Fosi Audio DS1 can it be opened and repaired ? I have soldering station just need giudance.

[Earwax]

Hello thank you for the interest.

My DS1 Dac crapped out on me after 2 months, now only 1 channel with very low volume and much distortion.

The other channel is dead silent.

Is this something I can repair with parts and is the teardown of the body easy enough ?

I have a small vice and proper powered Weller Solder station.

 

[Somafunk]

I doubt it, the internal board will not have any parts that you could individually desolder/replace.

Where are you in the world?, I’ll be listing my Aful Snowy Night dac/amp on the classifieds for sale in the UK @ £45

Edit : ignore above, I see from other Fosi thread that you are in Canada

 

[Earwax]

DS1

 

[mcdn]

If you're in Canada then surely you just ask for a replacement under your general consumer rights? Leaving aside actual abuse by the user, devices such as these really only fail due to some defect in manufacturing. Faulty solder joints, out-of-spec parts, these things can all happen just by chance and should lead to a simple replacement if it's inside the normal expected life of the product. So unless you've dropped it, drowned it, or otherwise abused it I'd start there first.

If that's not possible, then with those SMD parts the best bet is to see if anything has exploded and replace it very carefully, and/or try some DIY reflow, but that will be tricky because of it being double sided.

 

[JeffS7444]

Before tampering with it, I'd inquire whether it was covered by manufacturer's warranty.

It can likely be repaired, but it will require skills and tools for working with tiny SMD devices, not your average hobbyist-grade stuff.

 

[Earwax]

It`s covered only had it 2 months, just looking ahead not sure how Fosi handles obvious defective items...

 

[mcdn]

Where did you buy it from? Have you tried contacting them? Some items are bound to have faults, it’s not a big deal so long as the retailer and manufacturer fulfil their obligations.

 

[Earwax]

Just had a second DS1 die on me in less than 8 hours on off use.
Not impressed with Fosi audio seen many reviews showing there amps failing during review test.
Guess I'll wait and see if the replacement actually shows up.

 

[mcdn]

Could be an issue with your setup. Bad USB cable or port?

 

[Earwax]

Could be an issue with your setup. Bad USB cable or port?

I tried multiple usb cables on both my cellphone and pc.

It is fried same exact symptoms as the 2nd DS1 that could be just coincidence time will tell when warranty one arrives.

The 2nd one I bought was having issues being consistent as you could hear the music degrading ever so slightly so fast meaning very short time that you question if you heard it correctly.

It happened guessing around 10 times before it died so the 2nd was most likely a lemon in the batch the 1st DS1 was perfect purity until it just died no warnings.

 

[AnalogSteph]

The 2nd one I bought was having issues being consistent as you could hear the music degrading ever so slightly so fast meaning very short time that you question if you heard it correctly.

Sounds like a failing power supply rail. Bad DC/DC regulator or poor soldering in that area. I'd definitely go after power, starting at the USB jack.

 

[Earwax]

The warranty DS1 arrived.



So far it's same temp as the original one I purchased.



No hints of distortion it's clean, I'm honestly not wanting to use it in fear of another failure

[ meltdown ].



But time will be the judge of it's build quality & quality control ( testing of all circuit parts before assembly )...



I'll keep using it on a regular basis and report back if it fails.

 

[Michou]

I also had a Fosi DS1 that gave up on me after just a week. The balanced 4.4mm output suddenly decided it had had enough—producing only a faint, ghostly whisper—while the 3.5mm single-ended jack kept soldiering on. Amazon (Germany), to their credit, refunded me in full without a single question. Fosi later reached out and offered me a discounted replacement, which was a nice gesture—but I passed. I'm already perfectly content (maybe even overwhelmed) with my current toy chest: the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro, Earfun EA100 aka Shanling UA2 Plus, Hidizs DH80S, HiBy FC3, and the Fiio BTR7. At this point, one more dongle would just be a cry for help.