Home of unbiased, detailed HW reviews & mods. Where the iron meets the pad!
The first part of my Sansui AU-517/717 restore guide, from recapping to finding those pesky shorted diodes. Not to mention how daunting it is just to remove and then rewire all the PCB’s! Here I hope to help shed some light on the subject.
As you may already know, I started the Hallman Labs Vintage Store a few months back. I am currently using EBay to sell these items and I came across a … Continue Reading Tips and Hidden Rules for Creating EBay Ads – How to Make Sure Your Ad Shows Up in the Mobile App!
I want to introduce the latest release of vintage parts from Hallman Labs, the ultra-rare MiniWatt Mullard/Philips Mustard capacitor. I’ve never before seen these capacitors prior to my acquisition … Continue Reading The Mullard/Philips MiniWatt Brand of Mustard Caps! (Very Rare) Datasheets Given
I decided to go ahead and publish what I had ready in a blog post until it is ready for its own page. The AA-51 is what is holding me … Continue Reading Potomac AA-51 Audio Analyzer – Calibration Procedure, Service Manual, Ref Images — Early Version of Upcoming Page (Work in Progress)
I was able to acquire another USB XMOS FUN01 modules (SU-1 Clone), with the exact same HW as my BlackGate™ module (aside from a few little changes). From the various … Continue Reading XMOS : BlackGate vs. SILMIC ARS “Super Gold” Capacitors (& Others) Direct Comparison (testing in progress) – Photos and a Preview
Everyone who subscribes here gets notifications of blog posts, but not site pages! So, I wanted to let my readers know the ELEPAWL EP6 Headphone Review has been published. You … Continue Reading Latest Publishing: ELEPAWL EP6 Review
I apologize about the delay in announcing the winner (from what I said on FB), I’ve been hard at work on the EP6 headphone review. I will be publishing the … Continue Reading Burson Play Giveaway Winner – 2nd Attempt – Prize Claimed (1st Giveaway Finished)
Redrawing Winner for Burson Play DAC/Amp Giveaway: After contacting the original winner and giving ample time (over a week) to contact me, we are now drawing another winner of the … Continue Reading Update on Giveaway (Drawing Again) and Headphone Review in Progress
First off, let me apologize for the slight delay, as North Carolina is taking a pounding in lighting strikes right now and I lost power for a good bit … Continue Reading Burson Play v1.6 DAC/Amp Announcement : The Winner Is..
Just a reminder to anyone who has yet to sign up for the first Hallman Labs (review equipment) giveaway, the entry period ends at 12AM PST. You can find all … Continue Reading Last Chance to Enter Burson Play DAC/Amp Giveaway!
It is easy to miss a new site page being added and this being such an important page I wanted to make everyone aware of it who wants to know. … Continue Reading Vintage Parts Store Page Goes Live!
In celebration of successfully launching the Vintage & Precision Electrical Components Store, I am giving away my review sample of the Burson Play v1.6 to 1 person from the Hallman … Continue Reading Announcing the Hallman Labs Burson Play v1.6 DAC/Amp Giveaway!! (Last Day for Entries is Aug 31st) Winner Drawing on September 1st
Update: 8/3/18 – Master Parts Sheet #1 is now completed and I can continue to post remaining ads on Ebay. Some of the best lots are still to come so … Continue Reading Introducing the First of Many Vintage Part Lots & Master Parts Sheet #1
Update 7/15/18: I just stumbled across by far the most detailed document I have ever seen on Black Gates™ and it is by Jelmax (the creators of the technology)! See … Continue Reading Preview: Rubycon Black Gate™ F vs. Nichicon Muse | XMOS Capacitor Oscilloscope and FFT Comparisons
Six Rubycon Black Gate F capacitors are on the way for the FUN01 (SU-1 Clone). Stay tuned to find out how much of a difference they have over Nichicon’s MUSE series.
Latest page added to Hallman Labs. Photo guide on making custom EL-8 cables.
After what felt like forever, I have finally got the review into good enough shape to share most of it with you guys/gals! I hope you enjoy the review, I … Continue Reading Review #3 Goes Live! Burson Play Review
Don’t see this very often, even in classes they didn’t have one of these that had cracked the wax. First two pictures are with a 50mm lens. I noticed … Continue Reading Testing 500x Microscope out on 1000V Sprague (K631788-14) Capacitor (folded/rolled design)
Note: You can open all images displayed on Hallman Labs in a larger view by right clicking and then using whatever your browser says to view the image. This … Continue Reading Complete Guide to Making I2S Cable from CAT6A & Connecting it to ES9038Pro DAC (Using Belden 1303E Catsnake™) Updated: 6/12/18
Overall I am extremely impressed with the Burson Audio v2.0 PCB Play, after doing a few small things I had a great result. The Play can do DSD128 with … Continue Reading Update on Upcoming Burson Play Review
Finally got a balanced (XLR in) headphone amp. 2.8 MHz is native DSD64 converted by DOP (DSD over PCM). This is a picture from my phone, but I wanted to … Continue Reading Preview of Hardware Reviews in Progress with sAp-10 – Balanced Headphone Amp under $200 (also the Burson Play DAC/Amp)
Update 6/2/18: I completed the discrete op-amp modification after I got the replacement diodes. You need to replace Diodes 11, 12, 13, & 14 with 16V Zener diodes. If you … Continue Reading Old Meets New: Kenwood’s C-2 “Basic” Pre-amp gets a Burson Audio V6-OPA Facelift!
Update – May 15, 2018: I have almost finished restoring the bottom of the unit (where most of the components are) and expect to have it working in the next … Continue Reading High Res Photos of My New Sprague Tel-Ohmike TO-6A
I have been slowly working on this project behind the scenes, without posting about it much (aside from on ComputerAudiophile.com). This is a “discrete” delta-sigma digital to-analog converter (DAC) developed … Continue Reading DSC1.Difference : Update on the DSD Dedicated No-DAC (DAC)!
After weeks/months of trying to get my Cornell Dubilier BF-50 cap analyzer to show what is expected for a good cap vs. a known bad cap, I reached out to … Continue Reading Hallman Labs Capacitor Analyzer : Sprague Tel-Ohmike TO-6A
Update 3: The case is basically finished now, just waiting on a few more minor parts to show up! Here is the first photo from my real camera (Samsung NX3000). … Continue Reading The Corsair 740 Air: Hallman Labs New Primary Desktop (Case) (Updated 4/14/18 w/ New Pictures, 99% completed)
Wanted to let everyone know another section has been added to the website, a pretty basic addition, but worth noting so readers don’t overlook it, should it prove useful. So … Continue Reading Quick Access to All Hallman Labs Related Files | Documents/Download Page Launched
I was using my Cornell Dubilier BF-50 (vintage) capacitor analyzer with all of the right things showing on the “Magic Eye” 6E5 (Philips JAN (Mil-Spec)) electron tube’s eye for leakage, … Continue Reading “Help”: My Cornell Dubilier BF-50 Is Testing Open Circuit as Good | Note : Treble Bleeds Halted
Well I currently have about 8 pages written of notes, thoughts on head to head Burson Play vs my custom ES9038Pro DAC. In the end it ended up … Continue Reading Apologies to the Neighbors (Burson Audio’s DAC Testing Reached 100.00dB max!!)
This single loose solder ball (could have fallen inside the enclosure at any point) might explain all the problems I had with getting the DAC to lock on … Continue Reading Ran Down (1st) ES9038PRO DAC main cause of the NLOCK | Stuck on Screen Issue w/ No Output! (~ 4 months of troubleshooting show me, it was not the dedicated TCXO clock module): Persistence Pays, this might work again!
Update: stream is up! https://hallmanlabs.com/hallman-labs-live-game-stream/ Thanks to those who came to watch the stream today, Far Cry 5 truly is breaking new ground for the demands on PC … Continue Reading **Streaming Again Today 3/28, Later On** Far Cry 5 + the Burson Play DAC Review/Comparison to my ES9038Pro (PC HiFi Gaming Section)
After much delay, I was able to go and pick up the Burson Play DAC today. Included was an entire set of both the V6-OPA-D Vivid + V6-OPA-S Vivid and … Continue Reading Burson Play DAC Arrives
Hallman Labs first official products for sale will be treble bleed circuits for guitars! When you dial down the volume on your guitar (with any pickups) the high frequency is … Continue Reading Hallman Labs 1st Product for Sale (Soon): Fixed Resistance Treble Bleed Kits V1.0 & V2.0 (Thoughts on V3.0 & V4.0)
You can find it in the header menu, or just click here: https://hallmanlabs.com/discrete-op-amp-review-pt-1-of-3-detailed-info-pics-of-hw-tips-to-avoid-trouble-more/ Be sure to read the note to the reader if you are going to read … Continue Reading Discrete Op-amp Review #2 Page has Launched – Part 1
First off, I wanted to let everyone know that I plan to publish part 1 tomorrow night/Sunday morning instead of tonight. This was mainly because of the amount of time … Continue Reading Amanero: Upgrading Sanyo Oscon to Vishay BC capacitors | 1x SS3602 Sparkos Goes To Sparks, Literally
Hallman Labs is branching out and this is the first of our guitar related articles! After reading the “25 Essential Les Paul Mods” I learned that the shiny metal covers … Continue Reading Uncapping Seymour Duncan Pickups – Schecter Tempest Custom
I have to say that solving the mystery of this hardware arrangement was both hilarious and extremely frustrating. Trying to catch one of 6 pins being rearranged is easy to … Continue Reading We Have Finally Cracked the Nut! Native DSD Decoding over I2S Up and Running! (A Preview In Photos included)
Here is a sneak peak at my reference DAC for all of the upcoming op-amp reviews. The Asian holiday really put a delay in this, but as always the hardware … Continue Reading The ES9038Pro DAC Returns! Expect Part 1 of Discrete Op-Amp Review by 3/10/18 (Saturday night)
Below is the 3rd official video from Hallman Labs. This is a time lapsed build log video for the common GM328 Transistor/ESR Testers. This one uses a more compact … Continue Reading Time Lapsed GM328 Transistor/ESR Tester + More Build Video
I had to wait for the Asian holiday to end (Feb 22nd) for the seller to ship out a replacement ES9038Pro completed DAC, in the enclosure with dual toroidal transformers. … Continue Reading Replacement ES9038Pro DAC Now In Route!
As I mentioned in the previous article, I will use EBay as a vintage or high end/HiFi electronic components supplier when I see a deal. I have bought many … Continue Reading Precision Resistors Lot : Over 12,000 Dale & Vishay RN55C Military Spec Resistors! An EBay Treasure Chest
EBay is by far one of the largest online selections of vintage electronic components in the world. I shop here when I see a deal worth buying, usually in bulk. … Continue Reading Ultra Rare ELNA Vintage Capacitor
Below is the original thread post I made over on ComputerAudiophile.com forums. I am posting it here in the chance someone reading knows what is going on and how to … Continue Reading Houston, We Have Lost Contact: ES9038P DAC Troubleshooting
Heads up for anyone interested in either checking out a new WWII shooter and ensuring my Twitch stream is working correctly.
I am working on uploading a video for this common question I see in chat rooms on IRC and on forums in DIY. The big things to remember when … Continue Reading Making Custom I2S Cables
I didn’t record this soldering job because I was not expecting this to go well. I had one of my oscillator sockets (only socket without an oscillator) get destroyed between … Continue Reading Revived The Amanero! + Close Up of Uncapped Crystek CCHD-575 Oscillator!
Update 1/25: I realized after reading my own article and the quotes from Kimber cables that I had wired up my setup incorrectly. Kimber has one conductor carrying the … Continue Reading Kimber “Kables” Testing At Hallman Labs: The Skin Effect (Signal Freq vs. Conductor Gauge) & Cryo “HiFi Fuses”! (Update 1/25/18)
Update 1/21/18: I wanted to let everyone know how impressed I have been with this unit by just using the stock 5532 op-amps with this Douglas Self based circuit design. … Continue Reading DAC Accessory: XLR In -> RCA Out (Ckt Based on D. Self Design) Updated 1/22
I have a complete build video for this, but I wanted to go ahead and share what the working product looks like. It doesn’t make a ton of sound using … Continue Reading Video of DIY Plasma Speaker
