What DAC?

[bjackson]

What DAC is inside the SB2? I know it's a Burr-Brown, but what model?

Is it neccisary to buy an external DAC, as BB Dac's are usually regarded as quite good, but I have never heard of the opamp behind it.

Also what is the headphone section like? I am sure that it is not up to audiophile standards (I have Grado 325i's), but just wondering.

[Vinnie R.]

What DAC is inside the SB2? I know it's a Burr-Brown, but what model?

Is it neccisary to buy an external DAC, as BB Dac's are usually regarded as quite good, but I have never heard of the opamp behind it.

Also what is the headphone section like? I am sure that it is not up to audiophile standards (I have Grado 325i's), but just wondering.

Hi bjackson,

The SB2 uses the Burr Brown PCM1748E. There are other BB DACs that I've heard with better specs, but in my experience, the PCM1748E, PCM1751, and PCM1753 sound fantastic when you take their voltage outputs directly to the output jacks via a good coupling cap. Not all dac chips output a voltage....most output a current, which then needs to be converted to a voltage for the output (usually by using an opamp).

The stock SB2 sends the output of the PCM1748E to an opamp (NJM2041M...nothing fancy), and there are a couple of caps and resistors in the signal path as well, and then to the output jacks. Unless you need the 6Vpp output or are driving a load less than 5k (both situations not that common), I don't believe it is needed and I find it to muck up the sound quite a bit....taking away from how good the PCM1748E really sounds. This is why I bypass the output stage in my mods, as mentioned here: http://www.redwineaudio.com/SB2_Mods.html

I never tried the headphone output...

Regards,

Vinnie