CM6631 usb audio interface .... any good?

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convencon

Member
Joined 2013
I've just bought this DAC with the intention to use it for my MBP. It's cool that this DAC is regconized immediately without any driver. So I confirmed this work with Mac OS X.

However mine does not work properly. Both outputs of RCA & headphone are selectable, but there is no sound/signal coming out from from these output. I checked with Windows 7, still the same. I contacted the seller but he just hid away from me.

So before giving up, I want to come to this awesome forum to ask you guys:
- What are the possible problems with the DAC?
- Can I fix it with very little knowledge of soldering & circuit?

Thank you in advance!
 
J

jkorten

Member
Joined 2012
How much did the unit cost? (wondering if this is worth your time)

Perhaps somebody attempted a firmware upgrade and failed. You can try to do another, if there is no way to do one, the previous owner's attempt to upgrade the firmware may have rendered the system unuseable.
 
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uncola

Member
Joined 2012
I have the cm6631a/cs4398 by weiliang in the breeze audio grey aluminum box.. would there be any sound quality advantage for me to use tdsai's tool to change the 44.1/48khz base block to 64? Or should I just leave it alone.. My RCA outs work great as a dac, but the headphone out has very hissy audio above 70% windows volume
 
T

tdtsai

Member
Joined 2011
Hi
I do not suggest you use my tool if you device have more than one output. If you use my tool your device will only function with RCA output.

uncola said:
I have the cm6631a/cs4398 by weiliang in the breeze audio grey aluminum box.. would there be any sound quality advantage for me to use tdsai's tool to change the 44.1/48khz base block to 64? Or should I just leave it alone.. My RCA outs work great as a dac, but the headphone out has very hissy audio above 70% windows volume
Click to expand...
 
H

Hobbit13

Member
Joined 2003
emueyes said:
Thanks for the reply. I have two boards, Inforce Computing - Product-IFC6410
and ODROID | Hardkernel

The Snapdragon runs Fedora 19, the Odroid has Ubuntu 13; I would like to use the Snapdragon for this project, the U2 is pretty much busy.

The board I was looking at in in the beginning is HI FI CM6631A 192kHz 24bit USB 2 0 TO Coaxial Optical Spdif Convertor DAC Board | eBay
although I have since seen more discussion and many more boards at

The right USB DAC for your Raspberry Pi - RaspyFi

I believe I need the same thing. Some are also almighty expensive ! I was hoping to find a board that I could include inside a case, with the ARM board, disk drive and PSU to make a self contained unit. If not, something more or less inline, to go between the ARM board and the receiver.

Many thanks for help on this, it is very confusing. For one thing, I don't see that I need a DAC, both USB and SPDIF are digital. The DACs in my receiver, a Denon X1000 should be quite OK, indeed I'm very happy with them playing audio over HDMI [just why audio-over-HDMI isn't a feature of these ARM boards is a matter I'm talking with them about. It is especially galling when the tout accelerated video playback as a major feature].

There are many boards linked off that page on RasPis, I imagine I vould just choose one that suits my budget and proceed, though I'm still confused nt the DAC thing. I have seen a card CM6631A USB Daughter Card | eBay which is appealing because it could be included in a case, and is relatively inexpensive. The other is this one Xmos 192kHz High Quality USB to SPDIF with Ultralow Noise 6 5UV Regulator | eBay specifically stating Linux use. I realise I could buy some little $80 Android box, but that is effectively what I'm trying to build, and enjoy this, hence the ARM boards in the first place.
Click to expand...

Hi,

I still don't get what you are aiming at. What should the system in the end do? Stream music to the Denon receiver, and being controlled via a website / controll app? Just a stand-alone PC.


If you are satisfied with the DACs inside your Denon, and it has HDMI audio, then go that route. A Raspberry Pi has excellent HDMI audio support. Just use a XBMC image for the Pi, and it will playback audio just fine over HDMI.

USB audio on ARM devices can be rather troublesome. At least on the Pi it's not the way to go (the USB implementation is horrible).
 
H

Hobbit13

Member
Joined 2003
tdtsai said:
Hi
I also want to does there any different. Please PM me your email then I can email you the tool.
Click to expand...

Today, I received the CM6631A board, and it works fine. Unfortunately, your tool doesn't work for me. I get a "Firmware file Format Error" when I try to upload a generated firmware hex file to the board. (via ASUS Xonar Essence One USB FW Update Tool)

Most settings can be seen here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11569460/CM6631A_settings_fail.png

the board is: eBay item 370851652075

driver is "U6631_6631A-120716-7.0.11.80(W7-ER-01)" by C-Media (Emotiva_XDA-2_Unified_Windows_USB_Driver_2012_12_12)

what update tool and driver should I use?
 
T

tdtsai

Member
Joined 2011
Hi
The tool of firmware update tool you use is for ASUS not for C-Media product. You need use C-Media provided firmware update tool. You need to erase old firmware then unplug-plug. Choose device VID_0d8c&PID_5200 to update new firmware in to it.
Please reference http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/217764-cm6631-usb-audio-interface-any-good-22.html

Hobbit13 said:
Today, I received the CM6631A board, and it works fine. Unfortunately, your tool doesn't work for me. I get a "Firmware file Format Error" when I try to upload a generated firmware hex file to the board. (via ASUS Xonar Essence One USB FW Update Tool)

Most settings can be seen here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11569460/CM6631A_settings_fail.png

the board is: eBay item 370851652075

driver is "U6631_6631A-120716-7.0.11.80(W7-ER-01)" by C-Media (Emotiva_XDA-2_Unified_Windows_USB_Driver_2012_12_12)

what update tool and driver should I use?
Click to expand...
 
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E

emueyes

Member
Joined 2013
Hobbit13 said:
Hi,
I still don't get what you are aiming at. What should the system in the end do? Stream music to the Denon receiver, and being controlled via a website / controll app? Just a stand-alone PC.
Click to expand...

I want an ARM board running Linux to act as a music server. It would ideally be runinng XBMC. All that's controlled by a PC running Win 7 atm, the only reason to upgrade it the enery saving in one of these < 10W boards.

Getting Audio of any quality from these boards is a problem, in terms of hardware and software and hardware. So, I thought a USB -> S/PDIF converter would be great; the USB signal can go through the USB S/PDIF box, then to the Denon over coax.

This is music - only, videos follow a slightly different path.

The comment that ARM boards have inferior USB is a bit of a worry to me, as audio over HDMI doesn't seem to be an options either.

And I've found the Andorid app 'Yatse' to be exceptional as a control for a machine running XBMC, I must have tried them all by now, it's the best of them.
 
I

ionutzxpo

Member
Joined 2009
HI guys , I have 2 USB DAC from ebay one with CM6631+CS4398 and one CS6631A+CS4398,and i have a huge problem with both of them
when i try to play 24bit or 16bit -192khz audio i get a huge POP and then piuu hurrr carrrrr in my speaker,can someone help me? the seller from ebay told me that i have problems with my operating sistem ,but i gues that he said that to get rid of me,because i tried both of dacs on different sistems and both of them do the same problem.
 
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uncola

Member
Joined 2012
I also have a faulty cm6631a+cs4398, the weiliang design.. I got it on ebay from best-sell.. the headphone out has massive static above 70% volume and the rca out has a problem in high frequencies.. I'd try to get my money back if I were you. what was the name of the seller you bought from? I think there's an official store you can buy weiliang dacs from Enjoy in your hi-fi project, diy tube amp, amplifier diy, amp diy
 
W

wklie

Member
Joined 2013
ionutzxpo said:
HI guys , I have 2 USB DAC from ebay one with CM6631+CS4398 and one CS6631A+CS4398,and i have a huge problem with both of them
when i try to play 24bit or 16bit -192khz audio i get a huge POP and then piuu hurrr carrrrr in my speaker,can someone help me? the seller from ebay told me that i have problems with my operating sistem..
Click to expand...

Not sure this helps, but I suggest you try all three methods of playback: ASIO, WASAPI, DirectSound. I guess operating system could make a difference, since I read reports of different POP-sound behaviors of different versions of Asus drivers on different Windows for Asus Xonar Essence One.

I read 46 feedbacks of PD04 CM6631+CS4398 unit from Weiliang's taobao shop. 3 of them says they experience pop sound. 1 of those 3 says he solved it by changing the USB cable.
 
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