Hi I use the same. Please note that you need 99.8 % pure isopropyl alcohol and certainly no mixture with water. If you have that variant the solder joints will oxidize. A smooth brush will help and cotton tabs are nice too. Take care to avoid ESD buildup. The least you can do is to touch central heating (which is connected to PE) to drain the ESD. Read as: better than nothing.
There are also special PCB cleaning spray cans but most of the modern ones are water based for environmental reasons and of course the new lead free solders. I can not advise on that as I use lead containing solders. Bought a box with the old solvent based cans when they were on the point of being banished. Good stuff.
If you use a soft toothbrush please use a new one special for the PCB cleaning task and don't brush your teeth with it. I suddenly recall brushing my teeth with my daughters new tooth paste. I told here that I liked Paradontax better and she replied that I probably had used her new hair gel (which appeared to be true)
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Hi I use the same. Please note that you need 99.8 % pure isopropyl alcohol and certainly no mixture with water. If you have that variant the solder joints will oxidize. A smooth brush will help and cotton tabs are nice too. Take care to avoid ESD buildup. The least you can do is to touch central heating (which is connected to PE) to drain the ESD. Read as: better than nothing.
There are also special PCB cleaning spray cans but most of the modern ones are water based for environmental reasons and of course the new lead free solders. I can not advise on that as I use lead containing solders. Bought a box with the old solvent based cans when they were on the point of being banished. Good stuff.
If you use a soft toothbrush please use a new one special for the PCB cleaning task and don't brush your teeth with it. I suddenly recall brushing my teeth with my daughters new tooth paste. I told here that I liked Paradontax better and she replied that I probably had used her new hair gel (which appeared to be true)
lol too funny...but thanks for tips....appreciated.
was hoping to finish up but some how I either lost or misplaced C4 on DAC pcb...will need to wait on another order next week
oh here is something I am embarrased about - was working on one of the parts and somehow it left my tweasers and bounced off the pcb and on to the floor. i did feel it bounce off my ankle but could not find it.
After mush searching with magnifying glass ( i felt like the father in "Honey I shrunk the kids" looking for his kids in th eback yard) I decided to look in my slipper...lo and behold the tiny resister was in my slipper
So make sure you working away from the edge
BCMbob had a similar issue but did not involve slippers
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If you're in hurry to try it out, you can go over to Radio Shack and buy a 0.1uf capacitor for C4. I checked online and they have a few that could work while you're waiting for the BOM part to arrive. RS # 272-1069 is a 0.1uf 50v part that their website shows as being in stock at my local store. That's a polyester cap. They also have RS # 272-135 in stock, which is a 0.1uf 50v ceramic cap. These are both leaded parts, not SMD but they would work. They're a bit expensive at $2 - $2.49 for two caps but they do give immediate gratification.
---Gary
Hi J-P,
Yes this is it, sorry for my bad english...
I remove on a chinese DAC the spidf transformer input & in another the imput cap... incredible differences : two caps are too much you right. My squeezbox duet has already a cap with its SPDIF out ! Thank you for your answer.
I succeed my first SMD soldering yesterday with the dac & reciever chips with the good advises of this thread and the other one.
Didn't see the problems of BOM and the problem of some polarized smd caps but see it before assembling them...
. So thank you for the alert !JP, Did you finally try the SEPC/SEPF/Polymer etc ? Still prefer the electrolyt aluminium drop vs the 200 or more polymer for the DAC chip ?
Anybody here with 2 PCB tried yhe 2 solutions ?
Black Gate at C22
I note that Sonic Craft still has Black Gate STD 220uF caps available for sale. 16V. A bit pricey at $14.75 each, but worth a listen maybe -- would you agree?
I note that Sonic Craft still has Black Gate STD 220uF caps available for sale. 16V. A bit pricey at $14.75 each, but worth a listen maybe -- would you agree?
I think that the best Black Gate caps are the non-polarized N/NX. But these are now very expensive and probably not worthwhile for a low cost DAC. The standard Black Gate caps are OK but not worth a huge premium in my opinion. I'd rather use the polymer caps (Nichicon FP or Panasonic SEPC) that people have found to sound good. They are much less expensive and at least as good sounding.
As always, just my personal opinion.
---Gary
There no 100% hard correlation between price and quality when audio gear is concerned. If the V3 plays better than expensive audiophile DACs then it is fully acceptable to use more expensive parts as the total sum is still lower than buying a medium cost brand name. That is if you like to squeeze out max performance which is your full right as the DAC was low cost so damaging it does not break the bank.Or is is that a brand name just sounds better because of the ... brand name or the ... price ? We are not dumb shoppers, are we ?
In fact, most hardware is low/medium cost but the middle men and stock holders like to see large profits. IMO it is safer for a consumer to buy cheaper stuff (preferably stuff that is being distributed through a local distributor) that is produced in extreme numbers as the manufacturer does not like to do recalls when he produced 10.000 +. Enter the exclusive italian handmade DAC with wooden side panels (of which only 120 were produced) that has a PSU that dies after a year as result of a design error...do you see what I mean ?
Regarding BG: don't bother using STD. They are OK but N and NX HiQ are the better ones.
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I would be interested in some screen shots of the SPDIF with both capacitor options, as I am struggling to see how this could drastically change the sound as it is the digital input.
Jean-Paul, I have done a layout, just that paying work load has taken all my time recently, I have some changes to do, but will PM you later this week I hope.
Is the JG filter/buffer a DIY usable design? I have seen numerous good comments about this and would like to incorporate it in my layout.
Jean-Paul, I have done a layout, just that paying work load has taken all my time recently, I have some changes to do, but will PM you later this week I hope.
Is the JG filter/buffer a DIY usable design? I have seen numerous good comments about this and would like to incorporate it in my layout.
Here you go...
and very recommended... only not available anymore
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/group-buys/216669-joachim-gerhard-filter-buffer-es9022.html
and very recommended... only not available anymore
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/group-buys/216669-joachim-gerhard-filter-buffer-es9022.html
Here you go...
and very recommended... only not available anymore
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/group-buys/216669-joachim-gerhard-filter-buffer-es9022.html
Thanks & I already put my name on the waiting list. Hope There will be a new batch coming out.
Or build it out of discrete components. The circuit is pretty simple and it wouldn't be too hard to build it on a piece of perf board. If I needed to build another one, I'd use J111 in place of the MMBFJ310 and 2n5458 in place of the BF862. Both are available at Mouser in through hole packages. Buy a few extra transistors and roughly match the Idss of the 2n5458 devices and you're good to go. Note, in the figure below that R6 (240 ohms) and C2 (4.7nf) are already on the V3 DAC and R5 (40 ohms) represents the resistance of the 18mH choke and is not a separate resistor.
---Gary
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Gary,
Big thanks n I did think about building this myself. The only reason for the group buy is the size of the broard which would perfecrly fit to my small box.
Albert
Polymer or blackGate PK C21 / C22
Are there any updated opinion on what to choose for C21 and C22? I got the Nichicon FP 470uF 16v as well as the 220uF 16V for C21/C22 as well as 10uF 25V, and now I found the 220uF 4V BlackGate PK are there anyone that have tried them both, and where?
I am soon finished with the building, but just lost the 10K RN1 so have to order in a new one.
I see now that I should have bought to sets of PCB's, as any good A versus B testing and comparing with one DAC is just hopeless.
Regards Martin
Are there any updated opinion on what to choose for C21 and C22? I got the Nichicon FP 470uF 16v as well as the 220uF 16V for C21/C22 as well as 10uF 25V, and now I found the 220uF 4V BlackGate PK are there anyone that have tried them both, and where?
I am soon finished with the building, but just lost the 10K RN1 so have to order in a new one.
I see now that I should have bought to sets of PCB's, as any good A versus B testing and comparing with one DAC is just hopeless.
Regards Martin