Problem with Grant Fidelity Tube DAC-11

[Patrick_W]

I bought this unit used about 6 months ago and have had no issues with it since I set it up. In fact I loved the sound that came from it.

I was using it to run the sound from a Samsung TV, through the optical link, and running it into an aux input on my amplifier. I also ran a USB to hook up to my laptop if I wanted to listen to flac files from my collection.

Everything was working great and then it wasn't. So now I have tested all inputs and outputs. It has 2 Analog Inputs (A & B), and 3 Digital inputs: USB, Optical, and SPDIF. It also has 3 Outputs LINE OUT, TUBE OUT, and DAC OUT.

Analog IN A and B work fine and the LINE OUT and TUBE OUT work fine. However The USB IN and the optical IN do not work. Nothing. Not static or anything. And I get no signal from DAC OUT

Essentially it appears the actual DAC does not seem to work.

I popped it open hoping perhaps I could see something was obviously amiss, but no, nothing.

Is it possible to repair this unit? Or is it a situation where the cost would be greater than the cost of a new unit. Also it appears the Grant Fidelity site is down as I went to look for info there.

Does anyone have experience with this issue or repair?

Thanks!

 

[abpeep]

I had the same problem with mine. I contacted Grant Fidelity and they no longer provide in-house support. The gentleman who ran it died several years ago and they are now - if his wife has been able to keep it viable - just a reseller, it seems. You can still get to their site http://shop.grantfidelity.com/ but their contact page gives you an error message.

I have someone who is looking at mine - I don't know when he'll get to it, though - he''s a busy man. The local shops that I talked to did not seem too enthusiastic about working on it.

I suspect it is a problem on the output side of the DAC - if you looked at the playback devices while trying to use it, there were dancing meters in Windows. This would seem to show that the DAC is working.

If I hear anything soon I will post it here.

 

[Patrick_W]

Thanks. Yesterday when I posted the site for Grant Fidelity was down so it seemed even more ominous. They appear to have fixed the site.

I have one shop that I am going to try to here in NYC that is definitely more electronics based than pure audio, but they do also do audio repairs. I am hopeful that they can be of assistance. I will update if anything comes of that.

It is disappointing to have lost it, because I love the sound I get out of the Grant Fidelity DAC. I guess I have to look at a Maverick now for a reasonable tube DAC. I really like the warmth the tubes add.

 

[elnaldo]

Does your computer see the DAC, or no devices detected on the USB port?

I've fixed recently (this week) my Maverick D1 (Perhaps similar to the Grant Fidelity), the tenor 7023 usb chip was shot. The replacement was the Bravo SA9023A.

 

[fredgarvin]

You could just buy another one. No longer badged as Grant Fid. but essentially the same Chinese units- http://www.ebay.com/itm/XiangSheng-...078440?hash=item41a602d7e8:g:JJIAAOSwoudW3jqD

and upgraded models now- http://www.ebay.com/itm/XiangSheng-...-Headphone-Amplifier-24bit192K-/272160501317?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/XiangSheng-...d=272160501317&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

 

[Patrick_W]

Interesting. I did not know that unbadged versions were available. Or rather, I was unaware that Xiang Sheng were the same as Grant Fidelity. Thanks for the tip.

Alas, it is too late for me to act on that. I found a tech that I trust and last week they told me I need a chip replacement.

Does your computer see the DAC, or no devices detected on the USB port?

I've fixed recently (this week) my Maverick D1 (Perhaps similar to the Grant Fidelity), the tenor 7023 usb chip was shot. The replacement was the Bravo SA9023A.

My computer could see the DAC, so that was not the issue. I will ask the tech which chip went bad and post when I find out.

Thanks for the responses!

 

[fredgarvin]

Interesting. I did not know that unbadged versions were available. Or rather, I was unaware that Xiang Sheng were the same as Grant Fidelity. Thanks for the tip.

Alas, it is too late for me to act on that. I found a tech that I trust and last week they told me I need a chip replacement.



My computer could see the DAC, so that was not the issue. I will ask the tech which chip went bad and post when I find out.

Thanks for the responses!

I'm glad you found the culprit.

 

[lbcgav]

FYI, Yulong made the Tubedac-11. The XiangSheng model linked above is actually a Tubedac-9, which, as I understand it, is not as good as the Yulong made Tubedac 11.

 

[fordiebianco]

Hi,

interesting to see this crop up: My XiangSheng DAC-01A (the one with the upgraded XMOS chip) has now succumbed to the same fate after only 8 months. Unfortunately my attempts to contact XiangSheng to request repair have so far been unsuccessful. This is a shame, as I actually quite liked the sound from the unit.

 

[Patrick_W]

Indeed! I love the sound of this DAC. It adds a very warm and natural sound to all my digital sources: TV, computer running flacs, & CD. I am still waiting for my repair shop to get back to me with the repair estimate. They were having trouble procuring the right chip.

 

[fordiebianco]

Hi,

XiangSHeng has now responded and I'll send the unit in. See what's wrong with it.

 

[Rockyhill]

The TubeDAC-11 is far superior to the -09, having had both and still have the -11. As a matter of fact I put it into service yesterday. A little scratchiness in the volume pot. Need to go in with Deoxit if just using it for a while doesn't clear that.

 

[motorstereo]

^^^^^^^My DAC-11 also had the scratchy volume pot pretty much from day one. I never sprayed it out as a quick zip of the knob would fix it till the next time. The only other problem I had was uneven feet from brand new. Sadly it's been shelved and has been a dust collector for about a year now since my Mac D100 arrived.

 

[Patrick_W]

I finally got my unit back. The tech did say that the chips that needed to be replaced had to be shipped from China which took so long. In the end, I am very happy. I love the sound of this unit.

 

[njcanuck]

Glad to hear that you are back in business! Can you provide any information on which chip(s) were replaced?

 

[Tolik]

I finally got my unit back. The tech did say that the chips that needed to be replaced had to be shipped from China which took so long. In the end, I am very happy. I love the sound of this unit.

Hello! I just ran into the same problem you described. Everything that is DAC related just stopped working while analog lines do work.

Were you able to solve the issue? Please let me know. Just like you, I love this DAC and would love to revive it back to life.

 

[Patrick_W]

I was able to get the chip replaced. I do not know enough about the circuit to tell you which chip, and I do not have my receipt to tell you.

However, I can tell you it has been working flawlessly since it was repaired. If you have a tech you trust it should be easy enough for them to replace. I wish I could provide more details.

 

[bharry]

Add me to the list, mine just did the same thing. Ugh, this is a terrible time for this to happen, oh well, nothing I can do about it right now. Tolik, if you find a fix let us know and I'll do the same.