Thanks
I did check them with a magnifier - I was paranoid about this as my soldering skills are very limited - but it seems they r ok, if not pretty ! and I was careful about using pressure on the chip as I know that bending a pin will kill the chip. I'll check again though - thanks for the advice.
I think the ugly holes are working - so I'm going to fit a mesh over that area and pretty-up the chassis.
Have you had any heat or power problems ? I was concerned the kit would put a strain on the player's power supply and cause that to heat up more too...
I did check them with a magnifier - I was paranoid about this as my soldering skills are very limited - but it seems they r ok, if not pretty ! and I was careful about using pressure on the chip as I know that bending a pin will kill the chip. I'll check again though - thanks for the advice.
I think the ugly holes are working - so I'm going to fit a mesh over that area and pretty-up the chassis.
Have you had any heat or power problems ? I was concerned the kit would put a strain on the player's power supply and cause that to heat up more too...
I have had no heat related problems at all, but I am using the version 1 board. A few months after installing the board and having it work 100%, I completely rebuilt my player into a new larger case, with lots of damping, isolation, and other mods. I did not allow anything extra for air flow and have had no problems whatsoever.
Take care,
Doug
Take care,
Doug
R3 mod for DV696 kit.
Hi,
Charly was on holiday so I owe him an apology - he replied to my emails and told me about moving a resistor (R3, 3.3kohm) to improve the way the kit powers up/down and provides a reset to the AD1896.
The kit is really superb - the re-clocked and re-sampled output using the Tent labs XO and AD1896 is simply and truly excellent. I have used top-quality components throughout and I think this has paid off because I am completely satisfied.
I have tried back to back listening using the non-resampled and re-sampled outputs ( I have installed a 4pole changeover switch to facillitate an instant change of the jumper settings - with a 'thock' through the system ) and the re-sampled and re-clocked output is definitely better to my ears.
So a big big thank you to everyone involved in this and of course to Charly - a great kit !!
Thanks,
Hi,
Charly was on holiday so I owe him an apology - he replied to my emails and told me about moving a resistor (R3, 3.3kohm) to improve the way the kit powers up/down and provides a reset to the AD1896.
The kit is really superb - the re-clocked and re-sampled output using the Tent labs XO and AD1896 is simply and truly excellent. I have used top-quality components throughout and I think this has paid off because I am completely satisfied.
I have tried back to back listening using the non-resampled and re-sampled outputs ( I have installed a 4pole changeover switch to facillitate an instant change of the jumper settings - with a 'thock' through the system ) and the re-sampled and re-clocked output is definitely better to my ears.
So a big big thank you to everyone involved in this and of course to Charly - a great kit !!
Thanks,
Bricolo said:
This is one case where your little quotation about theory and practise really applies.
Actually: DSD itself in its current form is a very good way of transferring analog audio into digital form. It has one single great drawback: it requires a very high bit rate. SACD does not provide that bit rate, by far. The contortions performed to combat this problem means that the resulting maximum theoretical quality when decoding from the SACD format is no better than PCM using 16-20 bits at 88.2 kHz. The audio errors from ideal decoding of SACD are very different from the errors relative ideal, error free audio decoding of PCM, but they are not significantly better than PCM errors. Just different.
Remember: Digital audio is just data!
As long as one doesn't resample directly to a limited wordlength, PCM and DSD are contentwise equivalent, to a very high precision. Much better precision, actually, than any recording in existence has so far achieved relative to the capability of any digital medium.
So, DSD->PCM conversion does not introduce distortions that could possibly be significant, and conversion to 88.2 kHz seems a very practical quality level to aim for.
The best DSD systems in existence with unlimited bitrates, seem digitally equivalent to within about 1/2 bit at 24 bits to PCM at 24 bits and less than 192 kHz, PCM then using a proper noise shaping algorithm.
Multibit systems and single-bit systems at appropriately higher sample rates differ only in the noiseshaping properties, and noise shaping can be applied to multibit systems at the sampling stage to make the two entirely equivalent.
Having said all that: We're at the D/A stage, here, and I cannot see in what way the D/A stage could possibly involve "more stages" in one signal form than in the other. Not in any way that could be used to judge the two systems.
And, judging from my own experience of audio design, the idea that "less is better" is not very often true. At least, it cannot be used as an argument in itself. It's sort of like saying a motorbike must be better than a car since it has fewer wheels. So, then, a motor-monocycle should be even better. Go figure.
P.S. Like distortion in audio: If you want to amplify an audio signal 100x, to an output level of 1 V, 2 OPA134 stages does it with much less distortion than a single OPA134 ever could, and 3 stages, done as +5x,-5x,-4x outperforms the single stage or two stage approach in a significant way. As far as measurements go.
The single stage 134 does well enough for human ears, however, if a single amp stage is all you want.
Connection to professional equipment
Charly!
I have recive your Kit yesterday, thank you it si great!
I would like to connect your board to the profesional digital monitors (Dynaudio Air in my case). The main distinctions from consumer format are -
1. AES/EBU (AES3) digtal interface instead of S/PIDF.
2. Presence of the Word Clock synchronization.
It seems to me that it is possible to change your scheme to use the transformer after the CS8406 (TXN pin 25 connected with the 110 Ohm matching resistor and with the MUX GAL16V8 pin 14, TXP pin 26 connected with the transformer through the capacitor 0,1 mF), see the picture.
To obtain the Word Clock - you need to divide your XO DIY from Tentlabs clock frequency on the bit resolution (16,20 or 24), is it possible?
It seems to me that this changes can essentially improve the quality of the sound.
Andrey
Charly!
I have recive your Kit yesterday, thank you it si great!
I would like to connect your board to the profesional digital monitors (Dynaudio Air in my case). The main distinctions from consumer format are -
1. AES/EBU (AES3) digtal interface instead of S/PIDF.
2. Presence of the Word Clock synchronization.
It seems to me that it is possible to change your scheme to use the transformer after the CS8406 (TXN pin 25 connected with the 110 Ohm matching resistor and with the MUX GAL16V8 pin 14, TXP pin 26 connected with the transformer through the capacitor 0,1 mF), see the picture.
To obtain the Word Clock - you need to divide your XO DIY from Tentlabs clock frequency on the bit resolution (16,20 or 24), is it possible?
It seems to me that this changes can essentially improve the quality of the sound.
Andrey
Attachments
Mistake
I have read the IEC 60958-3 and IEC 60958-4 standarts. So I see there is a mistake in my phrase:
"To obtain the Word Clock - you need to divide your XO DIY from Tentlabs clock frequency on the bit resolution (16,20 or 24)."
According this standarts the Word is always the same 32 bits. See http://www.hardwarebook.info/S/PDIF.
I am sorry for mistake!
Andrey
I have read the IEC 60958-3 and IEC 60958-4 standarts. So I see there is a mistake in my phrase:
"To obtain the Word Clock - you need to divide your XO DIY from Tentlabs clock frequency on the bit resolution (16,20 or 24)."
According this standarts the Word is always the same 32 bits. See http://www.hardwarebook.info/S/PDIF.
I am sorry for mistake!
Andrey
WuzZeH said:
Hello,
if I try I get the Message:
--------------
Sorry! That user has specified that they do not wish to receive emails through this board. If you still wish to send an email to this user, please contact the administrator and they may be able to help.
--------------
So sorry, I can't
Charly
Hi Charly
thanks for the quick answer and the good news. I am interested in the extended kit with XO clock. I will send you a separate email.
By the way I am using the DCX2496 DSP board (without the frontpanel) in combination with a selfmade I/O board with 6 chanel volume control. The volume can be controled with a pot or a remote control. All this is mounted with 6 amplifier chanels in a single case.
I am using the spdif input mod from selectronic.fr. As far as I know this kit is based on your design. I was surprised about the big sound improvement after installation. I would describe it as more deep, more analog sound. I am talking now about an improvement on ordenary CD's with 16Bit/44KHz.
In the next step will try high resolution audio from SACD or DVD-Audio connected to the spdif and therfore I will order your kit.
Thanks for your great work!
Vic
thanks for the quick answer and the good news. I am interested in the extended kit with XO clock. I will send you a separate email.
By the way I am using the DCX2496 DSP board (without the frontpanel) in combination with a selfmade I/O board with 6 chanel volume control. The volume can be controled with a pot or a remote control. All this is mounted with 6 amplifier chanels in a single case.
I am using the spdif input mod from selectronic.fr. As far as I know this kit is based on your design. I was surprised about the big sound improvement after installation. I would describe it as more deep, more analog sound. I am talking now about an improvement on ordenary CD's with 16Bit/44KHz.
In the next step will try high resolution audio from SACD or DVD-Audio connected to the spdif and therfore I will order your kit.
Thanks for your great work!
Vic
Hi Charly,
thanks for the quick delivery. The board has a real good quality. I have attached a picture of the unfinished board. I used some parts that I had at home . As you can see I have used some foil capacitors instead of ceramic. If you think this is critical (ESR) I will change them. It was not easy to solder the AD1896 but I think finaly I made it. Is there a possibility to test anything before I order the DVD player?
Vic
thanks for the quick delivery. The board has a real good quality. I have attached a picture of the unfinished board. I used some parts that I had at home . As you can see I have used some foil capacitors instead of ceramic. If you think this is critical (ESR) I will change them. It was not easy to solder the AD1896 but I think finaly I made it. Is there a possibility to test anything before I order the DVD player?
Vic
Attachments
Hi Charly,
I ordered the missing components for the board and the DV-600 player from one source (Conrad) for 200,- € including shipping. So I will do the upgrade and test the board by myself. But anyway thanks for your great support!
I like the idea to have a "HighEnd" SACD and DVD-Audio source for such a low amount of money.
I will let you know about the progress.
Thanks
Vic
I ordered the missing components for the board and the DV-600 player from one source (Conrad) for 200,- € including shipping. So I will do the upgrade and test the board by myself. But anyway thanks for your great support!
I like the idea to have a "HighEnd" SACD and DVD-Audio source for such a low amount of money.
I will let you know about the progress.
Thanks
Vic
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