Giant Killer Doorway DAC?

The TDA 1543 DAC chip seems to be showing up in more and more aftermarket dacs. Is this bc the 1541 is no longer available or is the 1543 “making a comeback”? I thought the vast, vast majority of people preferred the sound of the 1541? My best sounding cd player is a Magnavox that uses 1543. Never heard the 1541.
 
Right after I made my last post, I dug out my Magnavox CD-2000 which I believe is from the late 80s and uses the 1543. It (along with another Magnavox that starts skipping at the end of cds) is my best sounding CD player. I got a Topping D30 DAC about a year ago and had been using it exclusively. When I first got it, I never bothered to do this comparison. I assumed since it was a 30 year newer DIGITAL device, it MUST sound better. The first thing I noticed when first using the Magnavox was that I didnt notice a difference between its sound and the Toppings sound. Over the next 10 days of “long term listening/comparing” I just confirmed that I could not hear a difference bw the Magnavox and the Topping. Today I compared the two in real time, using the same cd (in this case Blues Traveller - Four, I wanted to try Dire Straights Brothers in Arms, but I have two different versions and didnt want to complicate things). I know most dont do real time comparisons, but they have been very useful to me in the past, on the recording side of things. Once again, I could hear no difference. My experience only, and I know my hearing (and system) arent the best(only hear to 14 kHz), probably from going to so many loud concerts. Nevertheless surprising, had I known this, i wouldnt have purchased the D30. Id also done the same comparison bw the built-in dac of my B&K AVP-1030 (1996 5.1 HT pre, $2600 retail, I use for stereo as it offers independent remote controlled subs) and the Magnavox and the B&K sounded way better. Yet someone on another site said the DAC in the B&K was nothing special/dated/mediocre. That tells me the analog output stage of the B&K must be exceptional (or the analog output stage of the Topping is mediocre, or some of each). And 4-2-7, in case you were wondering, that is a Tara Labs Space & Time Quantum IV speaker cable lol (I share one common component with you though yours lay in the “scrap pile” lol). One of these days I will bare wire them (half-heartedly started to, need to bust out the Buck 110).10ADA813-2C5F-4C65-8740-E65767F7C97B.jpeg

I reread this thread and could have sworn there was earlier talk of the TDA-1543 chip. Either Im tripping (probably lol, may have responded to wrong thread) or the posts were deleted. Got to know my system better though, and not what I would have guessed. As Id already predicted would be the case when I get around to comparing (move into house) B&K dac with Topping dac, the B&K would win, I just indirectly proved. In a few months Ill do the comparison and report back. Prediction? The DAC in HT B&K preamp from 1996 will easily best the current Topping D30. Ill probably be wrong lol.

// I just learned the Border Patrol DACs, which are highly regarded, use the same TDA-1543 chips, the same ones used in low/mid line cd players of the 80s.

For $176 delivered, Im curious how something like this sounds.
LITE PHILIPS TDA1543 X8 in parallel Hi-end Audio DAC Coaxial + fiber input | eBay
 
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At that price it seems like a good deal.

Whats the difference between the D10 and D30?

I think they use different chipsets, the D10 is USB only, and is bus powered. The D30 accepts USB, and SPDIF and uses a wall wart. The D10 will do DSD256 in Windows the D30 will manage DSD128, but that may be less of a consideration for some.

I believe @opa1 has a D30 (or did). People seem to like them.

<edit: I don't type fast enough ! >
 
Whats the difference between the D10 and D30?

The main difference is the D30 has coax and Toslink SPDIF inputs in addition to USB, while the D10 has only a USB input, it's SPDIF port is an output only (so it functions as a USB -> SPDIF converter).

I love the sample rate indicator display on the D10 (not present on the D30) and only needed the USB input for connection to a Raspberry Pi source. I went with the D10 and have since upgraded it with a Sparkos Labs discrete opamp, to the best of my knowledge that's not possible with the D30 without de-soldering from the board whereas the D10 has a DIP8 socketed opamp that is plug and play replaceable.

The D10 is a steal at $69, very nicely made unit.

EDIT: I see my post crossed with @airdronian 's in cyberspace (or I don't type fast enough either).
 
Awesome, thank you for the insight gentlemen!
AND the D10 will function as a USB to SPDIF converter for an older dac that doesn't have USB, or one that has an older USB implementation.

I do think the value is there on this piece.
 
[Pointless musing alert]
oversampling just sounds like such an American thing to do.

Why just sample it when you can oversample it?! Let's overclock the processor, too, Bro! MAKE DIGITAL GREAT AGAIN!
(note that I am not particularly proud of my American status here of late :()

[/PM alert]
 
Im not so sure about my conclusion that the Magnavox CD-2000 sounds the same as my D30. If I were to really get into analysis mode, like I used to be, Id prob prefer the D30. I havent been in “equipment mode” for quite some time (about a year, maybe more). Just listening to the music play. I could (and do) listen to BPC and enjoy the music just fine. Nice to just listen and caring less what equipment is being used, even if you have better gear.
 
I’ve been using the topping d10 for awhile. I use it with an old laptop running media monkey, asio drivers, upsampling to 192k/32 bit at the extreme quality setting. The upsampling makes a pretty significant difference. Media monkey won’t upsampling to 384k that I know of. As it is, with the slower laptop I have a huge buffer, takes a few seconds to start the first song.

I run it into a Llundahl step up which brings out the low end and cleans up the sound, makes it a bit less ragged/ratty.

I’m pretty happy with the sound, although I don’t have any giants of dac to compare it too.
 
I’ve been using the topping d10 for awhile. I use it with an old laptop running media monkey, asio drivers, upsampling to 192k/32 bit at the extreme quality setting. The upsampling makes a pretty significant difference. Media monkey won’t upsampling to 384k that I know of. As it is, with the slower laptop I have a huge buffer, takes a few seconds to start the first song.

I run it into a Llundahl step up which brings out the low end and cleans up the sound, makes it a bit less ragged/ratty.

I’m pretty happy with the sound, although I don’t have any giants of dac to compare it too.


Which step up from Lundahl?
 
It’s a 1538xl mic input. I think I have it at 1:2.5, so mild. I have to admit I have a voltage divider after the transformer, before my 25k passive preamp, so i’m knocking down the signal a bit. The d10 has a pretty healthy output.

I did try a high slew rate opamp, lm6172 I think. Did not sound right, so I think it was unstable...they need a bit of extra power supply decoupling to work right which I doubt is present in the d10. I also tried to use a separate 5v supply via a spliced usb, and it wouldn’t work, so i’m just using it stock, pc usb power and the opa2132 opamps, which I generally like.
 
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