Asynchronous I2S FIFO project, an ultimate weapon to fight the jitter

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NeoTheOne

Member
Joined 2020
aquater said:
Guys,

I hope I'm not off-topic - noob, please point me in the right direction otherwise-, I'm looking for some help with my own Ian Canada streamer build.
I ran into trouble just by purchasing the Ian Canada goodies and thinking I'd just slap the stack together, sandwich an RPi in between, and fire the whole bunch up... well, after all, Gabi (of Gabster channel fame, I hope I didn't butcher his name) made it look sooo easy... I'm ungratefully kidding, I'm actually very impressed by his contagious enthusiasm, simply great work!

So back to my trouble. My PurePi II may be broken...I mean I might have broken my PurePi. Right now, with no stack attached anymore, when I turn my board on (switch S2), after having allowed the batteries to fully charge (thus lit D4 and D10 leds), I immediately get a clicking sound - a relay would be my guess- and a blinking D8 led.

Stuff I've checked:
  • Ifi power supply (5V/3A) is on and connected to the USB-C connector
  • no load on the 5 power spring pins - but no measurements either, for fear of further destroying my board
  • switch S4 is on "1" - that would be off, I guess because the other side reads "on", the manual indicates this being the proper required state with batteries in
  • the D1 and D13 leds do turn on, but the D8, next to them, starts blinking, like I said - kind of the same frequency as the clicking sound
I'm at a loss at the moment, grateful for any suggestion. I'll even settle for a bad news announcement. Well, a bit less grateful, in that case, I suppose... :)
Click to expand...
Blinking D8 may mean the fuse might not be working properly. For me also the fuse blew, so i had to change that. Posting a pic for others might help as well.
 
Jaytor

Jaytor

Member
Joined 2019
Jaytor said:
Power Up Sequence

I am planning to use the following boards in my build and I understand there are some power up sequence issues with some of the boards (e.g. some boards need to be powered up before others).

Raspberry Pi 4 -> IsolatorPi II -> HDMIpi MkII

connected using HDMI cable to

ReceiverPi DDC --> StationPi SMT --> FifoPi Q7 MkII --> HdmiPi Pro II and ES9028Q2M --> OPA861

I'll also have a MonitorPi Pro.

I will have nine different power supplies and can sequence the power supplies as necessary to make sure the boards are powered up in the proper order. I understand that the IsolatorPi II needs to be powered up before the Raspberry Pi. And I seem to remember @Gabster 2000 mentioning an issue in one of his videos, but I went back and watched a few and couldn't find it.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
I finally found the mention in @Gabster 2000's YouTube videos. He found that the DAC needed to be powered up after the FifoPi.

Are there any other power sequencing issues anyone is aware of?
 
S

sbelyo

Member
Joined 2004
Spacejack said:
I am not sure by looking at the picture but I suspect one may have a problem putting a connector through this whole and even bigger disconnecting it. There is a "clip" you need to "squeeze" with a palm in order to disconnect.
Click to expand...
Everything fits, and I can easily connect and disconnect the connectors. There's room for the wires using the solder pads or the terminal block for J1.
IMG_2659.jpg
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S

sbelyo

Member
Joined 2004
Jaytor said:
I finally found the mention in @Gabster 2000's YouTube videos. He found that the DAC needed to be powered up after the FifoPi.

Are there any other power sequencing issues anyone is aware of?
Click to expand...
I was thinking about this myself today. At first I'll use only two UcPure 5V connected to a StationPi on both sides. I'm guessing I cant just use the external switch pads and turn them on at the both time?
 
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sbelyo

Member
Joined 2004
Gabster 2000 said:
@ichiban
Make sure the fifo is getting its 5 v supply and 3.3v supply and Dac is getting power as well also make sure you power the dual mono Dac before the fifo 5v.
If you are using an extension flex cable try plugging the ess controller in the fifopi directly.

If you are using ucpure as power supplies I had the similar problem and had to put a small delay on the 5v fifopi supply to power the ess 1 second later.

Also if you plug the ess controller 1 pin off the proper position you can burn it as you give it reverse polarity

Hope 1 of these solutions help you
Click to expand...
It looks like this is how @Gabster 2000 dealt with the power up sequence

I wonder if this will work

https://www.amazon.com/Qianson-Digi...sprefix=dc+power+timer+relay,garden,76&sr=1-4
 
S

Spacejack

Member
Joined 2004
I power everything on both stacks at the same time. No sequencing at all. Don't use an isolator board anymore, but when I had it in my stack, it was also powered at the same time as the of the boards. I have never experienced any issues.

One thing worth mentioning is that I have all the power supplies and trafos connected and turned on all the time (as recommended by Ian). The power up/down is performed by Slave/Master control Input/Output. The Master Input Control of the first device in chain is connected to the 5V DC power supply. Turning on/of this single power supply switches the whole chain.
 
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Jaytor

Jaytor

Member
Joined 2019
Thanks for the info. That's helpful.

I am trying to figure out how to set up my ReceiverPi DDC. I want to connect the HDMI cable between the RPi/HdmiPi stack and the ReceiverPi DDC inside the chassis. I don't have enough room to orient the StationPi front-to-back, so it seems like I have four options.

1) mount the StationPi an inch or so away for the back panel and extend the XLR connectors and HDMI (I2S) output from the HdmiPi Pro II to the backpanel.

2) make my own StationPi board with the GPIO connector for the ReceiverPi DDC mounted 90 degrees.

3) desolder the HDMI connector from the ReceiverPi DDC and hard-wire an HDMI cable to the PCB.

4) use a GPIO cable extender to connect the ReceiverPi DDC to the FifoPi Q7 which would allow me to mount the FifoPi/HDMI/DAC stack up against the backpanel while mounting the ReceiverPi DDC on its own in a convenient location.

Is there any reason why option 4 wouldn't work? This would be the simplest approach.

Thanks.
 
S

Spacejack

Member
Joined 2004
Jaytor said:
4) use a GPIO cable extender to connect the ReceiverPi DDC to the FifoPi Q7 which would allow me to mount the FifoPi/HDMI/DAC stack up against the backpanel while mounting the ReceiverPi DDC on its own in a convenient location.
Click to expand...
That is how I temporarily have them connected at the moment. I even have two extenders due to distance, and thankfully, it does not catch any interference.

If you want to use such a setup long-term, I would suggest connecting them with u.fl. cables.
On the DDC side, use those: https://iancanada.ca/products/46a-d...er-fully-finished-with-an-additional-free-pcb

On the FiFoPi Q7 use this: https://iancanada.ca/products/21b-i2s-dsd-input-adapter-for-fifopi-fully-finished

Or use two #21B GPIO input adapters, soldering/connecting relevant connectors with a very short wire.
 
C

camrector

Member
Joined 2023
@Jaytor

It was a fun winter project and I learned a lot.
Subjectively
It was the best sounding ESS dac I’ve heard……..but still an Ess.
My main dac/Streamer is the Gustard A26. After a solid month of burn in and comparison the A26 just has more refinement and better bass.
The Ian Canada has laser like detail, crisp and clean.
But the A26 just has a higher end sound.
 
A

aquater

Member
Joined 2017
NeoTheOne said:
Blinking D8 may mean the fuse might not be working properly. For me also the fuse blew, so i had to change that. Posting a pic for others might help as well.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your kind suggestion.

I've checked the F2 fuse, mine seems to still conduct. I also reread the manual on the issue, the fuse protects the 3,3V connectors, both the 5mm and the Molex. As I hadn't used either of those yet, there must be some other cause for the malfunctioning.
So no luck yet with my project, thank you for sharing your mishap and solution.
 
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