DQ DAC 2, BIII SE, Tube-I-Zator, Arduino, Amanero Build

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I have already built a standard BIII using the IVY as the output stage & control it all with an Arduino Mega, I'll call my approach passive control as I did not remove the BIII firmware chip. When I setout on that journey I was not aware of HifiDUINO and the fact that the BIII could be controlled directly from the Arduino via the removal of the BIII firmware chip, that I could never have worked out for myself. As I had already set my goals and was well into the project I decided to see my approach to it's final conclusion, which I'm glad to say I have done and it's all working very satisfactory. I have had lots of help on the way & I thank all of those people very much. I have included a photo of the original which is still in it's prototype cloths.

I have always wanted to try tubes/valves and after much reading finally decided the preamp DAC stage was probably the way to go, at least for me that is. I had originally intended on removing the IVY from the original build and installing the Tube-I-Zator in it's place, but after coming across the HiFiDUINO blog and after much hand wringing and bank account fretting the DIY bug go the best of me again, so I decided to build a completely separate DAC = DQ DAC 2

I have gathered all (or most) of the components & as soon as my speakers are completely finished I will get this project into full swing.
One of the really scary parts of the project is the code required to make the whole thing work, if it wasn't for a very helpful community I would never be able to do it on my own as I am code challenged. I had a lot of help from my ex (yes my ex wife who was a programmer in a past life) on the original build as well as other DIYers.

So this build will consist of:

  • BIII SE
  • Tube-I-Zator I/V Stage
  • Arduino Mega
  • ITead Studio 3.2 TFT LCD Touch Shield
  • Amanero USB interface
  • 12V Trigger outputs to trigger my amps & Active analogue crossover
  • SPDIF, Toslink & BNC inputs I think.
  • Apple Remote control, damn I need to buy another one.
I do have one issue with the Apple remote I am using at the moment which is small & beautifully made, I keep losing it:rolleyes:

The remote will control the:

  • Volume
  • Balance
  • Source Selection
  • Sleep function
  • Dimming Screen backlight
  • and many other functions that HiFiDUINO and others have built in.
As I am also electronically challenged I am drawing a diagram of how it will all go together before I start building, that way I hope to reduce errors & disasters.

I'm looking at using Potato Flip Flops so I can re-clock the Amanero with the BIII clock, of course I'll be standing on the shoulders of giants to make that happen.

As I have purchased parts of the build at different stages with different outcomes in mind I do have at least one issue I haven't worked out yet. When I had the transformer made for the Tube-I-Zator I had an extra 5v secondary put in, now I wish I had made it a 12v secondary. As it stands I figure I'll probably be able to run the Mega from the 5v secondary but I will not be able to run the 12v triggers from it which means I need another PSU, which I was hoping not to have.
 

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Just had a quick skim of your plans, looks fun!

Being a touch pedantic and I know you haven't had a chance to think it through yet, but, I think you'll need to re-think the reclocking scheme, you won't be using the fixed speed clock from the BIII for the reclocking. Maybe I'm mistaken though? qusp/bigpandhak/glt will be along and correct me I am sure :) In fact, is the reclocking mod mostly for those who are using synch mclk for the DAC? Or does it help for asynch too?? Hmmm I'm no 9018 pro so best wait for the brains trust to arrive ...

Acko might be able to help you with a new board he's working on that could get you a neat solution with the Amanero though ;)
 
Just had a quick skim of your plans, looks fun!

Being a touch pedantic and I know you haven't had a chance to think it through yet, but, I think you'll need to re-think the reclocking scheme, you won't be using the fixed speed clock from the BIII for the reclocking. Maybe I'm mistaken though? qusp/bigpandhak/glt will be along and correct me I am sure :) In fact, is the reclocking mod mostly for those who are using synch mclk for the DAC? Or does it help for asynch too?? Hmmm I'm no 9018 pro so best wait for the brains trust to arrive ...

Acko might be able to help you with a new board he's working on that could get you a neat solution with the Amanero though ;)

I could have got the whole reclocking thing clocked up:)

Hmm $150, my budget is already blown & I dont have a case yet.
 
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yes, unless you are actually using the amanero clock for clocking the BIIISE the reclocking mod is totally superfluous. the BIIISE already uses its onboard clock to not only control the dac, I believe it has some flipflops that reclock the incoming bck/lrck/sdata now. you can see them directly after the i2s inputs IC5.ICx, ICx on D2, D1, DCK.

the amanero reclocking mod is only of any benefit if you plan to use the ESS in Synchronous mode, at which point I would suggest you get a fifo reclocker :D , because the onboard clocks on the amanero will not allow the full 44.1->384 speeds with the oversampling filter turned on, they need 90.3168/98.304MHz clocks for that, so they are 4x too slow unless you disable the OSF.

otherwise have fun!! the acko lower budget version should still allow the reclocking cleanly at the speeds supported, perhaps we could suggest an optional 4 x multiplication of the clock on his board, which could add very minimal jitter.
 
yes, unless you are actually using the amanero clock for clocking the BIIISE the reclocking mod is totally superfluous. the BIIISE already uses its onboard clock to not only control the dac, I believe it has some flipflops that reclock the incoming bck/lrck/sdata now. you can see them directly after the i2s inputs IC5.ICx, ICx on D2, D1, DCK.

the amanero reclocking mod is only of any benefit if you plan to use the ESS in Synchronous mode, at which point I would suggest you get a fifo reclocker :D , because the onboard clocks on the amanero will not allow the full 44.1->384 speeds with the oversampling filter turned on, they need 90.3168/98.304MHz clocks for that, so they are 4x too slow unless you disable the OSF.

otherwise have fun!! the acko lower budget version should still allow the reclocking cleanly at the speeds supported, perhaps we could suggest an optional 4 x multiplication of the clock on his board, which could add very minimal jitter.

See http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/twisted-pear/219921-buffalo-iii-se-2.html#post3195426

There is still benefit in reclocking the Amanero output with the Amanero clocks into a asynchronously operated Sabre32 but you are limited to 192K.

You could also take the output clock from the clock on-board the BIII and use that clock to reclock the output of the amanero board. This will not limit the SR to 192K since this clock is 100 MHz.
 
See http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/twisted-pear/219921-buffalo-iii-se-2.html#post3195426

There is still benefit in reclocking the Amanero output with the Amanero clocks into a asynchronously operated Sabre32 but you are limited to 192K.

You could also take the output clock from the clock on-board the BIII and use that clock to reclock the output of the amanero board. This will not limit the SR to 192K since this clock is 100 MHz.

what makes you think amanero will work at 100MHz or a multiple/division of it?

oh hang on, you are suggesting to do exactly what I thought was already happening?
 
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See http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/twisted-pear/219921-buffalo-iii-se-2.html#post3195426

There is still benefit in reclocking the Amanero output with the Amanero clocks into a asynchronously operated Sabre32 but you are limited to 192K.

You could also take the output clock from the clock on-board the BIII and use that clock to reclock the output of the amanero board. This will not limit the SR to 192K since this clock is 100 MHz.

hmm OK interesting, well sure have a bash. I was under the impression that they do reclock the incoming clock to the onboard clock and they looked like the best candidates.
 
At this stage I'm looking at leaving the 5v secondary unused & power the Mega & Relays with the XP Power ECE10US12 12V 10W PSU. It will simplify things & as it will not be connected to the audio side of things shouldn't be a problem. I am using a similar XP Power PSU in the other DAC (it was a leftover from another project) and all seems to be working fine.
 

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I thought I'd put the design out before I get too far. I have added the Acko Isolator Reclocker board as it looks like it will make my life easier in the long run.
I'd greatly appreciate any comments.

Does anyone know the best way to power the Acko board & what voltage it needs.
 

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Off the top of my head you'll need 3.3V supply to the acko board, unless he has provided a local LDO reg on the board, best to wait for the final BOM before worrying too much about that I think.

I just didn't want to have to squeeze in another power supply rectifer regulator etc once I'd finished the design :)

The mega has 3.3 & 5V available, the BIII tranny & the other tranny have spare secondaries, so all I would need is a regulator I guess.
 
As the B3SE only has one SPDIF input and I would like to have 2 or 3 SPDIF inputs, I need someway of switching between the inputs.

Does anyone know if there is a small suitable device available to do this?

As I will be controlling the DAC via an Arduino Mega I have the switching capability already on hand, if it is just as simple as installing a couple of relays I would greatly appreciate advice on what would be a suitable relay. I have read that SSR are not suitable for audio signals, but have no idea whether this is valid in all situations.
 
Two layout options, I'd appreciate any thoughts.

The relays down near the AC inlet will probaly go on a PCB & be mounted vertically so they wont take up as much room as on the drawing. Everything is drawn to scale.
 

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As the B3SE only has one SPDIF input and I would like to have 2 or 3 SPDIF inputs, I need someway of switching between the inputs.

Does anyone know if there is a small suitable device available to do this?

As I will be controlling the DAC via an Arduino Mega I have the switching capability already on hand, if it is just as simple as installing a couple of relays I would greatly appreciate advice on what would be a suitable relay. I have read that SSR are not suitable for audio signals, but have no idea whether this is valid in all situations.

hmm small spdif switch, thats hard, agreed SSR are not a good idea. anything that would be suitable requires a proper PCB as I would only really suggest using some sort of comparator, 3 of them with enable pins. otherwise a MUX or something. not a simple task. if not going to do it really properly you may as well just use a mechanical switch really IMO.
 
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