I had the close impression too
but it was really short session...
*
I was tryed the juat one stereo ballanced dac out,
dac1,1b, and dac2,2b,
with 1K passive R-I-to-V, then C and interstage transformer to SE...
*
Yes, it was with much "air", unforced, fast, clear in whole spectrum, it was more than promissing...
no muddy bas, no harshness, slimerness, no metalic sound,..
but take it like as is, because i didnt perform realy test, just a little bit of sniff...
but it was really short session...
*
I was tryed the juat one stereo ballanced dac out,
dac1,1b, and dac2,2b,
with 1K passive R-I-to-V, then C and interstage transformer to SE...
*
Yes, it was with much "air", unforced, fast, clear in whole spectrum, it was more than promissing...
no muddy bas, no harshness, slimerness, no metalic sound,..
but take it like as is, because i didnt perform realy test, just a little bit of sniff...
Ok
Prototyping is fine, the board is working.
The clock flaw will just need a small adapter that I'll send to be made on monday.
So what about this board exactly? (not the full topic).
Its' a board, with an ESS 9032, very careful decoupling and layout on high quality 4-layers 1oz.
It has connectors for all its inputs and all its outputs so it could handle 8ch of any format you'd like (but you may tie them for stereo or even mono). There is no comparator nor buffer on inputs, just resistors.
It has a connector for 7 power lines (AVCCL, AVCCR, AVDDL, AVDDR, VCC, VDD, Vclock) with "sense" pin and "ground sense" pin for each line. You will need to put a little blob of solder on empty 0402 footprints to use "sense" lines (it's an intended feature: if you don't use sense, don't connect the line and tie it to ground so it will not be floating).
I2C is provided, local pullups can be enabled using a couple jumpers. Reset and i2c address selection input, as well as Locked and Mute outputs are provided.
The DAC in itself will automatically lock on PCM or SPDIF automatically so you may never need i2c. But if you need it, you'll have to get the Datasheet that is under NDA (contact ESS to sign it). Two esay ways to generate i2c is to use a USB i2c adapter or an Arduino board (so you would embed all the controls and features of your final unit in one µC).
Caps are all 100µF solid polymer chip caps, all other ones are 100n C0G/NP0 (one on each supply pin, non microphonic), lowest Rdc beads I could find on each power lines and the clock is a Crystek CCHD-950 80Mhz .25 ppm.
The strengh of this board is extreme flexibility. It really is intended to tweak and experiment.
As I need adapter boards to be made, could people that would want a board suscribe here and tell me if they are sure they want one?
Price will be US$300 for each board. It's not a commercial offering, only a DIYer selling a few boards to other DIYers. (so it's only slightly more than what they cost me to make plus shipping, taxes, and stencil). Boards will be soldered and fully tested before shipping.
I can sell bare PCB too if you want. Bare PCB: US$60
I have 8 remaining PCBs and will buy components following the orders.
I also have boards for LT1963 or LT1763 regulators.
As well as negative LT1964 regulators boards and That 1200 Ingenius balanced line receivers.
Bare PCB 5$ one. For positive regulators discount rates apply: 25$ a row of 7, 40$ a row of 14 (I fit 14 on each panels so that's why I count like that).
Could be easily hand soldered (SO8), but if you buy the components I will reflow them for you. (price for me making them: 20$ + 1$ each board). I have free double-T pad boards to give (if any is interested).
If the moderators want me to move this to sales section, I'll do it. I don't buy a vendor thread simply because I'm not professional and am just offering spares - and that I can't afford it.
Cheers,
Nicolas
So, who's interested? Put your name on the list with what and how many you'd like!
Prototyping is fine, the board is working.
The clock flaw will just need a small adapter that I'll send to be made on monday.
So what about this board exactly? (not the full topic).
Its' a board, with an ESS 9032, very careful decoupling and layout on high quality 4-layers 1oz.
It has connectors for all its inputs and all its outputs so it could handle 8ch of any format you'd like (but you may tie them for stereo or even mono). There is no comparator nor buffer on inputs, just resistors.
It has a connector for 7 power lines (AVCCL, AVCCR, AVDDL, AVDDR, VCC, VDD, Vclock) with "sense" pin and "ground sense" pin for each line. You will need to put a little blob of solder on empty 0402 footprints to use "sense" lines (it's an intended feature: if you don't use sense, don't connect the line and tie it to ground so it will not be floating).
I2C is provided, local pullups can be enabled using a couple jumpers. Reset and i2c address selection input, as well as Locked and Mute outputs are provided.
The DAC in itself will automatically lock on PCM or SPDIF automatically so you may never need i2c. But if you need it, you'll have to get the Datasheet that is under NDA (contact ESS to sign it). Two esay ways to generate i2c is to use a USB i2c adapter or an Arduino board (so you would embed all the controls and features of your final unit in one µC).
Caps are all 100µF solid polymer chip caps, all other ones are 100n C0G/NP0 (one on each supply pin, non microphonic), lowest Rdc beads I could find on each power lines and the clock is a Crystek CCHD-950 80Mhz .25 ppm.
The strengh of this board is extreme flexibility. It really is intended to tweak and experiment.
As I need adapter boards to be made, could people that would want a board suscribe here and tell me if they are sure they want one?
Price will be US$300 for each board. It's not a commercial offering, only a DIYer selling a few boards to other DIYers. (so it's only slightly more than what they cost me to make plus shipping, taxes, and stencil). Boards will be soldered and fully tested before shipping.
I can sell bare PCB too if you want. Bare PCB: US$60
I have 8 remaining PCBs and will buy components following the orders.
I also have boards for LT1963 or LT1763 regulators.
As well as negative LT1964 regulators boards and That 1200 Ingenius balanced line receivers.
Bare PCB 5$ one. For positive regulators discount rates apply: 25$ a row of 7, 40$ a row of 14 (I fit 14 on each panels so that's why I count like that).
Could be easily hand soldered (SO8), but if you buy the components I will reflow them for you. (price for me making them: 20$ + 1$ each board). I have free double-T pad boards to give (if any is interested).
If the moderators want me to move this to sales section, I'll do it. I don't buy a vendor thread simply because I'm not professional and am just offering spares - and that I can't afford it.
Cheers,
Nicolas
So, who's interested? Put your name on the list with what and how many you'd like!
Hi, Nicolas,
I'll definitely have a bare PCB from you if that's OK (can PayPal). I still have a spare ES9008 chip - I'm assuming it will work just fine?
Also, will it work using the LCDPS from TP, and roughly how many discrete components are needed to get the DAC board up and running?
EDIT: Actually, do the pos regs cost $25 for seven boards?, or is that the price per board? Are you currently running the Sabre board using these pos regs, and if so, how many regs are needed to run the board?
Sorry for so many questions, I must sound like The Riddler today.
Best regards,
OzOnE (Ash).
I'll definitely have a bare PCB from you if that's OK (can PayPal). I still have a spare ES9008 chip - I'm assuming it will work just fine?
Also, will it work using the LCDPS from TP, and roughly how many discrete components are needed to get the DAC board up and running?
EDIT: Actually, do the pos regs cost $25 for seven boards?, or is that the price per board? Are you currently running the Sabre board using these pos regs, and if so, how many regs are needed to run the board?
Sorry for so many questions, I must sound like The Riddler today.
Best regards,
OzOnE (Ash).
Hi,
I split the thread.
Clearer technical infos are on the selling thread.
The trading thread is for trading only. Please continue to ask technical questions in this thread to keep things clean.
Please apologize for not having posted photos, only 3D views, I don't have a digital camera. I will find one soon.
Cheers!
Nicolas
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=143461
I split the thread.
Clearer technical infos are on the selling thread.
The trading thread is for trading only. Please continue to ask technical questions in this thread to keep things clean.
Please apologize for not having posted photos, only 3D views, I don't have a digital camera. I will find one soon.
Cheers!
Nicolas
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=143461
NeoY2k said:
Hi Ncolas
Nice initiative !
some remarks:
- I did a quick calculation, my oscillators are better than the Crysteks (allthough I do not have 80 MHz on stock)
- Do not focus on HF jitter levels, everything from mHz onto 20kHz is much more important
- On layout and power supply decoupling
http://www.tentlabs.com/InfoSupport/page35/files/Supply_decoupling.pdf
keep up with the good work !
best
Hello,
Yes it is the ESS 9018, or Sabre32. I started the project before the Sabre32 existed, but as it is pin compatible, the 9018 came as a straightforward replacement.
Guido, I forgot to thank you. Thank you very much for your advice. In fact, I already read papers from you, and they are printed and stored on the top of my "EMI/RFI" folder!
Yes it is the ESS 9018, or Sabre32. I started the project before the Sabre32 existed, but as it is pin compatible, the 9018 came as a straightforward replacement.
Guido, I forgot to thank you. Thank you very much for your advice. In fact, I already read papers from you, and they are printed and stored on the top of my "EMI/RFI" folder!
Oh moreover:
- This DAC is not suitable for beginners as you'll have to wire in regulators, output stage, maybe µC, input interface... It is doable, no problem, but if you're not experienced in electronics, it will take you some time to complete the project!
- Remember there is no input comparator or level shifter, you'll need some to make it work! I know there are SPDIF buffers/switchers that exist around there, and some of them use internal level shifting so you would just have to tap the SPDIF at the 3.3V level.
- If you want to connect a DAC via USB, I'd suggest you buy a sound card and connect the DAC in SPDIF. Thanks to its incredible jitter reduction, the Sabre can handle SPDIF without much problems. Plus, using a good sound card will allow you to output high resolution SPDIF (I think of some Presonus firewire small soundcards, that are quite good indeed).
- This DAC is not suitable for beginners as you'll have to wire in regulators, output stage, maybe µC, input interface... It is doable, no problem, but if you're not experienced in electronics, it will take you some time to complete the project!
- Remember there is no input comparator or level shifter, you'll need some to make it work! I know there are SPDIF buffers/switchers that exist around there, and some of them use internal level shifting so you would just have to tap the SPDIF at the 3.3V level.
- If you want to connect a DAC via USB, I'd suggest you buy a sound card and connect the DAC in SPDIF. Thanks to its incredible jitter reduction, the Sabre can handle SPDIF without much problems. Plus, using a good sound card will allow you to output high resolution SPDIF (I think of some Presonus firewire small soundcards, that are quite good indeed).
Hi,
Sorry I didn't answered, but I don't get the question - do you mean, would I sell just the chip?
Well, I can't, unfortunately. But you can buy them in single qties from Ismosys website (seller of the european ESS representative). They can get you the datasheet and NDA to go with.
For orders, they will close on saturday 06, please comfirm in the trading post:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=1843890#post1843890
Cheers!
Nicolas
Sorry I didn't answered, but I don't get the question - do you mean, would I sell just the chip?
Well, I can't, unfortunately. But you can buy them in single qties from Ismosys website (seller of the european ESS representative). They can get you the datasheet and NDA to go with.
For orders, they will close on saturday 06, please comfirm in the trading post:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=1843890#post1843890
Cheers!
Nicolas
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