Veri
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Lavaudio DS600 Review (Stereo DAC)
- Thread starter amirm
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- #42
If you have a ground loop, the proper solution is to avoid it using balanced interconnects or toslink input. Playing around with power supplies relies on luck to solve it.
In this case, I used the PC for both power and data which tends to reduce ground loops. Using other external power supplies introduces ground loops.
In terms of « R&D » making a copy don’t mean much for a product like this rreally, they are both quite close to ESS reference designs, and don’t measure exactly the same. I guess it would be cool to see inside if the parts are laid out the same, but really, if you don’t have the gerbers of the company you are inspired by, it’s difficult assert that one is copying the other. I highly doubt there are any patented elements in a topping d50, the display the same basic information with different font and lay out, but can be true for just many dacs. No, I think the main thing is is not about R&D, but what is more likely unethical is industrial design. It would be interesting to know if Topping do outsource their chassis, if they design and own their drawings, If they pick some oem design themselves or if the original designers never sold the design to topping. We don’t know the story behind, and don’t have the info to know if a theft occured somewhere, without this backstory, but I do dislike this, they are too close in look.
Newman
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Well, in that case, it’s not a ground loop.
Which brings my point about the value of measuring PSRR back into play.
The layout of the board is different to the d50s as well as some of the components. Unfortunately I didn't take a pictures of the entire board but see some of the components.
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That is good to see. Too bad they didn't use a different font for lettering, machine a little differentiating detail into the faceplate, etc.
Just a heads up that this is currently $125. Good deal for someone who has no outboard DAC and no plans to use the headphone jack?
miibuy via Amazon [amazon.com] $125 when you apply coupon code: 2KS3GGBZ at checkout.
miibuy via Amazon [amazon.com] $125 when you apply coupon code: 2KS3GGBZ at checkout.
Photo of entire board.
Interesting, the specs indicate dual ES9038Q2M DACs rather than 9018s. It is definitely a different board than the D50s. When mine arrives I may take a closer look inside. I hope Amir did not unknowingly test a golden sample. But my guess is the board is mislabeled, no reason to panic.
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I found the image on the product's Amazon page: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H4V1XRD
I also just noticed your pic is for board v1.1 but the Amazon image is v1.2.
Good Catch. The Amazon Listing has changed and now says "Upgraded" DS600. Your photo of board Ver. 1.2 was not in the old listing which I think changed 3/10. The Nichicon Caps shown in Ver. 1.2 photo are not in Ver. 1.1, plus other changes. It appears that the 1/2 off sale may have been to clear out the 1.1 stock. NOTE: the DS600 is available again for ordering but trying the 2KS3GGBZ coupon code no longer worked for me, it may be because I had already used it, so try it
The specs of Ver. 1.2 have improved a bit. This line added to the description: "[Upgraded]Lavaudio DS600 DAC makes great breakthrough in SNR and THD+N. THD+N as low as 0.00012% and SNR greater than 126dB, let the sound cleaner, the high frequency extension better, and the overall feeling full of transparency." The upgraded listing also has new performance graphs dated 2021.
Changes from Ver 1.1 to 1.2 compared using cached 3/9/21 version of the listing:
- SNR goes from 122dB to 126dB
- THD+N goes from .00023 to .00013
- The IMD Level Sweep graph has also changed, but I am not sure how to read that one.
Did anyone install additional driver vs just what's available on Windows 10? It sounds very good. It is tiny comparing to my D90. One thing it does better than D90 is the Bluetooth implementation - I cannot adjust volume on Android tablet through D90 but I can with DS600.
If you are using Windows 10, you should use the 1Mii driver that you can download on this page. The driver is compressed as a "7z" file, so you may need a free program like 7-zip to uncompress it. The built in windows driver will work for basic files but not more sophisticated DSD files etc.
The above link also lets you download Foobar 2000 player (under "Player Setting").
Question: Can you tell if your DS600 is version 1.1 or 1.2?
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I installed the driver. It works. I cannot really tell. It is tiny comparing to my D90. I want to open it but the screws are covered by the four feet in the bottom I guess.
Did anyone adjust the driver setting in Windows 10? The "Buffer setting" has a few options. The default one is "Extra Safe". I changed that to "Minimum Latency" and I think the system is not stable. For example, the sound would disappear in some cases and I'd have to restart the device or the system. Once I adjust back to "Extra Safe" it's been stable.
Mine arrived today. It was shipped in its shrink-wrapped box. Swapped this with the Sanskrit 10th MKII that is connected to a pi4. Also connected a CCA and tested the Bluetooth, which can be turned off. I got sick of the blue display on the SK10. This has a nice white text display although I wish I could swap the volume text with the bitrate.
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