The remarkable story of the € 24 DAC 

I have this DAC and I was shocked by the quality of the sound. I thought maybe my ears were bad, so thanks for taking the time to confirm that I'm not a total failure as an audiophile.

I've seen several online reviews and chart measurements from this DAC, but you're the first I've seen to explain WHY it behaves the way it does and to offer a possible solution! You're the man!

I really liked this review, analysis and tear down because it tied together objective measurements, with subjective listening to the hardware design error. Then you did a before and after comparison of the original to the modified hardware, again with measurements. This is how it should be done!

"It's a jungle out there" Love this warning. Many thank Hans!

Good review! Always nice to see what's in the box and whether it works in your setups. I would not buy one, but your measurements and ears says it all. It is a gamble sometimes that you have to take and experience it yourself ...

Uncle Hans... Thanks for covering this. I have this dac to connect between several amps and dacs I got to clean up the system (taking rca to coax) .... It made my humble system to a top notch hifi system that punches waaaaaay above its weight and price point with these dacs.

Thanks Hans, great review! In Germany, that DAC it's distributed under the name of Dynavox Mini-DAC. The circuit board has a different layout, but it's also based on the MS8416T. It hasn't that big capacitor, but also the same "mute"transistors - it sounds astonishingly good!

Thank you for making this, many people just can't afford or don't want to pay past $50 USD for a Dac so this will surely help some on the fence of whether or not they will or should upgrade from whatever internal dac they are using to this one or if they should save.

I had one Proster dac that’s already out of production that brings amazing clean mass and weight to the output sound from my cd source. The latest iteration of the dac model though sounds bad like it’s made in a totally different design and from a different manufacturer (which most likely is the case). These cheap chifi devices from China brings some rare surprises among mostly disappointments, that when you find one, it feels weirdly satisfying.

Have one since years, working perfectly.

I had one of these in my TV setup (different branding, identical unit) for years and honestly had no complaints. About a year ago I switched from this to a Topping E30, mainly because I wanted to be able to integrate volume control on a single remote with the Amazon Fire remote, but honestly the Topping was only marginally better than the cheap Amazon DAC.

I've had few of these over the years and they all sound surprisingly OK, especially for the money. Very informative video and thanks for no "elevator" music. Cheers

Nice work, Hans. I currently have no DAC, and this one was very tempting, at $12 so I bought one. You are so right, I verified the scope waveforms. There is bad clipping on the negative peaks, causing several % distortion on peaks. The fact that it is on negative peaks means that it causes the less objectionable 2nd harmonic distortions. But several % distortion is unacceptable. Your fix works great, thanks! As a 45 year EE I'm usually the one who finds and fixes other designs. It is a delight to have someone else do the hard work. Thanks!

A couple of years ago I purchased a similarly priced Techole DAC from Amazon. It was highly reviewed but I was sceptical. It was for use with my TV to feed my Beolab 8000 speakers. At the time my music was covered by the Allo Digital streamer/dac. The cheapo unit was very pleasant to listen to. Music from the TV sounded good and compared well with the Allo Digital unit. When I used the Techole DAC for music it was again pretty good. The main difference was in detail and a less solid stereo image. Instruments were rather smeared together, but a difference in degree, not absolutely bad. I just opened the thing up to look at how it was made as it looked like it might be similar to yours, albeit with a different case style. It was different. Very neat, all SMD components and very cleanly laid out. It looks like the thing uses similar DAC and i2s converter but power seems quite different. If I did not have the Allo Digital or the current Cambridge CXN V2 I'd be entirely happy to have this unit in my system. It sounds pleasant, not harsh, audible distortion - no. It seems to me that these little units are a somewhat hidden gem. I'm happy to have purchased the more costly units but the little Techole 192Khz dac works well.

Thanks! I learned enough to understand that I have no business poking around stuff.

Yes this! I have this for my PC to convert toslink to headphone and I have to say it sounded great but I thought maybe it’s just me. I couldn’t believe how wonderful it sounded

Very interesting video. Thank you!

Excellent video , thanks for bringing this to our attention , liked and subbed .

I've been using this thing to drive a headphone amp in my recording rig for a few years now. It was $10 on Amazon. Might as well put the spdif out to use, right? Always works fine.

Great revieu! Thanks Hope to see you at the AES on 7 May talking of my True Phanton®

Very nice video! 🙂

Excellent.

Interesting! Thanks!

After watching the video i hoped on the local auction site and got Prozor branded one for ~10usd after opening it up the inside looked exactly the same so i did the mod which was super easy. It definitely sounds better than my pc build in dac. Thanks so much very cool

Very timely video. I was just gifted one of these DACs from a friend who ended up with two of them as the result of a shipping error. I promptly made the changes as suggested as well as adding a new higher grade electrolytic capacitor in place of the one included. (I just happened to have one that would work.) Once my friend returns from his winter hibernation in a warmer climate, I plan to do an A/B comparison. Very curious to see what, if any, differences I end up hearing. It should be noted I don’t listen to digital sources often, as I’m a analog person. But I’m always willing to try!

I got a DAC board of amazon using the same CS 4344 DAC chip, I resumed the transistor looking things on the output side were an amplification stage and just by passed them with polypropylene film caps ( with cap+resistor to remove above audible frequencies), and the thigs sound dam good.

Fixing a dac, now that was amazing!

Very interesting. Thank you

I picked up the same looking DAC from Canada Computers last night, $20CAD branded ICAN. Circuit board looked 99% identical, so I did the same mod. I dont have Audiophile ears but sounds good to me! Now my 1989 Kenwood can play digital!

"and on that bombshell..." haha love it!

Hello Hans, thanks for this interesting video, but in your setup 1 I don't understand how you could connected the USB "clean" output of the Allo USBridge streamer - as shown in the video - to the Coax (or Toslink ?) input of the tested DAC (except if you used in addition the optional Allo DigiOne card with Coax output but it was not represented so).

in 2019, I had purchased the Prozor model of this DAC for Amazon for $13 USD. While watching the video I popped the cover and the parts layout and model were virtually identical. The most visible chip was a Cirrus Logic 8416, while the one in the video was a brand I didn't recognize but was also an 8416. My hunch is the same part from a different manufacturer.

As a man in his fifties, I find it incredible we can now purchase a €24 DAC that has a reasonable sound. I remember DAC in the 80's and 90's.

i have done of these and it really is cool. from tv to studio monitors in my bedroom. sound is 💯

Als je het scope plaatje kunt toelichten . Wat is de scale op de y-as en wat is time base. Ik heb gekeken bij 100Hz en Vpp 1.85V. Op die levels hoor ik de storing ook.

Hallo Hans. Ik heb ook zo'n merchannice DAC. Ander doosje maar outline van de DAC-buitenkant lijkt hetzelfde zijn gezien plaatsing van de stekkers in/out. Hoewel ik het geluid CD-line (Sony-line vs optoCD-naar DAC eerst verfissend vond hoor ik bij sommige CD's een storing bij stille passages. BV David Sylvian in mijn geval. Andere relatief rustige CD's hoor ik geen afwijking. Ik heb met een Test-CD 1000Hz op een scope gezet maar ik zie geen vervorming tussen testsignaal (signaal generator). CD via Line(kabel uit de CD op DC-in of CD->optisch naar DAC en dan de DAC naar scope, Ik heb gekeken bij 1000Hz.

Hope you fell better....looking at Amazon I found Prozor make those with Volume control, remote and other brand have bass control and volume...wonder if they make the 320khz

Very nice !!

That's really neat, although the risk of nasty clicks and pops whenever my playlist switches tracks with different sampling frequencies, I don't or need to risk it. Did make me curious though. What did you use as power supply and in your opinion how much does it matter if you use a proper regulated 5v supply of an off-the-shelf left-over some other device for sound quality? In short, same sound quality as long as it's 5V DC?

Would be great if a part number for the correct 3.3V MOSFETs is known. Thump muting is a very desirable feature as I hate blown tweeters.

The powersupply is critical. You get virtually no background noise, or a lot of background noise depending on the powersupply you give this device.

A little off topic but I’ve been looking at getting that sub. Why do you like the t5

here the other day one of my neighbours was dumping this as rubbish, and I noticed it and bring it up… 👍 😊 thanks for the measurement

I have a general question about DACs I hope you can help me with. I've heard that new AD/DA Converters are "better" than old ones. Yet, I've read and heard dozens of times that the "Nyquist theorem proves there is one and only one way to draw a band-limited continuous signal through a set of samples." This requires that the Sample Rate is at least twice the highest audio frequency. Accordingly, one should be able to "perfectly" reconstruct the analog signal that was captured using a DAC with that specification, whether it's brand new or 20 years old. I know there are things like newer/better Preamps, etc. that will affect how the processed signal ultimately sounds. But, according to the Math, the recorded digital signal should be perfect. If that's not correct, could you please explain. Thanks

Hey this sounds interesting, can we buy this through Amazon USA ? Thank you for the great review .

Funny. Just ordered it with headphone and toslink out only, have not tested it yet.

I hope you notified the manufacturer of this issue. That way they can switch the FET and there will be a solid budget solution.

Great video, it is a jungle out there

Has anyone identified with certainty the equivalent (rebranded) DAC on Amazon? So many look similar, but not much info on internal components.

Amazing vid as I have one on order. Did you just bend the FETS or remove them entirely? Thanks.

Highly interesting. My Prozor DAC with a very similar board has a different mute fet setup. The unit is based on the same MS8416T as yours, and has that huge cap. Only difference: Those 2 FETs ar located between chinch and jack connector, just below the led. On my unit, only the source is connected to earth. It's labeled 1.YC H. I wasn't able to find a data sheet, only that H might be a date Code. the "H" is on a 90 degree angle. With a little luck this FET runs on 3.3 volts, but we can't be sure. Would be awesome if it was, as this is the unit that is sold right now (end of Jan 22) by that big western online trader. //Edit// the Box it came in sais: DAC01c, maybe the c stands for mark 3 and they fixed something?

If Dan Worrall had a brother it might have been you. Interesting video thanks!

Love your German precision Hans.

I've used only PC's as a music source for about 22 years now, via so many different topolgies I've probably forgotten many of them. A couple of times circumstances have compelled seriously 'ghetto' solutions, and were that the case now I'd certainly be looking at this DAC, but to make the best of it I'd probably just keep the digital signal at the PC attenuated by at least 10dB (at the levels I listen, raising of the noise floor by that much is unnoticeable). I guess that would still run the risk of the non-music plops/clicks but I'd probably be willing to live with that.

Any chance you could test those 5 buck aliexpress dacs?

Might be a dumb question, but are there FETs out there that are rated correctly to replace the bad ones on that board (while still retaining safety measures)?

Hoi Hans, sorry ik doe het even in het Nederlands want nu kon ik het niet helemaal volgen 😬. In de video heb je het over een modificatie heb je dit verwijderd of heb je er andere componenten in de dac gesoldeerd? Verder wil ik je mijn complimenten geven Hans 👍🏻😊.

I have the "prozor" branded one from amazon, and I just opened it up. Layout looks similar but the FETs are arranged up and to the right of the rca jacks, behind the LED. Not sure if they are the correct ones, but I'll yank them out anyhow ^_~

Purchased one of these DAC the other day before seeing your video, its a Prozor brand and stripped it out to see if it was similar to yours. It uses the same chips but a neater board and soldering and the two output transistors appear correctly wired back to MS8416T chip. Compared the sound between direct CD/Amp and the PC/DAC to Amp and very pleased with the quailty of the DAC for just euro13

Just got a Prozor DAC from Amazon, it's an older model so may be the one Spade Ho has, opened it and it's a newer vsesion of Merchannice motherboard which is 1910, this is 2118. Things have moved or removed, but the ones that haven't have exactly the same name and typeface, and all the chips remain the same. One change is that the mute FETs have been moved to just behind the LED. making access much worse. Unfortunately I don't have access to equipment to see if they corrected the circuit then they did this. Best of all it was only £12.99, or 15.65 Euros

My TV doesn't have RCA output and im using old amplifier so i needed to use the optical cable and have used this exact unit but unnamed version for over 3 years and its been just perfect for me BUT the volume out is a little too low and it makes loud popping when turning off and on the TV (powering it through TV usb). Upgraded to a better one from alixpress that have volume and bass adjustment and i love it, it have an auto mute when no input sound so there is no background noise/hiss like the other one when pausing the tv. It have great bass and sound and very low noise floor.

Is there an link to Ali for this DAC?

I'm guessing this will do little to alleviate EMI/RMI problems?

Can you see the same one on Amazon US

is there on market same dac with bluetooth buit in?

hmmm.. i was getting turn on noise from a tv i had hooked up to one of these some years back, i'll have to rip that unit apart if i ever find where it got stuffed and see if it really is a fet issue in that variant. might have to find some of the proper voltages if this is the case. very interesting.

Is this product same as Fiio D03K that are available in Amazon and other online shopping media?

do these also exist with bluetooth? with decent sound quality?

I didnt quite understand what you did to „modify“ the FETs. Did you just heat up the middle pin with a solder and pry it open?

Very impressive, only problem is that you might need an expensive power supply to get this quality.

Hi Hans! How are you doing lately?

Do you have the link for the correct DAC on Amazon ?

I put one in a good case with high quality RCAs and cables and different power supply plug, capacitor changed with Nichicon audio gear, in another case a linear LT1084 power supply with a Talema toroidal transformer. I will test the fet tip. Thanks.

Does a psp charginng cable work?

This may be a dumb question from a non-electronic layman, but would there be the same problem using the 3.5 jack output?

11:47 They are probably identical. The CS4344 I2S DAC or a variant drives it. Does the FiiO D3 have the same flaw? Also, I have worked with a nice mini CS4344 board at one point in a hobby electronics project, these parts are nice.

i'm pretty sure these are AUD $15 with power supply and optical cable. i bought it for the optical cable.

One thing is for sure , you can't beat the price.

I wonder why everyone reviewing DACS doesn't hook up an oscilliscope to the analogue outputs, and measure the actual line out signal? Why push it through an amplifier and speakers, if the object is to determine whether e.g. a sine wave in digital PCM format gets converted into a sine wave line-level voltage on the outputs? Just use an oscilliscope o.o

Got the DAC this afternoon. Lifted the FET middle leg. Has played for about 1 hour now using an Old switch mode wall wart. The sound is not to my liking😔 The bass is very muddy, and the upper part of the mid range is shouty. The treble is a bit of a noise transmitter. I Will let it warm for a couple of days to see if that helps. On the plus side, it has a good perspective, and I think it does phase well. Anyway, it is a fun little toy, and almost invites to experiment with other PSU’s and electrolytes 👍 My source is ripped CDs, Volumio, Raspberry 3B, Daner amplifiers (bipolar transistors, no negative feedback) and Dali Skyline 1000 open baffle speakers with large ribbons.

Would be nice if it had a USB input.

I had three of these DACs. All three gave the same thing. A output of noise. The first one only when the optical is plugged in. The other two only when powered on. No sound, just noise.

Zeer veel plezier en kennis dank ik aan uw youtube kanaal. Maar waarom in het Engels? Het is noch door Nederlanders, noch door Engelsen slecht

I have this !

just order similar one from Amazon about 20euro with shipping! Thanks Han!

It is funny, I am coming from an electronics background, and I thought this video would be talking about a DAC chip. My first reaction was, "that is a really expensive part, I wonder what makes it good enough to warrant the price" Then I realized it was about a product and not a component, and though, "wow, that is a cheap dac!" I bet the DAC inside that thing costs less than $5. What you are really paying for is the work of the engineers and designers, and the costs that go into tooling enclosures and things like that.

Have you measured at 48k?

Every Mosfet has an integral body diode. IMO that is the reason for the distortion. Not Vgs. Cheers 👍🏻🤝🏻🇳🇱

I have to say Hans if you paid 24 EUR for that DAC someone somewhere is making a lot of money. I have bought two of those purely for the fiber optic cable that comes with them which was hard to find sold alone. I paid slightly under 4 EUR each.

Change that junk Chi Capacitor to Audio Note Standard costing 3euro and it will filter a lot better for further sound improvement....

The pinch roller on your A807 has turned into slime. Please clean that up. And when you buy a new pinch roller don't get a green one or it may happen again. Especially when it comes in contact with alcohol.

My reciever's built in DAC is good enough for me

And it's less than 10€ on taobao😅

Found for 3 euro

No, that's too cheap! You must be lying.

Sorry but as an avid follower of your channel, why spend 15 minutes telling me about a cheap Chinese DAC ,then that it has a mistake , tell me how to fix it and then finish the video by telling me that there are hundreds of versions ,this and that and that you are not responsible for any outcome. What a waste of time !