From HiFiDuino: The Soekris R-2R DAC

A while ago I have been notified about a very interesting DIY project at HiFiDuino: the Soekris R-2R DAC. The DAC is based on a set of Burr-Brown PCM1704 DAC chips (one of the best multibit chips, now out of production). The DAC has the potential to be class leading for a very affordable price,… » Read the full article

SOtM sMS-100 Mini Server

Here I am finally reviewing the SOtM sMS-100, a very simple, feature loaded Network Player that’s become a keeper in my audio chain. The main purpose of the sMS-100 network player, is to get rid of a computer in the living room for a more direct, convenient way to access to the music. I have… » Read the full article

Horror Report: Stax SR-009 Imbalance Troubles

This post points to several problems related to the Stax SR-009 headphones. Despite their high price tag, several models seem to be affected by channel imbalances developing over few months upon purchase. There have been several reports on Head-fi lamenting this situation. It seems that most problematic headphones come from grey market sources such as… » Read the full article

The CKKIII Headphone Amplifier

Here I am introducing one of my DIY favourites from the past, the Cavalli-Kan Kumisa III headphone amplifier. The CKKIII (or CK²III) is a joint collaboration between AMB and Alex Cavalli DIY designers. The amp is in the Headamp GS-1 range of quality, it’s extremely trasparent sounding and has a smooth top end. The tone… » Read the full article

Romy The Cat’s Mad Electricity

Several of us found out that DAC’s and amplifiers can be very sensitive to the quality of power, almost to the point that when it is a “bad electricity day”, some of them can be almost unlistenable. Certain DAC’s (such as Museatex Idat-44, or Metrum Octave), are more sensitive than others. For certain people, the… » Read the full article

DIY Cables Advice (External Links)

DIY Cables Instructions: VH Audio AES/EBU Digital Cable (DIY Recipe) VH Audio Fine Silver Interconnects (DIY Recipe) VH Audio Power Cord Flavors (DIY Recipe) Braiding Litz Wire Interconnects and Speaker Cables (How-To) Theory: Henry Ott’s “Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineering”: exceptional book also covering cable design Commercial products: VH Audio Power Cord Flavor 4 Chimera Labs Advantage… » Read the full article

The Meitner IDAT D/A Interpolation Algorithm

This interesting article (source: Stereophile) provides a good explanation about what’s special in Meitner’s IDAT interpolation algorithm and the way it’ said to be “capable of understanding music”. The article describes how the IDAT algorithm merges the effect of FIR (finite impulse response) and IIR (infinite impulse response) filters, by detecting which parts of the… » Read the full article