FDA-1 PCM1794A DAC for Sale / PCM1794 « FET Audio

April 1, 2011

FDA-1 PCM1794A DAC for Sale / PCM1794

Filed under: DAC — Spencer @ 12:10 am

Last Update: April 1st, 2011

Change U11 from TA7805 to L4941BV for a more dynamics and details sound. TA7805 remains a good mellow sound signature. The kit will only provide TA7805 as standard.

Update: Oct 14th, 2010

There is some minor update on FFT measurement in Rev 4 manual.

FDA-1 PCM1794A DAC Manual Rev 4.1

FDA-1 PCM1794A DAC Manual Rev.5 (Updated Aug 23, 2011)

FDA-1 PCM1794A DAC Manual_r6 (Update on 12th Dec, 2011)

FFT measurement and power supply connection diagrams are added in this Rev 4 Manual.

These kits are designed to replace the obsolete PCM63 balance DAC kit (aka D1V3 and D1V33).

Please click on the link below to download complete manual for Product Specifications, Circuit Description, Circuit Diagrams, Assembly Instructions, PCB Layout, Interface Specifications, Bill of Materials and FFT measurements: PCM1794A DAC Manual Rev3

Price information refer to Store page: http://www.fetaudio.com/store

A. Introduction:

These DACs are designed for the serious audiophile. They utilize the best DAC chip -PCM1794A that is capable of producing a super dynamic range of 127dB in stereo mode and 132dB in mono mode!
The I/V and analogy sections are custom designed and use 100% discrete components. The I/V converter is a “Current Steering” topology and the analogy section is a pure ‘Class A’ non negative feedback driver and output buffer stages. With this combination, the sound will be musical, dynamic, accurate and real.
In Single End version, the DAC uses one circuit board with one PCM1794A DAC chip working in Stereo Mode. In Full Balance version, the DAC uses two circuit boards (one Master and the second Slave) and two PCM1794A DAC chips, each configured in mono mode (namely Mono L and Mono R) to deliver super dynamic range of 132dB.
Users can start with Single End version to see if the performance is up to the expectation of Hi-Fidelity. To protect your investment, a very clear and simple upgrade path is built into the design. Users of the Single End version can easily upgrade to the True Full Balance version anytime by adding a second slave DAC board! The sonic improvement of the Full Balance version brings new meaning to the word ‘High-Fidelity’!
These ‘serious audiophile’ DACs are peppered with high quality audiophile grade components that are selected because of their complementary sonic signatures after many exhaustive hours of listening tests. Audio transistors, Paper-In-Oil capacitors, Silmic II capacitors and Dale resistors are widely used in the DACs.
However, the most important feature is that these DACs sounds musical, dynamic, open and warm with an unparalleled resolving power. These are truly remarkable DACs capable of holding themselves against any branded DAC costing many times more!

B. Specifications:

DAC chip: Texas Instruments PCM1794A 24bit/192k best in class DAC
Digital Receiver: Crystal CS8416 24bit/192k digital receiver
I/V and Analogy Filter: Discrete transistor I/V (current steering) operating in pure Class A mode with NO global feedback for the best sonic performance
Digital Input: SPDIF, AES, Toslink and I2S Bus (RCA, XLR female, Optical and 8×2-pin header)
Bit/Sampling Frequency: Up to 24bit/192k
Analogy Output: Stereo Channels (Single End) @ 1.5Vrms (expandable to Full Balance output by using two boards @ 3Vrms)
Output Impedance: 150 ohm Single End mode; 300 ohm Full Balance mode
Auto muting for noiseless operation when no audio/digital signal is detected or when a digital error occurs (e.g. AC-3 signal) or when powering up or down
Power supply: AC 17~18V x 2, 0.5A and AC 8~9V x 1, 0.5A; total consumption 7W/board
Display LEDs: PLL Lock, 48k, 96k and Mute (for CS8416 input only)
Distortion: Typically at or less than 0.02% 1kHz at FS, 20kBW Single Ended @ 1.5Vrms. At full bandwidth typically no more than 0.04%.
Board: 6 x 8 inches double sided 1.6mm gold plated FR4; 6 x M3 supporting holes; max height part 35mm.