"Reference" TDA1541A DAC with I2S-BUS architecture

[noizas]

Hi Saulius,

Thanks a lot for your answer. I'll buy Nichicon polymer capacitors for RedBaron anyway. I asked because I have a few Silmic's laying around and was considering if to use them or to buy something different.

Regards,
Maciek

Hi again,

I would not use Silmic type for shunt regulator, those are too slow and more usable for audio circuits.
Any of capacitor, designed for PCBs of PC, especially solid polymer type, should be welcome here...

Saulius

 

[mhgawel]

Hi again,

I would not use Silmic type for shunt regulator, those are too slow and more usable for audio circuits.
Any of capacitor, designed for PCBs of PC, especially solid polymer type, should be welcome here...

Saulius

Hi again,

So my Silmics will wait for a different application

I think I'll try Nichicons if you say that polymer type should be especially welcome in that position.

Best regards,
Maciek

 

[SomekPoland]

Hi, I don't see RED BARONs and tubeizators avialable, will they be back in stock? What is the estimated price range?

 

[mhgawel]

Hi, I don't see RED BARONs and tubeizators avialable, will they be back in stock? What is the estimated price range?

Hi,

They seems to be still available as far as I can see:

diyAudio - Offer

You can also ask Oliver via PM.

Best regards,
Maciek

P.S. Pozdro z Katowic

 

[SomekPoland]

Hi,

They seems to be still available as far as I can see:

diyAudio - Offer

You can also ask Oliver via PM.

Best regards,
Maciek

P.S. Pozdro z Katowic

Oh i missed the see more buttons, my bad.

 

[Vbenonisen]

Hi,

Which pins on the two jumpers needs to be connected and in what situation on the Red Baron V5 board? I see that one of the solder points on both of them are squared and the others are round. Can somebody please explain?

Regards, Vidar

 

[dvb projekt]

Hi,

Which pins on the two jumpers needs to be connected and in what situation on the Red Baron V5 board? I see that one of the solder points on both of them are squared and the others are round. Can somebody please explain?

Regards, Vidar

Hi Vidar,

as you could see on the attached photo, this is the config for I2S input (middle/lower pin short).

For simultaneous mode, you must short the upper/middle pin.

Cheers,
Oliver

 

[Vbenonisen]

Thank you! Great photo. That made it very easy to understand.

Vidar

 

[kamaths]

Hello Oliver,

I recently built red baron version 5 board using smd caps.Output stage is old version of tubizator with Texas instruments bulk foil resistors for iv and salas shunts for the power to the red baron board.

In the I2s mode with Bck connected to data r pin of tda 1541, I get excellent sound using twisted pear spdif board as well as ebay wolfson receiver board using CAL delta Cd transport.

I do not get any music using wave io usb board connected to windows computer using I2s output of the wave io board. However when I use spdif output out of wave io usb card into twisted pear audio spdif in, glorious music pours out.

I thought wave io i2s section was malfunctioning but when connected to a ebay tda1543 dac board wave io functions fine in i2s output mode.

Any particular setting I need to try to get wave io to work with red baron version 5 board in i2s mode? I feel I am losing some quality using spdif output of the wave io board.

BTW, I do not get any sound at all in i2s mode without connecting BCK to data R pin as shown in the schematic of the older versions of the board.

Any suggestions?

Suresh

 

[dvb projekt]

In the I2s mode with Bck connected to data r pin of tda 1541, I get excellent sound using twisted pear spdif board as well as ebay wolfson receiver board using CAL delta Cd transport.

Hi Suresh,

in the I2S mode on the V5.0 you must connect BCK to BCK, not to Data/R.

The Data/R input is only for simultaneous mode!

The recommended connection from WaveIO is the isolated output J6! The correct connection is:

WaveIO isol. ---> Red Baron V5.0

DT ---> Data
LR ---> WS
BC ---> BCK
ISOL. GND ---> I2S-GND

Pay attention to the WaveIO Manual point 5.

 

[kokonut]

Hello Oliver,

do you reallyrecommend the isolated I2S outputs? I thought the uBNC connectors are your favorites? because the better shielded and sounding connection. did you change your opinion?

thanks a lot

carlosz

 

[dvb projekt]

Hello Oliver,

do you reallyrecommend the isolated I2S outputs? I thought the uBNC connectors are your favorites? because the better shielded and sounding connection. did you change your opinion?

thanks a lot

carlosz

Hi Carlosz,

i am speaking about the recommended output. To isolate the WaveIO from the DAC with the onboard Giant Magneto Resistive (GMR) isolators, is highly recommended.

Unfortunately there are no U.FL connectors at this place, but you have two options:

1. Get 3 U.FL cables, cut the connector at one side and fix the coax cable to the header connector. Not easy with such a small coax cable but possible!

2. Desolder the 10-pin header and solder the U.FL connectors direct to the pcb. It´s a bit tricky...

 

[kokonut]

Hi oliver,

thanks for the tip i will try this with my biggest glasses )

regards carlosz

 

[kamaths]

Hi Suresh,

in the I2S mode on the V5.0 you must connect BCK to BCK, not to Data/R.

The Data/R input is only for simultaneous mode!

The recommended connection from WaveIO is the isolated output J6! The correct connection is:

WaveIO isol. ---> Red Baron V5.0

DT ---> Data
LR ---> WS
BC ---> BCK
ISOL. GND ---> I2S-GND

Pay attention to the WaveIO Manual point 5.

Will try that today when I get home from work. If no luck will post some pictures that might help if I am doing something wrong.

 

[kamaths]

Hello Oliver,

I connected two jumpers for i2s mode as suggested. See attached picture.

Wave Io to red baron as below

Data- to Data orange wire
LRclk to Ws ( yellow wire)
Bck to Bck (blue wire)
Ground to ground (Green wire)

No sound.

Out of curiosty I connected wave io in the same pattern to raindrop hui non os dac and music played through I2s connection.

Could this be due to dem circuit or i2s attenuation of red baron? If that's the case how come the tpa board plays without problem ?( only when Bclk and pin 4 are connected)

Any further suggestions?

 

[dvb projekt]

Hello Oliver,

I connected two jumpers for i2s mode as suggested. See attached picture.

Wave Io to red baron as below

Data- to Data orange wire
LRclk to Ws ( yellow wire)
Bck to Bck (blue wire)
Ground to ground (Green wire)

No sound.

Out of curiosty I connected wave io in the same pattern to raindrop hui non os dac and music played through I2s connection.

Could this be due to dem circuit or i2s attenuation of red baron? If that's the case how come the tpa board plays without problem ?( only when Bclk and pin 4 are connected)

Any further suggestions?

View attachment 388918

Did you pay attention to the manual advice?

• There will be NO signals at J5 pin-header connector (Isolated I2S Outputs) if there's no voltage applied on the V+ and Isolated-GND pins

 

[wlowes]

What is your current source configuration

Hi Carlosz,

i am speaking about the recommended output. To isolate the WaveIO from the DAC with the onboard Giant Magneto Resistive (GMR) isolators, is highly recommended.

:

Oliver
Where have you currently landed wrt source for your set up.
WaveIO using isolated I2S - IanCanada isolator ?

Can you describe your perceived difference in sound due to the above vs simple ufl output from waveIO to I2S?
Thanks, appreciate your research.
Walter

 

[kamaths]

Did you pay attention to the manual advice?

• There will be NO signals at J5 pin-header connector (Isolated I2S Outputs) if there's no voltage applied on the V+ and Isolated-GND pins

Yes Oliver. the red and grey connector carries 5v to the isolator, Wave io works fine through isolated i2s connector to another tda1541 dac board I have. So I have ruled out wave board as the problem.The other board has 680p cap for dem oscillator instead of 2.2nf cap with resistors which is what red baron has.

 

[dvb projekt]

Oliver
Where have you currently landed wrt source for your set up.
WaveIO using isolated I2S - IanCanada isolator ?

Can you describe your perceived difference in sound due to the above vs simple ufl output from waveIO to I2S?
Thanks, appreciate your research.
Walter

Hi Walter,

HERE you could see my final setup.

To make it short, Ian´s FIFO cancel all "bad" influences in the data stream e.g. jitter, cable etc.
With it´s high precision clock, you´ll get an extreme clean and stable data strem direct ahead the DAC.
However, if you use the I2S to PCM module the TDA1541A get´s the data for both channels separate (simultaneous mode), with brings the last step in SQ.

The result is a extreme open, 3D soundstage with tons of microdetails.
I never heard my DAC sounding that good! A big thanks to Ian for his work!

Merry Christmas to the community!

 

[dvb projekt]

Yes Oliver. the red and grey connector carries 5v to the isolator, Wave io works fine through isolated i2s connector to another tda1541 dac board I have. So I have ruled out wave board as the problem.The other board has 680p cap for dem oscillator instead of 2.2nf cap with resistors which is what red baron has.

Hmm... I will check it in my setup after christmas!