Gordon Macfarlane Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Hi guys , here is a new dac from the guys that make the parts for my cd transport : http://headmania.org/2014/04/02/rockna-wavedream-dac-review/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once was an audiophile Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Wow that looks Killer top quality parts used from jcar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Should be a very nice dac Ozcall, R2R Multibit Ladder Dacs, no S/D rubbish, should be a real killer dac, if they did the right thing with the I/V and buffer stages. They've always been avid proponents of R2R Multibit dac in the past when they made very expensive naked boards for the diy'ers, aways got great feedback from purchasers for great sound quality, sadly that site of theirs has long gone, no more kits anymore. Cheers George 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Macfarlane Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Hi George , kits are still available : http://musicaltech.com/. I recently purchased the SATA TO I2S board to build my own transport , with great results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 (edited) OK so they're still doing them, seeing your into DIY maybe you should think about the RD30 DAC and the RD30 I/V, I had the schematic of the I/V somewhere (promissed never to show it) but for memory it was a very nice design, not your typical opamps with feedback, but well thought out discrete grounded base with proper loading (low impedance) not using resistors for the output of the PCM1704 (RD30 dac) Cheers George Just looked for and found the schematic for the I/V board, and it is very good, all what I said above and it's all discrete I/V and buffer, dc coupled from dac output to i/v to buffer to rca/xlr outputs. (with opamps as dc servo's) Edited April 4, 2014 by georgehifi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Macfarlane Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 OK so they're still doing them, seeing your into DIY maybe you should think about the RD30 DAC and the RD30 I/V, I had the schematic of the I/V somewhere (promissed never to show it) but for memory it was a very nice design, not your typical opamps with feedback, but well thought out discrete grounded base with proper loading (low impedance) not using resistors for the output of the PCM1704 (RD30 dac) Cheers George Just looked for and found the schematic for the I/V board, and it is very good, all what I said above and it's all discrete I/V and buffer, dc coupled from dac output to i/v to buffer to rca/xlr outputs. (with opamps as dc servo's) Thanks George , both items are already on my 'to buy' list Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Macfarlane Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Wow that looks Killer top quality parts used from jcar Geeze Mario , your eyes must be a whole lot better than mine I can see the Nichicons in the psu but can't make out any of the other caps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hochopeper Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 (edited) Hi George , kits are still available : http://musicaltech.com/. I recently purchased the SATA TO I2S board to build my own transport , with great results.I went to their website a week ago and was down at the time, glad to see it back online!I'll have an IV with DC coupling and opamp servo output to build in a few weeks ... But it will be running off a ESS DAC so George won't like that Edited April 4, 2014 by hochopeper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 (edited) This Rockna Wave Dream has a 5ohm!!!! output impedance, this is great, means it has a very strong output buffer, (probably uses the same discrete I/V and output buffer as the RD30 i/v) And it also has a 250 step .5db increment volume control built/programed in, hopefully done in the digital domain before the dac, then say good by to your preamp as this baby will drive any poweramp direct, with meters of interconnect without a problem being only 5ohms output, and sound better for it, by being the most transparent way of driving the amp/s. Ozcall, what is the price of this ready to buy Wave Dream? As his RD30 dac and i/v boards are not what a diyer's would call cheap. From the review, this is where R2R Multibit done right has it all over the (yawn) SD type dac chips. "Summary Bass The bass is incredible as it has exploding impact, excellent detail, goes very deep when it should and seems to be controlled by an iron hand. Also it seemed very natural to me and I often had the impression I felt the material the drums were made of. I could feel the drums in my body, and no, I wasn’t using speakers, just headphones. Mids One of the best mids I have ever heard in my life. All is at superlative with this DAC. Every instrument is alive and kicking and the voices are out of this world. You can hear every tone in the singer voice, every emotion, passing it to you, making you feel the song and the emotions he wants to transfer. Treble As you expect the treble is top notch as well. The sparkle is crystal clear and full of life and extension. Transient response This is another breath taking aspect of Wavedream as it has very fast and natural decay and incredible attack." Cheers George Edited April 4, 2014 by georgehifi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKay Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Unbalanced is Euro 5,800 http://www.tomhabke.de/Rockna/?XTCsid=kp93u5tq95erqtjg32eq4ai8i6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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