Remember the red jumpers a while back? Don figured we can use that to add additional inputs. He managed to find a 10 pin header that fit the existing pins, and it’s time for the second iteration. In this picture you can see the Taiwan double crown. This chip sounds less warm then the other TDA1541A chip I have, but has slightly better focused imaging and has a “brighter” presentation.

The wire loom goes to a rotary switch (bottom right), where it’s a matter of selecting different inputs by simply rotating it. The beauty of this setup is it is possible to from I2S to S/PDIF without fiddling with messyjumpers, when the DAC is powered on. This is a feature other KillerDAC implementations don’t have.

The tubes are Phillips SQ which have now gone bad. Wish I can find another pair for a good price.A picture showing the rear of the KillerDAC with the additional inputs. Because this is a red book DAC, the I2S signal is simple (bit clock, left/right clock and data). I am using normal Ethernet cables for the I2S physical link and that is why you see the Neutrik Ethernet connector. I have tried a 1.5 m long Ethernet cable and the audio still plays perfectly fine. Testament to Don’s work because current wisdom is I2S cables have to be as short as possible.

So what you see are two S/PDIF inputs, 1 I2S input and finally the left/right analog outputs.And this is the current iteration of the KillerDAC today, with a nice looking bamboo fascia. The next step of the KillerDAC evolution is to remove 1 S/PDIF and replace it with a balanced I2S (that’s why you see I2S A and I2S . And Don will modify a Juli@ for me and give me balanced I2S out straight from my computer rig (bypassing USB and my digital interface).So there you have it. Hopefully a small glimpse into my system will give you a general idea how Snakeoil comes to be.

Follow The Music, Follow Snakeoil.

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