ESS Sabre Reference DAC (8-channel)

[QSerraTico_Tico]

Originally posted by Russ White
Ok, what gives?

For a month or more the datasheet has been publicly available here:

http://www.esstech.com/techsupp/ES9008_DataSheet.pdf

................
Russ

404 error!!!
not accessible!

[Russ White]

Originally posted by QSerraTico_Tico



404 error!!!
not accessible!

Exactly, up until I tried yesterday, it was available. Now its pulled? Why?

[xaudiox]

Originally posted by Russ White


I would be grateful if someone could please email me a copy.

Cheers!
Russ

here:

Datasheet: http://www.4shared.com/file/39002019...DataSheet.html
Evaluation board: http://www.4shared.com/file/39002017...IN_V3_SCH.html

[Russ White]

Originally posted by xaudiox



here:

Thanks!

[elecon]

Maybe the sudden change in what was posted as open to the public before, but became subject to confidentiality agreements later has to do with the ESS Technology company just having been acquired by a private investment company. ESS Technologies has been a publicly traded stock company, but this has come to an end.

Just take a look at these links (copy-paste each link into your browser if needed):

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...VER-URGENT.XML

http://fr.sys-con.com/read/505544.htm

http://imperiumpartners.com/

How this will affect the Sabre DAC chip is anyone's guess.

Cheers!

[hirez69]

Hi Ross,

thank you for the explanation.

I have some questions:
Is it possible to see the schematics of modification?
Why haven't you used the native Spdif input of Demo Board?
Are PCBs (Wolfons, AVCC, and Clock) custom or commercial products?
In the latter case might you indicate what they are?
How did you replaced the 40 MHz crystal osc?
Could you provide the schematic of the new analog output stage?

Thanks

[rossl]

Hi hirez69,

I don't have a schematic of the modification other than some notes on paper. I am still working on a schematic for a new circuit board.

The small add-on PCBs are things that I have designed for other projects. The Wolfson WM8804 SPDIF board is very similar to the one that Russ White has for sale at Twisted Pear. I made my own to do some things a little differently. None of my boards are for sale right now.

The SPDIF board and the Wolfson part are not absolutely necessary, but I installed it to do some testing. On the Sabre8 part, SPDIF input to the Sabre8 part requires a faster master clock rate than I2S input. The low jitter from the Wolfson part offers the opportunity to experiment with the DPLL register settings and to see if there is a sonic difference.

Before I installed the Wolfson board, I had used a 110 ohm AES/EBU cable input into the demo board comparator circuit, and also a TOSLINK TORX142L input directly into the Sabre8 part. Both sounded exactly the same and worked flawlessly.

I am still testing things at this point. I am making changes and listening to see if the changes make a difference.

Thanks, Ross

[Russ White]

Hi Ross,

I just noticed earlier in the thread you asked about PIC stuff.

Yes, I am pretty confident in my PIC programming abilities, though certainly no master.

I2C or SPI should be cake.

I will actually probably use a PIC24 type device on my board simply because I am most familiar with it, and it has built in I2C and SPI peripherals.

I will be glad to share information with you, and anyone else who is interested.

All of my projects are pretty "open".

Cheers!
Russ

[Russ White]

Dustin,

A quick question for you if I may.

What mechanism is used for volume control on this device?

It appear from the datasheet that the volume control is analog, and not done in the digital domain. Is this correct?

The reason I ask, is that noticed in the datasheet a blurb about 64 intermediate steps between .5db steps, so I am suspecting there must be some switching involved. Does this mean its an analog attenuation?

Thanks!
Russ

[Terry Demol]

Originally posted by dusfor99
Hi All,


I just talked with our distributor, and he tells me anyone should be able to get parts from him. His website is

http://www.shawelectronics.com/contact.html

Please talk to him and he can get you the parts you needs.


Thanks

Dustin

Hi Dustin,

Very impressive work.

Can you divulge what the OP impedance of each DAC is?

This is important, for example, when choosing a suitable I-V opamp
or discrete architecture as lower Z means higher effective gain,
especially in 2 ch mode where all the OP Z's will be in parallel. The
I-V 'virtual' gain can end up being significant. This will also affect
the linearity of the I-V.

Thanks,

Terry