GALA DAC - New Product, Coming Soon

[pos]

@orchardaudio, where are you at with this DAC?

 

[orchardaudio]

@orchardaudio, where are you at with this DAC?

I am still waiting for units to be properly manufactured. I went away from my original manufacturer and send it to a different one.

I will make a decision on what to do once I receive the new boards, in the next two weeks.

I am very unhappy with the way this thing turned out. I basically got completely screwed by a manufacturer I trusted for years.

Anyway the project is not dead, please stay tuned.

 

[svart-hvitt]

I am still waiting for units to be properly manufactured. I went away from my original manufacturer and send it to a different one.

I will make a decision on what to do once I receive the new boards, in the next two weeks.

I am very unhappy with the way this thing turned out. I basically got completely screwed by a manufacturer I trusted for years.

Anyway the project us not dead, please stay tuned.

Curious: Screwed by local manufacturer or off-shore?

 

[orchardaudio]

Curious: Screwed by local manufacturer or off-shore?

They are in Texas.

 

[svart-hvitt]

They are in Texas.

You better call @dallasjustice !

 

[Veri]

I am still waiting for units to be properly manufactured. I went away from my original manufacturer and send it to a different one.

I will make a decision on what to do once I receive the new boards, in the next two weeks.

I am very unhappy with the way this thing turned out. I basically got completely screwed by a manufacturer I trusted for years.

Anyway the project is not dead, please stay tuned.

That is quite sad to hear

 

[tomelex]

I don't get the patronizing tone here, it is uncalled for IMHO

@orchardaudio, an interesting alternative (or addition!) to the volume pot would be a 4 positions selector with adjusted (and precise) resistors corresponding to known digital attenuation and maximum output levels, eg +4.2dBu (2dBV, 1.26Vrms), +8.2dBu (6dBV, 2Vrms),+12.2dBu (10dBV, 3.16Vrms), +16.2dBu (14dBV, 5Vrms)
That is what I intended to replace the pot with when I was considering your DAC.

Watchnerd is doing a service here for free, and he is right, and asking factual questions is not a bad thing. I believe free professional advice by him or any of us on this site is valuable and what makes this place great. I do understand you are interested in the product, but for GALA to do well, they need to do well in marketing as well, not just engineering.

It is hard to differentiate in products.

When all you can do is bling them and they really are not better then you can go to Why Believe Facts forum and hear about air, blacker blacks, a whole 'nother level, a veil was lifted, etc, just romance and talk because that is all that's left when a certain level of performance is reached in any product. Look at watches, none of the fancy ones try to compete on accuracy (which by almost all standards should be the "mundane and fundamental" purpose of a watch.

I don't even bother caring about accuracy from any major watch maker, its all about looks and style. This happens in audio too. And for some, about bragging rights and economic status.

 

[pos]

@tomelex, my point was that 5Vrms is a perfectly adequate target for a balanced DAC, and even on the low side compared to many professional devices out there.

 

[CaptObvious]

@orchardaudio be strong, quality is only achieved through perseverance.

 

[rajapruk]

Is it TI reference design inside this dac?

 

[orchardaudio]

Is it TI reference design inside this dac?

No. I use my own proprietary filtering topology. Same goes for the ApplePi DAC.

 

[pos]

@orchardaudio, at some point to published different measurements for a 128fs MCLK version and a 256fs MCLK version.
The 256fs version had lower distortion but what looked like a higher noise floor.
Did you figure out what was going on, and what MCLK will you favor in the final implementation?

 

[orchardaudio]

I cant say anything until I get the new boards. I think all measurements up to this point are suspect, due to the manufacturing issues.

 

[orchardaudio]

Apple recently came after me for the ApplePi trademark, so I have been completely diverted by my efforts. I will be providing information soon.

 

[rajapruk]

Apple recently came after me for the ApplePi trademark, so I have been completely diverted by my efforts. I will be providing information soon.

How do you like them Apples?

 

[restorer-john]

Apple recently came after me for the ApplePi trademark, so I have been completely diverted by my efforts. I will be providing information soon.

Another good reason for me to never buy another Apple product. Please keep us informed. You may need a fighting fund...

 

[March Audio]

Another good reason for me to never buy another Apple product. Please keep us informed. You may need a fighting fund...

Ditto

 

[HammerSandwich]

Apple recently came after me for the ApplePi trademark...

Rename it to the "Sosumi DAC."

 

[restorer-john]

Rename it to the "Sosumi DAC."

Quite the comedian aren't you?

 

[orchardaudio]

Due to the situation I mentioned above I basically had to put GALA on the back-burner to create the PecanPi.
It is the next generation Rpi DAC. In the process I also made a bunch of improvements, see thread in link below.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...eneration-raspberry-pi-dac-and-streamer.6952/

As soon as I get all of the PecanPi preorders setup on my site, I will get back to working on GALA.