I can't say enough. Thank you thank you thank you. The information you provide with your videos is not only inspiring but opens the door for enjoyment. Truly inspiring.
That is very sweet it is only $600 assembled and tested. With only $310 in parts you are charging a respectable upcharge for the labor and bench time. So many other audio manufacturers would have charged $5,000 for the same thing essentially gouging the buyers.
Gentleman, this is one of the best videos I've seen about DIY audio 💯👌 So thank you for sharing this with us and I wish you all the best. Keep us posted and as soon as the parts are available I would love to order one from you to test it in my system. Thanks again, have fun and enjoy your music 🎶👌
I have only very recently discovered your channel. It is a joy to watch your videos and to see the joy that you derive from what you are doing. It oozes through the video to us viewers. I wish I could take your knowledge, the information and build myself a couple of these units but sadly it is completely beyond my capabilities. That said, it does not limit my enjoyment of watching your videos. Keep up the good work.
Thank you if you like to start something simple try the Protodac you may be able to get one assembled from Mark just need a raspbery pi and a cheap power supply and it sounds good ruclips.net/video/zOHt10p7bX0/видео.htmlsi=AZogv2tFtUckpDkn
Just ordered a board from you 😀 I'm a big fan of the TDA1541a, I have a nice S1 waiting for the arrival of the board. Thank you very much for making this available to the DIY fraternity
Thank you appreciate it if you happen to have a regular TDA1541a try it first to avoid loosing your nice chip I fried a good one in a 15v reversed polarity fried my FifoQ7 as, very costly mishap it happens to the best of us specially when you are connecting a hundred time.
This is how best products are made, from people experimenting and tinkering in their garage or basement. Soul Marantz had this start, same for Bob Carver. The advantage is that, there is no corporate suite standing over your shoulder waiting to profit off of you. Need to more people like thins in the world. Good job!
Nice. I have also fallen in love with the sound of the TDA1541a chip. In my case, I am also using Ian's PCM board and FifoPi (Q3 here), powering with ultra capacitors, LTO batteries, and the "Studer 900" power supply discussed on the DIY Audio site. Output stage is jfet "fetishizator".
Hey, another Fikus fan! I use his 6n2p lampizator and all his power supply advice. Big trani, chokes, film caps and tube rectifiers. All dual mono. Love it.
So...where can I purchase the TDA1541A Chip? Or rather, where do you recommend purchasing it from? Also, I am more than willing to purchase my own parts, however, do you have a parts list available?
Also don't worry about the S. Though I want one too R's dont sound bad or anything, just a tiny bit distortion, which isn't always a bad thing as we know.
Congratulations on your DAC. Love the fact that you made a 4 layer board, paid attention to ground planes but made if DIY friendly. I also love the sound of the TDA1541a chip when it is well implemented. I don't think there will be much that can touch the sound quality you have achieved. I found there is no limit to the sound. Start simple, but with time go for the best power supplies and all separate. My personal favorite is running simultaneous mode. I too use Ian's PCM to I2S for that. Some prefer Ryanj's implementation of the discrete one designed by ecdesigns. When you have everything else perfect, go nuts with clocks. This chip will shine as the phase noise improves.
This is brilliant Gabby!! I have loved seeing you experiment and engineer nearly your entire audio system! I may try to pick an assembled one (I work in wildland fire, and my fat fingers can't really solder the smaller components well at all, I've tried with an old Headroom headphone amp repair!). I would love to see this tested against your other DACs, and maybe even audio samples if you're video/audio gear is capable? Congrats on this. What a labor of love of electronics and music!!
Thanks Alann Appreciate your support I may try a version where I would solder the few tricky parts for people that have some minimal soldering skills. maybe once things have settled down a bit
Thanks for this! Have ordered the board and hope that I don't get too "keen" with the soldering iron :) Thanks again, and this will be a nice little DIY project to build a decent system. Cheers.
A few question for about the DAC, can you recommend trusted sources for the TDA1541 chip? Do have another another way to adapt to XLR input on the amplifier without having to use another board/Dac? If you purchase just the board do you send a list of the parts to buy?
I strongly suggest you try one not a big sound difference going balanced sometimes yes sometimes No, it is system dependent yes you need 2 boards and a PCM Board as well. and off course you get the part list :)
Hi Gaby, nice to see that your project is making progress. I would like to build and test one..as soon as I am back from Italy..I hope the boards will also come in black :) ...best regards Frank
I would look for a broken CD player do not worry about trying to find a S1 crown chip lots of regular chips including some R Chips are excellent. you would need a good way to desolder it or try to find a more reliable source
Both Tda1541A and the Gabster Td1 (Opa861) need both +5v and -5v ( independent supplies )The TdA also needs -15v (basically 15v swapped polarity) www.lampizator.eu/lampizator/LINKS%20AND%20DOWNLOADS/DATAMINING/tda%201541A.pdf
WOW, It’s passionate folks like you that make our hobby so exciting, engaging, and fun! Your dedication and enthusiasm really shine through and inspires us all. Thanks a ton for sharing your time and insights to elevate our enjoyment and appreciation of this hobby. By the way, in your latest video, you mentioned a mono configuration that can boost the performance even more. What parts do I need to order to set this up? Thanks again!
This is SO cool. Couple of questions: You may already have mentioned it at one point? Not sure. But if ordering all from Mouser, how would I manage the same components that you’ve selected? Or will it all be the same/included in their kits? Secondly, is it possible to go Dac alone from an existing streamer? As in a coax or aes/ebu input? Or would that degrade sq? Many thanks 🙏🏼
you will have a exact mouser List Parts (please note I am not affiliated with mouser just a good place to get genuine great parts) This way they should fit perfectly and sound great. you will need a I2S signal from a Fifo Q7 or similar or a Cd Player or any device where you can access the I2s Signal of the board. By keeping the sound in the least amount of conversions you get better sound. You can also use a input board with Ian's streamer to solve your situation. Hope that Helps
@@Gabster1 I’ll look into the input board, great suggestion. I am very curious about the prospect of putting together a Dac with this great a value proposition. Not an engineer, don’t really solder…but have steady hands and not afraid to check values using a tester! 🙏🏼
Nice project and I love the simplicity and very confident that it sounds good. I love another r2r (vintage) chip without internal I/V conversion and working on the output stage so you implementing basically a 80mhz bandwith opamp that is 'safely' fast at 900v slew makes sense, do you use it as buffer? I am in the phase of experimenting so AD811 (quite fast) and OPA1612 and alike will be tested for I/V and buffering.
This is great, too bad there's no option for the rest of us that cannot build these type of things but would be willing to support the project and purchase an assembled unit.
Sparta is correct. I have a DAC with the same chip as well as multiple other DACs going up to 24 bits. I doubt you'll miss the extra bits. The natural midrange really stands out to me.
You'll do yourself a big favour to let go of the idea that more bits are better. In fact, a true 12 bit resolution of a DAC is more than enough. More important is that the DAC sounds really good and lets the sound 'through' in great detail.
Thanks for putting this out in the world and congrats for making it happen. A couple of questions (1) would a discrete op amp like Sparkos add to this dac - or the op amp you've selected "good enough" (2) when it comes to clean-ness of DC voltage, how does typical and readily avaialable 7AH/12V SLA batteries stack up against the top of the line powersupplies that you're recommending.
Hard to tell without trying them but this opa861 single chip Design is vey simple and direct with zero feedback and no decoupling caps anywhere in the path. you will need to convert your 12v to 15V and 5v 0 -5v not the best idea but with the linear Pi you could do the 5v 0 -5v with 2 of them.
The Imaging Air and Musicality are far better on the TD1 Low and High frequencies detail is the same on both, Midrange Varies it depends on The TDA1541A Chip. On a very good Chip Vocals Mids are equal or better. On a average chip not as good but close. With a low grade TDA Chip everything suffers. 95% of the Chips selling out there are about average I am releasing a Video on Friday where I test 16 Chips.
Hello! This is amazing! I will buy a bare PCB because I want to put my own components on it, but what is the OPA, because I don't understand what you are saying!? Thanks!
I might give it a go, the pcb is good price. then i can compare to my 1540 dual mono set up. very nicely done, you are moving DIY forward and saving us music lovers some cash, by the way does it out perform the Denafrips ?
How would this kit sound using the TDA1541A vs the S1 or S2 version? I have a few Philips branded CD players that use this chip, but they are not S1 or S2 versions. Is it really recommended to get the S2?
I'm in! I'd like to compare it to my Protodac with upgraded caps! Would 1-board be stereo or mono? Thanks again for another great video Gabby! I see aliexpress has the tda1541a chip, but are they reliable? Don't want a 1-1 copy..lol
I just finished mine a couple days ago and it sounded great right away (after fixing a couple of my small mistakes). The improved 3d imaging compared to my Holoaudio spring 3 is what I could easily hear yet still keeping all that I love about my Holoaudio. I would say the musicality is touch better as well. I am running it in RCA (single ended) sim mode using Ian Canada streamer and Pcm board as recommended by Gaby. Tracks that are well recorded seem to really show the difference.
Looks like a fun project. I have a couple of observations. Have any genuine TDA1541A been made since circa 1995? The only new ones I know of are "Philips" marked Chinese counterfeits, all claimed to be genuine (naturally), so one would be wise to research this. Also, many (including myself) have discovered that discrete class A op amps (e.g. Sparkos, Burson, etc.) can exert profound sonic improvements (dynamics, separation, soundstage, etc.) on the output stage of a DAC. I realize this project design may be completed, but I might suggest for any future revision DIP8 sockets in place of surface mounted op amps for added flexibility. More newer DACs are being fitted this way for this reason.
Congratulations Gaby ! Amazing work. I have build 2 DAC/streamer with ProtoDAC from Mark and one with Ian’s ESS/OPA861, all 3 based on Q7/scpure, ucpure (3.3V and 5V) studying your videos. Many hours enjoying listen music. I am very interested in your board to compare it my 3 builds. Very inspiring work. Thank you
That is awesome at least now you can relate and compare these are all great projects. it would be interesting to hear your opinion if you ever try the Gabster TD1 on how they all compare it is always interesting to see how others that own different setups hear thing.
Hi Gabi, I see that some manufacturers are using several dac chips in parallel and make an average of the signal to reduce noise (I think). I believe this will be a big step up in your design. Do you think that you and IanCanada can try and design something like this? It's just an idea :D. I really appreciate your diy approach and I strive apply your advice in my projects too. Thank you!
I have listened to a few and was not impressed, but could be a parts quality issue I believe that simple is better. the Gabster TD1 can be configured to use you own output stage one could try a variety of them. I am just so happy with the sound I got with a single Opa861 per Chanel I did try a few options.
Kudos Gabster Nice design & layout. I've been playing & tweaking my Aya for years always looking to see if I can make futher improvement. Just to share I/V resistor very very important to SQ. Try many including Rhopoint but best for me is Shinkoh 2w Tantalum. PS caps is paramount not local decoupling as many wound think. Cheers
Excellent points totally agree I would also try different values as well and Yes power supply is the most important of all UcPures soldered very close are the best thing
Wow, you put in a lot of thought and time into this project, I am very impressed . Most people do not have the time, skill and desire to build this, but may have the desire to own a product like this. Maybe talk to Thomas/ stereo as you are both in Montreal about out sourcing production at some time in the future. 👍
@@Gabster1 Ohh, good to know you are close. I am close to Qc and I bought 2 of your TD1. Already running the Ian Canada FifoPi with ScPure and a Protodac, all powered with Ultracapacitor, I look forward to hear the difference. Enjoy your summer, they are short in Quebec! ;)
Gabby, when I saw the video title pop up on RUclips I had been hoping for something like this. Not sure why but every time I try to order 2 boards it keeps saying “Things don't appear to be working at the moment. Please try again later.” With a PayPal button saying “Return to Merchant”. Not sure if this means you sold all the spare capacity already or you have a website problem? I will drop you an email (short I promise) separately. Get back to me when you have time (I’m not the rushing kind any more 😉) Look forward to more content on this (and more PCB’s available if you’ve run out already). Many thanks, Steve 👍 (UK, England)
Without a description of improvement one can hear to the sound, what technical improvements does this have over my ASUS Essence STX II soundcard? Sure costs a lot more money, doesn't come with everything, has no warranty (count out Australia then too because we have consumer protection), and the components look like any electronics manufacturer could source them in a heartbeat.
I can't say enough. Thank you thank you thank you. The information you provide with your videos is not only inspiring but opens the door for enjoyment. Truly inspiring.
You are so welcome! Appreciate your support and kind words
Congratulations 🍾
Bought and excited to build!!! Thx for giving back to the community, I understand the time commitment, but it sure is fun!
That is very sweet it is only $600 assembled and tested. With only $310 in parts you are charging a respectable upcharge for the labor and bench time. So many other audio manufacturers would have charged $5,000 for the same thing essentially gouging the buyers.
I haven't heard it but looking at it I guess it will sound better than most 5/k DAC's.
@@edmaster3147lol dream on
Note that the TDA1541A chip is not included
@@ayc3695 So try to find TDA1541A before buying the kit 😅😅😅
EPIC!!! Really cool that you made these affordable for everyone
Love the DIY community - keep tinkering with cool stuff like this.
That's the plan!
This is exciting Thank you, the Gabster TD1 Dac looks amazing and can not wait to assemble one (ordered)
VERY interesting 👍 GL with your DAC !
Gentleman, this is one of the best videos I've seen about DIY audio 💯👌
So thank you for sharing this with us and I wish you all the best. Keep us posted and as soon as the parts are available I would love to order one from you to test it in my system.
Thanks again, have fun and enjoy your music 🎶👌
Takk!
I liked how you kept stacking the components on top of each other.
Great video and congratulations on bringing it to market. I'm looking forward to seeing more on this so please keep the videos coming
Thank you! Will do!
I have only very recently discovered your channel. It is a joy to watch your videos and to see the joy that you derive from what you are doing. It oozes through the video to us viewers.
I wish I could take your knowledge, the information and build myself a couple of these units but sadly it is completely beyond my capabilities.
That said, it does not limit my enjoyment of watching your videos. Keep up the good work.
Thank you if you like to start something simple try the Protodac you may be able to get one assembled from Mark just need a raspbery pi and a cheap power supply and it sounds good
ruclips.net/video/zOHt10p7bX0/видео.htmlsi=AZogv2tFtUckpDkn
Well done Gabi. Shapo on your achievement!
Thank you
very nicely made, also the possibilities you created in it👍 maybe I'll buy one.
Do you know if a USB To I2S Digital Interface "Amanero" run on it?
Is there a list of components to order from Mouser?
Same question, if I purchase board, will you provide exact part list to be ordered from Mouser?
Yes comes with the boards
@@Gabster1 Great. And can TDA1541 (non A) be used too or only TDA1541A?
Just ordered a board from you 😀
I'm a big fan of the TDA1541a, I have a nice S1 waiting for the arrival of the board.
Thank you very much for making this available to the DIY fraternity
Thank you appreciate it if you happen to have a regular TDA1541a try it first to avoid loosing your nice chip
I fried a good one in a 15v reversed polarity fried my FifoQ7 as, very costly mishap it happens to the best of us specially when you are connecting a hundred time.
@Gabster1
I will do,
I'm picking up an Arcam in the morning with a standard chip,
It's cheap because the display has failed, it'll be ideal
@@mcpokes you may be surprised some regular Chips outperforms or equal a S1 or S2 Chip
This is how best products are made, from people experimenting and tinkering in their garage or basement. Soul Marantz had this start, same for Bob Carver. The advantage is that, there is no corporate suite standing over your shoulder waiting to profit off of you. Need to more people like thins in the world. Good job!
Great project to experiment.
The tda 1541 were famous in their days in cd players.
Wish I was adept at building and have a better understanding of electronics/circuitry. Looks great. Your passion comes across!
Congratulations!!!
Nice. I have also fallen in love with the sound of the TDA1541a chip. In my case, I am also using Ian's PCM board and FifoPi (Q3 here), powering with ultra capacitors, LTO batteries, and the "Studer 900" power supply discussed on the DIY Audio site. Output stage is jfet "fetishizator".
that sounds great
Hey, another Fikus fan! I use his 6n2p lampizator and all his power supply advice. Big trani, chokes, film caps and tube rectifiers. All dual mono. Love it.
@@user-od9iz9cv1w sounds sweet! I need to upgrade (sidegrade?) my output stage to tubes at some point.
Congratulations 🎉 🎉🎉 I've almost finished my own TDA1541A but I'm using I2S out of an interface because x86 boards interest my right now
Sounds great!
Great video. Using two TDA1541A's. Nice solution.
So...where can I purchase the TDA1541A Chip? Or rather, where do you recommend purchasing it from? Also, I am more than willing to purchase my own parts, however, do you have a parts list available?
Part list and a link to a part project list in mouser comes with the kit so it is easy to order
Either from mouser or any other place.
@@Gabster1 Thank you, I purchased two boards. I will figure it out. Do you know of a reliable source for the TDA1541A S2 chips?
@@Peoplesgo Hi 🙋🏻 I would also be interested in where you can get the TDA1541, preferably the last batch.
CD 471 all vintage players with R1 to S2 TDA's. Seller know though.
Also don't worry about the S. Though I want one too R's dont sound bad or anything, just a tiny bit distortion, which isn't always a bad thing as we know.
Great video
Thank you, Gabi.
Congratulations on your DAC. Love the fact that you made a 4 layer board, paid attention to ground planes but made if DIY friendly. I also love the sound of the TDA1541a chip when it is well implemented. I don't think there will be much that can touch the sound quality you have achieved. I found there is no limit to the sound. Start simple, but with time go for the best power supplies and all separate. My personal favorite is running simultaneous mode. I too use Ian's PCM to I2S for that. Some prefer Ryanj's implementation of the discrete one designed by ecdesigns. When you have everything else perfect, go nuts with clocks. This chip will shine as the phase noise improves.
That is the perfect Advice I can not agree more
You are reading my mind.
SIMM mode with pcm board is my favorite as well.
This is brilliant Gabby!! I have loved seeing you experiment and engineer nearly your entire audio system! I may try to pick an assembled one (I work in wildland fire, and my fat fingers can't really solder the smaller components well at all, I've tried with an old Headroom headphone amp repair!). I would love to see this tested against your other DACs, and maybe even audio samples if you're video/audio gear is capable? Congrats on this. What a labor of love of electronics and music!!
Thanks Alann Appreciate your support I may try a version where I would solder the few tricky parts
for people that have some minimal soldering skills. maybe once things have settled down a bit
Sounds interesting, but what does this dac compare to? The soundstage is big compared to what?
Few of the high end Dacs I have owned or tried
Denafrips Terminator
Chord Dave
Ps Audio
Holo May
Few lumins
Few SMSLs ……
Thanks for this! Have ordered the board and hope that I don't get too "keen" with the soldering iron :) Thanks again, and this will be a nice little DIY project to build a decent system. Cheers.
I will be making a long video to help with soldering make sure to check it out
A few question for about the DAC, can you recommend trusted sources for the TDA1541 chip? Do have another another way to adapt to XLR input on the amplifier without having to use another board/Dac? If you purchase just the board do you send a list of the parts to buy?
I strongly suggest you try one not a big sound difference going balanced sometimes yes sometimes No, it is system dependent
yes you need 2 boards and a PCM Board as well.
and off course you get the part list :)
passive IV conversion?
Hi Gaby, nice to see that your project is making progress. I would like to build and test one..as soon as I am back from Italy..I hope the boards will also come in black :) ...best regards Frank
Thank you They will come in black blue and red
I've only found the TDA1541A chip on ebay and aliexpress. Pricey. Any good source for these that you'd recommend? Thanks Gabby.
I would look for a broken CD player do not worry about trying to find a S1 crown chip lots of regular chips including some R Chips are excellent. you would need a good way to desolder it or try to find a more reliable source
17:04 hi you mentioned that you need +5v-5v...could you elaborate why you need a +5v-5v instead of the "conventional" 5v. Thanks
Both Tda1541A and the Gabster Td1 (Opa861) need both +5v and -5v ( independent supplies )The TdA also needs -15v (basically 15v swapped polarity)
www.lampizator.eu/lampizator/LINKS%20AND%20DOWNLOADS/DATAMINING/tda%201541A.pdf
Thanks for the insights
I don't need it yet, but I will buy two to run balanced later in the year. Really nice work!
Thank you 🙏
Hi
Thanks for this project so where is possible to buy TDA1541S1 ?
Very good question.
Just ordered pcb. Do I have to wait 8-10 wks? Where to buy TDA1541A? Wide range in price. Would the cheaper ones be a mistake?
WOW, It’s passionate folks like you that make our hobby so exciting, engaging, and fun! Your dedication and enthusiasm really shine through and inspires us all.
Thanks a ton for sharing your time and insights to elevate our enjoyment and appreciation of this hobby.
By the way, in your latest video, you mentioned a mono configuration that can boost the performance even more. What parts do I need to order to set this up?
Thanks again!
Wow, thank you! You would need a Pcm Board from Ian but you can try without at first
I will talk about all that in Detail soon.
This is SO cool. Couple of questions: You may already have mentioned it at one point? Not sure. But if ordering all from Mouser, how would I manage the same components that you’ve selected? Or will it all be the same/included in their kits? Secondly, is it possible to go Dac alone from an existing streamer? As in a coax or aes/ebu input? Or would that degrade sq?
Many thanks 🙏🏼
you will have a exact mouser List Parts (please note I am not affiliated with mouser just a good place to get genuine great parts)
This way they should fit perfectly and sound great.
you will need a I2S signal from a Fifo Q7 or similar or a Cd Player or any device where you can access the I2s Signal of the board. By keeping the sound in the least amount of conversions you get better sound. You can also use a input board with Ian's streamer to solve your situation.
Hope that Helps
@@Gabster1 I’ll look into the input board, great suggestion. I am very curious about the prospect of putting together a Dac with this great a value proposition. Not an engineer, don’t really solder…but have steady hands and not afraid to check values using a tester! 🙏🏼
Can you make a video about how to connect it to Ian"s streamer based on the pure pi? Or is it obvious?
More very detailed videos are coming
More very detailed videos are coming
Awesome work sir! I will order some boards on a few weeks. I have two other TDA1541A DAC projects to build as well but will add this to the list
Congratulations 🔥👍🏻
Gabby, do you really prefer the op amp output stage to discrete jfet or tubes?
Are those Wima FKP or Wima MKP decoupling caps?
oh that IC socket might destroy sound stage and depth. and the spikes... are they there to stop electrons vibrating?
You can solder your TDA1541A to the board directly but most people like trying different chips and experimenting
when will be 3,5 output?
Good luck with it .
Nice project and I love the simplicity and very confident that it sounds good. I love another r2r (vintage) chip without internal I/V conversion and working on the output stage so you implementing basically a 80mhz bandwith opamp that is 'safely' fast at 900v slew makes sense, do you use it as buffer? I am in the phase of experimenting so AD811 (quite fast) and OPA1612 and alike will be tested for I/V and buffering.
아주 멋지네요!!! 좋은 영상 감사합니다!!! ❤❤❤
Great to see another good product based on real R2R DAC IC. Where did you find TDA1541 S2 (double crown)??
This is great, too bad there's no option for the rest of us that cannot build these type of things but would be willing to support the project and purchase an assembled unit.
I have that DAC chip 1541a it sounds really good through my cd player . Would your dac work with the 1540 chip as well ?
1540 is similar but not the same so short answer is No
Is there anyway to add a volume control to this dac plus the streamer ?
Not really you still need a preamp or integrated Amp
I have an old Teradak that uses the same chipset, some of the best sounding midrange of my DAC collection!
Can this dac play 24 bit ?
Or DSD?
It's a 16 bit DAC, so will truncate any extra bits.
@@chriswhite9912 DSD will need to be converted to PCM I2S before going to the DAC.
Sparta is correct. I have a DAC with the same chip as well as multiple other DACs going up to 24 bits. I doubt you'll miss the extra bits. The natural midrange really stands out to me.
You'll do yourself a big favour to let go of the idea that more bits are better. In fact, a true 12 bit resolution of a DAC is more than enough. More important is that the DAC sounds really good and lets the sound 'through' in great detail.
Hi Gabby, how do you connect this 1541 dac to a raspberry ? Thanks
with a DIY streamer like Ian's or Others
Thanks for putting this out in the world and congrats for making it happen. A couple of questions (1) would a discrete op amp like Sparkos add to this dac - or the op amp you've selected "good enough" (2) when it comes to clean-ness of DC voltage, how does typical and readily avaialable 7AH/12V SLA batteries stack up against the top of the line powersupplies that you're recommending.
Hard to tell without trying them but this opa861 single chip Design is vey simple and direct with zero feedback and no decoupling caps anywhere in the path. you will need to convert your 12v to 15V and 5v 0 -5v not the best idea but with the linear Pi you could do the 5v 0 -5v with 2 of them.
What is the board directly under the DAC? or will I have to wait to find out??
PCM to I2s converter by Ian I will talk about it in my Video tomorrow
Gabby
What is the maximum length of the line for i2s?
I would stay below 30cm ideally 15cm or less
Hello Gabby - How does the TD1 sound against IanCanada’s full size flagship DAC?
The Imaging Air and Musicality are far better on the TD1 Low and High frequencies detail is the same on both, Midrange Varies it depends on The TDA1541A Chip.
On a very good Chip Vocals Mids are equal or better. On a average chip not as good but close.
With a low grade TDA Chip everything suffers.
95% of the Chips selling out there are about average I am releasing a Video on Friday where I test 16 Chips.
Hi Gaby. Congrats on your project but you didn't say the most wanted thing: is this now your new reference DAC or what?
Yes it is my new reference but I am in the process of building it with a enclosure as a fully finished project
@Gabster1
May I suggest you the full cased version name ?
R2F aka "Return to the future" ! 😄
you have any source for originals TDA1541A dac chips?
I may have a couple In a month time
I have a tube stage from HiFiDiy if you would like to have a photo copied look at it as it makes quite a difference to opamps in regards to sound .
Hello! This is amazing! I will buy a bare PCB because I want to put my own components on it, but what is the OPA, because I don't understand what you are saying!? Thanks!
Make sure parts are similar size if you want them to fit, it is tight
OPA 861 a newish breed of Opamp
I wonder why you chose the plastic variant of the TDA 1541 over the ceramic variant (supposedly better sounding).
You can use any you like just make sure it is the TDA1541A (A Variant)
I might give it a go, the pcb is good price. then i can compare to my 1540 dual mono set up. very nicely done, you are moving DIY forward and saving us music lovers some cash, by the way does it out perform the Denafrips ?
Thanks it does by a long way for me but you will need to try for yourself and make your own conclusion.
How would this kit sound using the TDA1541A vs the S1 or S2 version? I have a few Philips branded CD players that use this chip, but they are not S1 or S2 versions. Is it really recommended to get the S2?
good thing you were being "quiet about it" otherwise you may have never completed it! :) congrats!
Hi Gabster. Are you considering to sell the end product?
Trying to keep it to a happy hobby level no intentions there aren’t too many vintage chips so this will never scale to the masses
I'm in! I'd like to compare it to my Protodac with upgraded caps! Would 1-board be stereo or mono? Thanks again for another great video Gabby! I see aliexpress has the tda1541a chip, but are they reliable? Don't want a 1-1 copy..lol
Yes 1 board is all you need for stereo
Try finding a dead cd player or a more reliable source.
Has anyone built the Gabster TD1? Any groups talking about it? Any help groups to view?
I just finished mine a couple days ago and it sounded great right away (after fixing a couple of my small mistakes). The improved 3d imaging compared to my Holoaudio spring 3 is what I could easily hear yet still keeping all that I love about my Holoaudio. I would say the musicality is touch better as well. I am running it in RCA (single ended) sim mode using Ian Canada streamer and Pcm board as recommended by Gaby. Tracks that are well recorded seem to really show the difference.
@@Roger-lz9ro Thanks for the reply. I am new to DIY but I think will try to build one.
can i make a website for you ?
Looks like a fun project. I have a couple of observations. Have any genuine TDA1541A been made since circa 1995? The only new ones I know of are "Philips" marked Chinese counterfeits, all claimed to be genuine (naturally), so one would be wise to research this. Also, many (including myself) have discovered that discrete class A op amps (e.g. Sparkos, Burson, etc.) can exert profound sonic improvements (dynamics, separation, soundstage, etc.) on the output stage of a DAC. I realize this project design may be completed, but I might suggest for any future revision DIP8 sockets in place of surface mounted op amps for added flexibility. More newer DACs are being fitted this way for this reason.
CD 471 < these are all have the TDA's ranging from R1 to S2. Most sellers know thus expect to find a R1. Good luck.
Is there a good USB-A to I2S solution?
You can try Ian’s DDC project with Amanero and fifoQ7 then you can use this Dac on top of
I would be very interested as I’m currently using a TDA 1541a dac, would be nice to compare yours to a tube output. Keep up the great job
Interested.
Woow´s!
This looks soo great, thank you so much for all your effort!
Is worldwide shipping possible?
I live in Norway. :)
Thank you Norway should be fine if you get mail delivered should be no problem
Nice design. Maybe next PCB order you can have them put the surface mount components on there for you?
He would have to redesign the board to do that.
Congratulations Gaby ! Amazing work.
I have build 2 DAC/streamer with ProtoDAC from Mark and one with Ian’s ESS/OPA861, all 3 based on Q7/scpure, ucpure (3.3V and 5V) studying your videos. Many hours enjoying listen music.
I am very interested in your board to compare it my 3 builds.
Very inspiring work. Thank you
That is awesome at least now you can relate and compare these are all great projects. it would be interesting to hear your opinion if you ever try the Gabster TD1 on how they all compare it is always interesting to see how others that own different setups hear thing.
Very good 👍😊. Just bought mine for try it, i have some other tda boards so i can compare. Also i have fifo q7. Greetings from Portugal 🎉
That is perfect you are almost setup
Love Portugal was there a couple years ago
So beautiful.
Let us know in the future how it compares
Hi Gabi, I see that some manufacturers are using several dac chips in parallel and make an average of the signal to reduce noise (I think). I believe this will be a big step up in your design. Do you think that you and IanCanada can try and design something like this? It's just an idea :D. I really appreciate your diy approach and I strive apply your advice in my projects too. Thank you!
I have listened to a few and was not impressed, but could be a parts quality issue I believe that simple is better. the Gabster TD1 can be configured to use you own output stage one could try a variety of them.
I am just so happy with the sound I got with a single Opa861 per Chanel I did try a few options.
@@Gabster1 thank you for your reply 🙏
Kudos Gabster Nice design & layout. I've been playing & tweaking my Aya for years always looking to see if I can make futher improvement. Just to share I/V resistor very very important to SQ. Try many including Rhopoint but best for me is Shinkoh 2w Tantalum.
PS caps is paramount not local decoupling as many wound think. Cheers
Excellent points totally agree I would also try different values as well and
Yes power supply is the most important of all
UcPures soldered very close are the best thing
I 100% agree
Play some sound tracks using the DAC
Altmann Attraction DAC uses the same 1541 chip. You should give a comparison given the opportunity.
for as far as i know , the altmann dac uses tda1543 , not tda1541 .
Wow, you put in a lot of thought and time into this project, I am very impressed . Most people do not have the time, skill and desire to build this, but may have the desire to own a product like this. Maybe talk to Thomas/ stereo as you are both in Montreal about out sourcing production at some time in the future. 👍
Thank you Thomas is a great guy
@@Gabster1 Ohh, good to know you are close. I am close to Qc and I bought 2 of your TD1. Already running the Ian Canada FifoPi with ScPure and a Protodac, all powered with Ultracapacitor, I look forward to hear the difference. Enjoy your summer, they are short in Quebec! ;)
would totally try this if there was a good case option, hate the stack look
You can case it
It is designed for both
It is just easier to stack for experimentation
@@Gabster1 can case it, but does a good case exist?
@@mat.b. I will be doing a case setup in the fall already have a lot of the parts just need some time
@@Gabster1 look forward to it!
i told you
i love my tda1541 nothing nieuw can beat it wen set up good
Gabby, when I saw the video title pop up on RUclips I had been hoping for something like this. Not sure why but every time I try to order 2 boards it keeps saying “Things don't appear to be working at the moment. Please try again later.” With a PayPal button saying “Return to Merchant”.
Not sure if this means you sold all the spare capacity already or you have a website problem? I will drop you an email (short I promise) separately. Get back to me when you have time (I’m not the rushing kind any more 😉)
Look forward to more content on this (and more PCB’s available if you’ve run out already). Many thanks, Steve 👍 (UK, England)
Thanks Steve for letting me know it maybe a temporary problem let’s wait and see as I got a payment 10 min ago from another person time will tell.
Still working on my side getting others payments so it maybe something on your side
Or will blame it on Microsoft 😊
Try again tomorrow
Very cool project! It seems like there is a good about of interested. I hope you recoup your cost for you R&D and hopefully even make a few bucks! 👍
CD 471. These players all have TDA's. NOS mod them for even better sound. NOS mod! Measures bad, sounds good.
I would love to support you and happy to discuss a figure you will be happy with
@siddharthbiswas9028
are you going to deal the price ?
Please get only 1 per household guys. Otherwise we all can’t get.
now you need good srrp
GM ☕️
I have a cheaper DAC with the Philips TDA 1305T and its also better than the modern chip dacs, it just sound like music
I know what you mean
Without a description of improvement one can hear to the sound, what technical improvements does this have over my ASUS Essence STX II soundcard? Sure costs a lot more money, doesn't come with everything, has no warranty (count out Australia then too because we have consumer protection), and the components look like any electronics manufacturer could source them in a heartbeat.