The r-2r TDA1541 is very special DAC, It also has hidden codes.I think the real honest answer here is:
It depends on your taste, but not about performance..
(we all prefer different sound signatures)
80's chip were actually really really good, but that time digital was not yet at the stage where full potential could be extracted out from them. Advances in even last 10 years have been significant in diyaudio to push further and further these old chips,
Supercapacitor power supply, recloking with SC cut double OCXO, 4 x 1541 boards to have divided mono signal, simultaneous mode not asynchronous anymore, DEM clock 50 mhz and uncountable others.
This is what my friend Supersurfer writes about his fully modern 4 chip tda1541A dac against DCS Vivaldi with master clock:
"
I m using a quad TDA1541A in fact. Based on the very nice design of @ryanj 3D pcb design.
And it is the best dac I have ever built and heard. I have had some quite expensive high-end dacs next to it, with the most expensive being a dCS Vivaldi with master clock unit. The performance of the dCS was quite shameful next to my old Philips dac chips. It was no comparison, the owner of the Vivaldi said within 20sec after start playing that the difference is ridiculously big and I agreed. The focus, naturalness and lifelike experience was much bigger with my diy dac."
The r-2r TDA1541 is very special DAC, It also has hidden codes.
I think the sound quality of DACs depeneds on many parameters like PSU, analog Outputstage, time domain response … just the dac chip does not tell us all the story.
comparing dCS Vivaldi vs DIY 1541 tube dac needs a high performance reference system, I think tube nos dacs have quite different presentation to dsp dacs like dCS.
I will answer as briefly as I can.This statement seems misguided at best. dCS has from the start set out to make a true reference digital source. Isn’t the Varese a continuation of that mission?
Are you joking? 80s CD technology sucked and was much farther away from analog than current DAC technology.
While my Continuum Caliburn is stellar, when I upgraded the Rossini to Apex level, the digital got a lot closer to the turntable.
Maybe they haven’t find yet Wilson, d’Agostino and Transparent fellows….Saw them at the Hong Kong Hiend & AV Show today afternoon.
However, silent display only.
View attachment 134695
+1LOL, No I am not joking.
Yes, 80's cd players sucked, but the multibit DAC chips have huge potential. The early Philips swing arm laser optics were, in my opinion, unmatched for reading CDs.
It is quite amazing just how musical these early implementations can be made to sound.
As somebody whose work has been covered by M&S on both their FB page and their main page, I am telling you, you are incorrect. I have NEVER paid M&S for any coverage - Matej has reached out to me numerous times because he wants to show as much content that is hifi-related through his website.I'm very familiar with the M&S model and how companies pay them for things to be posted and want to control what is said.
I will respectfully disagree with you based on what companies have told me about how they pay M&S.
I respect your opinion even though you feel the need to cast aspersion and personal attacks.As somebody whose work has been covered by M&S on both their FB page and their main page, I am telling you, you are incorrect. I have NEVER paid M&S for any coverage - Matej has reached out to me numerous times because he wants to show as much content that is hifi-related through his website.
I would say that their main page has numerous affiliate links on it (clearly obvious), but they are predominately a news site.
But that's alright, its Ok to disbelieve or disagree with me - you are clearly part of the new wave of social media "folk" who know you get noticed by stirring the pot and dealing in hifi conspiracy theories (Hi-Fi Mafia??....please )
Alas, well played sir.
In your manifesto video you say you are making assumptions about monetization and cash for comments by M&S and are prepared to be corrected if this is untrue, now you reference a "rate sheet". I have called you out on this as my experience with M&S has never even remotely, involved a conversation about money, sponsorship, exchange, nada. If you truly believe the hi-fi fraternity are conspiring and you are the saviour or one of the few to guide us through the mire of audio lies, please, share your hard evidence. Do your fans a huge favour, expose the lies!!!!Thankfully unlike other people (such as M&S - I've seen their rate sheet; or other YouTube or print media reviewers who demand free product to review gear - yes we all know who they are) I don't monetize what I do so my hands and conscious are clean. Something VERY few people in any media can say.
This is a good point.See, the thing I do not understand is why some would put down the latest & top end product from a well estblished manufacturer without even having a listen. Social media misadventures and industry politics aside, end of the day, I would expect it's whether the performance in terms of sound quality whether this will tickle our fetish (let's just admit this is more than just normal fanatism at this stage).
100% Joe,See, the thing I do not understand is why some would put down the latest & top end product from a well estblished manufacturer without even having a listen. Social media misadventures and industry politics aside, end of the day, I would expect it's whether the performance in terms of sound quality whether this will tickle our fetish (let's just admit this is more than just normal fanatism at this stage).
Oh my. You win my award for the most (insert descriptor) generalization I have ever heard. Color me speechless.If recent history over the last few years has shown us - when people want to shut down a topic they are quick to call it a conspiracy theory with their sarcastic and derogatory tone. Unfortunately for them it seems everything they've labeled a conspiracy theory has ended up being found out to be true. In the end the ones calling it a conspiracy theory were the ones hiding the truth.
LOL, No I am not joking.
Yes, 80's cd players sucked, but the multibit DAC chips have huge potential. The early Philips swing arm laser optics were, in my opinion, unmatched for reading CDs.
It is quite amazing just how musical these early implementations can be made to sound.