Monthly Archives

January 2019

Audiolab M-DAC measurements part 2 – digital filters

by nihtila January 28, 2019

written by nihtila

I bought a second hand M-DAC a while ago to have a well-known commercial reference in terms of measurements and sound. After teardown it is time for measurements. The first part focused on the base performance and this second part dives into the digital filters and their impact on measurements.

January 28, 2019 3 comments

Wee DAC update 1 – First measurements

by nihtila January 13, 2019

written by nihtila

Summary of initial Wee DAC tests:

Estimated performance:
- SNR and Dynamic Range: around 120 dBA
- THD+N: at least -105 dB @ 1 kHz, 0 dBFS
This performance is not achievable on the first/current PCB revision; re-spin required
More performance studies on AK4490 will be carried out before PCB re-spin

January 13, 2019 3 comments

Tips

Tip 2: Beware of ground issues when using laptop on bench

by nihtila January 5, 2019

written by nihtila

Care must be taken when using ungrounded devices, such as laptop, on measurement bench

There may be tens of volts difference between mains earth and ground of the ungrounded device
It is not dangerous to you but to sensitive electronics it can be
Easy solutions exist but sometimes problems may be tricky to identify

January 5, 2019 1 comment

Development News Wee DAC

Coming soon – Wee DAC sneak peek

by nihtila January 2, 2019

written by nihtila

Currently on test bench is a new stackable modular DAC design, Wee DAC (maybe should have called it Tower DAC!), consisting of several modules:

W-Input – S/PDIF input board with one coaxial and one Toslink input, and I2S output
W-DAC – High performance 768 kHz 32-bit DAC with I2S input and single-ended analog output
W-Output XLR – Balanced output module
Several base board options, such as W-Breakout for signal breakout and W-PSU for individual power supplies

January 2, 2019 8 comments