Anyone has an opinion on AD1862 based units?

They were one of the module DACs for the aforementioned Counterpoint DA-10 (see the audio-database link in that post).
The 1862 are possibly the most sought-after DAC on DIY forums like DIYHiFi*, many claim even superior to TDA1541A (double crown)**. The were rare and $$ (on ebay) for years. Recently, the Chinese seem to have acquired a huge stash of vintage R2R dac ICs, and at pretty reasonable prices.
diyinhk.com has AD1862 kits for $99USD "The sound from this DAC is unique, sweet, clear and full of detail that the newest cutting edge delta sigma DAC can never produce." [alas, Non-oversampling!!]

I already noted the Philips TDA1545A and similar TDA1387 earlier in this thread. Dirt chip for raw chips.
Not sure how/where the Chinese acquired these vintage parts. But from some of the conversations on the DIY forums, the inventory (authentic or not; high-grade or not ) is quite sizable.

* Often, a PMD100 + 2x AD1862 set is modded into Philips/Marantz CDPs like the CD-80 (replacing their stock SAA7220+TDA1541A).
** The most $$ D/A Stereophile ever reviewed was the Zanden DAC [Nov. 2006; $15,470 ],  a non-oversampling D/A that uses vintage Philips TDA1541A "double crown,".

It's nice to see that this thread is coming back on topic. (Not that I played any part in the OT    )

One point that I'd like to reiterate is that when we're talking about vintage dacs. Unless we find one that's already been modded, that's what it's gonna need: modification.

A vintage dac is a safer bet than a vintage player; there's no transport mech to die on you. But, at the very least there will be some components (mostly capacitors) that will be beyond their useful working life. Anyone who's handy with de-soldering and re-soldering could replace, and maybe upgrade these. You'll then have a dac that's at least as good as new and give you some serious performance per pound.

But the other issue is the implementation. I think that most of us here believe that a R2R chip is the root to the best sound. We buy a vintage dac to get this sound in a cost effective manner. But the issue is that most of these dacs were made in a time when digital was less well understood; some popular and famous dacs had some serious design flaws, predominantly because of then unknown phenomenon. NOS/OS is the most well known (and disputed) of these. But there are other examples that are (today) undisputedly recognised as fundamental design flaws, that are usually manufacturer specific. In many cases these flaws are easily rectified, taking the dac on to another level.

Of course, if you're buying ready modified, you're gonna have to make sure that you're not buying somebody else's failed experiment. So you should buy from someone who knows what they're doing. Or get your vintage dac first, and find someone reputable to mod it for you, unless you can do it yourself.

So, sourcing a good vintage R2R dac (for a good price) is just the first part. But with the right mods it can become a real bargain.
It makes me shudder to think of how many great dacs have ended up in the trash, just because someone thought that it was too old!

Tomorrow I will receive r2r . Four Burr-Brown PCM 63P-K 20 bit,push-pull for each channel.Lets see how it goes.

brand/model ?

Parasound hd 1600

The one that was for Sale in North Europ (I don't remember where precisely) ? 


THis one ? http://www.finn.no/finn/torget/annonse?finnkode=61874898&searchclickthrough=true