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BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China sex theme park demolished This is all so bizarre

Your first photo is of the D3 not the D10. Here is the link: iBasso The iBasso D1 also had spdif inputs.

I ordered a headphone stand for my W5000s from Steve a few weeks ago and I just received them yesterday: I guess I should have cleared up some of the crap on my desk before taking the photos but even with my crappy camera and camera skills I think they look very nice in the photos. Of course, they're even better in person.

Well I'm going to do this anyways but I'm just disappointed that I wasn't getting something more..

Yeah...don't have to rub it in..

Well I asked them if they had any DAC modules and they said they would send me one. Here's the D20400A datasheet: http://www.vasiltech.nm.ru/files/D20400.pdf

Yes I have, but it turns out that instead of getting the entire module, I was just sent the DAC chip . I'm not sure it's such a good idea to use the brand new one along with the older one. Anyways, I'm resigned to making a significant loss with the whole thing now. BTW, it turns out that the D20400A is voltage output: K&K Audio / Lundahl Transformers - UltraAnalog D20400A? - danlaudionut, December 04, 2003 at 00:29:31 ..so I guess the output is just a line-stage. I guess those Chinese tube DACs are doing something right .

Well there are a few listings for at least $1000 on Audiogon so at least it's a better deal compared to those..if it was working.. If I get it working again, I don't think I'll have a problem selling it on for the same price...

I guess you are right about the advice part but if it worked I wouldn't have regretted it at all (based on what I heard while it was working). I'm just waiting for the replacement part from Sonic Frontiers and then I should be all set. (Hopefully). I wish it were that simple...This was my first instinct as well..I've tried swapping them as well as a different tubes but no change.

Thanks for the info! I guess what I'm thinking of won't work then. Am I right in saying that if the sonic frontiers was a voltage out DAC then one wouldn't have this problem?

I did try calling him but he brushed me off. It's probably more the former rather than the latter.. Anyways, the new turn of events is that someone from Sonic Frontiers emailed me to say they have the part (Chris Johnson gave me his email) and the price is far less than I thought it would be...($150). So should I replace the DAC with the original part or a Buffalo DAC?

well the guy was pretty big so unless I pay someone it would just have to be threats unfortunately. Might as well pay to get it fixed...

Well I've already spent it so there's really nothing I can do! Either it's a project or I'm left with a 13kg brick.

I contacted Chris Johnson at PartsConnexion but they didn't have any. Obviously the situation is not ideal. I'm just trying to make the most of it I guess. Well since I paid him in cash, the only possibilities left that I can think of are calling the cops or threatening to break his legs

Well, I've tried but since the seller tested it for me, I couldn't tell him it was already broken when I received it. He pretty much said I was on my own. It seems like the going price is at least $200 for a D20400A. I could get a buffalo DAC for slightly more (of course subject to availability). You are right that since I don't have any DIY skills, I can't verify what the repair guy is saying. One additional advantage of replacing the entire DAC portion is that it completely modernizes the entire DAC and removes any worries of using a vintage DAC.

I should probably mention that the Sonic Frontiers SFD-2 is modular, so the DAC, power supply and output stage are on separate PCBs so (in theory) it should be very easy to remove the DAC portion...

The story starts here: http://www.head-case.org/forums/home-source-components/5712-vintage-dac-sonic-frontiers-sfd-2-a.html So to summarize the story: last week I bought a vintage Sonic Frontiers DAC and I come home and the right channel is completely distorted. Although it managed to work for a few hours (giving me a taste of its magic), afterwards the distortion came back and never left . So I take it to a repair shop and the person confirms it is the right DAC is at fault. Yes, the one with the bizarre foil on it . So I've been had. The D20400A chip is probably quite hard to find these days and probably obsolete as well so a solution occurred to me which is to replace the entire DAC module with a Twisted Pear Audio Buffalo DAC and its power supply. That way, I can still take SOME advantage of the Sonic Frontier's tube output stage (which looks pretty good). In my mind, this seems like a great idea....what do you peeps think? I can't see why it shouldn't work, and it must sound better than the standard IVY output stage. The other problem, of course, is my inability to solder but I guess I could get the repair person to do this for me...

It's not. The label is still underneath the foil. It is really bizarre and I would have questioned the seller about it if I saw it. The labels on the other DAC and the filter are also really scratched up which is surely not normal wear and tear. The seller did mention that he used to do some tweak involving wooden blocks on top of the DAC chip, maybe the foil is another one of his tweaks. I guess this would be the "innocent" explanation. Well I'm glad it works and sounds great but I'd definitely think twice about taking this path again after this.

Okay, so it now seems to be working so I guess the worst is over . Now for some initial impressions: Amp: Square Wave XL Headphone: Balanced APS recabled W5000. As soon as it started working and I put on the W5000 I was blown away (no doubt partially due to relief!). I was playing some Rachael Yamagata and her voice was like nothing I heard before. Some sweet mids here! It also seemingly managed to reduce the nasal quality of the W5000 that plagues the mids of some songs. The next thing that struck me was that the timbre of the drums seemed incredibly realistic. The bass was also full of impact yet very tight and fast. Actually this leads me to one flaw I find with the sound: It's incredibly aggressive. I feel physically assaulted when listening to Metal (Sikth) and I had to turn down the volume to avoid being pummeled. This is effect is probably caused by a combination of the forward lower mids/ upper bass, the fast attack, and the bass impact. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure that it trounces my Havana although I haven't been able to A/B them since I blew the fuse on my Havana (a moment's idiocy). But keep in mind that my impressions are probably not that fair partly due to sheer relief and partly due to the fact that I'm now using Cardas Golden Reference XLR cables (which I also bought yesterday from another local seller for $200). instead of my Aural thrills RCA cable. I've also never had a chance to listen to the standard Benchmark, Lavry, Stello,... so I don't have a common reference point with most of you. Now I need to find CD transport with digital XLR out or even something that uses AT&T glass optical. I realized yesterday that the optical out on the DAC was not toslink . Any suggestions? Also, a big thanks to morphsci and Dusty_Chalk for their reassurances in my moment of need . A few more pictures:

So it's still working.. I think it might be that the tubes weren't seated properly. And flipping it over managed to correct things. I don't know! He definitely didn't swap tubes on me. The tubes are just Sovtek 6922s. Nothing worth scamming me over!

...and now it decides to work again...I don't dare move anything ...

I can't believe what just happened....I flipped it over to see if the bottom panel could be removed (it can't)...then I flipped it back over...and then after I turned it on it worked!...for around 10 seconds...then the distortion came back but not as bad as before..

Here are some photos. I guess the other strange thing is the silver foil type thing that's convering one of the DAC chips. I just realized that this is the right DAC... I need something stronger than aspirin I think...

Man, this really really sucks... I go to pick up the DAC and the seller is extremely nice, we listen to the DAC for a while and it sounds great in his system. I then lug the thing home and the right channel is completely distorted. You can still hear some of the music so I don't think it's the DAC that's at fault. I've also swapped the two tubes so it's not the tube that's faulty. Otherwise, I've tried everything else I could think of and nothing helps. To make things suck even more, in the confusion, I manage to fry my Havana by plugging it into the wrong voltage. I guess something might have dislodged on the journey home. But looking inside, nothing looks out of place. Any suggestions??