video (yet) about vinyl, but if you ever get into that world, would be fun if there was a Lampucera Phono version.. there certainly is a Lampizator phono!
What are you using for clocks in your DAC? Is there an opportunity for further improvement there?
When using SPDIF connection, clock is set by the digital source (streamer) used.
Try a Philips J.A.N 6922 (green label) in the output, they are quite lively and 3D in presentation to my ears. Did try a Reflektor OTK btw.
I wish someone would do a RUclips video showing how to make one of these from start to finish, I would love to make one myself.
My soldering skills are pretty good but I can't read schematics.
How about You start a new brand called "the Acoustic Reviewer" 😎
Any chance to review the Audial S5 dac and A21 amp?
Greetings! Thank you for this video. I am interested in building this DAC. I would like to use a ESS chip. Is this possible? Also, would you consider building a streamer of similar quality? I am thinking of a streamer design such as the Aurender series. Finally for this DAC why not use a separate power supply unit?
It's possible of course. I belive that all ESS chips are with current output (this one is voltage) so you would need to add the I/V conversion in that case. How that's done would also influence the final sound quality. So it's not a straightforward chip change but needs different output stage.
Streamer is a whole different beast, and software plays a huge role there, so I'm not ready to tackle that topic. 🙂
Hi iiWi. Great video. Can you possibly share a schematic of your super Lampucera? It seems to be simple enough for my amateur skills.
More power to your channel!
Hi, take a look in the video description and you'll find a Google drive link that leads to several documents about it. Cheers!
@@iiWiReviews Thank you. Ad Jesum per Maria.
Like you I regard the enance of sound itself is the jewel in a sound system ,unlike you I have never soldered though.
Given the limits of my budget and my technical knowledge my idear therefore was to have as much scope for change as posible.
I therefore have the RME DAC with it's astonishing number of prioritizable E.Q. prestes ,(not to mention all the other parameters.) matched with a Prima Luna integrated valve amp so that I also have more choices there.(P.S. Focal speakers)
Even though your sound system no doubt out performs mine where I think mine wins out is that I can instantly react to different recordings at the touch of a button.
I constantly go from thinking I have my perfect set up, to feeling there is sum thing needing tweaking. One soon realises that it is down to the recording, 21st century recordings spanning frequency ranges that you just didn't get in the early recordings for example.
Part of the reason I am A subscriber is because I respect your "ear" so I am curios to hear how you think your DAC handles poor recordings? Is there a perfect sound that fits all?
I was thinking the same as you until recently I also had rme adi 2 dac, and other possibility to play with the sound but slow and step after step I realized that if you build your system with all great quality parts everything start to fit in place and no sound tampering needed...the sound will be the most pure and hires version that could be, and even recordings that had sound very bad in the past became as by miracle at least enjoyable. But clearly it is not simple and not cheap to arrive at this objective. I think that for most affordable systems a possibility to EQ remain very important.
@@Sorin_F I'm shore your right . the best is the best it's a simple formula.
I almost bought the schit bifrost 2/64 because in my budget range it seemed that it might sound even better than adi 2 but in the end I chose set ability over someone else's "Ear"
The trough is I like my sound so I have not yet dared change the settings. I am though waiting for my first ever "tube rolling" experiment ,I have gust ordered quad matched 6L6GC-HARMA valves .
Wow, three (!) toroidal transformers in a DAC seems a bit over the top. Those transformers must certainly be capable of handling at least 30 W, each. The one in the middle looks capable of around 60 W. I also do not understand how/why the capacitors can be/are so big given their modest filtering capability of 2.7 microfarads. On the other hand there seem to be 4 more capacitors (maybe Elna?), so perhaps it is the combination that makes the magic? Anyway, very interesting stuff. I am something of a newbie to Hi-Fi and am basically just weathering my ignorance loudly.
following this vid as I have built my own overkill tube dac... came across some info that makes sense regarding the output coupling caps and bypassing them with another cap. I will type the advise verbatim for you to digest at your convenience:
BYPASSING: Do not use bypass capacitors in the signal path. A single capacitor for DC blocking/AC coupling creates a simple path with one time constant. The signal quality will be compromised if a bypass or multiple bypass capacitors are added to a signal path capacitor. Bypass capacitors were used in the past to bypass low quality film capacitors or electrolytic capacitors. The bypass was the lesser of two evils. With the advent of better quality film capacitors the need for a bypass capacitor was eliminated. Bypass capacitors create multiple signal paths with multiple time constants. These time constants are very short but they can still be heard as a smear or overall loss of focus. ALWAYS bypass power supply capacitors. This maintains a low source impedance to the power supply over a wide bandwidth. If budget and space permit it is good to use multiple value power supply bypass capacitors with the smallest value being installed directly at the active device. (Tube or transistor_
Would like to know how this compares to a Geshelli J2S with Sparkos SS2590 opamps