MicroSD Memory Card Transport Project

[Bunpei]

Originally Posted by Nanook

I have a SD card "music sampler" used in music stores. It uses an AVI amp with a SD card music "file" reader and speakers. The board is made by Somerset (I think). Digital readout for song number. I didn't get the face plate, so can't tell if there is a "next" button it. If any want I could take photos of it.

Just recently I am trying a combination of SDTrans with a full digital class-D amplifier, TI TAS5706. I think your music player can be positioned in the same product area. However, our SDTrans was originally designed for proof of concept of "Bit perfect play of PCM sources" and it discarded playing of MP3 and flac. Therefore, SDTrans may not be suitable for that kind of "music sampler" application.

Anyway, I appreciate your kind post of photos of the sampler very much.

[Bunpei]

Chiaki made a new experiment on synchronous MCLKing for an ES9018-based DAC.

The detailed explanation is posted here.

ESS Sabre Reference DAC (8-channel)

The result is very excellent.

[Bunpei]

I talked with Chiaki yesterday.
To our regret, he has no clear plan for the next release of SDTrans384 board so far.

As for the optional synchronous clocking sub boards for ES9018 DAC chip, he has no firm forecast on the demand because the optional board set is rather expensive.

[SOUND_Rays]

Originally Posted by Bunpei

I talked with Chiaki yesterday.
To our regret, he has no clear plan for the next release of SDTrans384 board so far.

As for the optional synchronous clocking sub boards for ES9018 DAC chip, he has no firm forecast on the demand because the optional board set is rather expensive.

@Bunpei,

Excellent thread

Dear Mr. Bunpei, please, can You suggest to Mr. Chiaki to read these my heavens wishes with a lot of patience and if possible
hypothetically consider to include them in the next transport release: (1.st. wish) a native reading-decoding
(sabre dac can do) the 1bit DSD stream: 2,8MHz and 5,6MHz from Korg MR2000S master recorder.
The most life-like - (1bit DSD 5,6MHz) - realistic digital recording - playback to date, noticeably better than DXD,
from my own experiences in live performance recordings.
All the digital media playback to analogue output playback from DAC should be Auto-Upsampled to highest Fs avail.
from the DAC can send to its output. (2.nd. vish) Beside current HC SD Card reader, it is a really
another big heavens wish to include the 2.nd media storage option - an integrated SATA controller with
external Esata or USB2-3 connector for the ultimate HD Content-storage of more than 500GB--1TB on a single
2,5 inch HDD. This way it'll become an ultimate Stand Alone & the highest quality digital audio playback source.
- If this would happen in the proceeding time of my life, than I'd be one of the happiest music lovers on the planet.
- Please put me on the waiting list for the any kind future-release of the Mr. Chiaki work to be avail. to the public, transport . . . dac . . .

[KOON3876]

Hi, I posted how to read and play DSF file, here.
DSD Playback system, DSF Player + USB DDC + DSD Amplifier

[jcarr]

Bunpei brought Chiaki's latest work to our listening room yesterday. It consists of an SD transport with an add-on board, and a Caprice DAC with an external expansion board. The Caprice has been hacked so that its internal clock is bypassed.

Communication between the DAC and transport is via HDMI cable.

The expansion board inside the Caprice contains two master oscillators which clocks both the SD Transport and Caprice DAC at once.

These oscillators (which were recommended by NDK) are a custom order, and cost something like JPY 13,000 each. Since two oscillators are needed, it is obvious that this will not be cheap!

Still, I am reasonably sure that this is the best-sounding digital setup that I have experienced to date. Yes, I have heard BAD, dCs, Weiss, Accuphase and many other digital setups, and I have also listened to various mastering studio-grade digital installations, but IMHO Chiaki's latest work sets a high bar for other manufacturers to overcome.

Kudos also to Shin Nakagawa of Fidelix, who masterminded the Caprice DAC. I do not think that Chiaki would have obtained as good results if he had used a different DAC as a starting platform.

Given the content and engineering, this combination cannot be cheap, and the pricing may take it out of consideration for nearly all DIYers. Nonetheless, IMHO this is a setup that can challenge any digital audio setup available, regardless of price, and I would be quite surprised if it can be bested.

We will be sending our own SDTransport and Caprice to Chiaki for his modifications. Believe me, we felt that we had no alternative to doing so, after hearing what the SDTransport and Caprice could do.

FWIW, our Caprice is slightly different in key parameters from the standard Caprice (which is what Chiaki used), and the ES9018 registers of the Caprice were slightly differently to what we have found to sound the best, so I suspect we will get even better sonic results than with Chiaki's test unit (^o^).

Incidentally, the increase in sonic performance can be noted on 44.1kHz or 48kHz material as well as 96kHz, 192kHz or 352.8kHz, on 16-bit as well as 24-bit. You do not need to limit your listening to high-rez to appreciate what the SDTrans and Caprice combo can do.

Strongly recommended, not only to DIYers, but High-End digital audiophiles in general.

kind regards, jonathan carr

[Javin5]

jcarr, bunpei:

Why not combine the Fidelix DAC, SD-Trans and the Sync expansion board all into a single case? You might have an unbeatable product for worldwide sales!

[jcarr]

Javin5: You are (close to) reading my mind (^o^).

kind regards, jonathan carr

[SOUND_Rays]

Originally Posted by Javin5

jcarr, bunpei:

Why not combine the Fidelix DAC, SD-Trans and the Sync expansion board all into a single case? You might have an unbeatable product for worldwide sales!

If ever p#354happened, than this would be the best & last product in Digital audio history with a pure lfe-like sound as a target, fare away form current fashion HiEnd agenda.
Let's all together summarize the pure positive energy and by anybody available any kind of individual help to Mr. Chiaki-san in any possible way that he can realize this-his masterpiece of Art. so all of pure sound minded-oriented individuals will have a chance to enjoy a really pure art of elementary music-sound.

Andrew

[Bunpei]

I'm sorry very sorry for my non-immediate replies.

1. DSD play functionality on SDTrans384
Since spring this year, some SDTrans384 users including me have requested the functionality to Chiaki. I believe this is already on his development agenda though the schedule is not planned yet. In this case, only a new version of FPGA configuration ROM and new version of MCU firmware will enable the play of DSD64 and DSD128.

To Koon,
Thank you very much for your kind link on useful information on DSD player development. I told it to Chiaki and I think he has read those posts on your thread.
I always respect your pioneering projects and generous and open attitude for publishing your successful work on your web site.

2. SDTrans384-Sync option and ES9018 based-DAC
To jcarr,
I'd like to express our gratitude to your comments.

As the purpose of the experiment is to demonstrating effectiveness of synchronous master clocking scheme for ES9018 without any PLL mechanism, I hope more people can try the scheme in rather easy and your own ways.
The reason why Chiaki adopted 90MHz clocks is that he sticks to successful 384 kHz/32 bit play without any noise on oversampling mode with "the lowest" DPLL bandwidth setting. However, if you need no oversampling mode, you can try synchronous master clocking at lower frequencies.

Though Chiaki has not planned his next release of the SDTrans384-Sync option, he seems to begin to consider it.