This DAC from China has completely blown me away!

[podknocker]

View attachment 8091
As shown in the picture, this is a DAC decoder board from China’s Taobao, priced under 70 USD. Below are my questions:
How are they able to keep the price so low?
Who is buying such a large volume of this product?
Does the audio quality of this product truly meet the standards?

I know I should have spotted it ages ago, but this board doesn't come with a TDA1541 fitted to it. That's another £60 https://www.littlediode.com/components/TDA1541.html

The fact this DAC is still being used after 40 years is testament to its spectacular performance and reliability. Being as expensive as modern DACs is a puzzle. I suppose going back to using old fabrication methods costs more than making new silicon on new lines, or there is something not quite right about this DAC still being for sale.

 

[ToppingSMSL]

As I mentioned earlier, anything that can spin and read a disc, should be able to transfer all the data sitting on a CD. You can get a CD/DVD drive for your PC and this could do it for £30? There is no reason a HIFI CD transport should cost much more. All it needs to do is send data at 1411kbps to an external DAC. It's sending digital data and nothing else. CD transports don't and can't have a sound quality. It's a DAC and its supporting circuitry tailoring the sound quality. Again, some HIFI brands want to make you think their spinning machine does something else, but it's the same infra red laser, optics, error correction and output.

If you want it to be in a nice casae you need to spend a bit more. Some people like copper buttons and pay £1000s.

 

[davidf]

There shouldn't be any difference between transports, but I always remember having a Pioneer DV717 DVD player I was using as a transport at the time, and then comparing it to a Teac VRDS10 - I really didn't expect to hear the difference I heard. Always try something for yourself, regardless of what anyone else suggest or states.

 

[JacquesW]

I know I should have spotted it ages ago, but this board doesn't come with a TDA1541 fitted to it. That's another £60 https://www.littlediode.com/components/TDA1541.html

Funny how that site littlediode,com doesn't show the writings on the top of that chip? HMMM

 

[RJW232]

There are so many areas where you can save a lot of money. For example you can use OPAxxxx opamps or old NE5532 opamps. Both will work but the sound quality of well implemented OPA opamps is much better. Same for the capacitors and the PCB itself. All impact the sound quality. And if the 70 dollars is only for the PCB add a couple of 100's to create a complete product and have it on the shelf in your local HIFI shop.

 

[podknocker]

If you want it to be in a nice casae you need to spend a bit more. Some people like copper buttons and pay £1000s.

A nice case should cost no more than £100 and paying £1000s for copper buttons is stupid. The mechanical parts required to play CDs costs £100 these days, so if you pay more than 300 quid for a CD player, you are paying for cosmetics and not sound quality, which cannot be improved by spending more money. CD transport, optics, servo, error correction, firmware, DAC on a circuit board, power supply, plastic display, a cheap, stamped aluminium case and all this in a brown cardboard box sat in a store room in a shop costs at most £300 so if you spend more than this, you are wasting your money. So many on here want a CD transport, then they want a cheap Chinese DAC (which will fail within weeks) and then they bang on about WiiM amps and similar products being the best thing since sliced bread. My advice is just buy a decent CD player and matching amp from a store in the UK and they will do everything you want, with the guarantee of repair or refund if it goes wrong. Stop with all this random B grade crap from Ali Express and other crappy sites. You might save money, but you won't get performance and peace of mind. If I wanted any new HIFI kit, I would just buy stuff from Richer Sounds. They sell some great kit and it's a 6 year warranty on most items. All this cheap nonsense from China won't satisfy your HIFI needs.

Cambridge Audio AXC25 (Lunar Grey)

Shop for Cambridge Audio AXC25 Lunar Grey CD Player with Richer Sounds for expert advice and lowest prices guaranteed

www.richersounds.com

This CD player does nothing different to a CD player from 42 years ago and many on here need to learn about the Red Book standard and realise how a new CD player can't do anything new. Spinning thing, infra red laser, optics, error correction, DAC converting 1411kbps of data into a signal an amp can understand. That's it. People get carried away with all this overpriced bling and don't realise they are buying 42 year old technology that's set in stone. A new CD player isn't a new format. It's a 42 year old product.

Compact disc - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[davidf]

The mechanical parts required to play CDs costs £100 these days, so if you pay more than 300 quid for a CD player, you are paying for cosmetics and not sound quality, which cannot be improved by spending more money. CD transport, optics, servo, error correction, firmware, DAC on a circuit board, power supply, plastic display, a cheap, stamped aluminium case and all this in a brown cardboard box sat in a store room in a shop costs at most £300 so if you spend more than this, you are wasting your money.

So you're saying that spending more than £300 on a CD player brings absolutely zero benefit?

 

[ToppingSMSL]

A nice case should cost no more than £100 and paying £1000s for copper buttons is stupid. The mechanical parts required to play CDs costs £100 these days, so if you pay more than 300 quid for a CD player, you are paying for cosmetics and not sound quality, which cannot be improved by spending more money. CD transport, optics, servo, error correction, firmware, DAC on a circuit board, power supply, plastic display, a cheap, stamped aluminium case and all this in a brown cardboard box sat in a store room in a shop costs at most £300 so if you spend more than this, you are wasting your money. So many on here want a CD transport, then they want a cheap Chinese DAC (which will fail within weeks) and then they bang on about WiiM amps and similar products being the best thing since sliced bread. My advice is just buy a decent CD player and matching amp from a store in the UK and they will do everything you want, with the guarantee of repair or refund if it goes wrong. Stop with all this random B grade crap from Ali Express and other crappy sites. You might save money, but you won't get performance and peace of mind. If I wanted any new HIFI kit, I would just buy stuff from Richer Sounds. They sell some great kit and it's a 6 year warranty on most items. All this cheap nonsense from China won't satisfy your HIFI needs.

Cambridge Audio AXC25 (Lunar Grey)

Shop for Cambridge Audio AXC25 Lunar Grey CD Player with Richer Sounds for expert advice and lowest prices guaranteed

www.richersounds.com

This CD player does nothing different to a CD player from 42 years ago and many on here need to learn about the Red Book standard and realise how a new CD player can't do anything new. Spinning thing, infra red laser, optics, error correction, DAC converting 1411kbps of data into a signal an amp can understand. That's it. People get carried away with all this overpriced bling and don't realise they are buying 42 year old technology that's set in stone. A new CD player isn't a new format. It's a 42 year old product.

Compact disc - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I agree. And it's audibly transparent. There's no need for hi Res really.