Update on Cato
On the Welborne/Borbely Cato unit I increased the gain to 35dB and dropped the pull down resistors to .75 ohms (some carbon comps I had). The sound is definitely something my ears could live with. Probably the closest I can get to current mode with my IV boards.
Best
Bob
On the Welborne/Borbely Cato unit I increased the gain to 35dB and dropped the pull down resistors to .75 ohms (some carbon comps I had). The sound is definitely something my ears could live with. Probably the closest I can get to current mode with my IV boards.
Best
Bob
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USB-I2S interface
I just found the perfect USB-I2S interface for this DAC:
Hiface USB -> I2S 24bit/192Khz
I just found the perfect USB-I2S interface for this DAC:
Hiface USB -> I2S 24bit/192Khz
It doesn't have it's power supplies optimised (which is crucial to getting the best sound) as this one does:: DAC options (Hiface USB Transport Modifications & Ancillaries)
qusp
I'm not talking about what you supply it with, I'm talking about how the PS is routed & distributed on the board (self noise from chips feeding back into the PS!) - splitting it into separate supplies is certainly the way to go & a good start but there's still some optimisation to be done on that board
I'm not talking about what you supply it with, I'm talking about how the PS is routed & distributed on the board (self noise from chips feeding back into the PS!) - splitting it into separate supplies is certainly the way to go & a good start but there's still some optimisation to be done on that board
I knew I shouldnt have entered into this with you ;S. I havent even seen the thing or used it before. for a starts yes, i'm going to throw some caps at it, both films and tants are totally available in SMD, which is what i'm talking about. evox/rifa or panasonic pps films and sanyo tants (most likely the pps) for decoupling and oxicap or poscap oscon supply, but hey I havent even started yet. i'm not even convinced of usb as source yet, I have far better AES source than I do usb currently, so I may not invest much time in this at all. i'm not fussed and not at all serious about it, not even close. its just better than having standard USB for me at this stage and a good place to start. i'll assess it as a starting point and decide whether I want to pursue it at that point
where did I say anything about you anyway? i'll leave you to it
where did I say anything about you anyway? i'll leave you to it
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SMD, yes but it's already well bypassed so why bother?
I Don't know what you're talking about here? I just mentioned above that the PS isn't optimised & you jumped in with "it doesnt have a power supply at all. the one chosen needs 3v3 and 1v8 supplies, which are exposed"
As you said yourself you haven't even seen the board. I was talking about circuit changes you were talking about bypassing - simple as that. Do you forget that I've worked with this for some time now?
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Hi Acko
Any chance you could be at Pymble Hi-Fi between 12 noon and 2PM tomorrow, Saturday. I am not expecting you to bring your DAC unless you can, but even if you can't I think you will find something of great interest working there - yes it is an ESS based DAC that will be demonstrated for the first time.
So if you are free it would great - and I trust that there will be something of real interest happening.
Sorry for the short notice.
Cheers, Joe
PS: Feel free to call me 0412-203382 or call Val at Pymble Hi-Fi 9983 9273 if you like, mention to him I suggested it and he would like to see you too and has expressed that to me as he aware of what you are doing too on ESS DACs. You will be welcome.
Any chance you could be at Pymble Hi-Fi between 12 noon and 2PM tomorrow, Saturday. I am not expecting you to bring your DAC unless you can, but even if you can't I think you will find something of great interest working there - yes it is an ESS based DAC that will be demonstrated for the first time.
So if you are free it would great - and I trust that there will be something of real interest happening.
Sorry for the short notice.
Cheers, Joe
PS: Feel free to call me 0412-203382 or call Val at Pymble Hi-Fi 9983 9273 if you like, mention to him I suggested it and he would like to see you too and has expressed that to me as he aware of what you are doing too on ESS DACs. You will be welcome.
no, the current PCBs cannot be used for 9018, for this design there is no benefit for 9018 as the only thing its better for is multichannel and this is a stereo dac, stereo performance on 9012 is actually slightly better. here is the website, u can order it there. some kits and PCBs are ready to go and others will be a few weeks like the MCU
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Thanks Flocchini
For the ready-built boards, pins on the DAC module are mounted such that Reg modules are mounted underneath. This gives clearance to IV modules that will be plugged on top and pushed close to the DAC board to get this minimal signal length from DAC output to IV stage. Of course, you can mount Reg modules on top for other configurations, just wick away the solder connections and the pins will drop out.
Hope this helps.
MCU
Hi All,
The DAC MCU is finally ready, a whole project by itself! See preview for setup. It can control the DAC using on-board switches or connect to PC (comms) for enhanced control. Low level (i2C) register programming allows access to any of the exposed register as in the datasheet. Also included is easy to use high level functions that can control most of the DAC operation without the need for any register information. Settings can be dowloaded to NV memory of MCU and use these instead of switches. Up to 2 DACs can be controlled (dual mono) and can be used with ES9012, ES9018(stereo) and ES9016 (stereo) chips
Those who have pre-ordered the MCUs, these have all been shipped and thank you for your patience. For those who wish to order, there is a new batch in production and will be ready in ~2wks.
This project will now move onto 8 CH version and various IV stages to match.
Regards, Acko
Hi All,
The DAC MCU is finally ready, a whole project by itself! See preview for setup. It can control the DAC using on-board switches or connect to PC (comms) for enhanced control. Low level (i2C) register programming allows access to any of the exposed register as in the datasheet. Also included is easy to use high level functions that can control most of the DAC operation without the need for any register information. Settings can be dowloaded to NV memory of MCU and use these instead of switches. Up to 2 DACs can be controlled (dual mono) and can be used with ES9012, ES9018(stereo) and ES9016 (stereo) chips
Those who have pre-ordered the MCUs, these have all been shipped and thank you for your patience. For those who wish to order, there is a new batch in production and will be ready in ~2wks.
This project will now move onto 8 CH version and various IV stages to match.
Regards, Acko
Attachments
yes, the MCU is quite impressive and worth the wait. most definitely the most sophisticated control of a DIY dac project that I have seen and I can certainly see where the time went. kudos to you acko, many have talked about this level of control before, but it never seems to become reality.
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