Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Analog-to-Digital Converter

I had an issue with the limited number of input sources for my older design units eg limited to single or only two sets of inputs.

Since my DAC is in-use most of the time, I decided to invest in a Analog-to-Digital (A2D) converter for consolidating the tuner output to the DAC. 

That was the easy part ... Had to search hard before purchasing the below as I did not realise how difficult it was to locate such a unit! Most of the market was geared towards Digital to Analogue (D2A) converters. Prices for the available A2D converters were quite shocking as well.

Analog to Digital converter from PRC
Bought the above from PRC since I was buying new batteries for my laptops at the time. The unit was delivered in a nice white box with magnetic latch. Inside the box was a manual in English (surprisingly), a short pair of normal RCA cables and a multi-voltage PSU unit. The unit has two outputs (RCA & TOSLINK) on one side with the LHS-RHS RCA analogue inputs and power connector on the opposite end.

Operation is simplistic as it operates in single direction only eg A2D not D2A. 

Initial testing with the RCA digital output was disappointing - low output volume and the audio quality was mediocre. Changing to TOSLINK, the difference was like night and day! Using a normal TOSLINK cable (about $6 from PRC) and the normal RCA analogue cable provided, my ES tuner sounds as good as the previous direct connection to the amplifier. 

Hence I am now able to use the DAC as a source consolidator for the older vintage amplifier units in my collection.