DACs, Multi-bit and slaving CD players

Okay it's Late, I've got distracted from what I was supoosed to be doing, but I've finally got various bits of info to gel together and thought some of this was worth sharing - dunno if this thread should really be in the DIY section.

Some of this was prompted by rsands thread on DACs...

Multi-bit DACs
For ages I've been looking for a low cost, high bit, high sample rate DAC with multiple inputs, and assumed it would be a DIY solution for reasons of cost (or value for money). For my sins I've just won a Cambridge Dacmagic 2/CD4 combo on ebay on the basis that I could have a listen and see what I thought of it (I'm not expecting too much based on others' comments) and could possibly use it a case and source of PSUs for further experimentation. I was also present at rsands' bakeoff where we heard the NOSDAC, Chord 64 and M-audio superdac.

Whilst not necessarily my favourite from the evening I was highly impressed by the NOSDAC, especially based on the comments of others that it can be further tweaked. However, 16bits 44kHz doesn't fit in with my concept for my multi-input 'universal' DAC, so I've been hunting for a low cost chassis to use as a basis for what I want. Like rsands I'd also spotted the various 'Lite Audio' DACs going through ebay and am somewhat tempted.

At the same time I started wondering about the existance of a 24bit/192kHz multi-bit DAC.

In my various trawling I've come across Lessloss who produce a DAC for ~2000 euros based on the PCM1704. They make great claims for the 1704, but in particular describe it as a multi-bit DAC (24bit multibit) although I can't quite see this description when I read through the PCM1704 datasheet. So it's got me very tempted by something based around the PCM1704. Why not NOS based on the PCM 1704?

Comments welcome on the PCM1704 and 'Lite Audio' kit. I've found some other links to what I suspect may be Lite Audio kit, and which you can find here, although maybe that thread is the best place to continue that conversation.

Slaving the CD Player
The other very interesting bit on the Lessloss site is the concept of slaving the CD player - any CD player - to the DAC clock. How to slave is described here, and results are shown for the measured jitter using this technique.

Possibly this technique could make the ultimate NOSDAC tweak - as by its very nature it is critical of transport/spdif jitter.

Okay - enough for tonight, time for bed. As always, thoughts and comments appreciated.

 

THe Nos dac is based on one of the very first dac chips, and its sound is quite different from anything else, as its implimentation along with the use of NO digital filter.
You may find that slaving the NOS MAY not find the results you expect
Clock linking is good move. However Transports STILL make a difference even when slaved (IMHO) however its a good upgrade.
As for all transports sounding the same even when slaved Wm

 

The Lessloss is one of the ones I found too, it looks interesting but I wouldnt want to spend that kind of money on something I hadn't heared especially when I could pick up a 2nd hand 64 for less which we both like.