AYA 2 list mods
Thanks for summing up your experience.
As for the output coupling, a 60 mA is quite a capable unit for a line-level thing. Anyhow, since the output DC can be nullified, its residue is all about the thermal drift. But I plan to decrease it in the next AYA revisions, to ease requirements for possible output coupling transformers.
Quote from jaffrie on 17 January 2024, 3:37 AMI've modded my AyA almost to death. Lol, they key to maxing AyA's capabilitise arent at the decoupling stage.
Main PS caps is the key. I do not use decoupling at all but am unable to get away with it on Op amp stage so had
to use a combi of nichicon KZ & BG NX. For i/v I've tested many including Rhopoint but the best sound to be had are
2W Shingkoh Tantalum. Many ways to skin a cat depends on individuals & listening taste, Oh I do not use output
caps but use a 600-600 ohm line opt, this too brought the sound to another level, best part only cost me $20 from ebay,
trafo came out of a sounds analyser of sorts cant recall & it could handle 60ma of dc current
Cheers
Did you try the TX2575 too ? Unfortunately the shingkoh are no longer available , other choices are Audionote Tant and also Niobium but ive never tried those . I've tried Dale RN60 for the 150R and (1k) 910R but preferred the Allen Bradley . The pair of I/V and those other 4 resistors seem to make a difference especially the tone .
I fitted 1200uf FC with 220uf fm bypass for the -15v psu , I have not changed the pair of FM caps for the OPA861 , I do have some Blackgate 1000uf NX but I don't think they'll fit physically
Have tried bulk foils resistors on other projects. They do come out very clean sounding but kind of cold. It does depends on individual taste & equipment though. I should think the sonic signature is similar in I/V as well. For a simpler mod try copper foil on top of Tda & solder a wire from foil & ground it to Dgn. Have a listen. My way of tweaking is heresy to many especially if I were to share it in diyaudio.
Eldam can attest to that. Lol
Dac
Uploaded files:
Quote from jaffrie on 19 January 2024, 3:01 PMHave tried bulk foils resistors on other projects. They do come out very clean sounding but kind of cold. It does depends on individual taste & equipment though. I should think the sonic signature is similar in I/V as well. For a simpler mod try copper foil on top of Tda & solder a wire from foil & ground it to Dgn. Have a listen. My way of tweaking is heresy to many especially if I were to share it in diyaudio.
Eldam can attest to that. Lol
Any mod is worth a try , only way to know if it actually does anything is to try it Lol . I do have a roll of copper foil tape ,maybe worth doing the bottom IC's too
It would be good to do a list of mods tried and tested, there's still a lot of AYA 2 dacs out there .
TDA
Uploaded files:
Yes any mods are worth a try.
Think I'm the weirdest among the mod the AyA diy gang. Tested so so many capacitors & I know their sonics signatures. As for bypass O never like 0.1 uf minimum 0.22uf but generally I prefer 0.47uf
I have now changed the 1200uf FC + 220uf FM -15v PSU to single 1500uf FC 35v no bypass , I may add 0.1uf or 0.47uf BG NX-HiQ bypass
I have now changed the pair of 1500uf FM OPA861 PSU to a pair of 1500uf FC 35v , I may add 0.1uf or 0.47uf BG NX-HiQ bypass
I have added copper tape to the TDA1541A and grounded with wire
I'll let it run , I might added those BG 0.1uf -0.47uf NX HiQ bypasses later
BTW nice job I notice you have 0.47uf NX Hi Q across the PPS caps for the TSA1541A MSB pins ? was that a good mod ?
Do you use reclocking instead of the 470pf for the oscillator ?
Pedja has done a brilliant job of AyA so much so that every single tweak we make can be heard be it good or bad. I dont use the 47o pf cap.
Re bypassing caps, I never like 0.1 uf never sounded good to me minimum is 0.22 but I always stay with 0.47 uf . Caps voltage used always
above 25v regardless of applications they sound better for the same values. Lastly never use 1 brand or variants, each location reacts differently
hence I always tweak 1 location at a time to optimize sound. You notice in photo there's at least 6 different brands or variants of caps.
Panasonic sound ok in certain applcations but what's not nice about them is they tend to move the soundstage forward which is not to my
liking. Go experiment more, you'd be surprised & learn more as well.
Cheers
Yes after listening I agree those 1500uf FC have moved soundstage forward , if adding 0.47uf bypasses don't help I may take them out and try alternatives . Looking in my parts stash I have 3 x 1000uf 25v BG NX , maybe worth removing the FC and fitting a pair of those for the OPA861 .
I'll need to measure the -15v raw supply , it maybe too high for those 1000uf |25v BG NX , if so ill have to find an alternative