HL tears the ES9038 DAC down to the bones for a full hardware upgrade! In stage 1 of upgrades, I worked on the analog side of the board, replacing nearly all the stock parts, including: resistors, DIP-8 sockets, and capacitors. The results have been impressive, giving a much more reference leaning tone. (ELNA SILMIC Super Gold included)
A Peek at the Next Review: Sparkos Labs SS2590 Discrete Op-Amps
A short preview of the upcoming Sparkos Labs SS2590 review. This is part of Sparkos Labs “Pro Series” of discrete op-amps. I will be comparing them against Burson Audio’s V6-OPA and two of Orange Amplification discrete op-amps. Full review expected by July 4th.
Preview: Rubycon Black Gate™ F vs. Nichicon Muse | XMOS Capacitor Oscilloscope and FFT Comparisons
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 the 107 page PDF here: Blackgate_Tech_Note_Compilation. Cable used between the FUN01’s Coax output and the Siglent SDS 1202X-E : […]
Apologies to the Neighbors (Burson Audio’s DAC Testing Reached 100.00dB max!!)
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 being very close, which is why I was volume matching. One time I forgot to match the power amp back down and we got a […]
Ran Down (1st) ES9038PRO DAC main cause of the NLOCK (~ 4 months of troubleshooting showed me, it was not the dedicated TCXO clock module):
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 to any audio signal. It would be a great job if it wraps up the issues. Stay tuned to find out if I was right! […]
We Have Finally Cracked the Nut! Native DSD Decoding over I2S Up and Running! (A Preview In Photos included)
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 overlook. Always check this and you’ll save yourself a lot of headache! Whoever designed this Amanero at Leaf Audio decided to switch up the DSD […]
The ES9038Pro DAC Returns! Expect Part 1 of Discrete Op-Amp Review by 3/10/18 (Saturday night)
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 companies are patient and even tried to help me troubleshoot a product that isn’t even their design! I hope to post part 1 of the […]
Replacement ES9038Pro DAC Now In Route!
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. I decided to go with a completed DAC for a few reasons, but mainly to save time while still getting reliability and ensure I am […]
Sneak Preview of ES9038Pro + Amanero Powered DSD Review: Burson Audio vs. Orange Amplification (Op-amps)
Just a few pictures of the 95% finished ES9038Pro + Amanero DAC build and a few words on why it took so long!
IT’S ALIVE!!!
Finally have the DAC OLED screen coming on and the Amanero is recognized in Windows!