I'm really quite interested in this....

is it running 24-bit 192khz max and plug and play?

Its naked again, i need to crack my brain for some durable casing....

I just got this....still under testing...
running in now....1st hour starting was real bad.

This post has been edited by Cosef: Jan 20 2011, 11:51 AM

Should be the output decoupling cap still new, need run in. How long i don't know but now i know this DAC has big difference between before and after.

Sound good now.

Better not use both output at the same time, they are shared together with one output from the DAC.

We use to replace on board sound card because it sounds better, but actually you have 2 sound card after you plugged this in.

Remember this DAC cannot control volume in windows, i had to crack my brain which resistor need to be changed on my speaker to compensate the volume control....now even the 0 on the volume knob also can hear some sound, temporary low the output volume with player volume control.

I would say this might not a choice for you.

My Review:

For users who listened to Burr Brown op-amps before, you'll easily guess out how it sounds like. I was amazed by
The PCM2706 DAC running I2S made the same sound signature like the op-amps do. I personally not really like Burr
Brown Op-Amp after i tried OPA2107 and OPA2604 before, but this DAC was a lot better with Burr Brown sound
signature on it.

Onboard Realtek ALC887 vs Wolfson WM8501 DAC from chchyong89 running with my Modded Edifier M3300.

High:
ALC887 has sweeter soundings on high, it can goes up higher. WM8501 DAC high was flat, not detail enough but
still blend in the music nicely.

Mid:
I'll say WM8501 has great mid, really amazed me. It was rich, dynamic and strong. ALC887 has thin mid but it has
better details than WM8501.

Bass:
WM8501 bass round and deep, not boomy but compare to ALC887 it loses on details again. ALC887 bass can go higher,
much refined too.

Overall sound:
WM8501 DAC has warm, smooth, bold and round. It gives a different taste to the music, makes you fall in love with
it. It's soundstage is narrow, quiet feeling, vocal sound to your face and the instruments sounds like far away
from you, not all the musics.
ALC887 has wide soundstage, details, much neutral soundings.

Scores:
High: 6/10
Mid: 9/10
Bass: 7/10

Overall: 7/10 -1 because it is danger to have it naked sometimes


Conclusion:
I prefer this DAC for user who wants a different taste on thier setup. For neutral sounding i prefer go for other
DAC or sound card, or you can give it a try if you fed up to your on board one. because this DAC sound
interesting. For only RM168, with good quality components, can't expect much more.

A pic for the DAC


Remember that different pc setup will affects the onboard audio codec performance due to noisy components inside
pc interfere it. I just refer to my own pc onboard for the comparison.

I will try test it again on hi-fi setup.

yes it will shock you like mad bzzz bzzz bzzz




just joking, i always afraid water spill on if i have drink put on my pc table.

Will damage from electrostatics, but the chance is very low.

Before it damage from electrostatics, you probably attract lightning 1st

had some spare electrolytic cap and vishay roderstein bypass cap on planning to mod

what i experienced

it sound superb for classical and jazz music.

Okay for chinese pop.

Not good for electronic music

Trance, house, electro, etc....

No sound lively...like got constipation..then no syok liao....

A similar to know roughly how it sounds like is refer to Naim Sampler album, the sound signature is quite similar.

Hope to see your reviews and opinions on the DAC

Yes, at this price, we cannot simply compare it to better DAC which costs more that it.

But i wanna try compare see how much difference will it be

Few more days i can go try it on Hi-Fi set >.<

RCA is more secure than 3.5mm, i can't hear any difference between them so far

Tried this DAC again with other pc using cheapo Altec Lansing headset, for that pc onboard sound card really lose out to this DAC. Its running with Realtek ALC1200 so different pc setup different onboard performance

You can poison here with some demo vids to get some sales

Just do some main power tweak test....amazingly this DAC starts to perform nicely without much bad roll off now.

Placebo tweak

I thought you gonna deny the placebo

The placebo just work nice to me, i just use a single EMI/RFI power filter instead of two to gain some detail back.
It even works on the pc integrated sound card.

This post has been edited by Cosef: Mar 20 2011, 03:43 PM