Your Thoughts on the ROHM Semiconductor Dac Chip

I have a Cayin DAP that uses two of these Dac chips.

Anyone else here with any experience with the BD34301EKV Dac chips?

https://micro.rohm.com/en/mus-ic/

I’ve read nice things about the ROHM DAC IC for a while now but have not looked closely at its architecture nor auditioned a DAC that utilizes it.  Previously I knew of its use only in a top Luxman DAC and a $400 DAC from SMSL. And now you mention a Cayin portable player.  How does it sound to you?

VMV D2R is another DAC device based on ROHM chip. It is not much known, but user reviews are positive.

17 hours ago, Ozeki said:

I have a Cayin DAP that uses two of these Dac chips.

 

Anyone else here with any experience with the BD34301EKV Dac chips?

 

 

https://micro.rohm.com/en/mus-ic/

Yeah, I have SMSL D300 with that one. But the DAC is bricked now thanks to unsuccessful firmware update.

One of the good sides is that it is always bit-perfect with DSD. With PCM inputs it is a lot like Cirrus Logic chips. Essentially looks like a DAC running at DSD128 out of simple modulator.

4 minutes ago, Miska said:

Yeah, I have SMSL D300 with that one. But the DAC is bricked now thanks to unsuccessful firmware update.

Is this a ding on the Dac chip or SMSL and their software?

Did it brick because of the Dac chip?

11 minutes ago, Ozeki said:

Is this a ding on the Dac chip or SMSL and their software?

 

Did it brick because of the Dac chip?

No, the firmware update concerns the control firmware in DAC that deals with the DAC chips configurations, display, menu system, front panel buttons, etc. I followed the not-so-simple update procedure carefully, but for some reason the DAC doesn't wake up anymore. I can flast the firmware again and again as much as I want, but the DAC remains dead black afterwards.

Overall, from performance perspective, DAC chip makes up roughly 50% of what you'd consider a "DAC" from whole device perspective. From amount of total electronics perspective it's much less. Although it is difficult to give an exact figure, because you can spoil anything to 100% with a small simple mistake. But you cannot exceed performance of the DAC chip no matter what you do around it.

I have this DAP Cayin N8ii 

Here are some comparisons between the N8ii and two other top-tier DAPs by EarFidelity. My own impressions are roughly the same, except I would put a heavy emphasis on the ROHM being able to portray the emotion of music. While listening on my Focal ClearMG's I can easily forget the hardware and get pulled into the music....the emotion, rhythm, soul of it.

Fiio M17
While listening to electronic music, both DAPs are doing exceptional, offering a truly high-end sound performance. However, the moment a natural instrument or vocals get into the mix, the N8ii takes a huge lead immediately. The way it reproduces everything natural is so true and magical, that the M17 sounds quite ordinary in comparison. 
While I would call the Fiio flagship a big armored truck, the new Cayin N8ii is a Rolls Royce – I can get to my destination in both, but I’d much rather go with the Rollce, open a bottle of fine Scotch and simply enjoy the ride like there was no tomorrow. 

Cayin N6ii (R01)

The difference is way bigger than I expected. The R01 N6ii sounds slow and lacking in definition in comparison to its new brother. The N8ii offers a much higher sense of realism to the sound, mainly due to its better dynamic range, excellent control over the bass, and separation and detail that are in a completely different league. 
I would say that the biggest problem of the R01 is its bass response, which is a bit sloppy and slow, while the N8ii sounds powerful and perfectly controlled. The vocal representation feels somewhat similar at first, but after a few seconds, you’ll start to hear that the R01 is veiled and slightly too thick in comparison. The N8ii sounds like a TOTL R2R DAC, even though it’s a Delta-Sigma construction. Actually, it sounds more R2R than the R01, which is quite ridiculous.

On 8/15/2024 at 3:57 PM, Superdad said:

Previously I knew of its use only in a top Luxman DAC

I also have this Luxman Dac on order which is set to debut in October. A testament to the sound of the ROHM chip...like the Cayin DAP, this Dac uses two ROHM chips in mono mode.