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Referring to DACs using the Philips SemiconductorsTDA1541/A/s1/s2TDA1543TDA1547etcIt seems there is a recent trend (last five years or so) to bring these old DACs back into the spotlight. Both with people purchasing older units from the 90s using these DACs and manufacturers using the TDA d/a converters (including high end ones for example Abbingdon Music Research, Zanden.).
November 1982 2 Philips Semiconductors Product specification 2 to 6 W audio power amplifier TDA1011 The TDA1011 is a monolithic integrated audio amplifier circuit in a 9-lead single in-line (SIL) plastic package.
I know some older units using single crown DACs are selling for big money, sometimes double what they originally sold for. On diyaudio the most active thread in the digital section is a thread on building the ultimate NOS DAC. Another example are the older Ed Meitner co-designed DACs which some feel are superior sounding to the current Emm Labs offerings.Is this because vinyl has seen a recent resurgence in popularity and people are getting fed up with their very 'digital' sounding DACs and CD players? I'm curious what you guys think. I'm very interesting in now buying or building something based off this technology. Yes, I own two DAC's that use the TDA 1543 chips. Mine are the DAC-AH Modified by Pacific Valve and a Ack dAck!
Both are absolutely great sounding. When I read anti-redbook comments I sometimes wonder if the writers would change their minds if they heard these DACs. I'd like to point out the one of my favorite DAC's is an upsampling Rockna RD2, do I'm not a denying a well-designed DAC can use different chips. But, the N.O.S. (non-oversampling, not new-old-stock) chips (used in serial minus the severe filtering) produce a sound that is a joy to behold.
I have to agree with 'head unit' on this one. There is so much more to it than a particular chip. I don't know about the Philips chips so much but as far as single bit or Bitstream DACs go, I find that they can have a very smooth sound that I enjoy more than a cheaply built multi-bit DAC. That said, the better hi-rez DAcs are the best of the bunch IMO.Back when you had 16 bit or perhaps 20 bit options, I liked the single bit the best and then the odd 20 bit but those were harder to find and more expensive when done right. Wadia had some pretty good ones.
I had an Audio Alchemy unit which was 1 bit, 256 x over-sampling, and I liked it almost as much as the 20 bit Wadia unit. I have also had a very expensive, modern ReVox DAC that was Bitstream and which sounded very smooth and yet transparent.
It was basically a separate transport and DAC in one chassis as it had separate transformers for the analog and digital sections.These days, many of the 24/96 or 24/192 units are better but again only because they are very well implemented. There are still plenty of bad examples of these as well. Bottom line is that you shouldn't make too many generalizations nor should you believe everything that you read.
It's always best to listen first.-Bill. I have wonderful memories of the Revox B126 which used the TDA1541A as implemented by Studer engineering. It could deliver all the emotion in the music intact and had wonderful resolution of low level sounds (like piano note hammer & decay )- As correctly explained in an earlier post -this was not a bit stream designThe CDP was far from perfect and had audible 'digital glare', but with well made CDs it was the first player on which I really really enjoyed CD playback. Raw, steamy, savage, delicate, soft, smooth, liquid, hard??
- frustratingly difficult to explain its soul but utterly captivating.When compared to the later bit stream DAC that I acquired (ARC DAC 5) I would say that there was much refinement in terms of smoothness but there was also a loss of warmth, a trade off I made to be able to play more CDs. I have a valab NOS DAC that uses 8 paralleled TDA1543 chips and no output stage. I like the sound quite a lot. It is not the last word in detail, but music sounds very natural through it with good tone and flow. I find that I can listen to it for hours with no sense of listening fatigue.
Actually, it makes me want to listen for hours, which is the highest praise I can give any component. It is definitely a DAC a vinylphile could easily warm up to.I also owned the MDHT Labs Paradesea+NOS DAC that likewise uses the TDA1543, but in conjunction with an op-amp and tube in the output stage.
That also sounded excellent, but IMO, was really no better than the valab. Click to expand.I own an Ack Dack! It runs on battery power. It is only an inconvenience because I've left it on a few times and I must wait for a recharge, but otherwise it is no problem.
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It sounds great and uses the TDA1545. I believe Lampizator has taken apart this and the famed TDA1541 and he says they are electronically identical - that the '41 is larger only due to a large housing, not more or different parts.I also own a Lite DAC and it too uses the TDA1545 and is similarly wonderful sounding.I have nothing inherently against newer and oversampling or upsampling DAC's but I think the early DAC chips were maligned over issues that now seem unrelated to their limitations as chips. I suspect it was some other issue. Click to expand.I agree - the TDA1305 is very nice - my 90s vintage Cambridge Audio Dacmagic 2 MK II has a pair of TDA1305 dacs operating in dual differential mode (the Naim 3.5 only used one of these Dacs). This DAC can be had cheaply on UK eBay and yet the design is stunning with balanced outputs etc.
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The designer is ex Pink Triangle tech John Westlake - current darling of the UK Hi-Fi UK scene with his new Audiolab 8200 player.Here is a datasheet on my old DAC:.the best £50 I have ever spent!