Monica 2 Dac Kit

I went ahead and bought the kit...will start putting it together this weekend. Hope it sounds good.

Have fun..best of luck

Hope...is a dangerous thing

Anyway, share our experiences on how it sounds

Cheers!

Hi surrealistix,

VERY interested in your project. Do share your experiences ...

Where are you located ? India ?

1. How did you order it ? By credit card ?

Sent to you by ordinary airmail or courier ? Any grief from Indian customs ?

Did you buy the pre-assembled kit ?

Would also like to have yr feedback on the sound..

THANKS !

Amp Nut,

I live in Navi Mumbai.
Paid for it by Paypal. US$90 for the kit and US$25 for shipping. I asked Yeo(the guy who makes the kit) to declare it as a hobby kit worth US$25. So, I am hoping it will slip through.

He shipped it by Fedex, it should reach me in 3 days.

I bought the PCB with parts. Will need to build my own powr supply or use batteries.

If this works, I plan to build a tube gain stage for the Dac as well. Perhaps a tad too ambitious, let's see where I end up.

My current rig is

PC (X-Fi)Digital Out(Bit Perfect) -> Denon AV Receiver -> Odyssey Stratos Amp -> MA RS6 speakers.

I plan to eliminate the Receiver from the chain by using Monica 2 and a tube pre(in future).

I will definitely post my feedback once it's done.

She is home!!! Monica!!

No problems with Customs, shipped on Tuesday and Thursday it's delivered - Not bad.

GREAT !

Now looking forward to your report when assembled.

( I guess you are in for some delicate soldering work.. )

The best DACs would be PCM 1792 or CS 4398

PCM dac is used in Thetha Digital DACs..

Even More than the ingredients, I believe its the receipie and the cooking...

I am done bulding my Monica! It was really easy, took only a few hours to put it together. Works great.

All in all it sounds very good, the audio level is a bit low, so I have to crank up the volume quite a bit.

All in all it doesn't sound very different from my Denon Receiver's DAC.

I am going to mod the output stage of the DAC based on this thread
http://diyparadise.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1170083393

Ronnie

surrealistix schrieb:

I am done bulding my Monica! It was really easy, took only a few hours to put it together. Works great. All in all it sounds very good, the audio level is a bit low, so I have to crank up the volume quite a bit. All in all it doesn't sound very different from my Denon Receiver's DAC. I am going to mod the output stage of the DAC based on this thread http://diyparadise.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1170083393 Ronnie

Congrats Ronnie. Good Show...

All the best for your next upgrade...the bug has bitten

Regards
Siva.

Sonic_Master schrieb:

The best DACs would be PCM 1792 or CS 4398

based on what?


I dare say that the CS 4398 would sound good - it uses a multi-bit delta-sigma DAC.
Delta-sigma DACs trade resolution in time for resolution in amplitude. They are usually discrete-time systems that are susceptible to jitter effects & errors due to charge-injection. These 2 errors do not make them good enough for audio traditionally. They are better used extensively for other applications IMO.
Traditionally, the most coveted DACs for audio are Nyquist DACs (that trade resolution in amplitude for resolution in time).

Sonic_Master schrieb:

PCM dac is used in Thetha Digital DACs..

IMO, this would be a reason to avoid this DAC! Theta DACs have traditionally been on the bright side sound-wise & sound very "digital".
These days Theta has re-focused itself to HT as many of its products are geared more towards that area.
Theta long stopped making 2-ch only gear.