Inside High End Equipment

[mansr]

2 minutes ago, STC said:

Look carefully and you see the traces of the old module. Same DAC one is DIP and another is SOIC. One is small, one is large. In the the left channel was soldered to the bottom of the PCB. The DIP was soldered next to each other because it couldn’t fit in. in this case, it was replacing the faulty DAC with DIP module. 

Why not use a SOIC replacement?

[STC]

They are not reliable. 

[mansr]

3 minutes ago, STC said:

They are not reliable. 

And the DIP version is? Are they not simply different packages with the same die inside?

[STC]

2 minutes ago, mansr said:

And the DIP version is? Are they not simply different packages with the same die inside?

Ask them why one is failing more often than the another. 

[sandyk]

5 minutes ago, STC said:

Ask them why one is failing more often than the another. 

It could be interesting to compare the surface temperature of both packages.

[STC]

6 minutes ago, sandyk said:

It could be interesting to compare the surface temperature of both packages.

 

That was brilliant. You are right about overheating. Not sure if that was the module's fault or design's fault. DIP was the older design though. 

[sandyk]

21 minutes ago, STC said:

 

That was brilliant. You are right about overheating. Not sure if that was the module's fault or design's fault. DIP was the older design though. 

 The larger DIP packages would have longer traces to the pins, as well the I.C.  pins themselves being much larger and perhaps reducing the internal heating slightly.

With the LM4562 series for example, the designers reported hearing an improvement with the HA (metal can) version, despite their A.P. Test equipment not revealing any differences in measurements.

[STC]

4 hours ago, sandyk said:

 The larger DIP packages would have longer traces to the pins, as well the I.C.  pins themselves being much larger and perhaps reducing the internal heating slightly.

With the LM4562 series for example, the designers reported hearing an improvement with the HA (metal can) version, despite their A.P. Test equipment not revealing any differences in measurements.

I told my friend to take the temperature. But he thinks the problem is related to something else which is too complicated for me to understand. 
 

Acoustic Transmission  measurements at ears should reveal them them. 

[STC]

F22 Musical Fidelity. 
 

 

[STC]

Sonic Frontiers SFT-1HK CD transport. This is a Hong Kong version.

 

[STC]

Audio Symphony Monoblocks. Only 14 of these ever made about 20 years ago. It’s a hybrid amp with 2 driver tubes driving output MOSFET transistors.

 

[mansr]

Single-sided PBCs. Through-hole components. How quaint.

[STC]

Made in Switzerland, Maya 3D studio DAC.

 

 

[mansr]

Nice rendering. Very realistic looking, especially the fried whatever-it-used-to-be.

[STC]

Mytek sounded better than this. But rather unfair comparison since I haven’t heard Mytek for a while. The fried part what makes the sound tasty. 😉

[STC]

Ok. I think time for to bring this thread to an end as not many new brands are coming. My friend is no longer taking in heavy equipment since it is difficult for him to carry them to the workbench. So don’t expect Zanden, Krell reference or a D’Agostino. 
 

Posting some of the many brands that I have 1)Marantz DV7001 SACD/DVD, 2) Audio Innovations Harmonie amp 3) California Audio Labs Sigma II DAC 

 

 

[mourip]

I have always enjoyed this thread so I hope that it will not close.

 

Perhaps others will join in with some internal glamour (or not so much) shots or their own equipment.

 

Here is a shot of a SinglePower Extreme headphone amp that I had to modify to make safe after it was discovered that the original builder had made many questionable circuit choices. It always worked well for me but others had experienced issues. I replaced the original power transformer with a properly spec'd custom one which was not easy because I had to keep the mainboard in place while doing it. The builder had used a small 12v filament transformer and reversed it to get the B+ voltage. Some of these transformers literally melted as they also produced the filament voltage. Creative but not sound engineering.

 

[STC]

Two interesting units worth mentioning 

Weiss Medea (Swiss made) DAC. Unfortunately, couldn’t find the source of the problem.

 

 

[STC]

McIntosh MCD7007 CDP. 30 years old digital sound. 
 

 

[STC]

@Ralph Glasgal designed this for Fisher about 56 years ago. Still working fine. 

 

 

[STC]

Eico HF-85 preamp

 

 

[sfseay]

On 1/11/2018 at 8:53 AM, PeterSt said:

 

So if I call in a contractor to work on my software (bug finding), do you think it is OK if he publishes the source code ?

LOL!  Photos of electronic internals compared to source code?  REALLY?!?

 

There are no secrets with electronic parts, just the ability for the end user to see where the manufacturer cut corners and used low grade components.

[STC]

Trying simple tweak to make music more erotic sounding.  

 

Picture not mine. 

[Ralf11]

did Beethoven do the soldering?

[STC]

STC caps.