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OK, enough time walking down memory lane. Back to the question of using output/buffer stages with CS4328. All that has been written above is correct and I agree. What I want to add is some real world experience gained in my listening room and reports from X-DAC 3.0 users in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
Like everything in engineering its a trade-off. By-passing the output buffer stage yields maximum transparancy and the finest level of musical detail. The down side is a reduction in bass slam and overall dynamics. A good buffer amp with great power supplies gets you almost all the way there as far as transparancy and resolution of musical details while bringing to the party a fuller measure of bass slam and both micro & macro dynamics.
The results described above are system dependent. If you have an easy to drive device following CS4328 (i.e. high-Z preamp + low cap cables) the negative effects of doing without the buffer amp will be largely elimanated. On the other hand if you want to drive 10 meters of cable into a passive attenuator 'ya better keep that buffer onboard. Put another way CS4328+buffer is a more universal solution while CS4328 naked needs careful system matching to do its best.
FYI my favored buffer for this application is the AD811 curent feedback video op-amp. Tons of bandwidth, low enough noise and as its designed to drive double terminated 75 ohm video lines it barely notices audio loads.
I'll finish up with a couple more hints on tweaking CS4328s. This device will work fine with very simple low cost supporting circuits. However it will respond to every improvment in its surroundings rewarding you with more and more music. As always in hi-fi there is no such thing as too good a power supply system. Get those power supply by-pass caps off pins 2, 5, & 16 replaced with Black-Gates, OS-CONs, or low Z Panasonics ASAP. Careful regulator upgrades will be richly rewarded. Also note pin 28 VREF. The caps off this pin bypass the voltage reference the DAC is using and have a very audible effect. Again low Z types are called for. I liked 0.1uF COG ceramic + 10uF BG. Also heard good resuls using audio quality plastic film types (MITs were favored back then) if they can be made to fit. Try and keep the ground side of the VREF by-pass caps terminated near the CS4328's pin 1 to keep your ground current loops as small as possible. On the X-DAC 3.0 Signature version I soldered the caps leads on the bottom of the PCB directly on the pads for pins 1 & 28. |
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