Modifying the Beresford TC-7510 DAC

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John Duncan

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ewanbcn:Let us know if its made a worthwhile difference in sound quality

It had bl--dy better!
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Olli1324

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idc:
........your next project should be 'Watch meÿupgrade a pasemaker using keyhole surgery'.

ÿHaha!

ÿ

These mods, from the looks of things, they 'upgrade' only 1 output? Edit: yes, looking at mine,this upgrade is specific to the variable output.

ÿ

I think I am going to have to do this mod... I have sent the Audio Upgrades people an email asking when the Elnas which Trevor recommended will come in stock. Where did you get the Wimas from?ÿ

ÿEdit 2: Nooo... End of June for those Elna caps... I think I'll just wait until then. 'Cos they are cheaper than the Rubycons. And Trevor likes them.

ÿ
 

PJPro

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Olli1324:
These mods, from the looks of things, they 'upgrade' only 1 output? Edit: yes, looking at mine,this upgrade is specific to the variable output.

Yeah, I thought that, so I posted a question in the modding thread started by Stanley himself on another forum. Here's my question

PJPro
I'm just about to perform Mod21 and Mod21pt2. Clearly, the mods are to the output stage. So, will the upgrade effect the variable output only or will the fixed output be similarly upgunned? How about the headphone amp? I'm assuming the headphone amp is located adjacent to the volume pot so the performance through headphones will not change.
Thanks for clarifyng this for me.

and the reply....

jgarner71
Hi PJ. Those mods will affect all output for the 7510. Fixed, variable, and phones.

This reply has not been challenged, so I assume it is correct. I believe the signal coming out of the DAC chip itself is amplified by the opamp I have just changed. It then is passed out of the other outputs. I didn't think to examine the circuitry while I had it apart!

Olli1324:

I think I am going to have to do this mod... I have sent the Audio Upgrades people an email asking when the Elnas which Trevor recommended will come in stock. Where did you get the Wimas from?ÿ

ÿEdit 2: Nooo... End of June for those Elna caps... I think I'll just wait until then. 'Cos they are cheaper than the Rubycons. And Trevor likes them.

ÿ

I've also had some advice from the moderator and circuit junkie called Leo from the same forum over my selection of parts.

He's what he had to say.....

Leo
Be careful with Rubycon ZA's, their good for digital supply decoupling but used in the signal for blocking DC may be a bit bright and sharp tbh

I asked him to make some recommendations.....

Leo
Ones to usually avoid for blocking DC is very low esr types and things like polymer as these can be electrically leaky and also tend to sound sharp (fine if thats what you want)

I don't have one of these dacs so never had chance to compare but the ones that are usually favoured by the diyer are

Silmic (have a smooth character, slightly warm , some say mellow) usually found on ebay, digikey and some of the online places offering upgrade parts

Panasonic ECA audiograde, the ones in a metalic blue sleeve (similar sounding to above, pretty safe sounding in the extremes ) can be had from Farnell

Blackgate , these are getting scarce now , quite expensive, places like Hificollective, Audiocom etc may still have some
They take an age to burn in (go through the forming process)

Nichicon FG or KZ, well priced but not easy to buy over here, sometimes seen on ebay etc, possibly digikey, not a bad cap for the money

You can also try general purpose available from Maplin etc, considered ***** by the hard core diyer, some will say you can't hear a difference
Technically these will be the worse, poor HF etc
If you can't hear any difference between these and the audio classed ones I wouldn't worry about it

Because these caps have bias voltage on them most should be fine, I'd still avoid very low esr types though with the small exception of Panny FC

So, if I were doing it again I'd go for the Silmic too. You can get them on ebay I believe.
 

PJPro

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ewanbcn:Excellent thread PJPro!
Thanks ewanbcn.
ewanbcn:Most people, including myself, wouldn't have the b...s!
I hope that my threads regarding DIY will inspire others to have a go. If you've go any practical ability, a bit of patience and can follow instructions you should be able to do all of the projects I've undertaken on this forum.

Please remember, before poking around in any electronics you need to establish the voltages with which you are dealing. All of the stuff I've done so far has been low voltage i.e. not more than 24V. I'd let my kids play with them. If you're dealing with 230V (like vanman) it's a completely different ball game with death and destruction a definite possibility.

ewanbcn:
Superb pictures and good narrative, I wish all instruction manuals were half this good!!

Thanks again for your compliments.

ewanbcn:
Let us know if its made a worthwhile difference in sound quality once you've enjoyed some well earned listening time!
That's tricky, for the reasons I've already stated. I'm no golden ears. I know that the SA80s, Nova and Beresford coupled with my tweaked PC sound great. But I find comparisons over days difficult to make. That's why when I audition kit I need to do it all at the same time to ensure I make the right choice. Sorry if that's not the right answer, but I'd rather be honest than make misleading claims.
 

PJPro

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Olli1324:Great response(s), thanks.
No problem. Thanks for the interest.

Incidentally, did you ever build that Tangent CMoy variant? How did it turn out? Care to post a picture? What about that M3? I'd be interested to hear how you got on.
 
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Anonymous

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Great work!

A very helpful thread with a blow by blow account from somebody who has never done this before.
Am really pleased that you have got good results.
 

PJPro

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trevor79:Great work!

A very helpful thread with a blow by blow account from somebody who has never done this before.
Am really pleased that you have got good results.
Thanks Trevor.

I have done a little bit before. See here and here. Perhaps you missed these threads?
 

Olli1324

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Yep, built both amps, with good results!

ÿJust took a couple of pics with my phone, but can't find the disc to install the phone software get-pics-off-phone thing... So alas you can't even see poor quality photos! Although I still haven't got around to putting the AD8610s into the M3 (got something else in there atm) which is something I need to do. I shall endeavour to post pics of all my stuff when my speakers are built (hopefully vaguely soon, now that holidays are fast approaching and dad is less busy).
 

PJPro

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I bought the Stan Beresford recommended upgrade PSU today from Maplin. It's on a deal at the moment for less than 20 notes (or should that be coins?). I'm running it at 13.5V. Not sure I hear as much as a difference as stated by some.

Anyway, find the PSU here.
 

pete321

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The difference was massive when I had my DacMagic modified with Burson opamps and some better capacitors. The sound gained a lot more depth in the midrange and bass, very refined but enough clarity. When you look at the difference in the price of the components, i.e. opamps, there's not that much difference, apart from the Burson's, I guess you need to spend a bit more to get the difference.
 

aliEnRIK

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PJPro ~ I have to give you sheer respect for having the nuts to do that (Ill have a go at soldering, but anything majorly tiny im not touching
emotion-4.gif
)

So the big question is ~ whats the difference in sound?
 

PJPro

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pete321:The difference was massive when I had my DacMagic modified with Burson opamps and some better capacitors. The sound gained a lot more depth in the midrange and bass, very refined but enough clarity. When you look at the difference in the price of the components, i.e. opamps, there's not that much difference, apart from the Burson's, I guess you need to spend a bit more to get the difference.
Well, for those that don't know, the Burson opamps are actually discrete, rather than integrated, circuits. Given the relatively high cost (£90), one would expect a fairly hefty improvement. That's not to say that integrated circuits will not have a significant effect either eg chebby's opamp rolling on the 7520.

I do not doubt that there have been changes as a result of the mods contained in this thread. But I have real difficulty remembering what it used to sound like.....even over the 24 hr period that I performed the mods. What I can say is, it sounds great now.
 

PJPro

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aliEnRIK:
PJPro ~ I have to give you sheer respect for having the nuts to do that (Ill have a go at soldering, but anything majorly tiny im not touching
emotion-4.gif
)

So the big question is ~ whats the difference in sound?

It wasn't as difficult as I was expecting but, yes, it certainly looks hairy.
 

PJPro

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I've been having a nose around the Art of Sound forum and discovered that there are a couple of new mods recommended by Stanley for the 7510. I'll take a closer look later and consider the merits of performing them. One change looks a bit tricky....changing a 16 pin surface mount integrated circuit. Might be fun though.
 
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Anonymous

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Hi PJpro..

I write you from the italy. I would like to make this mod. can you give me the Id code product complete to purchase these capacitorses wima 220/100v? can you make me a list detailed some components, for mod 7510, that I have to purchase and possible equivalent and that I can find in europa sellers?

I regards sincerely.

Marco
 

PJPro

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Hello Italy!

The components required are....

Decoupling caps (x2): Wima FKP2 220PF
Opamp (x1): LM4562MA
DC blocking caps (x4): lots of possible choices. See page 2 of this thread. The 47uF 63v Elna Silmic caps seem to be favoured but weren't the ones I used.

Hope this helps.
 
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Anonymous

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Hello PJPro,,

your answer has been of great help... I greet you the italy :)) !!

I wanted to ask you another question. I have a TCC TC-7510 and not a Beresford TC-7510. the change mod.21 and mod.22.

Can it also work on the TCC?
 

PJPro

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I don't know for sure....but I think the TCC TC-7510 is the one at the end of this link.

I believe these are rebadged to produce the Beresford TC-7510. I do not know if Beresford performs any mods/tweaks to the basic TCC TC-7510 during the rebadging process....so am unable to state whether the mod(s) will work or not.
 

Utterchaos23

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Ya gotta love exhuming REALLY old threads...Think this is one of the oldest I've dug up!

Just got myself a S/H TC-7510. Quick question, the mods 21 1&2 seem to be focused around the headphone/variable part of the DAC pcb.... does this mean I would get no benefit if using the fixed Line-Out output?

Cheers all!

P.S. - anyone got any good/cheap power supply ideas? .. I have a switched Maplins one... doesn't seem to have made much diference tbh.
 

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