PCM56P Dac chip Question

ed buie

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: PCM56

I understand this is an old Dac chip. However it has been known to be produced in Japan, Korea, and Malaysia. From reading about the Dac chip it comes in 3 grades J, L, and K with K being the highest grade.

Here is my question. Would a K grade chip perform "sonically" the same no matter where it was made?

The older Japanese K grade seems to have quite a following in the DIY community however they are no longer produced, only the K grade from Malaysia are available.

over 13 years ago

0 Tom Hendrick over 13 years ago

TI__Guru**** 180771 points

Hi Ed,

Welcome to the forum! The PCM56, regardless of the assembly site, should meet all performance specifications based on the grade. All of the test sites use the same criteria and setups for testing the end product so it should not matter where the device came from.

0 ed buie over 13 years ago in reply to Tom Hendrick

Prodigy 70 points

Hi Tom,

Thank you for the reply. I thought they all should perform the same, certainly they would have to meet spec.

One other question.

I have two pcm56p chips now, one I picked up at Mouser which is made in Malaysia which is a K grade chip. The other I picked up on ebay which is printed slightly different [PCM56PK then J off in the corner] the chip says it was made in Japan but it is slightly smaller and has slightly rounded off corners. I wonder if this chip is fake?

0 Tom Hendrick over 13 years ago in reply to ed buie

TI__Guru**** 180771 points

Hi Ed,

There can be minor differences in the packaging from one site to another so its hard to say without verifying the lot trace code stamped on the part (see the top side marking page). Let us know what's there and we can try to verify the device for you.

0 ed buie over 13 years ago in reply to Tom Hendrick

Prodigy 70 points

Hi Tom,

Thanks again.

the codes are:

95 9930

G8 066

Here is a pic of the chips in question, the two at the bottom that say Japan

0 Tom Hendrick over 13 years ago

TI__Guru**** 180771 points

Hi Ed,

Actually, there are four grades of the PCM56. The one you show from Korea in the PCM56P (no-grade), the two under that are the K grade parts. It will be sometime tomorrow (earliest) before I can track down the full details of the devices in your picture, so I'll let you know what we find out as soon as I can.