Hi,
For the moment, most of my components are in the Custom's office... Waiting for VAT comfirmation etc...
Must be patient because French administration is so slow!
Should start soldering in less than 1 week though
Of course packages will be available... Especially for the power supplies!!!
For the moment, most of my components are in the Custom's office... Waiting for VAT comfirmation etc...
Must be patient because French administration is so slow!
Should start soldering in less than 1 week though
Of course packages will be available... Especially for the power supplies!!!
"- Dice II is going to be discontinued (I hope they will output an incredible replacement!)"
in favor of what? mini-jr ? Or the whole dice lineup? In favor of USB? I noticed they dont really publish jitter data below 100hz, must be artifacts hidden there
Anyway I asked them in mail, I'll let you know if they respond, meanwhile (its weekend
) can you tell me what they told you? Or in PM please?
in favor of what? mini-jr ? Or the whole dice lineup? In favor of USB? I noticed they dont really publish jitter data below 100hz, must be artifacts hidden there
Anyway I asked them in mail, I'll let you know if they respond, meanwhile (its weekend
) can you tell me what they told you? Or in PM please?Hi,
Thanks.
No, I didn't asked them about what exactly was going to happen after DICE II production stopping, as I was going to use Dice JR anyway.
I just hope they don't stop production....
Dice was a Wavefront project, that belonged to Alesis, and had been bought by TC.
If they stop, it's not going to be fun: the only other alternative is Ethersound. It has its strengths, but can't share 192k streams! Will only go up to 48k.
That said, they have an 'Ethersound Giga" cooking, but they don't seem ready to say more.
That's something I don't like about them, even if I know people working for them: they are obscure. And that's something I don't get.
Plus they are damn expensive xD
Cheers,
Nicolas
Oh, and FedEx is comming tommorow to bring me most of the components for my boards!!!!!
First tries will start tommorow
Cheers,
Nicolas
Thanks.
No, I didn't asked them about what exactly was going to happen after DICE II production stopping, as I was going to use Dice JR anyway.
I just hope they don't stop production....
Dice was a Wavefront project, that belonged to Alesis, and had been bought by TC.
If they stop, it's not going to be fun: the only other alternative is Ethersound. It has its strengths, but can't share 192k streams! Will only go up to 48k.
That said, they have an 'Ethersound Giga" cooking, but they don't seem ready to say more.
That's something I don't like about them, even if I know people working for them: they are obscure. And that's something I don't get.
Plus they are damn expensive xD
Cheers,
Nicolas
Oh, and FedEx is comming tommorow to bring me most of the components for my boards!!!!!
First tries will start tommorow
Cheers,
Nicolas
Hi,
Project is going on! I will probably set up a quick web page to sum things up clearly.
I completed 2 That1200 line receivers, tested them, have yet to test them with real sound but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Will have 22 PCBs for them to spare (had room left on the panels so stuffed them in) and they are hand solderable, so just ask me. It'll probably be something like 5$ a board, we'll see. I don't want to make pre-soldered units, as they are very easy to solder except that you have to surface mount a leaded (through hole) OSCON (not hard at all, you're done in 5 minutes, I just don't want to spend the afternoon soldering 20 receivers! xD ).
But if you can source high voltage (12,5V or 16V) Kemet A700 or Cornell Dubilier ESR, footprints will match and it will look way cleaner.
I also completed 7 power regulators to power the DAC board, and they all work flawlessly.
Tomorrow, I'll solder the I/V. The next day, it will be the great day: soldering the first DAC board.
Cheers,
Nicolas
Project is going on! I will probably set up a quick web page to sum things up clearly.
I completed 2 That1200 line receivers, tested them, have yet to test them with real sound but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Will have 22 PCBs for them to spare (had room left on the panels so stuffed them in) and they are hand solderable, so just ask me. It'll probably be something like 5$ a board, we'll see. I don't want to make pre-soldered units, as they are very easy to solder except that you have to surface mount a leaded (through hole) OSCON (not hard at all, you're done in 5 minutes, I just don't want to spend the afternoon soldering 20 receivers! xD ).
But if you can source high voltage (12,5V or 16V) Kemet A700 or Cornell Dubilier ESR, footprints will match and it will look way cleaner.
I also completed 7 power regulators to power the DAC board, and they all work flawlessly.
Tomorrow, I'll solder the I/V. The next day, it will be the great day: soldering the first DAC board.
Cheers,
Nicolas
Hi,
Today I tested my boards. I had no digital source so I tried using an ADC eval board.
When connecting the Bclock, locked pin goes high.
When connecting the Data, mute pin goes off.
So It seems to be working. I looked on a scope, but only a high value noise seems to appear (when data is sent, otherwise, output is muted) with a high level of RF, looks like to be the sampling clock. When I tap with a pencil on the input circuit of the ADC eval board, output jumps with the taps.
So I can't really tell yet. I will try SPDIF tomorrow from a known working soundcard. It looks like it's working but not tested enough to tell yet.
Cheers,
nicolas
Today I tested my boards. I had no digital source so I tried using an ADC eval board.
When connecting the Bclock, locked pin goes high.
When connecting the Data, mute pin goes off.
So It seems to be working. I looked on a scope, but only a high value noise seems to appear (when data is sent, otherwise, output is muted) with a high level of RF, looks like to be the sampling clock. When I tap with a pencil on the input circuit of the ADC eval board, output jumps with the taps.
So I can't really tell yet. I will try SPDIF tomorrow from a known working soundcard. It looks like it's working but not tested enough to tell yet.
Cheers,
nicolas
Hi,
I can say that me and a friend finished the DAC with ES9008, and it sounds good
really...
at the first site I was amassed how this chip "locking" fast...
almost instantlly.
no clicks no pops at changing states from mute to sound, and on/off...
*
dac accepting almost all formats
I2S data pins should be feed all to acheive all dacs inside operational
first data pin is for 1st dac pair, and so on...
spdif input is very good too, it was simple and fast test...
chip was light warm, without overheating...
so take it light please...
*
I used 1K passive IV resistor from each Io, for test
and get the about 1.25V p-p, 0.82Vdc offset...
as I am remember right...
I can say that me and a friend finished the DAC with ES9008, and it sounds good
really...
at the first site I was amassed how this chip "locking" fast...
almost instantlly.
no clicks no pops at changing states from mute to sound, and on/off...
*
dac accepting almost all formats
I2S data pins should be feed all to acheive all dacs inside operational
first data pin is for 1st dac pair, and so on...
spdif input is very good too, it was simple and fast test...
chip was light warm, without overheating...
so take it light please...
*
I used 1K passive IV resistor from each Io, for test
and get the about 1.25V p-p, 0.82Vdc offset...
as I am remember right...
Yes dac is well equiped with settings...
but i will personaly like to try all dacs for one channel
so with 2 devices it will be possibile to run each channel separatly...
I think that will not ba a problem of possibile differences,
because master clock is too high 80MHz ?
(and this one we put in have beautiful shape, i dont know about jitter...)
but i will personaly like to try all dacs for one channel
so with 2 devices it will be possibile to run each channel separatly...
I think that will not ba a problem of possibile differences,
because master clock is too high 80MHz ?
(and this one we put in have beautiful shape, i dont know about jitter...)
If You take a look into the reister
will find that some features are acheivable with two pair of digits
so the new 32bit dac is pin to pin compatible with "old" one,
I can bet that the last combination of for instance,
I2S word lenght can be activated by next incresing 2bit binary word
In register 10 I think?
*
the designer of the chip did great job really
it is a real peace of work
will find that some features are acheivable with two pair of digits
so the new 32bit dac is pin to pin compatible with "old" one,
I can bet that the last combination of for instance,
I2S word lenght can be activated by next incresing 2bit binary word
In register 10 I think?
*
the designer of the chip did great job really
it is a real peace of work
Hi,
I'm here to tell you about the sound...
I have trouble with my I/V stages right now, so I'm listening in the "voltage mode", with the chip in stereo mode, and stuff pluged in on breadboard. That's to say I am ruining the sound of this unit, and am very very far from the max performance. I even am using a rather crappy fostex amplified monitor.
What can I tell so far?
Well... I just can say WOW... Is that really the worst I can get from it????
I compare it to the output of a Digidesign mbox. The ESS just kicks the Digi's ***.
The sound from the digi seems dull. No transients. Everything in a fog. Kind of compression, instruments can't come in front of another one. Flat, dull, rather lifeless. It has never been known to be exceptional, but it is a "standard" sound quality.
Then the ESS...
Yeah there are transients. Oh yeah. I recorded Lizz McComb and yes the grain of her voice is there, no doubt. Flute solo? It just steps forward easily. There's room, things are precise.
Even in mono, even with one speaker, you get the image. Plans are respected. Not to speak of stereo imaging... It really brings a sense of space.
So in final, the ESS sound totally natural. It really is incredible. Everything is there, and there is that "air" between everything to allow things to step in front of others. I hear things as I recorded them. I hear the capsule of my microphone slightly saturating and bringing its grain and compression (yeah I put this microphone too close...).
I really am impressed.
To be continued with good output stages! (I'm going back to soldering but can't quit listening, right now...)
I'm here to tell you about the sound...
I have trouble with my I/V stages right now, so I'm listening in the "voltage mode", with the chip in stereo mode, and stuff pluged in on breadboard. That's to say I am ruining the sound of this unit, and am very very far from the max performance. I even am using a rather crappy fostex amplified monitor.
What can I tell so far?
Well... I just can say WOW... Is that really the worst I can get from it????
I compare it to the output of a Digidesign mbox. The ESS just kicks the Digi's ***.
The sound from the digi seems dull. No transients. Everything in a fog. Kind of compression, instruments can't come in front of another one. Flat, dull, rather lifeless. It has never been known to be exceptional, but it is a "standard" sound quality.
Then the ESS...
Yeah there are transients. Oh yeah. I recorded Lizz McComb and yes the grain of her voice is there, no doubt. Flute solo? It just steps forward easily. There's room, things are precise.
Even in mono, even with one speaker, you get the image. Plans are respected. Not to speak of stereo imaging... It really brings a sense of space.
So in final, the ESS sound totally natural. It really is incredible. Everything is there, and there is that "air" between everything to allow things to step in front of others. I hear things as I recorded them. I hear the capsule of my microphone slightly saturating and bringing its grain and compression (yeah I put this microphone too close...).
I really am impressed.
To be continued with good output stages! (I'm going back to soldering but can't quit listening, right now...)
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