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New FIFO buffer for RPI/SBCs

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R

Ralph G

Member
Joined 2008
cdsgames said:
Less is more...the main reason for that is when you have a more complex stage , it becomes harder to design correctly . Even when designed correctly you need a good PSU with low noise and right impedance.

We think we have designed it correctly . We also think that DC rails (+- 15V) are noise free.Clocks jitter and rise time and incredible .Opamp design was done by Sparkoslabs (and they excel in opamps) in class A (who remembers the sound of a class A amp ?)

Overall we think that , when done correctly , more can signify a better sound.
Click to expand...

I'm getting curious. And I'm willing to pay 400 euro's for a really good sounding DAC.

But I'm also a strong believer of the power of the human ear and brain (although I'm an engineer). I've had a preamp build with bloody expensive Burr Brown opamps and a dead quit power supply, but to my ears a single 6N1P tube used in a SRPP configuration is way, way, way, way better. It draws you into the music. You are part of it. This experience I have never had with opamps. Measurements don't tell everything. The human brain is way too complex. If you are focusing too much on the measurements, you may loose the music....

And I've never understood the whole idea about Operational Amplifiers for audio. First you set a gain to 1.000.000 or something and than you subtract 99%. Why? So you get a THD of 0.00001%? I'd rather have a gain of 5 with no feedback and a THD of 0.1%. Like a Bugatti: adding a **** load of horses to a car with the weight of a small truck. A Lotus is more fun. It is not better, just more entertaining.

This is also the reason why other people have asked if there is the option of changing the analog board I guess. Replacing a few dozen of transistors with 1 transformer or just a few Jfets sounds nice to me (even if the noise and THD go up big time: I don't care).

I do understand the jitter part (although good is good enough I guess). And I also know the importance of a decent PSU.

But the prove is in the eating. Maybe it sounds good too ;)

I'm very positive about the Boss, so Allo gets the benefit of the doubt.
 
C

cdsgames

Member
Joined 2015
Ralph G said:
I'm getting curious. And I'm willing to pay 400 euro's for a really good sounding DAC.

But I'm also a strong believer of the power of the human ear and brain (although I'm an engineer). I've had a preamp build with bloody expensive Burr Brown opamps and a dead quit power supply, but to my ears a single 6N1P tube used in a SRPP configuration is way, way, way, way better. It draws you into the music. You are part of it. This experience I have never had with opamps. Measurements don't tell everything. The human brain is way too complex. If you are focusing too much on the measurements, you may loose the music....

And I've never understood the whole idea about Operational Amplifiers for audio. First you set a gain to 1.000.000 or something and than you subtract 99%. Why? So you get a THD of 0.00001%? I'd rather have a gain of 5 with no feedback and a THD of 0.1%. Like a Bugatti: adding a **** load of horses to a car with the weight of a small truck. A Lotus is more fun. It is not better, just more entertaining.

This is also the reason why other people have asked if there is the option of changing the analog board I guess. Replacing a few dozen of transistors with 1 transformer or just a few Jfets sounds nice to me (even if the noise and THD go up big time: I don't care).

I do understand the jitter part (although good is good enough I guess). And I also know the importance of a decent PSU.

But the prove is in the eating. Maybe it sounds good too ;)

I'm very positive about the Boss, so Allo gets the benefit of the doubt.
Click to expand...

The way that I understand it...monolitic opamps have great specs but dont deliver a great music experience . Discrete opamps are different .

This is a link that explains the differences Audio Op Amps - It's The Loop Gain You Seek, Not The Bandwidth - SparkoS Labs Inc.
 
N

nielsek

Member
Joined 2014
I hope this is the right thread to ask. I've been using Kali successfully with Piano for years. Have now changed my setup and using Kali with ES9023 (Currman DAC). It works good, when connected through jumper wires. I can also use my setup with U.FL cables, but I can’t get the U.FL socket on the back of Kali working. Should it work out of the box, or I need to mod something? With jumper cable the MCLK is OK, but not from the U.FL socket.
 
N

nielsek

Member
Joined 2014
The problem seems not to be the U.FL connection, but getting it working. By default, when I switch on my setup, there is just quite loud noise/humm coming from MCLK u.fl connection. When I additionally connect MCLK by jumper from PIN 29 on Kali, it starts to work. And I can remove the jumper wire from PIN 29. It even survives restarts, but not power off. Then I have to do the procedure again. I’m using ALLO’s power supply and tested with others also, no change. Tested with different U.FL cables, same result.
Any ideas?
 
C

chris14

Member
Joined 2018
cdsgames said:
The way that I understand it...monolitic opamps have great specs but dont deliver a great music experience . Discrete opamps are different .

This is a link that explains the differences Audio Op Amps - It's The Loop Gain You Seek, Not The Bandwidth - SparkoS Labs Inc.
Click to expand...

How does the Katana sound in comparison to other dac's e.g. the Boss? There are several ess9038 dac's out there, Pro-ject pre S2; Topping D50 that use dual 9038's that early reviews claim sound clean/neutral and a typical sabre sound. It's going to be the analog stage that makes the difference, so I am hoping that Katana is going to rise up above the standard sabre implementations out there.
 
M

Martin12341

Member
Joined 2007
TioFrancotirador said:
@cdsgames

Hi,

I got kali 44/48 clocks version. I am considering upgrading those clocks to Crystek. Since I am listening to only Tidal (low audio frequencies) can I change those clocks to 22/24?

Regards
Click to expand...

Hi,
i have the same question. PCM1794A is not working with 45/49 MHz clock at low samplerates (44/48 kHz). Higher samplerates are working. The problem is then, that Kali switches back to 48 kHz when there is no I2S signal coming from the Raspberry Pi. The result are loud clicks when music starts/stops playing.

regards
Martin
 
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