Philip TDA1543 is a Dual 16-bits I2S bus DAC.
With SNR of 96db
Article: mwpmo
The AW-D3 is a USB audio device (Sound Card) using the Burr-brown PCM2706 chip
with a built-in I2S Bus DAC using a Philips TDA1543.
With both optical and coaxial SPDIF out, headphone out and analog out.
The Burr-brown PCM2706 is a 16-bits delta-sigma stereo audio DAC with USB
interface.
With SNR of 98db (not as good as some high-end DAC that with more than 110db SNR,
but it is still a good value)
It can also switch between I2S or SPDIF digital output mode.
Philip TDA1543 is a Dual 16-bits I2S bus DAC.
With SNR of 96db
The Burr-Burn PCM2706 chip was per-soldered on the PCB already.
The Philip TDA1543 I2S bus DAC section, with un-balanced analog out.
The power supply section for I2S bus DAC, using LT317 as voltage regulator. (Input : AC9V, Output : DC5V)
Since the power need for I2S bus DAC section is quite small, you can leave this section alone and use the +5V supplied by the USB bus.
(please refer the section below for connection details)
However, if you want a better audio quality in the DAC output, you better use this section.
The components come with the kits are audio grade components.
Resistor : Viskey 1%
Metallized Film Capacitor : WIMA MKP2 and WKS2 series
Electrolytic Capacitor : Panasonic, ELNA Cerafine Non-Polar, ELNA for audio and ELNA Slimic
Please be careful that among those red WIMA MKS2 cap, there are two 0.022uF cap (all the rests are 0.1uF)
In addition, among those 0.1uF, there is one green MKP2 cap. Please use it as C38 (near TDA1583)
1) short JP1, JP2, JP3, JP9, JP10, JP11 & JP12
Since the spacing between two soldering points is quite large, the easy way to short them is:-
a) Put some solder in one soldering point first (JP9)
b) Solder a short wire to that soldering point (JP10)
c) Cut the wire at the end of the other soldering point (JP11)
d) Solder the wire to the other soldering point (JP12)
2) short J1
You need to short the pins in J1 like the figure below:-
3) Solder all IC sockets and resistors
4) Solder the 12M crystal
First you need to bend the legs sideway and solder to the PCB like this:-
The you need to solder the metal case of the crystal to the ground pad on PCB
You need to be quick, otherwise the heat will "burn" the crystal
4) Solder the caps
First install those WIMA Metallized Film Capacitor
Then install those Panasonic and ELNA Electrolytic Capacitor
Those two Panasonic Electrolytic Capacitors are C7 and C23
(If you want to upgrade, you can use OS-Con 620uF/6.3V caps) ( Like I did)
Those ELNA Cerafine Non-Polar are audio coupling cap.
For C16 and C17, use 100-220uF, for C36 and C37, use 10uF (Please ignore the value marked on PCB)
(If you want to upgrade, you can use BlackGate N series non-polar cap)
(In addition, to further enhance the performance on high-frequency, you can parallel one 0.1uF cap to C16 and C17)
5) Solder all the rest components like inductors, connectors, jumpers and switchs
(Since I decided to use the +5V for USB bus to power the I2S bus DAC section, I just leave the power supply of I2S DAC alone)
(please refer the section below for connection details)
6) Finish
If you want to keep the USB DAC small, you can use the +5V power from the USB bus to power the I2S bus DAC section instead of the power supply section on board and a +9V AC transformer
Just besides JP2, there is a small pad marked "+5V"
And the side of I2S bus DAC, the ends of resistors R13, R14, R15, R16 are all ground.
Use two short wires to connection the +5V and Ground of the I2S bus DAC section to the above power supply points
Short : I2S mode - SPDIF Digital output (optical and axial) is off, headphone output is off, Analog out (from TDA1543) is on
The purpose of those four push-on switchs on PCB are for (from left to right):-
Play : send a "Play" signal to the programme on the active windows.
Mute : send a "Mute" signal to the system mixer and mute the volume.
Vol+ : send a "Vol+" signal to the system mixer and increase the volume.
Vol- : send a "Vol-" signal to the system mixer and decrease the volume.
Since the USB connector is a male USB type A connector, Please use an USB Type A extension cable to connect the device to the USB port in your computer.
Windows will detect the new USB devices and install the drivers needed
(Please refer to the section below for details of drivers installation)
Then those two LEDs on-board will be on.
When you open Jumper J2, the red LED inside the optical out will be on.
Play some music in the computer, sound will be come out from the headphone
You can try to connect the SPDIF out to any DAC of amp with digital audio in to test
When you short Jumper J2, the red LED inside the optical out will be off and no sound will come out from the headphone
You can try to connect the analog out to any amp to test.
Windows will search the device driver for the USB audio device
Please press "Continue" to install the driver
When the driver installation was finished, please press "Finish"
Since the device can send control signal for the system mixer, the driver for this control (USB HID) should be installed
Please press "Next" to continue
Windows will search the device driver for the USB HID device
Please press "Continue" to install the driver
When the driver installation was finished, please press "Finish"
To install the control driver for the USB HID device, please press "Next" to continue
When the driver installation was finished, please press "Finish"
A small windows will popup at the lower right corner of the desktop to indicate all the drivers for the new USB device have been installed.
First impression, the background noise level is very low!
After I install the drivers and put on the headphone, before I started any audio programme, I find that there is no sound out.
(When I plug my headphone to my SB Audigy sound card, there is some background noise)
So I thought I need to switch the output sound device in the mixer setting to the new USB devices
But I was wrong, I found out that after a USB sound device was plug-in to the computer, Windows will automatically switch the output sound device to the new USB sound device
That means the background noise level of D3 is really really low.
Then I insert a Audio CD in my computer and use a CD player programme to play back the CD.
Wow! I cannot believe the sound was come from my computer with such a small device!
When it compare with my SB Audigy, the bass was much more solid and the vocal part was much more clear.
(I decided to uninstalled the SB Audigy and use D3 and the sound device for my computer)
Then I try the SPDIF out, in my opinion, it is better then my Pionner DVD733A DVD player but not as good as my CD-Pro2 CD-Player.
For the analog out from the I2S bus DAC, it is much better then my Pionner DVD733A DVD player but not as good as my Denon AVC-A1R.
With this good performance, I decided to build another D3 with power supply section on board and a +9V AC transformer and see how good will the I2S bus DAC be.