Drive NOS AD1865/62,PCM1704/02/63,TDA1541 from FIFO: Universal I2S-PCM driver board

Hi all,

Manage to get the AD1865 & PCM1702s Dac board to sing with following setup. Can't figure out why it doesn't with the Kali setup. (May try again to confirm)

Rpi>Ian Fifo>Ian Isolator Board>Ian Dual Clock Board>Ian PCM Board >Dac Board>Opamp IV

The reason I got into this project is because I wanted to try old NOS R2R Dacs in simultaneous mode before its all gone in the future :D And I hope to replace my old cd player (marantz cd63) with HD/Rpi, as the it is so much more convenient.

So far I find both Ad1865 & PCM1702s Dacs set up to sound smooth and detail especially in vocal. My marantz is also very detail and musical, but the sound is abit "on your face", just like other DS dac that I have heard. Next on the test bench will be trying out on different IV output.

Again I would like to thanks Ian for all the nice digital interface boards. It really makes integrating with nos dac so much easier :)

Cheng

Thans Cheng, you are very welcome.

I like you project, integrated very well. You are professional DIYer :).

Can you post something about your I/V, I'm interested in following your design for my AD1865 PCB.

Regards,
Ian
 
It sounds awesome, as good as anything ive heard. Except for raspberry direct I2S, non usb, which sounds even better with 1541.
The Ian stuff is better than excellent, its still years ahead of time.



I have exactly the opposite experience ! With all the Ian's devices : a Wave I/O USB to I2S was far better than the Rpi with the I2S uf-l adaptator board before all the complete list of devices : fifo, isolator, clock, Crystek xtrals, PCM board the dac trough uf-l wires.


Whatever the sota PS feeding the Rpi or the Wave I/O ! Despite the FIFO, difference befor can be heard and the Wave I/O just gave better results VS the Rpi. Tested all the possible power supply : best integrated chips as LiPoFe4 A123 cells !


Test made with very musical TDA 1541A DAC from Audial. Where I agree : it's the best musical stuff I ever heard and had ! Far better than ES9018 and PCM 1792 dacs !


Ian's gears are excellent but even better results ask special setups on the supplies and first source ( I use short USB cable and non Noisy Synology NAS with Linux Audio streamer and yes it is important and can be listened to despite the fifo & reclock).


Imho, despite all the cares : if the Rpi stays the Master, even a Fifo and reclock don't supress totally its default : at least my ears and some of my musicians buddies agree with that conclusion. Devil is in the details as usual. Jitter is not all. A good USB to I2S sounds better than a RpI as a source !


If I had a wish : a sota board designed by Ian : USB inputs with the last USB chips of Silicon Labs, short fifo integrated on the same board à la Kali to avoid the long uf-l cable and all the mess with that; and an embeded reclock with still the dip14 socket to choose the xtal; uf-l plugs inputs and outputs already soldered = great futur commercial and SQ sucesses... :)
 
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With Ian's board it it possible to run two TDA1541 in Dual Mono configuration.

I have a Marantz CD94 with two TDA 1541 in Dual Stereo fed in a differential amplfier. This has the advantage of eliminating harmonica and clock in the output.

Is there any benefit in running dual mono over the CD94 configuration?
 
Hi Ian,

Regarding your Isolator PCB - V1.0

The PCB is designed to take a IL715, but I dont want my clock on the FIFO side with the added jitter contribution of the Isolator chip going to the I2S to PCM PCB where it is re-clocked (with the 100ps added jitter of the Isolator chip).

What I was thinking was - Instead use the IL717, which has one Isolation channel that goes in the opposite direction to the other three channels (IN, IN, IN, OUT -> OUT, OUT, OUT, IN). That way I can have the clock on the I2S to PCM pcb side and send the clock signal back through the Isolator chip to the FIFO, thus directly clocking the I2S to PCM pcb from the clock without the added 100ps jitter from the Isolator chip.

Are there any issues in doing this with your PCB?

Thanks.

Ryan.
 
Next Step

Hi Ian,

I am very interested in your boards, especially

- IsolatorPi RsapberryPi/ODROID I2S/DSD/DoP isolator and
- I2S to PCM converter board V2.0

My setup:

pi - Allo/Kali Reclocker - DAC 1543 (based on DDDAC)

A Red Baron V5 is on the way.

What would you recommend as next step:
your isolator board or your I2S to PCM board ??

Kind regards

Michael